Help to sort a multimedia system??? (still)

[DB]

> Message: 4
> Date: Sat, 28 Mar 2009 03:04:09 +0100
> From: Kevin Kofler <kevin.kofler at chello.at>
> Subject: Re: Help to sort a multimedia system???  (still)
> To: fedora-list at redhat.com
> Message-ID: <gqk0iq$dh8$1 at ger.gmane.org>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
>
> DB wrote:
>   
>> On start up, a little black window pops up saying that Phonom can't
>> usesomething - I guess the AC97 onboard sound - reverting to Sis S17012.
>>     
>
> Phonon should be using PulseAudio.
>
> Can you please post the result of the following?
> rpm -qa phonon\*
>   
$ rpm -qa phonon\*
phonon-devel-4.3.1-2.fc10.i386
phonon-backend-xine-4.3.1-2.fc10.i386
phonon-4.3.1-2.fc10.i386
phonon-backend-gstreamer-4.3.1-2.fc10.i386

>   
>> Kaffeine can only see one of the 2 DVD players (Master & Slave on an ide
>> cable) and playback is monstrously distorted..  And I don't appear to be
>> able to set  the audio-cd-device in the xine parameters...
>>     
>
> It's under "media", it's a text box, you have to enter the device name by
> hand.
>   
At the moment, the audio_cd.device box contans /dev/cdrom. Is it 
possible to somehow list cdrom & cdrom1?
>  
>   
>> I tried to yumex the xine -lib-extras-freeworld & keep getting
>> Missing Dependency: xine-lib(plugin-abi) = 1.24 is needed by package
>> xine-lib-extras-freeworld-1.1.15-4.fc10.i386 (rpmfusion-free)
>>     
>
> That's really old. Make sure you also have rpmfusion-free-updates enabled,
> not just rpmfusion-free.
>   
Yes, somehow, I had a .repo for free-updates, with enabled=0, used gedit 
to change that to enabled=1 (since clicking on the enable box in yumex 
only appeared to fix it for the duration of the yumex run)
>   
>> Tried to play a commercial DVD; Dragon says it doesn't have the right
>> plugins ( in extras-freeworld??).  Other players "sometimes they sits &
>> thinks, sometimes they just sits"
>>     
>
> You need libdvdcss from Livna.
>
>   
Is this - or something like it - included in rpmfusion free or nonfree?
>> Tried to run Skype... Berfore I got the webcam to work, I had sound.
>> Now I have video, I only (most times) only have incoming sound.  I'm
>> offered as sound input
>> Default Device
>> SiS S17012 ( hwSI7012,0)
>> SiS S17012 ( hwSI7012,1)
>> SiS S17012 ( plughwSI7012,0)
>> SiS S17012 ( plughwSI7012,1)
>> 2 connections for the mic on the Webcam,
>> HDMI
>> Pulse
>>     
>
> "Default Device" or "Pulse" (which are really both the same if PulseAudio is
> working) is what you should choose. (Same for any other ALSA application.)
>
>         Kevin Kofler
>   
Thanks, Kevin. If I remember correctly, in some replies to other 
questions about sound devices, you wrote something about "Alsa being on 
top of PA" (or vice versa!) - I also read that various programs are 
"Front end" or Backend" to something else.....
Question 1 - which way is "front" & "back" ie nearer Hardware or nearer 
User?
Question 2 - is there a way for naive users (like me!) to find out what 
sequence of modules/software/gizmos is actually involved in say, getting 
the noise from my CD/DVD/AC97 to the speakers?
Question 3 - does having ALSA mixer. KMix, Pulseaudio Volume control 
open at the same time cause any problem?
Question 4 - when I open PA Manager, what is meant by "Sound Server" 
(only servers I ever met were either in a restaurant or a big box in a 
computer room for supplying things to networked computers - & I don't 
have either here in my workroom!)
Question 5 - in the Skype example above, how can I find out what the 4 
SiS variants represent?
Question 6 - (maybe the wrong place to ask this one...) KMix handbook 
says I should see 3 tabs, one of which is switches, and "leds" to show 
which controls are active.... I only have 1 tab & no leds; normal in 
KDE4? (KMix Version 3.5 Using KDE 4.2.1 (KDE 4.2.1) from "About KMix")

Many many thanks to you & Rex for helping me through this minefield of 
confusion!
(Is there a "for Dummies" guide to all these things somewhere on the Web?)

Thanks

Dave
>
>
>