Very Computer

Installed and tested JDK2.0 standard and enterprise editions.
Installed and tested IBM VisualAge for Java for Linux.
Installed and tested Postgresql.
Installed and tested Apache, Tomcat, et al..
Installed a mini-IDE called Jipe (love this little editor).
Created several classes and beans, including data access beans.
Began a side project in development for a local company.

With a few hiccups here and there (remedied in short order), everything went
pretty darn smoothly. Linux development tools have come a long way.

Flush with the success of my endeavours, Sunday night I decided it was about
time that I attempted to get my Midiman DIO-2448 digital sound card to work.
After all - the alsa project claimed to have a driver. They are even linked to
from the Delta home page at midiman.net.

What did I find?

The alsa documentation is terrible. Really, really bad. Finally, after
experiencing a heavy PITA factor, I got the drivers loaded. Result? I can
actually use the alsa driver to play audio - but I can't hear anything. Why?
Because the alsa mixer can't detect it's own driver running. Agh. I cannot
find a solution for this, so I am back to my original configuration, where my
sblive is supported through the default install, and the DIO-2448 is
unrecognized.

As has long been the case, development tools on linux rock - and what should
be simple system maintenance and accessibility is needlessly complicated and
arcane.

It's just as well, though. I keep Windows around for a lot of things these
days - one of which is digital audio editing. The tools that exist for linux -
which certainly number more than they did last year - are all pretty immature.
I get a little miffed with a number of advocates who simply don't understand
the concept of "the right tool for the job" - like the kill-filed "Jedi".

I will continue to dual boot. I am, however, extremely happy with the java
development tools on linux though - that simply made my week, I tell you.

Quote:>The alsa documentation is terrible. Really, really bad. Finally, after
>experiencing a heavy PITA factor, I got the drivers loaded. Result? I can
>actually use the alsa driver to play audio - but I can't hear anything.
Why?
>Because the alsa mixer can't detect it's own driver running. Agh. I cannot
>find a solution for this, so I am back to my original configuration, where
my
>sblive is supported through the default install, and the DIO-2448 is
>unrecognized.

Quote:>>The alsa documentation is terrible. Really, really bad. Finally, after
>>experiencing a heavy PITA factor, I got the drivers loaded. Result? I can
>>actually use the alsa driver to play audio - but I can't hear anything.
>Why?
>>Because the alsa mixer can't detect it's own driver running. Agh. I cannot
>>find a solution for this, so I am back to my original configuration, where
>my
>>sblive is supported through the default install, and the DIO-2448 is
>>unrecognized.

>Maybe someone here can offer help - it will probably help to know what linux
>distribution you are running though.

I could spend a bunch of time and energy chasing it down, but in the end the
only benefit would be that I could route xmms through my mixer via digital
outs before sending the audio to my headphones.

When Steinberg, Sonic Foundry and the others get around to making linux
versions, I'll try it out. So far all the open source audio editing tools fall
way short. It's just a maturity issue.

Again, use a platform for it's strengths. I haven't done any major
audio editing in two weeks, so, consequently, I've been using linux at home
almost exclusively during that period. Java development...

Quote:>  Why? Because the alsa mixer can't detect it's own driver
> running. Agh. I cannot find a solution for this, so I am back to my
> original configuration, where my sblive is supported through the
> default install, and the DIO-2448 is unrecognized.

        (1) Revert to your old version of modules.conf.

        (2) Download the latest version of alsa.conf from
            ftp://ftp.alsa-project.org/pub/driver/alsaconf/
            and run it. This will detect your soundcard and insert the
            appropriately lines in modules.conf.

        (3) Load the driver.

        (4) Run an ALSA aware mixer such as alsamixer and unmute the
            channels.

If you have any problems, you are welcome to email me directly.

Charles