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Alsa or Kernel sound?
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Which do you use/prefer?
Alsa
67%
 67%  [ 36 ]
Standard Kernel Sounds
32%
 32%  [ 17 ]
Total Votes : 53

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psharp
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Joined: 16 Sep 2002
Posts: 76
Location: London, UK

PostPosted: Fri Sep 20, 2002 5:24 pm    Post subject: Alsa or Kernel sound? Reply with quote

Hello,

I have currently got Kernel Sound working on my laptop using Debian. Am shortly going to install (upgrade to :) ) Gentoo and would like to know the difference between using Alsa and the Standard Kernel Sound. I have never really thought of using Alsa, but I noticed many threads about it in the forums.

So what I would like to know is: Is there an advantage to using Alsa if I know I can get Kernel Sound working easily? I can't find any comparisions in the docs

Pete
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duff
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Joined: 19 Jun 2002
Posts: 466
Location: Clemson, SC

PostPosted: Fri Sep 20, 2002 5:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Kernel modules...tried to get Alsa working for a week and I about tore my hair out. Kernel modules sound perfect, so to me, Alsa isn't worth the aggrivation.
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rojaro
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Joined: 06 May 2002
Posts: 732

PostPosted: Fri Sep 20, 2002 5:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

kernel + oss ... had some serious noise problems when i tried alsa with my sblive
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linuxgonz
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Joined: 12 Sep 2002
Posts: 9
Location: San Luis Potosí, México

PostPosted: Fri Sep 20, 2002 6:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

There is much better SB Live! support in kernel that in ALSA.

I want to try the open source Creative drivers, any opinions/suggestions?
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timmfin
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Joined: 04 Sep 2002
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Location: Maryland, USA

PostPosted: Fri Sep 20, 2002 8:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I use Alsa currently since I don't think I can get my soundcard to work with the kernel. I have a hercules game theater xp, but I don't know much about the kernel sound modules. Unfortunately I have not gotten alsa to work very well with my system either. Sound out of aplay is just plain terrible. Anyone else with the same card?
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Pitr
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Joined: 23 Jun 2002
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 20, 2002 8:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

ALSA is in my kernel... :)

JP14 rocks :)
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konstk
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Joined: 13 Aug 2002
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 22, 2002 12:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pitr wrote:
ALSA is in my kernel... :)

JP14 rocks :)


hmmm...............2.5.37
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Valen
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Joined: 18 Aug 2002
Posts: 197
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Sun Sep 22, 2002 5:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

timmfin wrote:
I use Alsa currently since I don't think I can get my soundcard to work with the kernel. I have a hercules game theater xp, but I don't know much about the kernel sound modules. Unfortunately I have not gotten alsa to work very well with my system either. Sound out of aplay is just plain terrible. Anyone else with the same card?

I have the same setup and I believe I was able to get the card working using the CS 461X kernel module (I realize that the card uses the CS4630 chip but I think it worked anyways).
That said, I prefer the ALSA driver myself.
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rommel
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Joined: 19 Apr 2002
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Location: Williamsburg Virginia

PostPosted: Sun Sep 22, 2002 5:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

i would preffer to use alsa...had it working once then i borked it and never got it back...since then i just did the kernel sound for my santa cruz....works well enough , although with alsa i had sound sharing for multiple programs wich was kinda cool but not really nessesary i guess.
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Darth_Daver
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Joined: 22 Sep 2002
Posts: 44

PostPosted: Mon Sep 23, 2002 12:47 am    Post subject: OSS Reply with quote

I tried to get Alsa working under Gentoo 1.2 using the excellent doc, but that was the one notable thing I could not get working so far. It could be because I have a SB Live!, and I compiled in kernel support. Perhaps there is a conflict because I get the following message when I try to run amixer:

amixer: Mixer attach default error: No such file or directory

I have seen that error posted in the forums before, but I have never found a resolution. Does anyone have any insight on this? Is the device (/dev/snd, /dev/dsp, etc.) in use by kernel sound and unavailable to ALSA?

My kernel sound works great, but I know there are a few apps like Ogle that lean toward ALSA. Transgaming is always talking about improving ALSA support. I am concerned that kernel sound will fall to the wayside, ALSA will become the preferred standard, and I will end up with a tempermental ALSA. Besides, I don't like to leave any challenge unresolved. When I get some time, I intend to compile a test kernel without sound support to see if it fixes ALSA. In the meantime, does anyone have helpful experiences to share?

Thanks...
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rain
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Joined: 23 Sep 2002
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Location: Boston, MA, USA

PostPosted: Mon Sep 23, 2002 1:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Darth_Daver --

Compile your kernel with SBLive! as a module, then configure the alsa-related config files as specified in the "Desktop Guide". If you get an error like "unable to load snd-emu10k1 module" in the "Initialising ALSA" section of boot up, all you need to do is re-emerge alsa and it will set itself up right. I find that I have to re-emerge alsa every time i re-compile the kernel.

Anyways, good luck man.
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Darth_Daver
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Joined: 22 Sep 2002
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 24, 2002 2:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the advice, rain. That sounds like a symptom I was having ("unable to load snd-emu10k1 module"). I changed some things to eliminate that symptom, but it apparently didn't address the problem ALSA was having. I'll give your recommendation a try as soon as I get a chance. I will be building a new system soon so I will devote more time to getting it just right.
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