Is this possible on Linux?

MikeHunt79 · 26 May 2008 at 20:13

Today I wanted sound on my Linux rig, so I plugged in an old Audigy I had gathering dust.

Now my sound system is a little unusual... Basically I need linux to output 2.1, is this possible?

riddlermarc · 27 May 2008 at 13:16

I'd suggest you go to the distro-specific forums and search from there, this question is bound to have been asked before

MikeHunt79 · 27 May 2008 at 17:04

kk, thanks... I'll look over at the ubuntu forums...

dave-lew99 · 27 May 2008 at 17:44

You'll need to read up on the alsa .asndrec (IIRC) file which is the config file for alsa sound in/outs

I gave up last time trying to get all 8 inputs/outputs on my card working, i just switched back to windows instead so i could use ASIO again.

MikeHunt79 · 27 May 2008 at 18:21

dave-lew99 said:
You'll need to read up on the alsa .asndrec (IIRC) file which is the config file for alsa sound in/outs

I gave up last time trying to get all 8 inputs/outputs on my card working, i just switched back to windows instead so i could use ASIO again.

Yep I think Linux has a long way to go to match ASIO drivers really, especially with card with that many connections.

Anyway, I'll try fiddling with that asndrec file and see if I can get my sub to spring to life.

dave-lew99 · 27 May 2008 at 18:58

Oh don't get me wrong, with the advent of JACK and PulseAudio linux is lightyears ahead of windows, it's just that both of those sit on top of systems like ALSA which is *still* a complete pain to configure after all these years - it's the same with X and proper multimonitor support, it just isn't *there*.

MikeHunt79 · 27 May 2008 at 19:25

Multi monitors is another thing I yet to figure out...

It should help now I've got wifi setup, and also I have the luxury of a 2nd pc to use incase I screw up my linux box somehow...

tntcoder · 27 May 2008 at 19:41

MikeHunt79 said:
Multi monitors is another thing I yet to figure out... It should help now I've got wifi setup, and also I have the luxury of a 2nd pc to use incase I screw up my linux box somehow...

I use 2 monitors, nvidias driver control panel makes it very easy these days, I remember battling to set up dual screens with the raw xorg configs and it wasn't nice

. Not sure what its like with ATI however.

dave-lew99 · 27 May 2008 at 20:13

two monitors on an nvidia card = easy

Anything else = might as well be impossible.

I'm used to a quad monitor setup over two cards - both of them used to be Ati, theres just no chance of getting that to work, not unless i spent months learning X config (and probably source code too)

MikeHunt79 · 27 May 2008 at 20:26

bah, I'm looking to pick up an old NV card, probably the best thing to do by the sounds of it.

GarethDW · 27 May 2008 at 20:32

Yeah, I've converted to NVidia simply because I can't be bothered with jumping through hoops to get an ATI card working on my *nix box. Even if ATI offers better bang for buck (dunno whether it does or doesn't to be honest) I won't go for one of their cards till they get better at support *nix.

Rich43 · 2 Jun 2008 at 02:11

ATI actually has a future with linux.. some decent drivers are being written called radeonhd

MikeHunt79 · 2 Jun 2008 at 02:54

I've eventually got the Audigy to function without issue, it has to be in a specific PCI slot so a little trial and error was needed.

Rich43 said:
ATI actually has a future with linux.. some decent drivers are being written called radeonhd

Am I likely to be able to do it in the next week? I'm running a Radeon 9200se right now, but I've got a FX5200 on the way... Either way, I'll be looking forward to having dual displays in Linux...

thegoonden · 2 Jun 2008 at 08:14

Rich43 said:
ATI actually has a future with linux.. some decent drivers are being written called radeonhd

Let me guess.........3rd party?

Says it all.
Avoid ATi like the plague in Linux.
(and windows if you use a tv)