Installing/Configuring ALSA Sound Modules In Debian

GonzoJohn writes "Linux Orbit explains how: "A very common question that comes up when trying Debian GNU/Linux is how the heck do you get Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (a.k.a. ALSA) sound modules set up properly? In this HOWTO we'll show you how to compile and install the ALSA kernel modules, and then setup things using the ALSA Debian script so that modules are automatically loaded and unloaded, and your mixer levels are saved and restored on boot up. Here are some things you'll need to have before you start this HOWTO""

Comments

It's about time they wrote a HOWTO for this

[SexyKellyOsbourne]

One of the biggest turn offs for new users to Linux is the general lack of sound support which either

1) Requires recompiling the kernel and crossing your fingers.

2) Requires you to use the beasts known as ALSA and crossing your fingers.

Operating systems are no longer stale command prompts with beeps and blurps -- they are full mutlimedia systems, and having working sound support in the first install should be a priority for Linux distributions.

When Linux newbies have a lack of HOWTOs and sound support is diffuclt to implement, at best they are going to fool around with Linux for a day or two and then go back to their MP3 collection under Windows.

Re:It's about time they wrote a HOWTO for this

[be-fan]

Um, go use a distro like Mandrake that auto-detects sound cards. It was one thing to bitch about this back when no Linux distro autodetected hardware. It's another thing to bitch about advanced distros (Debian) and development code (ALSA).

Re:It's about time they wrote a HOWTO for this

[Panoramix]

well...my laptop does not seem to want to work with audio...I have a VIA ac97 sound chip and it does not want to work with OSS modules that come in the kernel.

My laptop has one of those too. You need ALSA.

And yes, I did recompile the kernel and ALSA modules some months ago. It's not that terrible, but you do need a lot of disk (300 MB or so)... However, you do not have to compile the kernel, nor the ALSA modules, if you're using Woody and a 2.4 kernel. The package is already done, it's just that for some reason it is still in unstable. Probably some issue that hasn't been dealt with yet, I don't know. The packages work for me. Just fetch the right package for your kernel, run dpkg -i on it, and configure for your card.

Actually, you can configure apt to do this kind of thing without having to download stuff manually, but it's probably not worth it if the only thing you want from unstable is ALSA (or see apt_preferences(5) for details, if you do want to know more).

Why is this newsworthy?

[oingoboingo]

Sound card detection and setup happens invisibly and automatically on several other distributions. Why is this article worth mentioning? What would actually be newsworthy would be some Debian people swallowing their pride and incorporating some of the excellent automatic hardware detection, setup and installation routines that the other distro developers have produced. That's what free and open software is all about, right?

Re:Why is this newsworthy?

[PigeonGB]

It isn't about pride, as much as the number of Debian users would make it sound.
It is more of the fact that Debian can't release a new Stable version until it works on all of the supported platforms.

But you are right. There should be no reason why something like autodetection shouldn't be incorporated into the install process. That is why they are working on a new install/boot process. An active mailing list to be on, let me tell you.

Re:RTFM.... that's the WinME manual, right ...

[SealBeater]

What's wrong with that approach? Let's see:

You don't learn anything. Learning new things is important to me, if not to anyone else.

Automagically detecting hardware is not an exact science. If all you use is a tool to do something, then you can't fix it if said tool breaks.

Lots of time to read is relative. In the time it takes to read the HOWTO, you could have read the documentation that comes with ALSA and walked away with far more knowledge. You have to learn how to do anything, that's just a fact.

SealBeater

Re:RTFM.... that's the WinME manual, right ...

[Anonymous Coward]

What do you learn by trying to configure and install a piece of software by following a HOWTO? Other than the location and format of config files, which I doubt is a valuable knowledge?

I don't know. You could use this time to learn something that is actually useful. Like an interesting programming language, or some theory, or something not related to computers at all. I don't like the face the software FORCES me to use my time to learn its configuration, as opposed to saving me time I could use on what I want. Unless you're a mindless drone who, if not given a configuration problem, just reads Slashdot and chats on ICQ... ;-)

Last time I checked, you could override drivers on Windows.

So, let me get this straight.

[markv242]

In order to add great sound support to Debian, you have to:

- Make sure you have a 2.5.x kernel or above.
- Select your card from a dropdown.
- Retrieve, unpack, and compile source code.
- Install resulting software with a strange command-line utility.
- Retrieve, unpack, and install even more software.
- Edit a configuration file.
- Edit another configuration file.
- Run a script.
- Start a daemon.

Wow. That's so easy! I can see why OS X is the number one selling Unix:

- Go to System Preferences.
- Select "Sound".
- Select "Output".
- Select your high-end audio card.
- Select "Input".
- Select your high-end audio card.

Let's assume that your time is worth $50/hr. After a few hours of struggling to set up sound under Linux, that extra cash for Apple hardware doesn't sound so bad...

Last I checked, ALSA was rough to install

[Booker]

I'm sure alsa does lots of cool things, but I never got past the fact that with the oss drivers, I could:

$ modprobe es1370

and away I went.

With ALSA, I could load 15 or twenty drivers, and even if I managed to pick all the right ones, the damn things were muted by default! :) WTFIUWT?

So.. maybe a howto is a good thing. But why is it so damn complex that it requires a howto?

Please keep this in mind..

[ACK!!]

If your distro picks up, configures and sets your sound up without ALSA then you do NOT have to do this. You can and ogle for playing DVDs requires it but personally on my maestro3 card the sound from the OSS driver is better IMO compared to ALSA.

In ALSA it sounds sort of tinny and strained, it seems like the plain-jane maestro3 as opposed to the ALSA snd-maestro3 works better at least on my laptop.

I never seem to have trouble with my sound till I start mucking with it by hand. If I accept the distro defaults I am usually better off. This is a good thing for distros by the way. However, this is the exact opposite in terms of XF86Config. It seems like I always find two or three things to tweak manually that the distro-makers miss.

Oh well...

________________________________________________ __

Re:And people wonder why Lunix isn't 'mainstream'

[Alethes]

This sound issue, I believe, is very Debian centric, and likely would never come up with Grandma Bessie, who would probably use one of several more user-friendly, desktop-oriented distributions. I use Slackware (not part of that more user-friendly group), and even with that I have never had to read anything to get my sound working.

Linux isn't mainstream because people like you assume that "it ISN'T INTENDED, and NEVER WAS INTENDED, to run on the desktop." How very short-sighted of you to assume something so silly. The sad thing is that in a few years when Linux has made major inroads toward that goal, we'll still have your claim in the Slashdot archives to look back on and laugh.

BTW: You should probably have a look at the HOWTO for IIS (running on that vastly superior OS where no HOWTOs are needed?). You've got a bit of a problem at http://beaner.dyndns.org.

* Error Type:
Microsoft JET Database Engine (0x80040E09)
Cannot update. Database or object is read-only. /Default.asp, line 57

Stick that in your pipe and smoke it.

"getting sound working" is not the whole story.

[fishbowl]

Since most people only want sound hardware for output, this is probably enough.

If you are looking to migrate away from Cakewalk, Cubase, or Logic to a Linux solution, it's still a pipe dream. Sure there are a million audio projects, but the cubase killer is just not out there, not in the pipeline, and I don't even imagine it's in the cards.

A linux version of Fruityloops would be awesome, and if it were able to host VST applications, it would be of significant value to me.

One other point; I'd like to see a howto that deals specifically with the 2.5 kernel and debian.

The article is clear and concise, and it stops short of telling you how to, say, do multitrack recording, enabling 24/96 recording and mixing, or how to enable hardware synths. It also doesn't give any card specific help (Ice1712 M-Audio cards, anyone?) This is really just a special case of "installing modules" which is documented pretty well, elsewhere.