This post is going to wander pretty far afield. You ask some questions that go to the very heart of open source. And I feel a little whimsical. It is hard for me to tell, but you might take some of this as critical of you. I don't think it is. A.A.Hamilton wrote: > I greatly appreciate your patience and help so far on this problem. > > Last night (UK time) I was able to record a 100 minute program and was > fairly certain that I was able to play it back AFTER re-installing > pulse-audio,and after disconnecting the pulse sound server, but BEFORE > seeing this message (and hence before removing alsa-plugins-pulseaudio). > If in fact you did successfully disable pulse, you had already done the same thing as removing the alsa-plugin-pulseaudio. If that does work, it is better than removing the plugin, because you have the use of pulse when you want it, and it can easily be disabled when you don't. > Unfortunately Audacity had a problem saving its (2 GB) project file so I > left it until this morning. Prior to solving the Audacity project file > management problem I removed the plug-in as you suggested. Alsamixer and > alsamixer -c 0 now produce identical results (both not in accordance > with the man pages: it is impossible to select a capture device with the > space-bar). What happens if you use the gui version? Usually when alsamixer won't select it, it means that it isn't available. > > Audacity is very robust in the management of its project files, allowing > one to recover at just about any stage of file deletion (I guess it has > some sort of 2 phase commit process), so I was able to recover the 100 > minute recording, cut it into pieces and save them individually. This > then freed Audacity to start a new project. This morning it has recorded > fine - but there is no playback - the original problem remains. > Audacity is a fine piece of software. I still find functionality occasionally that impresses me. Can you play back the files it records with another application (say xmms or amarok)? And it is not exactly the identical problem. You now can record 100% of the time. And you know that audacity sees the sound because it is able to edit it. You could try downloading and compiling audacity so you get a version custom built for your setup. > > I understand that you have no more advice to give, except that you > possibly do have some: if I understand it correctly you are responding > to an original email I sent to the ALSA list - is this correct? In which > case you are responding in part on behalf of the ALSA-skilled Linux > community. If this is not in fact an ALSA problem, who else should I be > talking to? I am responding on behalf of me. I don't represent alsa in any way, shape, or form. It's obvious that I'm not doing this for the money. And at any kind of reasonable bill rate, it's certainly not cost effective as an "obligation" or "pay back". Is it the satisfaction of helping others? That's part of it. But I do this for reasons of my own, and get value that makes it worth my while. When I don't, I'll stop. This isn't an alsa problem. Alsa is working fine, you are able to record and play. Alsa is responsible for making the sound device function, and function it does. > > Based on my career experience from 30 years ago or more, I would have > expected the management team with the product closest to the user to > 'own' the problem, even if it turns out to be a design/implementation > issue in a protocol or service layer which is closer to the kernel. > > That is, I would expect somebody in Audacity to 'volunteer' to own the > problem. If they feel like it. The real owner of this problem is you. In management terms, the builders of the software you are using have a (very faint) dotted line relationship with you. If you want a hard contractual obligation, you can buy a service contract. That obligates the seller of the contract to you according to its terms. > >>From your knowledge of this unstructured, disparate and (seemingly) > uncoordinated world-wide development community, how do I go about trying > to tie down 'Audacity' (whoever they are!) on this? > > Currently the situation is just not viable - for an ancient clapped out > management consultant to try to tackle a complicated problem in an > end-user application. I just want to be a user, not a support expert. Or > this is an unreal expectation in the Linux world? > You've hit the nub of the problem here. Many call the open source world communist. I think it is just the opposite. Anarchic. A bunch of people doing what they feel like doing. Think the Null-A of van vogt or the tsel of dalmas. And as you say, out the other end comes a form of organization. They give you their product for free, but the license also says that they give no warranty of fitness. Communism says from each according to their ability (thus society has first call on you, not you) and to each according to their need. So the guy who can barely tie his shoelaces has a hard obligation set on your productivity, just because of his existence. Anarchy on the other hand says that it is our right to give whatever we choose ourselves. Or not. It seems you long for the dictatorial world of the corporation. ;-) Dictatorships are all right, as long as you're the dictator. :-) An analogy. I throw some bread and some butter on the ground. You pick them up and complain that the butter isn't spread on the bread. If I feel like it, I'll butter it for you, otherwise I won't. It is your responsibility to butter the bread if you want buttered bread. A little amateur psych analysis. You are probably a pretty smart guy. I think a lot of your self image is tied up in your competence. And your competence isn't in linux. That's frustrating. You've done a good job of keeping it in check (a required skill in consulting) but a little has leaked out. :-) I'm guessing you can't allow yourself to not be competent because that threatens your self image. So you want to blame someone else. Not very effective tactic in a dotted line relationship. I don't know if they have the saying in the UK, but here there is a saying that "You catch more flies with honey than vinegar." Of course, that presumes you want to catch flies. :-) My best guess at this point is that your problem is trivial for an experienced user to correct. You aren't that user. Because of your inexperience, it is impossible to know what seemingly obvious thing for an experienced user you have missed. I know the setup you have works. I have used the ca0106 and audacity to record, edit, and play sound in the past. So the problem has to be purely configuration. And if I was sitting at your computer, I or any other experienced user could probably solve your problem relatively quickly. But doing it once removed is not a simple task. Imagine trying to do management consulting through a computer game programmer. The other thing you're missing is the attitude that would make this a bump in the road instead of a mountain. For you this is a chore, not an opportunity to learn, a challenge to enjoy, a problem to solve. Bottom line, maybe you're not a good fit for linux. You want it to be like a toaster or a television. It seems you might need the handholding that comes in a windows or mac environment. Every corporate environment I've ever been in has had full time people holding hands for their windows users. And they were always busy. No shame in that, the users just went about their business of using the computer as a tool, an appliance. > Regards > > A'A.Hamilton > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- This SF.Net email is sponsored by the Moblin Your Move Developer's challenge Build the coolest Linux based applications with Moblin SDK & win great prizes Grand prize is a trip for two to an Open Source event anywhere in the world http://moblin-contest.org/redirect.php?banner_id=100&url=/ _______________________________________________ Alsa-user mailing list Alsa-user@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/alsa-user
