[PlanetCCRMA] New MidiMan 2X2 Issues

[Mark Knecht]

Fernando,
   I'll send some specifics along this evening, but here's what I can
remember right now. Responses embedded below.

Thanks,
Mark

-----Original Message-----
From: Fernando Pablo Lopez-Lezcano [mailto:nando@ccrma.Stanford.EDU]
Sent: Monday, December 16, 2002 2:53 PM
To: Mark Knecht
Cc: PlanetCCRMA
Subject: Re: [PlanetCCRMA] New MidiMan 2X2 Issues


>    I am seeing a pretty consistent problem that seems to be based around
the
> use of the MidiMan 2X2 setup from the Planet. The problem goes like this:
>
> 1) I'm using this new HDSP 9652 + the MidiMan 2X2
>
> 2) If I cold boot with the 2X2 plugged in, maybe 1 out of 4 times the alsa
> layer doesn't come up at all. If I cold boot with the 2X2 disconnected it
> seems to always come up.

What usb related messages do you see in /var/log/messages? (or in
dmesg). Have you added "audio" and "usb-midi" to the hotplug blacklist?

[MWK] I have added audio usb-midi to the hotplug black list. The usb
messages are a bit different (I think) based on whether the 2X2 gets plugged
in after booting, or whether it's plugged in when I reboot. I'll check this
closely and send some information later.

> 3) If I've been in Linux and reboot with the 2X2 plugged in, then it
appears
> that the HDSP gets installed most of the time, but often seems to come up
as
> a second card. I'll see /dev/snd/pcmC1D0 instead of pcmC0D0.

You have to configure the modules.conf file for the second snd-usb-audio
card as well. What does your current modules.conf look like (the alsa
part).

[MWK] The only change made in modules.conf is to raise the number of sound
cards by 2, as per the Nano-HOWTO. Other than that there are no entries in
that file other than the ones added by alsaconf for the HDSP 9652. I'll send
along a copy later.

>    None of this is catastrophic, but it's a pain. When it happens, I don't
> know how to fix things except for unplugging the 2X2 and rebooting again.
> Are there any instructions for how to start alsa by hand? Can I rmmod
> certain drivers and then insmod them by hand? Or preferably in a script?

The alsa startup and shutdown script is /etc/rc.d/init.d/alsasound. To
stop alsa type "/etc/rc.d/init.d/alsasound stop" (as root, of course),
to start it again type "/etc/rc.d/init.d/alsasound start". This will
take care of starting all modules as specified in the alsa section of
modules.conf.

[MWK] If I can get the machine in a bad state, then I'll see if this cleans
it up. Presumably this removes /dev/snd entries when I stop it, and creates
them when I start it?

You can always start and stop modules by hand if you wish. For loading
modules you should always use modprobe, not insmod (because modprobe
takes care of dependencies).

-- Fernando