Problem with ARTS [fixed]

Question

I'm new to this forum so first of all I want to say hello.
I got interested in archlinux because a friend of mine told me about the interesting packaging system and the performance of archlinux (however this is not my concern, I don't use linux for setting up a server or something )
Anyways I tried it and I liked it from the start. I've got most of the things working well with kernel 2.6 (the one on the CD of arch 0.6)
There is one problem though. I can't seem to get arts to work. Every time I start up the deamon, it's complaining about alsa-lib or something.
this is what I did:
[laurens@Nectar]-[/home/laurens]-83-$> artsd
unix_connect: can't connect to server (unix:/tmp/mcop-laurens/Nectar-1954-410a6da3)
ALSA lib pcm_hw.c:549:(snd_pcm_hw_start) SNDRV_PCM_IOCTL_START failed: Broken pipe
ALSA lib pcm_hw.c:549:(snd_pcm_hw_start) SNDRV_PCM_IOCTL_START failed: Broken pipe
after <ctrl-c>I tried
$> artds -l 0 (level 0 = debugging)
and got the following output:
[laurens@Nectar]-[/home/laurens]-79-$> artsd -l 0
artsd version is 1.2.3
gsl: using Unix98 pthreads directly for mutexes and conditions
[artsd: 6356] SoundServerStartup --> got lock
autodetecting driver:
- toss: 4
- esd: -1
- null: -1
- alsa: 11
- oss: 10
... which means we'll default to alsa
ALSA driver: default
buffering: 7 fragments with 1024 bytes (audio latency is 40.6 ms)
ALSA lib pcm_hw.c:549:(snd_pcm_hw_start) SNDRV_PCM_IOCTL_START failed: Broken pipe
Closing ALSA-driver
virtualize StereoVolumeControl
ALSA driver: default
buffering: 7 fragments with 1024 bytes (audio latency is 40.6 ms)
ALSA lib pcm_hw.c:549:(snd_pcm_hw_start) SNDRV_PCM_IOCTL_START failed: Broken pipe
Closing ALSA-driver
virtualize StereoVolumeControl
ALSA driver: default
buffering: 7 fragments with 1024 bytes (audio latency is 40.6 ms)
ALSA lib pcm_hw.c:549:(snd_pcm_hw_start) SNDRV_PCM_IOCTL_START failed: Broken pipe
audio format is 44100 Hz, 16 bits, 2 channels
addDirectory(/opt/kde/lib/mcop,)
addDirectory(/opt/kde/lib/mcop/Arts,Arts)
addDirectory(/home/laurens/.mcop/trader-cache,)
addDirectory(/opt/kde/lib/mcop,)
addDirectory(/opt/kde/lib/mcop/Arts,Arts)
addDirectory(/home/laurens/.mcop/trader-cache,)
[artsd: 6356] SoundServerStartup <-- released lock
then I had to <ctrl-c>:
Synth_PLAY: closing audio fd
Closing ALSA-driver
This is my lsmod output:
[laurens@Nectar]-[/home/laurens]-81-$> lsmod
Module Size Used by
ipt_MASQUERADE 3456 1
iptable_nat 22692 2 ipt_MASQUERADE
ip_conntrack 30220 2 ipt_MASQUERADE,iptable_nat
iptable_filter 2560 1
ip_tables 17152 3 ipt_MASQUERADE,iptable_nat,iptable_filter
parport_pc 22976 1
lp 9608 0
parport 36808 2 parport_pc,lp
ppp_synctty 8320 0
ppp_async 10624 1
ppp_generic 27412 6 ppp_synctty,ppp_async
slhc 6912 1 ppp_generic
8139too 22272 0
mii 4864 1 8139too
sis900 18308 0
crc32 4352 2 8139too,sis900
tsdev 6016 0
joydev 8640 0
evdev 7936 0
snd_pcm_oss 51880 0
snd_mixer_oss 18304 1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_intel8x0 32556 1
snd_ac97_codec 68356 1 snd_intel8x0
snd_pcm 91780 2 snd_pcm_oss,snd_intel8x0
snd_timer 23556 1 snd_pcm
snd_page_alloc 9480 2 snd_intel8x0,snd_pcm
gameport 3968 1 snd_intel8x0
snd_mpu401_uart 7040 1 snd_intel8x0
snd_rawmidi 21540 1 snd_mpu401_uart
snd_seq_device 6920 1 snd_rawmidi
snd 50276 11 snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm,snd_timer,snd_mpu401_uart,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq_device
soundcore 8160 1 snd
ohci_hcd 20484 0
rtc 11976 0
nls_cp850 4992 1
vfat 12928 1
fat 41632 1 vfat
nls_iso8859_15 4736 4
ntfs 119660 3
For the record: I can play sound easily with alsa, so that's no problem at all. I just want to get rid of the sounds that are placed in a stack or something while I'm listening to music. I want it to play all together. Already tried ESD but that makes my sound ugly.
Any help appreciated.

Answer 1

i would like to add some hints to this post as this is by far only half the story.
1st - his /etc/asound.conf is wrong
pcm.dsp0 {
type plug
slave.pcm "dmixer"
pcm.!default {
type plug
slave.pcm "dmixer"
pcm.dmixer {
type dmix
ipc_key 3950183
slave {
pcm "hw:0,0"
rate 44100
period_time 0
period_size 1024
buffer_size 8192
bindings {
0 0
ctl.mixer0 {
type hw
card 0
}1 1
notice the 1 1 at the end? i always wondered why that was - it should be here:
bindings {
0 0
1 1
otherwise you'll be scratching your ass wondering why you only get sound in one speaker.
Now, for each app.
The settings that work for me are:
xmms - change output plugin to ALSA - click configure - in the audio device combo box type "dmixer" - click apply and xmms is set
xine - open up the setup (change you settings to master of the know universe and restart if you have not already) - click the audio tab - change device used for mono/stereo output to dmixer - scroll down and change audio driver to use to alsa - apply and restart
gaim - just set sounds to auto and test - if it doesn't work when playing another sound tell it to use command and use aplay
gkrellm - play all your alerts with aplay - if you have used another app before and need to change all you alerts do it the smart way! - killall gkrellm - change to your ~/.gkrellm dir - open user config with gvim and find and replace all instances of your old app e.g. esdplay (uhhh), with aplay - much easier than using the configurator.
could this go in the wiki with more apps added?