[PlanetCCRMA] kernel config file - building only 1394 drivers

[Steve Harris]

On Tue, Jan 07, 2003 at 08:12:22 -0800, Mark Knecht wrote:
> I've been trying to drum up a little interest for making a 1394 based
> 'virtual audio card'. My idea is that I could have an Alsa driver on one PC
> that appears to be an audio card to that PC, but all it really does is
> transmit the digital audio over the 1394 bus to another PC with the same
> card and driver.

Me too, there is a low level driver in the kernel to send A+M protocol
data over the 1394 bus, but no-ones ALSAfied it, Paul suggested that
someone might like to do it, but there were no takers.

It would need someone that understood alsa well, and there aren't many
people with those skills.
 
> So far, no programmers seem up for it, but I certainly like the idea. You
> could then run Alsa and Jack apps on a PC with no sound card (less
> expensive) and build a network of machines working together. Also an easy
> way to get laptops into the picture.

Yes, I planned a jack only soltuion, where one machine has a jack client
that punts jack data across the 1394 bus and the other end has a 1394
driver that sends the data from 1394 around the jack graph and then back
over 1394. This way the two machines would run in sample sync, but with
one or two buffers worth of latency. You can daisychain or, better, star
network indefinatly this way.

I described the design in detail on jack-dev some time ago.

I wanted it at the time 'cos my laptop was much faster than my studio pc,
but has crappy audio hardware :)

I got as far as reading the docs, writing some test code and buying a
couple of different 1394 cables, but I still only have one machine with a
1394 port, and its not really at the top of my TODO list anymore. It needs
a dedicated hacker really, and my plate is a bit full as it is.

- Steve