[PlanetCCRMA] Some apps not working correctly under ALSA?

[Fernando Pablo Lopez-Lezcano]

> Jack will start only after I disable arts, which seems to be the norm, 

That's normal, arts monopolizes the audio device and nobody else can use
it if it is running. 

> from what I've read. I can play DVDs and audio CDs with Mplayer and 
> KsCD. Is this correct?

I have not tried KsCD, mplayer should work...

> Ardour will boot and run fine, but doesn't convert audio correctly. If I 
> import a CD audio track, it plays back at a faster rate. Is Ardour 
> supposed to convert 44.1khz to 48khz automatically?

No, you will not get automatic conversions from Ardour. You have to run
jack at the right sampling rate, everything else is slaved to Jack. Just
change the startup parameters for jack to use 44100 as the sampling
rate. For example:
  jackstart -R -d alsa -d hw -r 44100

> Zynaddsubfx synth shows audio on the meters, but I can't hear it.

Some Jack applications do not connect their outputs by default. You have
to use a patcher for Jack and connect the outputs to the "outputs" of
the soundcard. Use Qjackconnect or the patchbay in Qjackctl (you can use
Qjackctl to run jack with a nice GUI). If you drive it through MIDI you
have to also connect the MIDI source to the software synth, you could
use Kaconnect for that. 

> Rosegard shows MIDI playing on the meters as well, but I can't hear it 
> either.

What are you using to render MIDI? Rosegarden will play MIDI but it
needs to go somewhere (an external MIDI synth, a software midi player).
I'm not a Rosegarden expert...

> Which mixer to use with Alsa: Qamix, Alsamixer, Sound Mixer, Volume 
> Control? I seem to have no less than 4 mixers to choose from.

I like Gamix, Qamix would also be a good choice. Both are native ALSA
mixers. 

> Any drivers available to use my Audiomedia III card with Ardour?

Sorry, no. AFAIK the hardware is proprietary so it would be very
difficult if not impossible to write drivers for it. 

-- Fernando