Problem Saving ALSA Settings

[Drew]

Hello,

Got ALSA working good, however, I can not get settings to stick upon reboot.  I tried the steps given in first post of the following thread, but still running into errors with the usr/local/etc/asound.state file not being found when trying to reboot:

http://forum.tinycorelinux.net/index.php?topic=13885.0

Any ideas?  I'm sure I'm missing a step, but have yet to find it.

[gerald_clark]

What version are you running?
For Core  5.x the file you need to add to /opt/.filetool.lst is
var/lib/alsa/asound.state

You need to run 'alsactl store' first though.

[Drew]

Ah, didn't pay attention to that detail.  Performed a do-over with the correct path, and all is good now.  Thanks. 

On another sound note, I'm having an issue with rdesktop passing sounds to the local host/thin client that I've been working with.  I've tried the "-r sound " the "-r sound:local" and also added :alsa to the end of the -r value.  Keep getting the "no working audio-driver found" in the terminal window after disconnecting from the .rdp session.  I saw this thread, but looks like it hits a wall, and no resolution is found.  Should I start another topic, or is this perhaps a continuation of an ALSA issue?  I am running an Ubuntu based box as well, and I can turn sound on by simply including the "-r sound" value in the rdesktop string.

Here's the thread:

http://forum.tinycorelinux.net/index.php?topic=15452.0

[gerald_clark]

Maybe this will help:
http://www.gearhack.com/Forums/DisplayComments.php?file=Computer/Linux/Getting_Sound_Through_rdesktop

[Drew]

Hi gerald_clark

Thanks for the link, but nothing I haven't tried already.  The "no working audio-driver found" error that rdesktop puts out upon disconnect is curious to me.  Could it be that I need to be even more specific in pointing out the alsa driver to rdesktop somehow?  I saw the "-r sound:local:alsa" value, and have already tried that, but to no avail.  Again, just adding "-r sound" to the rdesktop string in Ubuntu for the same remote server works beautifully, with no evidence of any backend errors.  Both TC and Ubuntu running same version of rdesktop.

[Drew]

I've been pecking away at this since my last post, and still no sound from the client when connecting via rdp to a server I know is correctly configured to make sound events available to the client.  Again, connecting to the same exact server via rdesktop on an Ubuntu station works perfectly fine with just the "-r sound" parameter entered in the rdp string.  I do notice one difference that may be key to this.  When I look at the rdesktop help, it gives a great bit of helpful information on how to control various aspects of the connection.  So looking at the -r sound section, it points to available driver as alsa on the Ubuntu box.  On the Tinycore thin client, it says libao is the available driver.  Shouldn't that also say ALSA? 

I am also of the thought that my -r string might need to be more specific than just "-r sound" but that's what works on Ubuntu.  Hopefully, this additional information is of use.  Again, if I need to start a new topic, I will do so gladly, but figured this still may be related to ALSA.

[gerald_clark]

Did you read the man page in the rdesktop-doc.tcz?

[Drew]

Yes, not as helpful as the help screen that comes built-in to rdesktop, as it pertains to sound parameters.  As I mentioned before, I'm trying to make sense of two different setups -- specifically as to why one works (Ubuntu), and one doesn't YET (Tinycore).  Both have the same documentation, and say exactly the same thing.  Both are running rdesktop 1.7.1.  As I noted in my previous post, the one key difference that I see in rdesktop itself, is what is listed as available sound driver.  With TC, it says libao.  With Ubuntu, it says ALSA.

When I just use "-r sound" in the rdesktop string for TC, it now kills my remote session, and brings me back to terminal window, and references ao_oss errors and warnings, and invalid input channel matrix, and seg fault, etc.  This is what makes me think my sound parameter might be incorrect, BUT I'm not having any success in getting that string correct if it is indeed wrong.  Documentation is admittedly a bit confusing.  I am further confused as to why the simply "-r sound" works perfectly on another work station.

[gerald_clark]

It may be that this version was compiled without alsa support.
You need to ask the extension authors.

[Drew]

I will try that, thanks.

[Rich]

Hi Drew
Do either of the machines have  /etc/libao.conf  or  ~/.libao/libao.conf  present?

[gerald_clark]

libao.conf(5)                 libao configuration                libao.conf(5)

NAME
       libao.conf - configuration for libao.

SYNOPSIS
       /etc/libao.conf

       ~/.libao

DESCRIPTION
       libao.conf and .libao are configuration files for libao, the audio out-
       put library.  They specify  various  options  to  libao,  as  described
       below.   libao.conf  sets  system-wide  options,  whereas ~/.libao sets
       user-specific options.  When an option  is  set  in  both  places,  the
       option in ~/.libao takes precedence.

FILE FORMAT
       The  file  consists  of  comments and key-value pairs.  Comments are on
       separate lines that start with a # symbol.  The key-value pairs are  of
       the form:
               key=value
       where key contains no whitespace and no equal signs.  value will be all
:      of the text after the equal sign until (but not including)  the  ending
       newline.   Beware  of  extra  spaces at the end of the line!  They will
       probably be interpreted as part of the option value.

       Valid option keys are:

              default_driver
                     The short name of the driver libao should use by default.
                     Valid  values  include  (not  all  are available on every
                     platform): oss, esd, arts, alsa, alsa05, nas,  irix,  and
                     sun.  Note that "sun" is used on many BSD systems as well
                     as Solaris.  The "alsa" driver is for the 0.9.x ALSA API,
                     whereas the "alsa05" driver is for the 0.5.x API.

EXAMPLE
       Here  is an example libao.conf that forces the OSS driver to be used by
       default:

           # This is a comment.
           default_driver=oss

BUGS
       libao.conf is missing a number of potentially useful options.

AUTHORS
       Stan Seibert <volsung@xiph.org>

                               September 1, 2003                 libao.conf(5)
:

[Drew]

Rich,

I ran ls in /etc and found no reference to libao at all.

[gerald_clark]

Did you try creating the file as described in the man page above?

[Drew]

gerald_clark

No I did not create the file, I simply answered Rich's question.  By your post, I assume this needs to be done.  Admittedly, I'm having some difficulty trying to figure out what you want me to do first.  Do I report the matter to extension authors in reference to ALSA, as I thought I was doing, or do I need to go down a route that I'm totally unfamiliar with?  What do we do first? 

Further, it isn't abundantly clear to me by the man page just how to create that file.  In case you haven't noticed, I am very new to Tinycore, and not at all efficient with this type of manual configuration.  Right or wrong, I've been used to other systems doing it for me.  Again, nothing good or bad, but it is what it is.  I appreciate the time you are spending with this, but it will involve some hand holding.  I will do what I can to read documentation first, which I feel I have.  After that, who knows?