At Sun, 10 May 2009 00:11:39 +0200, Lennart Poettering wrote: > > On Thu, 07.05.09 15:18, Takashi Iwai (tiwai@xxxxxxx) wrote: > > > > > Fixing it isn't too difficult with vmaster stuff in the driver side, > > > > but this breaks the compatibility, and hard to find the real test > > > > machines nowadays. In short, "don't touch a working system unless it > > > > gets broken" phase. > > > > > > Breaks compatibility with what exactly? OSS? > > > > Yes, and old ALSA-native apps without PA. > > Hmm. why exactly should that happen? I mean, the ALSA mixer API knew > definitions like snd_mixer_selem_channel_id since about the beginning > of time. Just making use of it shouldn't cause breakage in programs. Using it means to change the current mapping. This would likely break the things. > And even when if it does, this would be the 'softest' kind of breakage > one can think of. Also, most of the apps in question are Free Software > and could hence be fixed easily. Oh you are naive :) > > > May I assume that they always are dependant? > > > > If both exist, then they should be dependent, and Master should be > > really Master. > > Hmm, ok. So you say "Master" in this case is more "outside" and > "Front" is more to the "inside", right? I.e. from the applications PoV > Front is first, Master follows as last step, right? Actually "Front" controls the volume from the front-output pin (left/right) while "Master" influences on all output channels, front, surround, CLFE, etc. > > > Hmm, could you be more explicit which apps you think would break? I > > > mean, the ALSA mixer API always allowed multichannel audio, however no > > > driver actually made use of that. If a client is using the ALSA mixer > > > API properly it should not break. And if it doesn't use it properly > > > it's not ALSA's fault... > > > > kmix surely won't work. GNOME mixer? I don't think it would. > > The new GNOME mixer links against PA, so it would support it > indirectly. ;-) Heh, but the "current" GNOME mixer would be broken. > > Many media players (new and old) support a mixer adjustment more or > > less, and certainly many of they won't work with multi channels. > > But to which effect? The worst thing that could happen is that they > wouldn't show the Surround channels properly. But usually they > wouldn't show that anyway.. I don't buy it unless you take over and fix all future bug reports. Well, let my stance clear: I don't say that the change itself is wrong. But an incompatible change is just bad, at least, for the current ALSA-lib. It is no longer playground for children, and a regression is one of the worst things we can do now. That's why I suggest to begin with a new API set or to add a function to switch the behavior. In that way, a regression can be avoided pretty easily. Takashi _______________________________________________ Alsa-devel mailing list Alsa-devel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx http://mailman.alsa-project.org/mailman/listinfo/alsa-devel
