Linux/FreeBSD/Mac OS X etc sound

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Moderator: ZSNES Mods

Best audio API

SDL
10
20%
AO
10
20%
OpenAL
14
29%
Semi Portable OSS
6
12%
Non Portable ALSA
5
10%
Non Portable CoreAudio
1
2%
Other
3
6%
 
Total votes: 49

byuu

Post by byuu »

Any OS,no matter how secure it may be is useless without sound and hardware graphics acceleration.
For a desktop, sure. Just because people love making two changes to FreeBSD and releasing it under catchy names like FreeSBIE, DesktopBSD and DragonflyBSD, doesn't mean they have changed from a server OS into a desktop OS (or even a unique distro.)

I really wish these people would stick to forking Linux distros like they're used to. We only have ~200 of those so far ... come on guys, we need more!

That said, the work you put into turning FreeBSD into a desktop OS pays off in terms of stability in the long run. But it really, really is a pain in the ass, even with nVidia + HDA. The most recent final version of FreeBSD (6.2) won't run my 8800 without binary drivers (which aren't available for 64-bit, thanks nVidia), my HDA soundchip without extra drivers downloaded from a dev's homepage, or my NV ethernet card without adding the ID to the kernel module and recompiling it. It makes a nice text-console out of the box, though.

And ATI stuff doesn't really even work well with Linux. I hear nonstop complaints about fglrx, radeon, radeonhd, ati, etc etc Xorg drivers. You owe it to yourself to pick up a cheap nVidia card (or an Intel one when they finally offer them non-integrated) if you want to use X11.

AMD put up a good PR front with their bullshit "we'll release our card specs publicly" line. A year later and we have mode-setting information only -- great for cloning VESA2, not for much else. Yet everyone for some reason thinks they're OSS friendly now.
kick
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Post by kick »

byuu wrote:Just because people love making two changes to FreeBSD and releasing it under catchy names like FreeSBIE, DesktopBSD and DragonflyBSD, doesn't mean they have changed from a server OS into a desktop OS (or even a unique distro.)
PC-BSD might be the exception.I've heard many good things about it.It's just too bad there's no 'live' version or a way to boot it live.I'm not installing anything until I'm sure the hardware is supported.
The funny thing is they offer a VMWare image for testing,but as most of you know,evaluating hardware support under a virtual machine is impossible due to the virtual hardware and drivers it uses.
And ATI stuff doesn't really even work well with Linux. I hear nonstop complaints about fglrx, radeon, radeonhd, ati, etc etc Xorg drivers. You owe it to yourself to pick up a cheap nVidia card (or an Intel one when they finally offer them non-integrated) if you want to use X11.
OK,ATI cards are known for their shitty open-source drivers
but what about sound support? (that card is *old* and most widely supported in Linux) That's the main problem I have with BSD.I just wanted to test that new OSS4 stuff :(
(I'll have to dust off that 5-yr old box and see if it works with the NV SoundStorm)
[i]Have a nice kick in da nutz[/i] @~@* c//
RedDwarf
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Post by RedDwarf »

byuu wrote:
byuu, writing such an API is the perfect job for you (after finishing bsnes)
The solution isn't to create yet another API. Instead, we should be improving what we already have and eliminate the older cruft.
Well, another API is going to be created yes or yes. So if someone wants to have something to say... https://tango.0pointer.de/mailman/listi ... ey-discuss
simbioz
New Member
Posts: 4
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Post by simbioz »

hi, maybe I am a bit too late :D but I just noticed there is something called libao2, has anyone of you heard of it?

here is the output from apt:
apt-cache show libao2
Description: Cross Platform Audio Output Library
Libao is a cross platform audio output library. It supports
ALSA, ESD, OSS, Pulse, and several others.

However I am unable to find any devel package related to it, nor any documentation.
Nach
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Post by Nach »

It's actually called libao.

It's the AO option in the poll.
May 9 2007 - NSRT 3.4, now with lots of hashing and even more accurate information! Go download it.
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simbioz
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Post by simbioz »

You mean libao == libao2 ?
However, doing a little of searching I found this:
Deathlike2 wrote:libao, not libao2 is supposed to be used.
http://board.zsnes.com/phpBB2/viewtopic ... 933#146933

and this,
Because the general idea of libao was good, the MPlayer team took libao, fixed several limitations, updated it, fixed bugs, added many more sound wrappers, even two for Windows and one for Mac OS X, and dubbed their creation libao2.
http://insanecoding.blogspot.com/2007/0 ... linux.html

I also found this Linux API Sound Guide if anyone is interested
http://0pointer.de/blog/projects/guide- ... -apis.html
Nach
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Post by Nach »

The Debian package named "libao2" is in fact "libao".
May 9 2007 - NSRT 3.4, now with lots of hashing and even more accurate information! Go download it.
_____________
Insane Coding
cpuking2009

sound not working

Post by cpuking2009 »

ok i had zsnes working for a few hours. turned off spc emulation to take care of some syncing issues...so far everything is perfect the sound works the way it should.. after a few hours of use suddenly the sound stops working all together. i checked the volume on mp pc and ZSNES and both were 100. i turned emulation back on to try and solve the problem and still no sound. is there any setting that works best with Ubuntu 9.14? (9.10 with latest updates)
dfreer
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Re: sound not working

Post by dfreer »

cpuking2009 wrote:is there any setting that works best with Ubuntu 9.14? (9.10 with latest updates)
Wtf is 9.14? I saw a couple references to it by google suggesting that it's actually a release but nothing explains why?
odditude
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Re: sound not working

Post by odditude »

dfreer wrote:
cpuking2009 wrote:is there any setting that works best with Ubuntu 9.14? (9.10 with latest updates)
Wtf is 9.14? I saw a couple references to it by google suggesting that it's actually a release but nothing explains why?
you know, it was released in the 14th month of 2009 *shrug*
Why yes, my shift key *IS* broken.
paulguy
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Post by paulguy »

doesn't "disable SPC emulation" also disable audio output as well? Your sound shouldn't've been working at all. Though I do believe Linux zsnes does need a restart for "enable audio" to make a difference either way... but if it's not emulating the SPC... I don't know, I never messed with that option since the first time about 10 years ago to see what it did...in the DOS version.
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