Sound pretty much works, I just don't know why. For all I've read, the following isn't even possible:
(1) Amarok 1.4 is running with "Engine -> ALSA Device Configuration -> Stereo: hw:0", playing back a 44100 Hz FLAC on an on-board soundchip that seems to be 48000 Hz only. (Wasn't hw:0 supposed to NOT do rate conversion?) I can switch to OSS /dev/dsp, ALSA default, ALSA plughw:0, back to ALSA hw:0, and I can hear no difference.
(2) At the same time, JACK is up and running with Output and Input Device both set to hw:0. (Wasn't hw:0 supposed to NOT do software mixing? How can Amarok and JACK share it?)
(3) And a last.fm Flash player does its thing in Opera. (What sound device is it using?)
(4) I'm also looping a 44.1 kHz WAV in Audacity via ALSA: VIA 8237: VIA 8237 (hw:0,1). (At first I thought hw:0,0 was for playback, hw:0,1 for recording, or vice versa, but it seems both can do both, and I don't really know what they ...are.)
(5) And Pitfall II plays its doleful theme on the Stella Atari emulator. (I don't know if that's ALSA or OSS.) This is where it gets tight, and it might be necessary to rearrange app starting order or to change the sound interfaces they're to use.
When I exit the emulator, more devices become available to Audacity: I can additionally play audio through hw:0,0 or ALSA:front or ALSA:surround40, 41, 50, and 51 (it comes through the line-out jack in every case, I don't have any surround speakers). /dev/dsp is blocked... although Amarok can use it.
One difference I did notice in Audacity is this: When I change a project's sample rate, the "Actual Rate" info in the status bar stays at 48000 when I use hw:0,0... but it changes when I use default instead. Does that mean something about Audacity (or Portaudio?) converts everything back to 48000 Hz for the sake of hw:0,0, whereas ALSA ...or the soundcard?... is handling it when I'm using default?
And then there's Phonon with it's fancy "x-phonon:" interface that no other app seems to know about and which in turn doesn't seem to care for "hw:0" or "default".
I'm a bit confused. Is anyone not confused?
Edit: Ok, I'm not a newbie. I might've been using this thing since Warty or the original Ubuntu preview!
:-X
(1) Amarok 1.4 is running with "Engine -> ALSA Device Configuration -> Stereo: hw:0", playing back a 44100 Hz FLAC on an on-board soundchip that seems to be 48000 Hz only. (Wasn't hw:0 supposed to NOT do rate conversion?) I can switch to OSS /dev/dsp, ALSA default, ALSA plughw:0, back to ALSA hw:0, and I can hear no difference.
(2) At the same time, JACK is up and running with Output and Input Device both set to hw:0. (Wasn't hw:0 supposed to NOT do software mixing? How can Amarok and JACK share it?)
(3) And a last.fm Flash player does its thing in Opera. (What sound device is it using?)
(4) I'm also looping a 44.1 kHz WAV in Audacity via ALSA: VIA 8237: VIA 8237 (hw:0,1). (At first I thought hw:0,0 was for playback, hw:0,1 for recording, or vice versa, but it seems both can do both, and I don't really know what they ...are.)
(5) And Pitfall II plays its doleful theme on the Stella Atari emulator. (I don't know if that's ALSA or OSS.) This is where it gets tight, and it might be necessary to rearrange app starting order or to change the sound interfaces they're to use.
When I exit the emulator, more devices become available to Audacity: I can additionally play audio through hw:0,0 or ALSA:front or ALSA:surround40, 41, 50, and 51 (it comes through the line-out jack in every case, I don't have any surround speakers). /dev/dsp is blocked... although Amarok can use it.
One difference I did notice in Audacity is this: When I change a project's sample rate, the "Actual Rate" info in the status bar stays at 48000 when I use hw:0,0... but it changes when I use default instead. Does that mean something about Audacity (or Portaudio?) converts everything back to 48000 Hz for the sake of hw:0,0, whereas ALSA ...or the soundcard?... is handling it when I'm using default?
And then there's Phonon with it's fancy "x-phonon:" interface that no other app seems to know about and which in turn doesn't seem to care for "hw:0" or "default".
I'm a bit confused. Is anyone not confused?
Edit: Ok, I'm not a newbie. I might've been using this thing since Warty or the original Ubuntu preview!
:-X