Re: [GnomeMeeting-list] Help!! - ALSA crashes my Gnomemeeting

[Marc Williams <marcw onlymooo com>]

Well, I have some bad news.  Sort of.  I don't think I'll be
troubleshooting for Alsa any more.  I got tired of some of the problems
I was having and reverted back.  Read on for the reasons and if this
isn't too boring.

First off, if you'll recall from a much earlier post, there wasn't
really anything wrong with my current default Red Hat audio setup.  OSS
I believe.  I just wanted to see if the performance of Alsa was as good
as some were saying.  In other words, I didn't have anything better to
do.

Secondly was the original problem with the freshrpm packages which it
turns out wasn't a problem with the packages at all but rather the
version of Alsa.  Having to compile an older version just to overcome a
version specific bug isn't all bad.  Just a little annoying.  Especially
on a slow computer.  Took about 30 minutes to compile the driver.

Then, when I get the driver, libs, and utils built I was faced with some
of the more poorly produced docs I've seen in some time.  I'm sure
someone whose been around Linux for a good length of time wouldn't have
as much problems trying to decipher the docs as I did.  I've seen good
docs and poor docs.  These were definitely on the lower end of the
scale.

Then I was getting error messages (Red Hat, I think) telling me that it
couldn't open my audio device when I tried to converse in Gnomemeeting. 
Something about it being busy.

And only about half of my audio devices volume levels were being saved
after a logoff.  CD, Video, etc were being reset back to mute with each
new logon.

When I uninstalled Alsa and reverted back to my original, everything
once again works as it should.

If and when I get an audio card that doesn't behave well with OSS, I'll
consider going back to Alsa.

Sorry Damien.


On Wed, 2002-11-06 at 17:16, Damien Sandras wrote:
> http://www.mandrakeforum.org/article.php?lang=en&sid=2459
> 
> was the link where I read that APIC support can lead systems to freeze.
> Perhaps ALSA 0.9 RC5 has instruction that can make machines running with
> APIC freeze.
> 
> 
> Le jeu 07/11/2002 à 00:14, Damien Sandras a écrit :
> > After a bit of searching on google, it seems that it can also be due to
> > the "APIC" support in kernels.
> > Do you know if redhat provides kernels with APIC support?
> > If so, can you try the ALSA RC5 again (you should be able to back up
> > your current install: make uninstall, make install to reinstall it), but
> > boot linux with the 'append noapic' line in /etc/lilo.conf ?
> > 
> > Thanks :)
> > 
> > Le mer 06/11/2002 à 23:34, Damien Sandras a écrit :
> > > Perhaps I should mail the ALSA developers mailing list.
> > > Once it works, can you mail me privately in a day or two to confirm me
> > > that it never crashes?
> > > 
> > > Thanks
> > > 
> > > (Perhaps you could also mail the ALSA developers mailing list to report
> > > them the bug, they will surely ask you things about your setup).
> > > 
> > > My opinion is that there is a bug in ALSA 0.9.0 RC5 and that it is
> > > independant of Redhat. (Mandrake people are using the ALSA version
> > > shipping with MDK 9, which is a bit older).
> > > 
> > > 
> > > Thanks for your contribution!
> > > 
> > > Le mer 06/11/2002 à 23:26, Marc Williams a écrit :
> > > > Ok, here's the latest on the Alsa drivers.
> > > > 
> > > > Sine the only way to use the FreshRPMs was to use the latest, 0.9.0rc5,
> > > > because they're the only ones that matched my kernel, Damien asked if I
> > > > would compile an older version since that wouldn't be kernel version
> > > > specific.  Just for the heck of it, and to make sure it wasn't just the
> > > > packaging done by Freshrpms, I compiled the latest version, rc5. 
> > > > Likewise, the compiled version crashed my system shortly after a
> > > > connection was established.
> > > > 
> > > > So it was then on to rc3, the version that Damien asked me to compile
> > > > from the start.  Bingo.  It works without crashing.  So iguess that
> > > > would lead one to believe that there is a compatibility issue between RH
> > > > 8, rc5, and Gnomemeeting.
> > > > 
> > > > So the summary answer for anyone running Red Hat 8 and who wants or
> > > > needs to use the Alsa driver - compile the older Alsa 0.9.0rc3.
> > > > 
> > > > Now to figure out a few weird things with my new audio...  But at least
> > > > it doesn't crash.
> > > > 
> > > > 
> > > > 
> > > > On Wed, 2002-11-06 at 10:30, Marc Williams wrote:
> > > > > 
> > > > > 
> > > > > On Wed, 2002-11-06 at 10:27, Damien Sandras wrote:
> > > > > > You are not the only one to mention kernel crashes using GnomeMeeting
> > > > > > under Redhat 8.0.
> > > > > > System crashing means a driver bug. As me, and many other people who are
> > > > > > using ALSA have no problem, it would indicate a Redhat 8.00 bug.
> > > > > > Did you have system crashing when using GnomeMeeting before using ALSA?
> > > > > 
> > > > > No.  It worked great.
> > > > > 
> > > > > > Did you compile ALSA yourself?
> > > > > 
> > > > > No.  Used freshRPMs.
> > > > > 
> > > > > I'm doing a bit of looking elsewhere also.  I'd rather not remove ALSA
> > > > > until I give it a fair workout so I'm looking forward to fixing this....
> > > > > 
> > > > > 
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > Le mer 06/11/2002 à 17:18, Marc Williams a écrit :
> > > > > > > Being the compulsive tinkerer that can't leave well enough alone, I
> > > > > > > decided to install ALSA on my RH 8.0 system.  Why?  I have no idea other
> > > > > > > than a lot of people say very positive things about ALSA.  I followed
> > > > > > > the directions on the freshrpms and ALSA sites to install.  Set a few
> > > > > > > things in alsamixer and voila!  Everything seemed to work.
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > Until I fired up Gnomemeeting.  A few seconds after connecting with
> > > > > > > anyone (I've tried two different people) my system locks up tighter than
> > > > > > > a (pick your metaphore).  Mouse is frozen, no keyboard, yadda yadda. 
> > > > > > > Requires a hard boot.  Thank goodness for ext3, eh?
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > All my other apps that I've tried so far seem to work well.  At least
> > > > > > > those that deliver audio.  I don't have any other apps that use the mic.
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > So even though I'm fairly certain that this is not a Gnomemeeting issue
> > > > > > > since it seems that a lot of people use ALSA with Gnomemeeting, I
> > > > > > > thought I'd ask here for help.  After all, people here are nice and
> > > > > > > besides, I'm not subscribed to an ALSA list.  :)
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > Not sure what info is needed to track this down.  Here's my modules.conf
> > > > > > > (I'm sure it will wrap horribly):
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > alias parport_lowlevel parport_pc
> > > > > > > alias eth0 eepro100
> > > > > > > # alias sound-slot-0 es1371
> > > > > > > # post-install sound-slot-0 /bin/aumix-minimal -f /etc/.aumixrc -L
> > > > > > > >/dev/null 2>&1 || :
> > > > > > > # pre-remove sound-slot-0 /bin/aumix-minimal -f /etc/.aumixrc -S
> > > > > > > >/dev/null 2>&1 || :
> > > > > > > post-install snd-card-0 /usr/sbin/alsactl restore >/dev/null 2>&1 || :
> > > > > > > pre-remove snd-card-0 /usr/sbin/alsactl store >/dev/null 2>&1 || :
> > > > > > > alias char-major-81 bttv
> > > > > > > # ALSA portion
> > > > > > > alias char-major-116 snd
> > > > > > > alias snd-card-0 snd-ens1371
> > > > > > > # module options should go here
> > > > > > > # OSS/Free portion
> > > > > > > alias char-major-14 soundcore
> > > > > > > alias sound-slot-0 snd-card-0
> > > > > > > # card #1
> > > > > > > alias sound-service-0-0 snd-mixer-oss
> > > > > > > alias sound-service-0-1 snd-seq-oss
> > > > > > > alias sound-service-0-3 snd-pcm-oss
> > > > > > > alias sound-service-0-8 snd-seq-oss
> > > > > > > alias sound-service-0-12 snd-pcm-oss
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > I really appreciate any pointers you can give to get this thing fixed so
> > > > > > > that I don't have to back out the ALSA stuff.  In case it's not obvious
> > > > > > > from the modules.conf file, my card is an Ensoniq ES1371.  CPU is a AMD
> > > > > > > k6-2 400.  I used the RPMs available on the freshrpms site.
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > Thanks!
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > > > > GnomeMeeting-list mailing list
> > > > > > > GnomeMeeting-list gnome org
> > > > > > > http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/gnomemeeting-list
> > > > > > -- 
> > > > > >  _	Damien Sandras
> > > > > > (o-	GnomeMeeting: http://www.gnomemeeting.org/
> > > > > > //\	FOSDEM 2003:  http://www.fosdem.org
> > > > > > v_/_	
> > > > > > 	H.323 phone:  callto://ils.seconix.com/dsandras seconix com
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > > > GnomeMeeting-list mailing list
> > > > > > GnomeMeeting-list gnome org
> > > > > > http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/gnomemeeting-list
> > > > > > 
> > > > > 
> > > > > 
> > > > > _______________________________________________
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> > > > > GnomeMeeting-list gnome org
> > > > > http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/gnomemeeting-list
> > > > > 
> > > > 
> > > > 
> > > > _______________________________________________
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> > > > GnomeMeeting-list gnome org
> > > > http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/gnomemeeting-list
> > > -- 
> > >   _
> > >  (o-      SANDRAS Damien
> > >  //\      
> > >  v_/_     Check Out Gnome Meeting !
> > >           http://www.gnomemeeting.org/
> > > 
> > > 
> > > 
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> > > GnomeMeeting-list gnome org
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> > -- 
> >   _
> >  (o-      SANDRAS Damien
> >  //\      
> >  v_/_     Check Out Gnome Meeting !
> >           http://www.gnomemeeting.org/
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > _______________________________________________
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> -- 
>   _
>  (o-      SANDRAS Damien
>  //\      
>  v_/_     Check Out Gnome Meeting !
>           http://www.gnomemeeting.org/
> 
> 
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