Kmix issues. May you help?

[Valter Mura]

In data venerdì 29 ottobre 2010 23:39:19, O. Sinclair ha scritto:

> On 29/10/2010 23:21, Valter Mura wrote:
> > In data venerdì 29 ottobre 2010 23:00:15, O. Sinclair ha scritto:
> >> On 29/10/2010 22:47, ilkyest at pop.com.br wrote:
> >>> Hey guys, No fight 'cause me ok?
> >>> 
> >>> Let's go. until karmic, I could see these channels. on 10.04, I don't
> >>> know, I haven't tried.
> >>> 
> >>> On arch, debian lenny, ubuntu others (I didn't use ubuntu maverick),
> >>> kubuntu, others than maverick, mandriva, distros I've tested, all of
> >>> them appears. Just kubuntu maverick that doesn't.
> >> 
> >> There is one thing unclear to me: you say don't USE Pulseaudio. But in
> >> 10.10 Maverick it is INSTALLED by default and "takes over" from alsa.
> >> 
> >> So unless you actively uninstalled PulseAudio you ARE using it. And then
> >> KMix is still a bit lacking or not clear enough on how to configure
> >> things. The "pavucontrol" sorted things out for me (muted microphones).
> >> 
> >> So the query from me is: did you actively uninstall Pulseaudio? If not,
> >> see above. If you did - then Alsa should have "returned" and you should
> >> have found things much the same way as in Karmic or Lucid. And if you do
> >> not - then you have a problem I don't know how to fix.
> > 
> > Yes, and please give a look also to this thread:
> > 
> > https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/kubuntu-devel/2010-October/004796.html
> 
> To me KMix does not cut the mustard with Pulseaudio. Like right now: I
> am not actively using my built-in mic any software.

I cannot answer here because I haven't built-in mic, I have an old desktop 
with an input jack.

In few days, I'm going to upgrade my video card to improve performance, please 
cross your fingers together with me... :-)

> 
> I check in KMix where is my microphone. I have a tab "capture devices"
> with a volume slider on it. End of story. "capture streams" is blank,
> makes sense I guess.
> 
> Start Pavucontrol. In tab "Input Devices" I see my microphone very
> active represented by a "horisontal column" moving up and down.
> I can see that it is "Microphone 1" representing internal mic and not
> "input jack"-microphone.
> 
> In KMix I just have a slider "Internal Audio analog stereo" in mentioned
> "Capture Devices" - does that mean anything to anyone? Not to me.
> 
> If I start eg Skype and use the mic then in Pavucontrol the tab
> "Recording" contains the skype "channel". In KMix I have will have a
> "Capture Stream".
> 
> To me Pavucontrol is simply more logical. But the BIG difference is I
> can see and control my 2 microphones, my 2 speaker outputs (built-in and
> jack to speakers/earphones) where as in KMix those are not reflected.

Your description is exactly the same I experienced, but I have to say that 
when KMix was based on alsa, it works same as pavucontrol, I had many 
configurable channels and no problems with software and devices, it only 
required some tuning.

My modest opinion is that Kubuntu Devs decided to "force" introduction of 
pulseaudio following the way "Ubuntu/Gnome" already done. But while Gnome and 
sound-related software are ready for it, KDE and, especially, KMix don't.
I suppose, hope, the latter is still under heavy development to solve this 
issue.

In other words, if I needed an OS for a production environment different from 
informatics (let's say, an attorney, a customer care service, a shipping 
agency, a butcher, a housewife, a grandma, etc.), I, sadly, wouldn't choose 
Kubuntu.

Normal people cannot (I'd say, "are not able to) "fight" with these little (for 
somebody) issues. This is not an "user-friendly" way to think. And Kubuntu, 
for a successful vision and future, must tend to normal people.

I also don't think that Kubuntu is the "little" brother of Ubuntu, because, 
even if I'm not very experienced in this field, I still consider KDE better 
that Gnome.

While I'm collaborating with Kubuntu, in the area I can give a help, my next 
step is to try other KDE-based distros to check these issues and better 
understand differences.

Ciao
-- 
Valter
Registered Linux User #466410  http://counter.li.org
Kubuntu Linux: www.kubuntu.org
OpenOffice.org: www.openoffice.org