Sound

[Mike7]

Hi, all.

After an absence of a few months for health reasons, I'm back. My health isn't changed, but since I'm using Core as my main OS now I need to continue setting it up.

The first thing I need to add is sound, to see if that will allow me to play Youtube videos in Chromium browser, and so I can listen to my jazz mp3's without switching to another operating system <grin>.

The TCL wiki on sound says to download the alsa.tcz and alsamixergui.tcz apps (onboot), and a media player like vlc. Is this still the correct procedure? Are there any other apps I should download for sound?

I'll try to follow the wiki once I have the downloads straight, although the wiki is difficult for a relative newbie like me, and there is almost nothing on sound in the Corebook.

Cheers!

Mike

[gerald_clark]

Blogging is not allowed.  Keep this discussion to questions and answers.

[Mike7]

Hi, Gerald-

I have no time for blogging. I asked serious questions and hope someone will answer them.

Mike

[gerald_clark]

The only question I see is "Should I follow the instructions?"
Yes.  Follow the instructions.
If you have any specific questions after following them, feel free to post them here.

[Mike7]

Okay, Gerald, I'll do as you say. But I really wish you would get off my case.

Cheers.

Mike

[Mike7]

Could someone, anyone, please just answer one question: Do I need to download alsa-modules, too, or are the modules included in alsa.tcz?

Thanks.

[Rich]

Hi Mike7

But I really wish you would get off my case.

That was uncalled for. You were blogging and gerald_clark pointed that out. I see nothing in gerald_clarks posts that in any way suggests
he was getting on your case, just polite responses.

[Rich]

Hi Mike7
Alsa-modules is a dependency of alsa. Use the Apps utility to install alsa and the dependencies will also be installed.

[Mike7]

Hi, Rich.

Alsa-modules is a dependency of alsa. Use the Apps utility to install alsa and the dependencies will also be installed.

Thank you. That's the sort of information I was looking for.

How about alsamixergui.tcz,  alsa-config.tcz, alsa-plugins.tcz, and alsaconf.tcz? Are any of these dependencies of alsa.tcz that will get installed with it?

As to downloading extensions willy-nilly without knowing what they will do, as Gerald Clark suggests, I just don't do it. It causes too much trouble in the end. And as for the sound wiki, it was last modified on 2013/03/17, over a year ago. Since many extensions are updated more frequently than the wiki, I think I'm perfectly justified in taking what it says with a grain of salt.

I believe that any right-thinking person without a chip on their shoulder or an axe to grind would agree with me.

Mike

[gerald_clark]

When did I tell you to download extensions will-he nill-he?
Learn to use the Apps program.  It can show you the deps it will install.
You need an attitude change if you want help here.

[Misalf]

While browsing available extensions via Apps tool, you can select an extension and click the "Depends" tab to see what else will be needed and downloaded.
The "Size" tab is also useful if storage space is limited.
If space is not an issue, downloading extensions is quite safe. If a certain software doesn't work for you or you don't like it, then you just don't load it the next boot and it's basically gone.

I did things with TinyCore that didn't work on the first try. Going back to an earlier state with a rebbot I always get another try. Not possible (that easy) with most OSes I think. TC is great for experimenting.

[Mike7]

When did I tell you to download extensions will-he nill-he?

The only question I see is "Should I follow the instructions?"
Yes.  Follow the instructions.

Actually, my question was:

The TCL wiki on sound says to download the alsa.tcz and alsamixergui.tcz apps (onboot), and a media player like vlc. Is this still the correct procedure? Are there any other apps I should download for sound?

Learn to use the Apps program.  It can show you the deps it will install.

I'm still learning. That's why I try to go slowly and carefully.

You need an attitude change if you want help here

I started this thread with a positive attitude, but being accused of "blogging" when I was asking for help discouraged me.

Mike

[Mike7]

Hi, Misalf.

If a certain software doesn't work for you or you don't like it, then you just don't load it the next boot and it's basically gone.

Not sure what you mean here. Downloaded apps that go into the tce/optional/ folder remain there across boots, don't they? And if they were downloaded "onboot", the entry for them in onboot.lst has to be removed just to stop them from being loaded at boot, doesn't it? Also, don't some extensions actually modify certain files in folders like etc/ and opt/?

M.

[Misalf]

Yes.
Anyway, I can try an extension (via "Download + Load") without setting it "OnBoot".
Then rebooting without making a backup will restore the same system state as it was before downloading the extension except that it still can be 'Loaded'/installed since it's stored in /tce/optional.

[Juanito]

anyway...

With relatively modern hardware, installing the alsa extension (use either the apps gui or command line "tce-load -i alsa" to ensure all required dependency extensions are loaded recursively) is often enough for sound to work without any further user intervention.

You might need to use the "alsamixer" command to un-mute the sound after loading the alsa extension.