From f8c78b82b9e47d933629e7060e4a83a277b15ffe Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Thibault Le Meur Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2007 11:26:35 +0200 Subject: [ALSA] usb-audio - Fix audiophile-USB quirk for little-endian Audiophile-usb fix (corrects little-endianness in 16bit modes, resets interfaces at device initialization, and updates the documentation). Signed-off-by: Thibault Le Meur Signed-off-by: Takashi Iwai Signed-off-by: Jaroslav Kysela --- Documentation/sound/alsa/Audiophile-Usb.txt | 230 ++++++++++++++++++---------- 1 file changed, 151 insertions(+), 79 deletions(-) (limited to 'Documentation') diff --git a/Documentation/sound/alsa/Audiophile-Usb.txt b/Documentation/sound/alsa/Audiophile-Usb.txt index e40cce83327c..5b7a5487d505 100644 --- a/Documentation/sound/alsa/Audiophile-Usb.txt +++ b/Documentation/sound/alsa/Audiophile-Usb.txt @@ -1,4 +1,4 @@ - Guide to using M-Audio Audiophile USB with ALSA and Jack v1.3 + Guide to using M-Audio Audiophile USB with ALSA and Jack v1.4 ======================================================== Thibault Le Meur @@ -6,8 +6,17 @@ This document is a guide to using the M-Audio Audiophile USB (tm) device with ALSA and JACK. +History +======= +* v1.4 - Thibault Le Meur (2007-07-11) + - Added Low Endianness nature of 16bits-modes + found by Hakan Lennestal + - Modifying document structure + + 1 - Audiophile USB Specs and correct usage ========================================== + This part is a reminder of important facts about the functions and limitations of the device. @@ -25,18 +34,18 @@ The device has 4 audio interfaces, and 2 MIDI ports: The internal DAC/ADC has the following characteristics: * sample depth of 16 or 24 bits * sample rate from 8kHz to 96kHz -* Two ports can't use different sample depths at the same time. Moreover, the -Audiophile USB documentation gives the following Warning: "Please exit any -audio application running before switching between bit depths" +* Two interfaces can't use different sample depths at the same time. +Moreover, the Audiophile USB documentation gives the following Warning: +"Please exit any audio application running before switching between bit depths" Due to the USB 1.1 bandwidth limitation, a limited number of interfaces can be activated at the same time depending on the audio mode selected: - * 16-bit/48kHz ==> 4 channels in/4 channels out + * 16-bit/48kHz ==> 4 channels in + 4 channels out - Ai+Ao+Di+Do - * 24-bit/48kHz ==> 4 channels in/2 channels out, - or 2 channels in/4 channels out + * 24-bit/48kHz ==> 4 channels in + 2 channels out, + or 2 channels in + 4 channels out - Ai+Ao+Do or Ai+Di+Ao or Ai+Di+Do or Di+Ao+Do - * 24-bit/96kHz ==> 2 channels in, or 2 channels out (half duplex only) + * 24-bit/96kHz ==> 2 channels in _or_ 2 channels out (half duplex only) - Ai or Ao or Di or Do Important facts about the Digital interface: @@ -52,44 +61,53 @@ source is connected synchronization error (for instance sound played at an odd sample rate) -2 - Audiophile USB support in ALSA -================================== +2 - Audiophile USB MIDI support in ALSA +======================================= -2.1 - MIDI ports ----------------- -The Audiophile USB MIDI ports will be automatically supported once the +The Audiophile USB MIDI ports will be automatically supported once the following modules have been loaded: * snd-usb-audio * snd-seq-midi No additional setting is required. -2.2 - Audio ports ------------------ + +3 - Audiophile USB Audio support in ALSA +======================================== Audio functions of the Audiophile USB device are handled by the snd-usb-audio module. This module can work in a default mode (without any device-specific parameter), or in an "advanced" mode with the device-specific parameter called "device_setup". -2.2.1 - Default Alsa driver mode - -The default behavior of the snd-usb-audio driver is to parse the device -capabilities at startup and enable all functions inside the device (including -all ports at any supported sample rates and sample depths). This approach -has the advantage to let the driver easily switch from sample rates/depths -automatically according to the need of the application claiming the device. - -In this case the Audiophile ports are mapped to alsa pcm devices in the -following way (I suppose the device's index is 1): +3.1 - Default Alsa driver mode +------------------------------ + +The default behavior of the snd-usb-audio driver is to list the device +capabilities at startup and activate the required mode when required +by the applications: for instance if the user is recording in a +24bit-depth-mode and immediately after wants to switch to a 16bit-depth mode, +the snd-usb-audio module will reconfigure the device on the fly. + +This approach has the advantage to let the driver automatically switch from sample +rates/depths automatically according to the user's needs. However, those who +are using the device under windows know that this is not how the device is meant to +work: under windows applications must be closed before using the m-audio control +panel to switch the device working mode. Thus as we'll see in next section, this +Default Alsa driver mode can lead to device misconfigurations. + +Let's get back to the Default Alsa driver mode for now. In this case the +Audiophile interfaces are mapped to alsa pcm devices in the following +way (I suppose the device's index is 1): * hw:1,0 is Ao in playback and Di in capture * hw:1,1 is Do in playback and Ai in capture * hw:1,2 is Do in AC3/DTS passthrough mode -You must note as well that the device uses Big Endian byte encoding so that -supported audio format are S16_BE for 16-bit depth modes and S24_3BE for -24-bits depth mode. One exception is the hw:1,2 port which is Little Endian -compliant and thus uses S16_LE. +In this mode, the device uses Big Endian byte-encoding so that +supported audio format are S16_BE for 16-bit depth modes and S24_3BE for +24-bits depth mode. One exception is the hw:1,2 port which is reported +to be Little Endian compliant (supposedly supporting S16_LE) but processes +in fact only S16_BE streams. Examples: * playing a S24_3BE encoded raw file to the Ao port @@ -99,21 +117,23 @@ Examples: * playing a S16_BE encoded raw file to the Do port % aplay -D hw:1,1 -c2 -t raw -r48000 -fS16_BE test.raw -If you're happy with the default Alsa driver setup and don't experience any +If you're happy with the default Alsa driver mode and don't experience any issue with this mode, then you can skip the following chapter. -2.2.2 - Advanced module setup +3.2 - Advanced module setup +--------------------------- Due to the hardware constraints described above, the device initialization made by the Alsa driver in default mode may result in a corrupted state of the device. For instance, a particularly annoying issue is that the sound captured -from the Ai port sounds distorted (as if boosted with an excessive high volume -gain). +from the Ai interface sounds distorted (as if boosted with an excessive high +volume gain). For people having this problem, the snd-usb-audio module has a new module -parameter called "device_setup". +parameter called "device_setup" (this parameter was introduced in kernel +release 2.6.17) -2.2.2.1 - Initializing the working mode of the Audiophile USB +3.2.1 - Initializing the working mode of the Audiophile USB As far as the Audiophile USB device is concerned, this value let the user specify: @@ -121,33 +141,57 @@ specify: * the sample rate * whether the Di port is used or not -Here is a list of supported device_setup values for this device: - * device_setup=0x00 (or omitted) - - Alsa driver default mode - - maintains backward compatibility with setups that do not use this - parameter by not introducing any change - - results sometimes in corrupted sound as described earlier +When initialized with "device_setup=0x00", the snd-usb-audio module has +the same behaviour as when the parameter is omitted (see paragraph "Default +Alsa driver mode" above) + +Others modes are described in the following subsections. + +3.2.1.1 - 16-bit modes + +The two supported modes are: + * device_setup=0x01 - 16bits 48kHz mode with Di disabled - Ai,Ao,Do can be used at the same time - hw:1,0 is not available in capture mode - hw:1,2 is not available + * device_setup=0x11 - 16bits 48kHz mode with Di enabled - Ai,Ao,Di,Do can be used at the same time - hw:1,0 is available in capture mode - hw:1,2 is not available + +In this modes the device operates only at 16bits-modes. Before kernel 2.6.23, +the devices where reported to be Big-Endian when in fact they were Little-Endian +so that playing a file was a matter of using: + % aplay -D hw:1,1 -c2 -t raw -r48000 -fS16_BE test_S16_LE.raw +where "test_S16_LE.raw" was in fact a little-endian sample file. + +Thanks to Hakan Lennestal (who discovered the Little-Endiannes of the device in +these modes) a fix has been committed (expected in kernel 2.6.23) and +Alsa now reports Little-Endian interfaces. Thus playing a file now is as simple as +using: + % aplay -D hw:1,1 -c2 -t raw -r48000 -fS16_LE test_S16_LE.raw + +3.2.1.2 - 24-bit modes + +The three supported modes are: + * device_setup=0x09 - 24bits 48kHz mode with Di disabled - Ai,Ao,Do can be used at the same time - hw:1,0 is not available in capture mode - hw:1,2 is not available + * device_setup=0x19 - 24bits 48kHz mode with Di enabled - 3 ports from {Ai,Ao,Di,Do} can be used at the same time - hw:1,0 is available in capture mode and an active digital source must be connected to Di - hw:1,2 is not available + * device_setup=0x0D or 0x10 - 24bits 96kHz mode - Di is enabled by default for this mode but does not need to be connected @@ -155,34 +199,61 @@ Here is a list of supported device_setup values for this device: - Only 1 port from {Ai,Ao,Di,Do} can be used at the same time - hw:1,0 is available in captured mode - hw:1,2 is not available + +In these modes the device is only Big-Endian compliant (see "Default Alsa driver +mode" above for an aplay command example) + +3.2.1.3 - AC3 w/ DTS passthru mode + +This mode is untested, I have no AC3 compliant device to test it. I uses: + * device_setup=0x03 - 16bits 48kHz mode with only the Do port enabled - AC3 with DTS passthru (not tested) - Caution with this setup the Do port is mapped to the pcm device hw:1,0 -2.2.2.2 - Setting and switching configurations with the device_setup parameter +3.2.2 - How to use the device_setup parameter +---------------------------------------------- The parameter can be given: + * By manually probing the device (as root): # modprobe -r snd-usb-audio # modprobe snd-usb-audio index=1 device_setup=0x09 + * Or while configuring the modules options in your modules configuration file - For Fedora distributions, edit the /etc/modprobe.conf file: alias snd-card-1 snd-usb-audio options snd-usb-audio index=1 device_setup=0x09 -IMPORTANT NOTE WHEN SWITCHING CONFIGURATION: -------------------------------------------- - * You may need to _first_ initialize the module with the correct device_setup - parameter and _only_after_ turn on the Audiophile USB device - * This is especially true when switching the sample depth: +CAUTION when initializaing the device +------------------------------------- + + * Correct initialization on the device requires that device_setup is given to + the module BEFORE the device is turned on. So, if you use the "manual probing" + method described above, take care to power-on the device AFTER this initialization. + + * Failing to respect this will lead in a misconfiguration of the device. In this case + turn off the device, unproble the snd-usb-audio module, then probe it again with + correct device_setup parameter and then (and only then) turn on the device again. + + * If you've correctly initialized the device in a valid mode and then want to switch + to another mode (possibly with another sample-depth), please use also the following + procedure: - first turn off the device - de-register the snd-usb-audio module (modprobe -r) - change the device_setup parameter by changing the device_setup option in /etc/modprobe.conf - turn on the device + * A workaround for this last issue has been applied to kernel 2.6.23, but it may not + be enough to ensure the 'stability' of the device initialization. + +3.2.3 - Technical details for hackers +------------------------------------- +This section is for hackers, wanting to understand details about the device +internals and how Alsa supports it. -2.2.2.3 - Audiophile USB's device_setup structure +3.2.3.1 - Audiophile USB's device_setup structure If you want to understand the device_setup magic numbers for the Audiophile USB, you need some very basic understanding of binary computation. However, @@ -228,12 +299,12 @@ Caution: - choosing b2 will prepare all interfaces for 24bits/96kHz but you'll only be able to use one at the same time -2.2.3 - USB implementation details for this device +3.2.3.2 - USB implementation details for this device You may safely skip this section if you're not interested in driver -development. +hacking. -This section describes some internal aspects of the device and summarize the +This section describes some internal aspects of the device and summarizes the data I got by usb-snooping the windows and Linux drivers. The M-Audio Audiophile USB has 7 USB Interfaces: @@ -293,43 +364,45 @@ parse_audio_endpoints function uses a quirk called "audiophile_skip_setting_quirk" in order to prevent AltSettings not corresponding to device_setup from being registered in the driver. -3 - Audiophile USB and Jack support +4 - Audiophile USB and Jack support =================================== This section deals with support of the Audiophile USB device in Jack. -The main issue regarding this support is that the device is Big Endian -compliant. -3.1 - Using the plug alsa plugin --------------------------------- +There are 2 main potential issues when using Jackd with the device: +* support for Big-Endian devices in 24-bit modes +* support for 4-in / 4-out channels -Jack doesn't directly support big endian devices. Thus, one way to have support -for this device with Alsa is to use the Alsa "plug" converter. +4.1 - Direct support in Jackd +----------------------------- + +Jack supports big endian devices only in recent versions (thanks to +Andreas Steinmetz for his first big-endian patch). I can't remember +extacly when this support was released into jackd, let's just say that +with jackd version 0.103.0 it's almost ok (just a small bug is affecting +16bits Big-Endian devices, but since you've read carefully the above +paragraphs, you're now using kernel >= 2.6.23 and your 16bits devices +are now Little Endians ;-) ). + +You can run jackd with the following command for playback with Ao and +record with Ai: + % jackd -R -dalsa -Phw:1,0 -r48000 -p128 -n2 -D -Chw:1,1 + +4.2 - Using Alsa plughw +----------------------- +If you don't have a recent Jackd installed, you can downgrade to using +the Alsa "plug" converter. For instance here is one way to run Jack with 2 playback channels on Ao and 2 capture channels from Ai: % jackd -R -dalsa -dplughw:1 -r48000 -p256 -n2 -D -Cplughw:1,1 - However you may see the following warning message: "You appear to be using the ALSA software "plug" layer, probably a result of using the "default" ALSA device. This is less efficient than it could be. Consider using a hardware device instead rather than using the plug layer." -3.2 - Patching alsa to use direct pcm device --------------------------------------------- -A patch for Jack by Andreas Steinmetz adds support for Big Endian devices. -However it has not been included in the CVS tree. - -You can find it at the following URL: -http://sourceforge.net/tracker/index.php?func=detail&aid=1289682&group_id=39687& -atid=425939 - -After having applied the patch you can run jackd with the following command -line: - % jackd -R -dalsa -Phw:1,0 -r48000 -p128 -n2 -D -Chw:1,1 - -3.2 - Getting 2 input and/or output interfaces in Jack +4.3 - Getting 2 input and/or output interfaces in Jack ------------------------------------------------------ As you can see, starting the Jack server this way will only enable 1 stereo @@ -339,6 +412,7 @@ This is due to the following restrictions: * Jack can only open one capture device and one playback device at a time * The Audiophile USB is seen as 2 (or three) Alsa devices: hw:1,0, hw:1,1 (and optionally hw:1,2) + If you want to get Ai+Di and/or Ao+Do support with Jack, you would need to combine the Alsa devices into one logical "complex" device. @@ -348,13 +422,11 @@ It is related to another device (ice1712) but can be adapted to suit the Audiophile USB. Enabling multiple Audiophile USB interfaces for Jackd will certainly require: -* patching Jack with the previously mentioned "Big Endian" patch -* patching Jackd with the MMAP_COMPLEX patch (see the ice1712 page) -* patching the alsa-lib/src/pcm/pcm_multi.c file (see the ice1712 page) +* Making sure your Jackd version has the MMAP_COMPLEX patch (see the ice1712 page) +* (maybe) patching the alsa-lib/src/pcm/pcm_multi.c file (see the ice1712 page) * define a multi device (combination of hw:1,0 and hw:1,1) in your .asoundrc file * start jackd with this device -I had no success in testing this for now, but this may be due to my OS -configuration. If you have any success with this kind of setup, please -drop me an email. +I had no success in testing this for now, if you have any success with this kind +of setup, please drop me an email. -- cgit v1.2.2