TOPIC: Configure Sound in YDL v4.0.1

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Introduction
In general, there is in progress a migration from OSS (Open Sound System) to ALSA (Adavnced Linux Sound Architecture). There are drivers associated with OSS that must be rebuilt for ALSA. And each driver must work nicely with each userland application (or the other way around, depending upon your point of view). The drivers for both OSS and ALSA are rathy buggy in PowerPC Linux, resulting in less than full functionality, static, or nothing at all depending upon the combination of app, desktop environment (KDE, Gnome, and hardware).

The transition between OSS to ALSA has not been smooth, but we (at Terra Soft) have improved he functionality of Rhythmbox and XMMS with the v4.0.1 release and wil continue to work to improve audio support. This will result in new builds of key applications and drivers which will be available from the YDL.net and public FTP mirrors.

The good news is a solid support for external, USB audio devices, such as the Griffin iMic and others similar to it. This quick HOWTO will get you up and running in no time.


ALSA Mixer
The ALSA Mixer provides an interactive text-based control of the audio functions of your computer. Ultimately, it is similar to KMix, but in this initial setup can provide a slightly more accurate interface. It is recommended you use ALSA Mixer at first, get things working, and then use KMix if you prefer.

From the command line:

alsamixer [ENTER]

... use Arrow keys to navigate left & right, up & down to in/decrease volume. Increase Master, PCM, and DRC Range into the GREEN. Make certain there is no letter "m" to the right of the Item: Master (when selecting Master. If there is, press the letter "m" on the keyboard to disable muting.


RhythmBox
An excellent graphical tool for ripping audio CDs, sorting playlists, and playing streaming radio. By default, RhythmBox can play ogg format music files. MP3s are disabled due to licensing issues (same is true for XMMS). RhythmBox does not play CDs directly.

KMenu --> Sound & Video --> Music Player
Music --> Import Audio CD ... --> Extract

... SoundJuicer is automatically launched and will procede to extract the songs from your CD. If on-line, the CDDB is automatically engaged to correlate the artist, title, genre, etc. If not on-line, it is possible that SoundJuicer may crash while attempting to rip.


XMMS
XMMS works well to play CDs and streaming radio. As with Rhythmbox, MP3s are disabled by default but can be enabled through your own effort (requires a plugin rebuild). If you did not install XMMS during YDL install, you must install it from Install CD #2. As root, from the command line:

mount /dev/cdrom/ /mnt/cdrom/ [ENTER]
cd /mnt/cdrom/YellowDog/RPMS/ [ENTER]
ll [ENTER]
rpm -Uvh xmms-1.2.10-3.ydl.1.ppc.rpm [ENTER]

... or you can run Add/Remove Packages from Y-Menu --> System Settings.

1. Open the Play List by selecting the PL button.
   
   
2. Open the settings by selecting the "O" from the left side, vertical menu.
   
   
3. Select Preferences.
   
   
4. Configure the plugins:
   1. Under Audio I/O Plugins and the Input plugins menu, select CD Audio Player.
   2. Activate this plugin via the Enable plugin checkbox.
   3. Select Configure and then Digital audio extraction radio button.
   4. Press Ok.
   
   
5. Under the 'Output Plugin' menu, select 'OSS Driver'.
   
   
6. Press the Apply button and then press Ok.
   
   
7. At the bottom of the XMMS Play List, select Add and Dir. Then point XMMS to the /mnt/cdrom/ directory and select your audio CD. Wait for the CD to spin-up, for the play list to appear, and then ...
   
   
8. Play your CD!

This HOWTO was created by Kai Staats, Terra Soft Solutions