[mythtv-users] ALSA problems (Jarod's ATrpms guide)

[Chad Coulliette, Ph.D.]

I am having problems with step 9 of Jarod's ATrpms guide... after
following the steps to download/install alsa with apt-get, edit the
modules.conf file, and create the /home/mythtv/.asoundrc file, I tried
the aplay test described in the guide.  This error occured:

aplay: main:503: audio open error: No such device

How can I fix ALSA?  Do I need to create a device manually in /dev?  IS
that the problem?  I followed the Jarod's instructions carefully, but
perhaps somehow I missed something.  The computer is a Dell Dimension
8100, with a 1.6 GHz P4, 1 GB ram, PVR-350, and SB Live!.  The Start >
System Tools > Hardware Browser reports the sound card as "SB Live!
emu10k1".  I checked that the sound card was working under OSS (before
following the ALSA install instructions in the guide).  The previous
steps of Jarod's instructions all worked fine, except step 8 (video card
driver w/tv-out install), which I am still working on.  Step 8 is
unrelated to step 9, so I should be able to work on ALSA.  

Before following the ALSA install steps, the /etc/modules.conf looked
like this:
==============
path[toplevel]=/lib/modules/`uname -r`/updates
# default path
path[toplevel]=/lib/modules/`uname -r`
alias eth0 3c59x
alias usb-controller usb-ohci
alias usb-controller1 ehci-hcd
alias usb-controller2 usb-uhci
alias ieee1394-controller ohci1394
alias sound-slot-0 emu10k1
post-install sound-slot-0 /bin/aumix-minimal -f /etc/.aumixrc -L
>/dev/null 2>&1
 || :
pre-remove sound-slot-0 /bin/aumix-minimal -f /etc/.aumixrc -S
>/dev/null 2>&1 |
| :
===============

after the ALSA instructions, it looked like this:
===============
path[toplevel]=/lib/modules/`uname -r`/updates
# default path
path[toplevel]=/lib/modules/`uname -r`
alias eth0 3c59x
alias usb-controller usb-ohci
alias usb-controller1 ehci-hcd
alias usb-controller2 usb-uhci
alias ieee1394-controller ohci1394
# ALSA portion
alias char-major-116 snd
alias snd-card-0 snd-emu10k1
# OSS/Free compatability portion
alias char-major-14 soundcore
alias sound-slot-0 snd-card-0
# Sound card #1
alias sound-service-0-0 snd-mixer-oss
alias sound-service-0-1 snd-seq-oss
alias sound-service-0-3 snd-pcm-oss
alias sound-service-0-8 snd-seq-oss
alias sound-service-0-12 snd-pcm-oss
# Save & restore settings
post-install snd-card-0 /usr/sbin/alsactl restore >/dev/null 2>&1 || :
pre-remove snd-card-0 /usr/sbin/alsactl store >/dev/null 2>&1 || :
===============

did I make the right changes?  Anything wrong?  Anything missing?  I
also turned off the aRts soundserver for KDE as requested in the guide. 
When I rebooted the computer, KDE reported a sound error, saying
/dev/dsp could not be found, so I must have successfully turned off aRts
and/or OSS.  The last step in the ALSA instructions was to create the
/home/mythtv/.asoundrc file.  I made mine identical to that in the
guide:
===============
[mythtv at myth mythtv]$ more .asoundrc
pcm.emu10k1 {
type hw
card 0
}

ctl.emu10k1 {
type hw
card 0
}
===============

The instructions said to change the .asoundrc file for your computer's
sound card, but it looked correct to me.  Was there anything I should
change?  

So, why did aplay not work?  Also, when I tried all of the suggested
ALSA mixers (aumix, alsamixer, kmix or gnome-alsamixer), none of them
worked.  They gave various types of errors.  Some of them started, but
the windows were blank inside.  Others would not start at all.  The
alsamixer application gave the most explanitive error,

alsamixer: function snd_ctl_open failed for default: No such device    


Any ideas?  I looked at the instructions and trouble-shooting info on
the www.alsa.org web site, but I could not see anything wrong with the
install steps I followed.  If any other information is needed, let me
know.  Can anyone suggest a solution for this ALSA device not found
problem?  Any help would be appreciated.  



Many Thanks,

Chad