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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>If I have learned nothing else, I have learned that the
folks who said audio was the toughest part of MythTV know what they are talking
about. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>I am a 6+ year veteran of Linux with another ˝ dozen years
of experience with UNIX prior to that. So I ain’t no rookie! (though I
am a MythTV rookie</span></font><font size=2 face=Wingdings><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Wingdings'>J</span></font><font size=2
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>) Trying to get
sound cards working in my machine with alsa has been a real pain. This note is
meant to offer up what I have found as well as to help me vent. So be warned
before you read further.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>What I have learned:</span></font></p>
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font-family:Arial'> </span></font></p>
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<li class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>The onboard VIA8233 audio on my Athlon XP 2200 MBO
possesses a high pitch whine when watching certain channels with MythTV. I
posted an earlier note on this and received two responses that
corroborated this observation.</span></font></li>
</ol>
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font-family:Arial'> </span></font></p>
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<li class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>So I exercised humility and asked for recommendations
for sound cards. Jason was nice enough to offer the Creative Audigy as a
good middle of the road card. So, I ran out to Micro Centre and bought an
Audigy LS. BAD MOVE!!!! This card’s PCI ID (1102:0007) is not in
the Linux PCI DB on SF. I received a whole slew of errors when I tried to
insert the kernel module. I scanned the source code thinking that I would
hack it in, but decided that I just wasn’t man enough for the job.</span></font></li>
</ol>
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font-family:Arial'> </span></font></p>
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<li class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>So I decided to back down the quality curve a little
and swapped the SB Live! (rev 7) card from my production desktop and put
it in the MythTV box thinking that a card 3 years old would be a
cakewalk! WRONG AGAIN!!!! Same errors as in debacle 2! While the PCI ID
on this card is as documented on SF (1102:0002), the sub-device number
(8032) wasn’t. So, I was foiled again!!!</span></font></li>
</ol>
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font-family:Arial'> </span></font></p>
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<li class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>But being the glutton for punishment that I am, I
remembered that I had an Ensoniq Audio PCI 3000 (ES1370 chip) in the
basement. So, I dug it out and slapped it in. Voila!!!! The Red Hat
Hardware Detection God Kudzu recognized the card!!!! And you know what, I
can play wave files thought it. And you know what, I can hear the audio
from xawtv thought it. And you know what else, the DSP interface doesn’t
wwwooorrrrkkkkk!!!!!!!!!!!! Aaaaarrrrgggghhhh. What am I, a geek
version of Rodney Dangerfield!!</span></font></li>
</ol>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> </span></font></p>
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<li class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>I then got down on my knees, called Uncle, pulled out
my AMEX card, and ordered Jason’s top of the line recommendation, an
M-Audio Revolution 7.1 from Nutrend. It should arrive early next week!
In the mean time, its back to the VIA 8233 which does work. The whine
doesn’t both me now because my whine is louder!!!!</span></font></li>
</ol>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>What is the moral of the story? I don’t know!!! Buy
a Macintosh? Just joking at least I didn’t say Window$</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>On a more serious note, while the alsa project has made
substantial headway, its quality is not what I have come to expect from other
Open Source projects. At least three different people had reported my problem
with the Audigy LS to the project, but there was no response. I think this is
extremely unfortunate, because the minimal fix is likely simple (add the PCI ID
to the code), but the lack of documentation in the driver and the complexity of
the driver architecture makes it difficult for passing do gooders like me to
help.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>On a positive note, I have found the installation documentation
for MythTV to be great. I have been amazed at the speed in which changes are
integrated both into the code and better yet, the documentation. User
documentation can improve. For example, while I installed pre-built binaries
(I know boo hiss, you damn lazy geek, I am) I couldn’t find out what keys
did what until I found the keys.txt file outside of the gorgeous HTML
documentation! But all in all, thanks to all of you who have taken the time to
make this happen.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>If you got this far and are entertained, then please do one
of the following:</span></font></p>
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font-family:Arial'> </span></font></p>
<ol start=1 type=1>
<li class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Post your story of Linux/MythTV pain!</span></font></li>
<li class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Offer an opinion about the best OS is for MythTV. As
you can tell from above, I am currently using RedHat and am facing the
dilemma of where to go. Is Fedora the right answer or should I consider …</span></font></li>
</ol>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Have a great day!!!</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>William</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> </span></font></p>
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