Windows to Linux beginer tips.

[keiths]

Hi Keiths

I don’t suppose I could persuade you to type up how you removed Pulse audio from Ubuntu 10.04 and configured ALSA (?) for bit perfect playback?

I used this
http://www.jeffsplace.net/node/12
and did get it working eventually but I didn’t keep a record of any issues at the time.

Hi John,

I just removed PulseAudio completely:

sudo apt-get autoremove pulseaudio

As I'm using XBMC, I didn't bother modifying the GStreamer configuration as XBMC uses it's own audio engine and I don't have use Banshee or any of the other players that use the GStreamer backend installed.

In XBMC I have the audio output set to "Custom hw:1,0" to bypass alsamixer.

Edited to add: Hey, 1 kilopost How did that happen!

[Welder]

Cheers Keith.

I think I’ll give XMBC a try with Lubuntu. I didn’t realize XMBC wasn’t GStreamer dependant.

[Ashmore]

Hi

I am far from a computer geek and, aside from a brief flirtation with ubuntu, I have no experience with linux. Some years ago, when searching for a hassle-free, always-on solution for my Squeezebox setup I came across vortexbox, a dedicated fedora distro, and have been happy ever since.

It is an easy install, comes with the latest sb server software, scans, autorips to FLAC, mirrors in mp3, sees and can be seen on my network, has some sort of backup thing (i've not used it), and has a software player so you can use it without a Touch/classic straight into a usb dac. Recent iterations include a dvd ripper and sonos support (though I've not tried/needed these).

Finally, unlike any windows box I've owned, it doesn't throw a wobbly every five minutes.

How does that sound?

[keiths]

Cheers Keith.

I think I’ll give XMBC a try with Lubuntu. I didn’t realize XMBC wasn’t GStreamer dependant.

To try it, just use the 'XBMC Live' CD.

[Krisbee]

Part1:

As a committed Linux user I welcome any advocacy, and applaud John's efforts. If I can contribute anything I know about this topic, I'd be happy to do so. And I'll make every effort not to lapse into “geek speak”. Although, as an aside, I would say that half the battle of getting to grips with any new area of knowledge is to understand the jargon used. In some cases, it just cannot be avoided.

Don't necessarily expect Linux users to agree on all things. Despite Ubuntu's popularity, I'm not sure it would be my choice for a new Linux user who is specifically interested in audio matters. It's simply because “Pulse Audio” gets in the way and is not always easy to completely remove. Perhaps, this has changed in the latest 11.10 Ubuntu release.

Each to his own, of course, and there is a cornucopia of Linux LiveCDs you could try. My own rec is for PclinuxOS. It's not as bleeding edge as some Linux versions, bit it has a large software repository , a wide user base, and an active and friendly forum. It does lack a decent WIKI, but issues a monthly magazine which can be read on-line.

Rather than download and burn one, or more Linux LiveCDs iso, you could get to grips with VirtualBox. It is easy to install on Windows and it will let you run Linux inside Windows, eihter as a LivCD or installed on a virtual drive. This way you can try as many different Linux versions as you like without burning a single iso and learn how to install Linux on a (virtual) hard drive. You can also learn/try the techniques of sub dividing your hard drive for Linux use and dual booting a PC that has both Linux and Windows installed on it, all this before doing it for real. Apart from VirtualBox, which is free software, all you need is spare hard disk capacity (say around 10Gb) and the downloads of Linux LiveCds in iso format.

What running Linux in VirtualBox cannot tell you is how Linux will actually run on your hardware. You will only know if your hardware is 100% Linux compatible if you burn and run a LivcCD directly. One area which can be troublesome is wireless networking, but it is often just a case of finding the right drivers. It's easier to work with a machine, at least in the first instance, that has wired network connection.

John was mentioned the need to create/mange hard drive partitions. If you intend to follow his advice and install Linux on its own, then it is a none issue. All modern Linux versions will partition the drive as part of the installation process, just as Windows would. In addition a bootloader will be installed during the install process (typically GRUB or GRUB2). You will be given the option to accept a default partition scheme, or do it manually, and select where the bootloader is installed.

(This website has excellent tutorials on GRUB:

http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/grub.html
http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/grub-2.html

but you don't need to consider this unless you are into dual/multibooting)

If you want Linux to coexist with Windows there are well documented ways to do this. I have found it best to use Windows tools to manage Windows partitions for things like resizing, moving and cloning. One totally free product which I have used with success is EaseUS® Partition Master 9.1 Home Edition

http://www.partition-tool.com/personal.htm

Together with

http://www.todo-backup.com/products/...p-software.htm
for Windows back up. It really works as advertised.

I use gparted for managing Linux partitions and some actions on Windows partitions. It is part of some Linux version, but also part of a Linux LiveCD called http://partedmagic.com/doku.php. This also has some other very handy Linux tools. So I have tended to prepare my hard drives in advance of any Linux installations, and then pick the custom partition option during installation.

For the new linux user I think there are these basic questions:

Which Linux to choose and where do I get it?
How do I install it so I don't destroy Windows?
Once installed what can I do with it?

If audio is your target, as opposed to general purpose use, the answer may vary. It's quite possible to get excellent audio results from many mainstream varieties of Linux with little or no more effort. than you would make in Windows. Life is a made easier if “pulse audio” is not installed. Use LiveCDs directly, or in Virtualbox until you find the version you want and are ready to install it on your hard drive. These refs will give you and idea of the scope of Linux software:

http://www.howtoforge.com/the-perfec...nuxos-2010-kde

http://www.howtoforge.com/the-perfec...x-mint-12-lisa

[Krisbee]

PART 2:

A few tips for new Linux Users.

Whether using on-board sound like Intel's HDA, or a PCI/PCIE sound card, or an external DAC follow the same basic guidelines as per Windows. For quality playback, avoid software volume control, sound mixing, and re-sampling. In Windows this means using something like foobar with ASIO or kernel streaming and checking you are playing your audio files in their native format where possible.

In Linux you are most likely to be using the ALSA sound system, either via point and click software like Amarok, VLC media player, SMplayer or one of many others, or their command line counterparts. The basic check to make is to be sure your sound device can operate at the native bit depth ( e.g. 16bits or 24bit) and frequency (e.g. 44.1Khz,or 48HKz or 96KhZ etc.) of your audio files whether they are FLAC, WAV, ape, or OGG etc.

You don't want to use any mixer (ALSA's mixer is dmix, which becomes kmix in KDE). Incidently. alsamixer is something different, and not the same thing as ALSA's mixer. Alsa works with both “plughw” and “hw” sound devices. Sound playback via software that uses the device as type “plughw” may, but not necessarily, be doing both format (as in bit depth) and sample rate conversion. The latter is not wanted, but bit padding, say from 24bit to 32bit as demanded by some s/cards, is not detrimental to SQ. If the sound device can be used a type “hw” no format or sample rate conversion will take place.

So how do you know what your sound device is capable of? You need some test files of various bit/freq combos and a few ALSA commands. These examples are taken from my PC and should illustrate the point. My output is either digital from the on/board HDA chip to toslink DAC input , or USB to USB DAC input. You'll have to use the command line for this. Look for your “terminal “ application if using a GUI desktop. This can be done as a normal user, root access is not rquired.

Check if your sound hardware is recognised by ALSA using "aplay -l" (that's lower case L)

aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: SB [HDA ATI SB], device 0: ALC892 Analog [ALC892 Analog]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: SB [HDA ATI SB], device 1: ALC892 Digital [ALC892 Digital]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 7: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 8: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 9: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 2: CODEC [USB Audio CODEC], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

In my case, I have on/board HDA audio, audio built into the HDMI of the Nvidia graphics card, and an external USB DAC.


Play test wav files using aplay. First for USB audio output. In ALSA speak, this is device 2,0 (or in some software 2.0)




The USB DAC can only be used a “hw” type device when the audio file format matches its capabilities. Say 16bit/44.1Khz or 16bit/48KHz.

TEST 1: USB DAC 16bit/44.1KHz WAV file – device type “hw”

aplay -v -D hw:2,0 test.wav
Playing WAVE 'test.wav' : Signed 16 bit Little Endian, Rate 44100 Hz, Stereo
Hardware PCM card 2 'USB Audio CODEC' device 0 subdevice 0
Its setup is:
stream : PLAYBACK
access : RW_INTERLEAVED
format : S16_LE
subformat : STD
channels : 2
rate : 44100
exact rate : 44100 (44100/1)
msbits : 16
buffer_size : 22050
period_size : 5513
period_time : 125011
tstamp_mode : NONE
period_step : 1
avail_min : 5513
period_event : 0
start_threshold : 22050
stop_threshold : 22050
silence_threshold: 0
silence_size : 0
boundary : 6206523236469964800
appl_ptr : 0
hw_ptr : 0

Now if I try to playback as a type “hw” device 24/96 it fails:

TEST 2: USB DAC 24bit/96KHz WAV file – device type “hw”

aplay -v -D hw:2,0 2L38_01_96kHz.wav
Playing WAVE '2L38_01_96kHz.wav' : Signed 24 bit Little Endian in 3bytes, Rate 96000 Hz, Stereo
aplay: set_params:1065: Sample format non available
Available formats:
- S8
- U8
- S16_LE

I can playback 24bit/96Khz audio on the USB DAC but only by using it as a “plughw” type device.

TEST 3: USB DAC 24bit/96KHz WAV file – device type “plughw”

aplay -v -D plughw:2,0 2L38_01_96kHz.wav
Playing WAVE '2L38_01_96kHz.wav' : Signed 24 bit Little Endian in 3bytes, Rate 96000 Hz, Stereo
Plug PCM: Rate conversion PCM (48000, sformat=S16_LE)
Converter: linear-interpolation
Protocol version: 10002
Its setup is:
stream : PLAYBACK
access : RW_INTERLEAVED
format : S24_3LE
subformat : STD
channels : 2
rate : 96000
exact rate : 96000 (96000/1)
msbits : 24
buffer_size : 48000
period_size : 12000
period_time : 125000
tstamp_mode : NONE
period_step : 1
avail_min : 12000
period_event : 0
start_threshold : 48000
stop_threshold : 48000
silence_threshold: 0
silence_size : 0
boundary : 6755399441055744000
Slave: Hardware PCM card 2 'USB Audio CODEC' device 0 subdevice 0
Its setup is:
stream : PLAYBACK
access : MMAP_INTERLEAVED
format : S16_LE
subformat : STD
channels : 2
rate : 48000
exact rate : 48000 (48000/1)
msbits : 16
buffer_size : 24001
period_size : 6000
period_time : 125000
tstamp_mode : NONE
period_step : 1
avail_min : 6000
period_event : 0
start_threshold : 24000
stop_threshold : 24001
silence_threshold: 0
silence_size : 0
boundary : 6755680916032454656
appl_ptr : 0
hw_ptr : 0

So you can boast to Stan his USB DAC can play 24bit/96Khz. But it sounds, well not quite right, because both format and samplerate conversion are taking place

If I repeat the test using the HDA digital out I must use device 0,1

TEST 4: HDA digital 16bit/44.1KHz WAV file – device type “hw”

aplay -v -D hw:0,1 test.wav
Playing WAVE 'test.wav' : Signed 16 bit Little Endian, Rate 44100 Hz, Stereo
Hardware PCM card 0 'HDA ATI SB' device 1 subdevice 0
Its setup is:
stream : PLAYBACK
access : RW_INTERLEAVED
format : S16_LE
subformat : STD
channels : 2
rate : 44100
exact rate : 44100 (44100/1)
msbits : 16
buffer_size : 22016
period_size : 5504
period_time : 124807
tstamp_mode : NONE
period_step : 1
avail_min : 5504
period_event : 0
start_threshold : 22016
stop_threshold : 22016
silence_threshold: 0
silence_size : 0
boundary : 6196953087261802496
appl_ptr : 0
hw_ptr : 0

TEST 5: HDA digital 24bit/96KHz WAV file – device type “hw”

aplay -v -D hw:0,1 2L38_01_96kHz.wav
Playing WAVE '2L38_01_96kHz.wav' : Signed 24 bit Little Endian in 3bytes, Rate 96000 Hz, Stereo
aplay: set_params:1065: Sample format non available
Available formats:
- S16_LE
- S32_LE

TEST 6: HDA digital 24bit/96KHz WAV file – device type “plughw”

aplay -v -D plughw:0,1 2L38_01_96kHz.wav
Playing WAVE '2L38_01_96kHz.wav' : Signed 24 bit Little Endian in 3bytes, Rate 96000 Hz, Stereo
Plug PCM: Linear conversion PCM (S32_LE)
Its setup is:
stream : PLAYBACK
access : RW_INTERLEAVED
format : S24_3LE
subformat : STD
channels : 2
rate : 96000
exact rate : 96000 (96000/1)
msbits : 24
buffer_size : 48000
period_size : 12000
period_time : 125000
tstamp_mode : NONE
period_step : 1
avail_min : 12000
period_event : 0
start_threshold : 48000
stop_threshold : 48000
silence_threshold: 0
silence_size : 0
boundary : 6755399441055744000
Slave: Hardware PCM card 0 'HDA ATI SB' device 1 subdevice 0
Its setup is:
stream : PLAYBACK
access : MMAP_INTERLEAVED
format : S32_LE
subformat : STD
channels : 2
rate : 96000
exact rate : 96000 (96000/1)
msbits : 32
buffer_size : 48000
period_size : 12000
period_time : 125000
tstamp_mode : NONE
period_step : 1
avail_min : 12000
period_event : 0
start_threshold : 48000
stop_threshold : 48000
silence_threshold: 0
silence_size : 0
boundary : 6755399441055744000
appl_ptr : 0
hw_ptr : 0

Test 5 fails, because the HDA chip can't handle 24bit format, only 16 or 32bits. Hence the need for bit padding which is provided for by using it as “plughw” type device.

The same type of test can be done for FLAC files using mplayer at the command line, e.g.:

mplayer -ao alsa:device=plughw=0,1 2L38_01_96kHz.wav
Failed to read /etc/mplayer/mplayer.conf.local: No such file or directory
Warning unknown option include at line 171
MPlayer SVN-r34442 (C) 2000-2010 MPlayer Team
Can't open joystick device /dev/input/js0: No such file or directory
Can't init input joystick
mplayer: could not connect to socket
mplayer: No such file or directory
Failed to open LIRC support. You will not be able to use your remote control.

Playing 2L38_01_96kHz.wav.
Audio only file format detected.
Load subtitles in ./
================================================== ========================
Opening audio decoder: [pcm] Uncompressed PCM audio decoder
AUDIO: 96000 Hz, 2 ch, s24le, 4608.0 kbit/100.00% (ratio: 576000->576000)
Selected audio codec: [pcm] afm: pcm (Uncompressed PCM)
================================================== ========================
AO: [alsa] 96000Hz 2ch s24le (3 bytes per sample)
Video: no video
===== PAUSE =====
A: 21.2 (21.1) of 554.0 (09:14.0) 0.2%


MPlayer interrupted by signal 2 in module: pause

Exiting... (Quit)


So to use the USB DAC in Linux I need to make sure any playback software is pointing to device hw:2,0 ( or hw=2.0). If I want to use the on/board HDA digital out, the playback software should point to device plughw:0,1 ( or plughw=0.1). I check no sample rate or harrnful bit depth changes are taking place and I check if mixing of sounds if off as is software volume control. I control my volume directly on my USB DAC.

[Krisbee]

A ton of stiff about XBMC at:

http://xbmc.org/download/

http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title...XBMC_for_Linux

I should give this a whirl myself.

[Welder]

While I partially agree with Chris (Krisbee) I really do think running virtual drives, partition management and running stuff from live CD’s isn’t the way forward for the Linux and computer novice.

This sort of stuff is great for people who are very comfortable with computers but for the point and click Windows user………I think it will end in tears personally; there is way to much scope for a serious disaster.

Once (assuming some interest exists) a person has actually done the simplest possible Linux installation and got it to work, then they may start looking into acquiring more knowledge and considering working on an audio only installation that imo performs far better than a Windows installation, no matter what pre configured application one bolts on to it.

All the geeky stuff can come later.
Most will manage an ISO image burnt on to a RW CD and have the benefit of seeing how a OS performs without slowness problems due to USB bandwidth for example when running a “live” distribution.

Also, they’ll have that particular distribution on a more stable medium.

It’s easy to forget that AoS has contributors who are interested in file based audio who have problems embedding a link or setting up a music player, expecting them to dive into partition management and virtual drives is a bit much and isn’t imo likely to woo them over to computers of file based audio. The probability is they’ll go back to those funny black shiny discs and scrape a needle along them for future audio if file based audio crashes their computers or gives them major brain ache.



Thanks for the stuff above Chris. Looks useful. Mid Lubuntu atm but I hope to try out XMBC later.

[John]

Hi again Jostein.

First my apologies, I spelt your name wrong in my preceding post….

What I’m trying to do here is gather information about Linux audio matters.
I don’t really have a problem as such. Thanks for the offer of assistance anyway. No doubt I shall call on it at a later time.

One can’t help noticing here on AoS there are a few people who are interested in file based audio but who aren’t particularly comfortable with working with computers.

What I’m aiming for is a full walkthrough of installing at least one and preferably a few lightweight Linux distributions suitable for low powered aging laptops. Of course, there should be nothing to prevent such a configuration working on a powerful desktop either.
Hopefully, if we can get at least one step by step audio orientated Linux installation that actually works laid out here people will give it a try on an unused laptop or spare drive.

While it’s probably true that there are such guides elsewhere on the net, in my experience a high proportion of them are either unintelligible to a Linux beginner or don’t work in practice.

My particular preference is for directly attached external drives with the client and server all on one machine and a GUI player that can be viewed from say three or four meters away that has some form of remote control; something similar to Keith’s (above) set up in fact.
This is what I think will be most useful to the “average” audiophile interested in venturing into file based audio.

I suppose a second objective is to get audiophiles to move from the often costly commercial OS that aren’t particularly suitable for file based audio out of the box to a free and more adaptable Linux option.

Hi Keiths

I don’t suppose I could persuade you to type up how you removed Pulse audio from Ubuntu 10.04 and configured ALSA (?) for bit perfect playback?

I used this
http://www.jeffsplace.net/node/12
and did get it working eventually but I didn’t keep a record of any issues at the time.

I be more than willing to give this ago but it sounds like a real head f--k and my computers skills are pretty average
So if I start to see yes this is easy to install withour hassles I am more than willing to take the plunge so I hope you suceed

[Tim]

It’s easy to forget that AoS has contributors who are interested in file based audio who have problems embedding a link or setting up a music player, expecting them to dive into partition management and virtual drives is a bit much and isn’t imo likely to woo them over to computers of file based audio. The probability is they’ll go back to those funny black shiny discs and scrape a needle along them for future audio if file based audio crashes their computers or gives them major brain ache.

I couldn't agree more John, you either have to be comfortable with computers already, or have a lot of time and patience to spend learning something that is very different to what you are used to and has John has commented, scares the average home computer user.

However, having said that the info here is great Chris so thanks for that and I will have a peruse when I can - lots of good information there.