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

[Kevin Kofler]

DB wrote:
> $ 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

Try rpm -e phonon-backend-gstreamer to see if that helps. It should be
picking up xine by default already, but it's best to be sure.
Unfortunately, Phonon's GStreamer backend is not as reliable as the
xine-lib one.

> At the moment, the audio_cd.device box contans /dev/cdrom. Is it
> possible to somehow list cdrom & cdrom1?

No, you'll have to change it when you want to use the other drive.

>> You need libdvdcss from Livna.
>>   
> Is this - or something like it - included in rpmfusion free or nonfree?

No. There have been long flamebaits over including libdvdcss in RPM Fusion
or not (due to legal issues). At the end it was decided to keep it in the
old Livna repository.

http://rpm.livna.org/

> 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!)

Well, both are true to some extent. :-)

ALSA applications
   |
   V
PulseAudio ALSA plugin (alsa-plugins-pulseaudio)
   |
   V
PulseAudio <-- Other applications, using other APIs (PulseAudio native, ESD)
   |
   V
ALSA hardware device

> Question 1 - which way is "front" & "back" ie nearer Hardware or nearer
> User?

Front = nearer to the user, back = nearer to the hardware.

> 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?

See the basic diagram above. (The complete diagram is a bit more complex
than that though.)

> Question 3 - does having ALSA mixer. KMix, Pulseaudio Volume control
> open at the same time cause any problem?

No. But you should need only one of KMix and alsamixer. (Hopefully in the
future KMix will also pick up the functionality of pavucontrol.)

> Question 4 - when I open PA Manager, what is meant by "Sound Server"

PulseAudio

PulseAudio is a sound server, so when PulseAudio-related tools say "sound
server", they normally mean PulseAudio.

> Question 5 - in the Skype example above, how can I find out what the 4
> SiS variants represent?

Different outputs of your sound card, most likely.

Normally you should let PulseAudio worry about where to output and set your
applications to output to PulseAudio.

> 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")

The handbook may be outdated.

        Kevin Kofler