Re:[SLE] MIDI in SuSE 6.4
Helgi Örn wrote:
When for exempel i try to play a midi file in KMid it says:
Couldn't open /dev/sequencer Probably there is another program using it.
I've understood that MIDI is something which is not a trivial thing to configure in Linux is that true? It seems to be complicated enough to make SuSE support reply with:
'Your enquiry goes beyond the scope of our Installation Support.'
I must say that i do not agree with that, i consider a MIDI function as something that ought to be a standard in a serious ('and user friendly' (ever heard that from the SuSE team?)) OS.
<RANT ON> And I consider a complete source Linux driver and full documentation of how to call all the functions, ought to be standard in a serious sound card. "Sorry, we can only support Windows. Technical information on our card is proprietary" I do not agree with THAT. It is up to SuSE to decide the scope of their Installation Support, and until sound card makers pull their weight I don't blame them. <RANT OFF> It is now up to the rest of the community to help you. Please tell the list the type of soundcard you have, and a little about what you have working on it and how you did it. I am sure some of us have a similar card and can help you finish the task. Yours, dproc -- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/support/faq
Hi dproc & thank you for your concern. dproc@dol.net wrote:
Helgi Örn wrote:
When for exempel i try to play a midi file in KMid it says:
Couldn't open /dev/sequencer Probably there is another program using it.
I've understood that MIDI is something which is not a trivial thing to configure in Linux is that true? It seems to be complicated enough to make SuSE support reply with:
'Your enquiry goes beyond the scope of our Installation Support.'
I must say that i do not agree with that, i consider a MIDI function as something that ought to be a standard in a serious ('and user friendly' (ever heard that from the SuSE team?)) OS.
<RANT ON>
And I consider a complete source Linux driver and full documentation of how to call all the functions, ought to be standard in a serious sound card.
"Sorry, we can only support Windows. Technical information on our card is proprietary"
I do not agree with THAT.
It is up to SuSE to decide the scope of their Installation Support, and until sound card makers pull their weight I don't blame them.
Of course it is, but a serious, commercial company has a certain kind of responsibility for it's products, not just selling them and then they are free, we have to be able to use them too. SuSE is marketing their product as; 'Fast, secure and complete!', 'Easy to use!' (Linux Format, June 2000) and even 'SUPERB' (Linux Journal, June 2000). For me as a musician SuSE it is neither 'complete' nor 'SUPERB' when such vital parts as MIDI, and all of the software who uses it, just doesn't work! And that is a dilemma for me because I just don't want to use Windows. I had this bitter experience with the SuSE team after their stupid way of handling the case when the xrage128 server was missing in SuSE 6.3. They did absolutely not react in a serious, professional way when it was clear that the xrage128 server was not included in the 6.3 distribution. That doesn't make it easier for me to accept that they don't want to help me with the MIDI config. The support-database has got nothing on MIDI either. I really like the SuSE packaged distribution in many ways, of all the distributions I've tested (I always keep an extra partition to test other Linux dists) It is the one I stay with, but I have to keep Windows too because of the music software.
<RANT OFF>
It is now up to the rest of the community to help you.
Please tell the list the type of soundcard you have, and a little about what you have working on it and how you did it.
I'm running an Ensoniq Audio PCI64D Soundblaster card (Ess 1371, the MIDI funktion is flawless in Win98). A typical reply when trying to play a MIDI file for example is: 'Couldn't open /dev/sequencer probably there is another program using it'. I configured the soundcard according to the manual and all other sound funktions work very well, then I installed the latest Alsa driver but i didn't get it to work at all so I had to go back to the old config.
I am sure some of us have a similar card and can help you finish the task.
Yours, dproc
Thank you again. I have more or less given up at the moment trying to get this MIDI thing going, but if someone can give me some hint on what the =%7#€= I'm doing wrong then I would be very grateful. If someone for exempel got this same card (Ensoniq PCI64, Ess1371 chip) running with Alsa and the MIDI function, I would very much like to have a copy of that modules.conf file. Sincerely, Helgi Örn -- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/support/faq
Hello, Helgi Örn wrote:
Thank you again. I have more or less given up at the moment trying to get this MIDI thing going, but if someone can give me some hint on what the =%7#€= I'm doing wrong then I would be very grateful. If someone for exempel got this same card (Ensoniq PCI64, Ess1371 chip) running with Alsa and the MIDI function, I would very much like to have a copy of that modules.conf file.
I too know the frustration, I hate having to boot into windows to use Cakewalk for my MIDI stuff. However recently I've some little progress with SuSE Linux. 1. Timidity. As far as I can tell it's a software MIDI to .wav converter. This might sound bad, but it actually does a very nice job. I was able to use a *10 meg*(!) piano Sound Font (that I had purchased elsewhere) in Timidity and the result was nearly indistinguishable from playing it in windows. So for playing MIDI, this is the way to go. 2. The lilypond that comes with SuSE 6.4 seems to work well and can produce MIDI output. The newest development versions seem to have even more MIDI capabilities such as tempo and volume change, though I was unable to get them to compile. At some point soon this package might actually be able to meet all of one's notation and MIDI needs - assuming you don't mind using a markup language for your music recording. 3. There is a program called Melys that is a MIDI sequencer for ALSA. After several frustrating hours and several emails to the author I was unable to get it to compile. Perhaps some of the more knowledgeable people on this list can take a crack at it. You can find the link off of www.alsa-project.com. It looks quite promising as it gives one a GUI style MIDI sequencer, input, etc. By the way, ALSA seems to be the future for sound in Linux, getting used to it now will probably save some frustration later. 4. For the emacs nuts out there (like myself) both Timidity and lilypond have emacs modes that can be added to your .emacs file and seem to work well. 5. I have not been able to get my MIDI keyboard to be read by any GNU/Linux program (it works in windows). This would be nice, but if Lilypond will do everything I need then I won't be too disappointed. Perhaps there is a way to pipe the MIDI signal strait through to Timidity, anyone? The piano sound font I mentioned before sounds so incredible that I'd like to just use that when I'm playing around on my keyboard (instead of its built in sounds). 6. And finally a question for everyone. I've not played with lilypond much, but does anyone know how to tell it to use different MIDI sounds? Everything I compile uses the default piano sound - how do I tell it to use a different instrument number? I know it can do it, because one of the examples plays organ sounds. Hopefully you can find something useful or encouraging in this. And maybe with a little gentle pressure we can get the SuSE people to give this music in Linux thing a little higher priority. Good luck, David Bellows -- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/support/faq
On Mon, 07 Aug 2000, Helgi Örn wrote: <SNIP>
Helgi Örn wrote:
When for exempel i try to play a midi file in KMid it says:
Couldn't open /dev/sequencer Probably there is another program using it.
<SNIP> Please tell the list the type of soundcard you have, and a little about what you have working on it and how you did it.
I'm running an Ensoniq Audio PCI64D Soundblaster card (Ess 1371, the MIDI funktion is flawless in Win98). A typical reply when trying to play a MIDI file for example is: 'Couldn't open /dev/sequencer probably there is another program using it'.
I configured the soundcard according to the manual and all other sound funktions work very well, then I installed the latest Alsa driver but i didn't get it to work at all so I had to go back to the old config.
Thank you again. I have more or less given up at the moment trying to get this MIDI thing going, but if someone can give me some hint on what the =%7#€= I'm doing wrong then I would be very grateful. If someone for exempel got this same card (Ensoniq PCI64, Ess1371 chip) running with Alsa and the MIDI function, I would very much like to have a copy of that modules.conf file.
I don't have this card, and I am afraid I use OSS/Free. I looked in http://www.alsa-project.org/src/soundcards.html also in /usr/doc/packages/alsa/SOUNDCARDS and it says there is MIDI support for your card. But /usr/doc/packages/alsa/INSTALL.driver does not mention any parameters. Maybe there are some hints in the sources, if there are no card users on the list. I think there are some alsa-project mailing lists. Hope you get some working code soon. dproc -- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/support/faq
Helgi Örn wrote:
Hi dproc & thank you for your concern. It is the one I stay with, but I have to keep Windows too because of the music software.
Linux (any distro) has never been aimed at the 'high-end' audio/visual editing market. The thought that springs to my mind as soon as I hear people talking about this area, is BeOS. AFAIK it is aimed at exactly this market. Could be worth a look? <Quote> Nearly 1,000 applications available; more on the way. BeOS comes complete with a Web browser, e-mail client, media player, utilities, translators, integrated development environment with source-level debugger, 3D audio mixer, and other application demos. In addition, you can choose from nearly a thousand powerful, applications currently available for BeOS, including audio, video, graphics, development tools, Internet and networking, office productivity, utilities, games, and more </quote> Checkout www.be.com -- This Email is 100% Virus Free! How do I know? Because no Microsoft products were used to generate it! Regards Don Hansford ECKYTECH COMPUTING SuSE Linux 6.4 -- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/support/faq
participants (4)
-
bfootdav＠bellsouth.net -
donh＠halenet.com.au -
dproc＠dol.net -
hehe＠post.netlink.se