5 ms·

Frankly both audio and video "just work" in Linux, and have for years. It has been several years since I bothered to look up what chips a computer had and what

by jlgreco 13y ago

Frankly both audio and video "just work" in Linux, and have for years. It has been several years since I bothered to look up what chips a computer had and what Linux support was like before making a purchase. I just buy the hardware I want, assume it will work, and find that it does. Maybe I've been getting lucky, but I don't think so. The only real remaining pain in the ass is printer support, but who the hell uses printers these days?

ikt 13y ago
My HTPC has the desktop off the top of the TV and frequently the HDMI audio doesn't work. With my ATI graphics card on my desktop I have a script that runs on startup to force the display drive to to detect my 1920x1080 monitor otherwise it displays the screen with big black bars all around the edges. Audio and video are still a pita for me.
- jlgreco 13y ago
  Proprietary driver I assume? That always has been, and always will be (as far as my crystal ball permits me to see), a clusterfuck. If you opt-in to that sort of pain, don't act surprised when you receive pain.
- oakwhiz 13y ago
  Have you tried this? sudo amdconfig --set-pcs-val=MCIL,DigitalHDTVDefaultUnderscan,0
stelonix 13y ago
Audio just works if you're not a power user, or use only programs compatible with each other. Try using a JACK application alongside an ALSA one and you'll see it doesn't "just work". Even then, if you stick to ALSA applications, you'll have a few issues: 1) You're going to be limiting yourself to a lot less possibilities (Skype uses Pulse, IIRC, for example) 2) You can't have simple settings such as per-application volume control. Sure it "just works", but it does if you use a set of programs which only the people who say "it just works" (a lot of people, I know) restrict themselves to. While it may work for you, different people have different needs. I'm still waiting for the day Linux audio (and video, but less hopeful because of proprietary drivers) simply works in the same way it does under Windows/Mac. Footnote: I completely forgot to mention latency issues, which is awful for audio processing.
- jlgreco 13y ago
  JACK is not apart of the standard Linux sound experience for anybody but sound technicians or musicians. I'll fully concede that this particular situation may be shit, but it does not represent the typical Linux user, or even the typical Linux power user, experience. Can't say I've ever noticed Pulse latency, even while playing Quake, except when using Pulse's networking features. Maybe I have crude ears.
  - stelonix 13y ago
    I'm trying to convey the fact that you need something like JACK in order to do real time audio DSP, while in Windows/Mac, it just works. More importantly, in 2013, per-application volume control should be a given. It's possible under Pulse AFAIK, just not under ALSA. It may not represent the typical Linux users, but while audio processing also doesn't represent the typical PC user, it works under mainstream operating systems. Until such a simple thing also "just works", I won't be happy with sound on Linux. Basically, I'm from the group of people who want things to work on Linux for the same use cases they work on mainstream OSs before I state that it "just works". I believe saying things "just work" only because it works for most of my needs is detrimental, as it gives a wrong image and may frustrate people trying to do something different , as it has happened to me in the past, I've caught myself trying to do non-standard things a lot (read: most) of the time.
    - Daishiman 13y ago
      > I'm trying to convey the fact that you need something like JACK in order to do real time audio DSP, while in Windows/Mac, it just works. There's a ton of Windows applications that take over audio and do a lot of driver weirdness. There's still ASIO incompatibilies, latency issues, etc. In fact it happens in the same space where PulseAudio and JACK intersect on Windows.
      - synchronise 13y ago
        Having something that just works similar to the way CoreAudio just works would be a killer feature to have in Linux. Instead, we get ALSA and Pulseaudio, the odd couple of audio interfaces.
barrkel 13y ago
Did you try nVidia graphics + UEFI bios + encrypted disk? Wasted a whole day at work with that one. The nVidia drivers don't support framebuffer consoles, only VGA, but UEFI doesn't provide VGA console I/O. And an encrypted disk needs human interaction to type the password in at bootup, meaning some kind of graphical support. Meanwhile, the non-proprietary drivers crash the X server if you so much as jiggle a window about. Your best bet with desktop Linux is still to buy old, cheap, common-denominator hardware. Anything recent is a gamble unless you're very technically adept or have access to professionals.
- jlgreco 13y ago
  "Did you try nVidia graphics + UEFI bios + encrypted disk?" Not with proprietary drivers. AMD/NVidia's failure to produce usable drivers of their own isn't particularly relevant as far as I am concerned. In fact, it serves to highlight just how good the the FOSS drivers are at "just working". "Meanwhile, the non-proprietary drivers crash the X server if you so much as jiggle a window about." That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Frankly, I do not believe it.
  - barrkel 13y ago
    It's a fact, verified on two brand new identical spec machines side by side, with GTX 670 cards. I have multiple witnesses! All you had to do to crash X was move a window quickly from side to side. The proprietary drivers are infinitely better in so far as they don't crash.
Elhana 13y ago
Yeah, I was given a poulsbo netbook as a "present" few years ago.. at that time I thought cool, intel has great linux support... not! I'll stick to NVidia for now despite all the fuckyou they get.

by jlgreco 13y ago

ikt 13y ago

My HTPC has the desktop off the top of the TV and frequently the HDMI audio doesn't work. With my ATI graphics card on my desktop I have a script that runs on startup to force the display drive to to detect my 1920x1080 monitor otherwise it displays the screen with big black bars all around the edges. Audio and video are still a pita for me.

jlgreco 13y ago
Proprietary driver I assume? That always has been, and always will be (as far as my crystal ball permits me to see), a clusterfuck. If you opt-in to that sort of pain, don't act surprised when you receive pain.
oakwhiz 13y ago
Have you tried this? sudo amdconfig --set-pcs-val=MCIL,DigitalHDTVDefaultUnderscan,0

stelonix 13y ago

Audio just works if you're not a power user, or use only programs compatible with each other. Try using a JACK application alongside an ALSA one and you'll see it doesn't "just work". Even then, if you stick to ALSA applications, you'll have a few issues: 1) You're going to be limiting yourself to a lot less possibilities (Skype uses Pulse, IIRC, for example) 2) You can't have simple settings such as per-application volume control. Sure it "just works", but it does if you use a set of programs which only the people who say "it just works" (a lot of people, I know) restrict themselves to. While it may work for you, different people have different needs. I'm still waiting for the day Linux audio (and video, but less hopeful because of proprietary drivers) simply works in the same way it does under Windows/Mac. Footnote: I completely forgot to mention latency issues, which is awful for audio processing.

jlgreco 13y ago
JACK is not apart of the standard Linux sound experience for anybody but sound technicians or musicians. I'll fully concede that this particular situation may be shit, but it does not represent the typical Linux user, or even the typical Linux power user, experience. Can't say I've ever noticed Pulse latency, even while playing Quake, except when using Pulse's networking features. Maybe I have crude ears.
- stelonix 13y ago
  I'm trying to convey the fact that you need something like JACK in order to do real time audio DSP, while in Windows/Mac, it just works. More importantly, in 2013, per-application volume control should be a given. It's possible under Pulse AFAIK, just not under ALSA. It may not represent the typical Linux users, but while audio processing also doesn't represent the typical PC user, it works under mainstream operating systems. Until such a simple thing also "just works", I won't be happy with sound on Linux. Basically, I'm from the group of people who want things to work on Linux for the same use cases they work on mainstream OSs before I state that it "just works". I believe saying things "just work" only because it works for most of my needs is detrimental, as it gives a wrong image and may frustrate people trying to do something different , as it has happened to me in the past, I've caught myself trying to do non-standard things a lot (read: most) of the time.
  - Daishiman 13y ago
    > I'm trying to convey the fact that you need something like JACK in order to do real time audio DSP, while in Windows/Mac, it just works. There's a ton of Windows applications that take over audio and do a lot of driver weirdness. There's still ASIO incompatibilies, latency issues, etc. In fact it happens in the same space where PulseAudio and JACK intersect on Windows.
    - synchronise 13y ago
      Having something that just works similar to the way CoreAudio just works would be a killer feature to have in Linux. Instead, we get ALSA and Pulseaudio, the odd couple of audio interfaces.

barrkel 13y ago

Did you try nVidia graphics + UEFI bios + encrypted disk? Wasted a whole day at work with that one. The nVidia drivers don't support framebuffer consoles, only VGA, but UEFI doesn't provide VGA console I/O. And an encrypted disk needs human interaction to type the password in at bootup, meaning some kind of graphical support. Meanwhile, the non-proprietary drivers crash the X server if you so much as jiggle a window about. Your best bet with desktop Linux is still to buy old, cheap, common-denominator hardware. Anything recent is a gamble unless you're very technically adept or have access to professionals.

jlgreco 13y ago
"Did you try nVidia graphics + UEFI bios + encrypted disk?" Not with proprietary drivers. AMD/NVidia's failure to produce usable drivers of their own isn't particularly relevant as far as I am concerned. In fact, it serves to highlight just how good the the FOSS drivers are at "just working". "Meanwhile, the non-proprietary drivers crash the X server if you so much as jiggle a window about." That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Frankly, I do not believe it.
- barrkel 13y ago
  It's a fact, verified on two brand new identical spec machines side by side, with GTX 670 cards. I have multiple witnesses! All you had to do to crash X was move a window quickly from side to side. The proprietary drivers are infinitely better in so far as they don't crash.

Elhana 13y ago

Yeah, I was given a poulsbo netbook as a "present" few years ago.. at that time I thought cool, intel has great linux support... not! I'll stick to NVidia for now despite all the fuckyou they get.