Re: [fluid-dev] Crazy non-Xrun Xruns

[Rui Nuno Capela]

Ken Restivo wrote:
> Also, I discovered the rtirq script, which is really cool, and in yet another 
> random attempt to flail around, installed it and ran it. It works, 
> apparently, although it does not seem to fix this particular problem.
> 
> What tools are available to troubleshoot xruns or audio latency? There has to 
> be a more systematic way to do this. 
> 
> -ken
> 
> ------------
> On Thu, Dec 28, 2006 at 07:37:21PM +0000, Josh Green wrote:
>> Hello Ken,
> 
>> I have a sound card that uses the same driver and also have problems
>> with Jack and very bad audio output (I don't get continuous xrun errors,
>> but it sounds like the effect of lots and lots of xruns, clicks/pops
>> etc).  I believe I got things working in the past by messing with the
>> frames and period sizes.  I just tested this, and found that the default
>> of 2 periods and 1024 frames per period was messed up (as mentioned),
>> but if I change it to 3 periods, it works fine.  I was even able to
>> reduce it to 512 frames without problems, as long as it is set to 3
>> periods.  You can do this by starting jack like so:
> 
>> jackd -d alsa -n 3 -p 512
> 
>> Maybe that helps?  If not, I would look into other things, like make
>> sure jackd is using the hw:0 device (that is the default, so not sure
>> why it wouldn't be).  Best regards,
>>      Josh
> 
> 

guess what? rtirq will not help you, and i know why :) it only works
with well-behaved alsa/hardware drivers. hda-intel is NOT one of that kind.

from all my experiments (alas, limited to just some brand new laptops),
all use of this hda-intel based chipsets seems to be doomed and
unsuitable, nor fit, for general jackd/alsa purposes atm. any
combination must be regarded as a toy, which barely works for
low-latency work, if at all (did you notice that you MUST use -n3 on
jackd, yeah). you have to realize that this hda-intels spec thingie is
broken and cheap by design. each oem picks its best for just making some
sound. lowish consumer class for that matter. of course, win/osx drivers
are aware of all the inner and specific bits; alsa ones have to figure
out one bit by one; maybe its your case, sure is. i suggest for you to
point your griefs to alsa-devel; from my personal side, i don't give a
damn, its just a sign of pure crapola :) my suggestion atm is... pick
some other soundcard (maybe some usb ones which can do far better,
believe me, there are ones that can) and that are fully supported,
certified and with a stable alsa driver. hda-intel is far out (and as
things are, will never be, imo) from that league.

but you can hand yourself and help, nevertheless. just prepare some
stock time and give all the hints and quirks of your hardware to the
alsa-devel listeners and they will figure what might be done (or not).
just make hda-intel into the headlines and I wish you a ... good luck :)

Cheers and Happy Holydays.
-- 
rncbc aka Rui Nuno Capela
address@hidden