AVLinux - no sound

[Claus]

It must be my fault, I probably made all these Audio components to knock each other off the fence ...

I've got an external sound device, Tascam US-16x08, connected via USB, it did work in a previous Ubuntu installation. It works for recording, too, using Ardour, but it won't play back.

I tried this right now:
Fire up the computer, start VLC. No sound. I go into VLC-Audio-Audio device and select my Tascam, sound. Good. Soon as I start Jack, the sound goes away.
MXTools, Select Sound says the Tascam is my default.
But in AlsaMixer, Pulse Audio is the default. I set it to Tascam, have all these rulers that to my unschooled eye look ok.
I start Ardour, record myself, I can see there are wave forms recorded, I play back: The meters dance around happily but I can't hear a thing.
I sart Jack an get this error message:

Code: Select all

10:23:38.109 Statistics reset.
10:23:38.125 ALSA connection change.
10:23:38.155 JACK is starting...
10:23:38.156 /usr/bin/jackd -dalsa -r44100 -p128 -n3 -Xseq -D -Chw:US16x08,0 -Phw:US16x08,0
Cannot connect to server socket err = No such file or directory
Cannot connect to server request channel
jack server is not running or cannot be started
JackShmReadWritePtr::~JackShmReadWritePtr - Init not done for -1, skipping unlock
JackShmReadWritePtr::~JackShmReadWritePtr - Init not done for -1, skipping unlock
Cannot connect to server socket err = No such file or directory
Cannot connect to server request channel
jack server is not running or cannot be started
JackShmReadWritePtr::~JackShmReadWritePtr - Init not done for -1, skipping unlock
JackShmReadWritePtr::~JackShmReadWritePtr - Init not done for -1, skipping unlock
no message buffer overruns
no message buffer overruns
no message buffer overruns
jackdmp 1.9.21
Copyright 2001-2005 Paul Davis and others.
Copyright 2004-2016 Grame.
Copyright 2016-2022 Filipe Coelho.
jackdmp comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY
This is free software, and you are welcome to redistribute it
under certain conditions; see the file COPYING for details
JACK server starting in realtime mode with priority 10
self-connect-mode is "Don't restrict self connect requests"
10:23:38.281 ALSA connection graph change.
10:23:38.321 JACK was started with PID=10241.
audio_reservation_init
Failed to acquire device name : Audio2 error : Device reservation request with priority 2147483647 denied for "Audio2" via RequestRelease()
Audio device hw:US16x08,0 cannot be acquired...
Cannot initialize driver
JackServer::Open failed with -1
Failed to open server
10:23:38.362 JACK was stopped
10:23:38.362 Post-shutdown script...
10:23:38.362 /usr/bin/pajackconnect reset &
10:23:38.764 Post-shutdown script terminated successfully.
10:23:40.385 Could not connect to JACK server as client. - Overall operation failed. - Unable to connect to server. Please check the messages window for more info.
Cannot connect to server socket err = No such file or directory
Cannot connect to server request channel
jack server is not running or cannot be started
JackShmReadWritePtr::~JackShmReadWritePtr - Init not done for -1, skipping unlock
JackShmReadWritePtr::~JackShmReadWritePtr - Init not done for -1, skipping unlock

Here's a Jack Snapshot:

Code: Select all

<aj-snapshot>
<alsa>
<client name="System">
<port id="0"/>
<port id="1"/>
</client>
<client name="Midi Through">
<port id="0"/>
</client>
<client name="US-16x08">
<port id="0"/>
<port id="1"/>
</client>
<client name="Client-128"/>
<client name="jack_midi"/>
<client name="a2jmidid"/>
</alsa>
<jack>
<client name="system">
<port name="capture_1">
<connection port="PulseAudio JACK Source:front-left"/>
</port>
<port name="capture_2">
<connection port="PulseAudio JACK Source:front-right"/>
</port>
<port name="capture_3"/>
<port name="capture_4"/>
<port name="capture_5"/>
<port name="capture_6"/>
<port name="capture_7"/>
<port name="capture_8"/>
<port name="capture_9"/>
<port name="capture_10"/>
<port name="capture_11"/>
<port name="capture_12"/>
<port name="capture_13"/>
<port name="capture_14"/>
<port name="capture_15"/>
<port name="capture_16"/>
<port name="midi_capture_1"/>
<port name="midi_capture_2"/>
<port name="midi_capture_3"/>
</client>
<client name="PulseAudio JACK Sink">
<port name="front-left">
<connection port="system:playback_1"/>
</port>
<port name="front-right">
<connection port="system:playback_2"/>
</port>
</client>
<client name="a2j">
<port name="Midi Through [14] (capture): Midi Through Port-0"/>
<port name="US-16x08 [24] (capture): US-16x08 MIDI OUT"/>
<port name="US-16x08 [24] (capture): US-16x08 MIDI 2"/>
</client>
</jack>
</aj-snapshot>

And of course my QSI:

Code: Select all

System:    Kernel: 6.0.0-11.2-liquorix-amd64 x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 10.2.1 
           parameters: audit=0 intel_pstate=disable hpet=disable rcupdate.rcu_expedited=1 
           BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.0.0-11.2-liquorix-amd64 
           root=UUID=<filter> ro audit=0 intel_pstate=disable 
           hpet=disable quiet threadirqs 
           Desktop: Xfce 4.16.3 info: xfce4-panel wm: Openbox 3.6.1 vt: 7 dm: SLiM 1.3.6 
           Distro: Debian GNU/Linux 11 (bullseye) base: Debian GNU/Linux 11 (bullseye) 
Machine:   Type: Laptop System: LENOVO product: 428423G v: ThinkPad W520 serial: <filter> Chassis: 
           type: 10 serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: LENOVO model: 428423G serial: <filter> UEFI-[Legacy]: LENOVO v: 8BET62WW (1.42 ) 
           date: 07/26/2013 
Battery:   ID-1: BAT0 charge: 21.5 Wh (96.4%) condition: 22.3/94.0 Wh (23.7%) volts: 12.3 
           min: 10.8 model: SANYO 45N1173 type: Li-ion serial: <filter> status: Not charging 
CPU:       Info: Quad Core model: Intel Core i7-2820QM bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Sandy Bridge 
           family: 6 model-id: 2A (42) stepping: 7 microcode: 2F cache: L2: 8 MiB 
           flags: avx lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 36676 
           Speed: 2292 MHz min/max: N/A Core speeds (MHz): 1: 2292 2: 2292 3: 1706 4: 2292 5: 2292 
           6: 2292 7: 2292 8: 2292 
           Vulnerabilities: Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX disabled 
           Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: conditional cache flushes, SMT vulnerable 
           Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable 
           Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI 
           Type: mmio_stale_data status: Unknown: No mitigations 
           Type: retbleed status: Not affected 
           Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl 
           Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization 
           Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines, IBPB: conditional, IBRS_FW, STIBP: 
           conditional, RSB filling, PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected 
           Type: srbds status: Not affected 
           Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected 
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics vendor: Lenovo 
           driver: i915 v: kernel bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:0126 class-ID: 0300 
           Device-2: NVIDIA GF106GLM [Quadro 2000M] vendor: Lenovo driver: nvidia v: 390.154 
           bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:0dda class-ID: 0300 
           Device-3: Chicony Lenovo Integrated Camera (0.3MP) type: USB driver: uvcvideo 
           bus-ID: 1-1.6:5 chip-ID: 04f2:b217 class-ID: 0e02 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.14 compositor: compton v: 1 driver: loaded: modesetting 
           unloaded: fbdev,vesa display-ID: :0.0 screens: 1 
           Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 508x285mm (20.0x11.2") 
           s-diag: 582mm (22.9") 
           Monitor-1: LVDS-1 res: 1920x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 142 size: 344x193mm (13.5x7.6") 
           diag: 394mm (15.5") 
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 3000 (SNB GT2) v: 3.3 Mesa 22.0.5 
           compat-v: 3.1 direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel 6 Series/C200 Series Family High Definition Audio 
           vendor: Lenovo ThinkPad T520 driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1b.0 
           chip-ID: 8086:1c20 class-ID: 0403 
           Device-2: NVIDIA GF106 High Definition Audio vendor: Lenovo driver: snd_hda_intel 
           v: kernel bus-ID: 01:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:0be9 class-ID: 0403 
           Device-3: TEAC US-16x08 type: USB driver: snd-usb-audio bus-ID: 3-2:2 
           chip-ID: 0644:8047 class-ID: 0103 serial: <filter> 
           Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k6.0.0-11.2-liquorix-amd64 running: yes 
           Sound Server-2: JACK v: 1.9.21 running: no 
           Sound Server-3: PulseAudio v: 14.2 running: yes 
Network:   Device-1: Intel 82579LM Gigabit Network vendor: Lenovo ThinkPad T520 driver: e1000e 
           v: kernel port: 6080 bus-ID: 00:19.0 chip-ID: 8086:1502 class-ID: 0200 
           IF: eth0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
           Device-2: Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel modules: wl 
           port: 5000 bus-ID: 03:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:4238 class-ID: 0280 
           IF: wlan0 state: down mac: <filter> 
Bluetooth: Device-1: Broadcom BCM2045B (BDC-2.1) type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8 bus-ID: 1-1.4:4 
           chip-ID: 0a5c:217f class-ID: fe01 serial: <filter> 
           Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 2 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 2.0 lmp-v: 3.0 
           sub-v: 4203 hci-v: 3.0 rev: 2ec 
           Info: acl-mtu: 1021:8 sco-mtu: 64:1 link-policy: rswitch hold sniff park 
           link-mode: slave accept service-classes: rendering, capturing, audio 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 921.55 GiB used: 36.12 GiB (3.9%) 
           ID-1: /dev/mmcblk0 maj-min: 179:0 model: SD256 size: 232.22 GiB block-size: 
           physical: 512 B logical: 512 B type: SSD serial: <filter> scheme: MBR 
           SMART Message: Unknown smartctl error. Unable to generate data. 
           SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required. 
           ID-2: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Crucial model: CT240BX500SSD1 size: 223.57 GiB 
           block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: SSD serial: <filter> 
           rev: R013 scheme: MBR 
           ID-3: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 type: USB vendor: Seagate model: Expansion 
           size: 465.76 GiB block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B type: N/A serial: <filter> 
           rev: 9300 scheme: MBR 
Partition: ID-1: / raw-size: 215.56 GiB size: 211.12 GiB (97.94%) used: 14.76 GiB (7.0%) fs: ext4 
           dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1 
Swap:      Kernel: swappiness: 10 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default) 
           ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 8 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2 dev: /dev/sda2 
           maj-min: 8:2 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 53.0 C mobo: N/A 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 2527 
Repos:     Packages: note: see --pkg apt: 2614 lib: 1451 flatpak: 0 
           No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list 
           1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye-updates main contrib non-free
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list 
           1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye main contrib non-free
           2: deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security bullseye-security main contrib non-free
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list 
           1: deb http://mirror.easyname.ch/mxlinux-packages/mx/repo/ bullseye main non-free
           2: deb http://mirror.easyname.ch/mxlinux-packages/mx/repo/ bullseye ahs
Info:      Processes: 271 Uptime: 42m wakeups: 2 Memory: 15.52 GiB used: 1.49 GiB (9.6%) 
           Init: SysVinit v: 2.96 runlevel: 5 default: 5 tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 10.2.1 
           alt: 10 Client: shell wrapper v: 5.1.4-release inxi: 3.3.06 
Boot Mode: BIOS (legacy, CSM, MBR)

So sorry to bother you with this but I'm unable to get anywhere. Needless to point out to you now that I'm no programmer and I've probably made this problem myself.

[alextone]

Hmm. So you opened the Tascam audio device in VLC, as an ALSA module, which means the Tascam module is now taken by VLC, and then opened jack, which also requires the Tascam module, but it's already taken.

I respectfully suggest you close any audio apps, then open Qjackctl, and select the Tascam as the default audio device Jack interacts with.

Start Jack.

Open VLC, and select Jack as the audio device in the audio codecs list.

Close VLC. Open it again, and select a piece of music.

Let us know if that worked.

NOTE: If jack has the audio device, than all apps that can access jack, can play sound. Jack is a userspace layer that sits on top of ALSA, which in turn interacts directly with the hardware. It is a Tascam (or an equivalent) ALSA module (.ko) that is embedded in the kernel. Above that is the ALSA audio framework, then Jack on top of that. If you take away Jack's means to interact with ALSA, then it won't play anything.

Remember, short of a lot of messing around with amixer, ALSA will only allow one app at a time to interact with itself.

Using Jack, if the apps are coded to include it as an audio option, will allow all jack capable apps to work at the same time.

And for what its worth, Jack is sample accurate.

[Claus]

Start Jack.

Open VLC, and select Jack as the audio device in the audio codecs list.

Close VLC. Open it again, and select a piece of music.

Let us know if that worked.

Jacksink (PulseAudio JackSink) is one entry in Audio/Audio device. No output. Thank you for replying.

[AVLinux]

Hi,

@alextone

In a typical default setup in AV Linux VLC would use PulseAudio by default and whether the User is using JACK or not VLC would route itself properly through the PulseAudio sinks and there would be no need to change VLC's Audio drivers, something else is afoot here..

@Claus
First let us see if the Tascam is outputting in ALSA mode... You don't have to use your Tascam in Ardour with JACK you can use it directly with ALSA and if we can see it's working in that way we can go from there. Make a new Ardour session (or open an existing one) and In the Audio/MIDI Setup Window which can be found at the top of the 'Window' menu set it to the 'ALSA" driver and then in the dropdown boxes select your Tascam where my screenshot is showing the StudioLive AR8..

shot-2022-12-13_08-19-47.jpg

Click 'Start' and once the Ardour session opens try recording something in Ardour and see if it plays back any Audio and post back..

[Claus]

yes recording is ok but no playback ... took me some time to find out I had to quit Jack

[AVLinux]

yes recording is ok but no playback ... took me some time to find out I had to quit Jack

OK, now enter 'alsamixer' in a Terminal, then hit the F6 key on your Keyboard and select your Tascam from the list and then hit the F3 Key and you should see the output Faders all listed and none of them should be muted..

Should look something like this:

shot-2022-12-13_08-47-51.jpg

See anything out of place with that?

[Claus]

no the two ones on the right are down to zero and they say "MM"

[Claus]

the "Master mute" and the "DSP Bypass" are off and clicking them makes them go "00" in stead of "MM" but there's no way I can make them go up

[AVLinux]

Click MM so it goes to 00 and then try using the scroll wheel on your mouse or the up/down arrow on your keyboard to change the values. If the bar is full of color it is at 100%

The numbers underneath will display the numbers as well '100<>100'

[Claus]

they react to neither mouse wheel nor keyboard arrows