qjackctl does not show USB soundcard

[zasran]

When I plug in the USB soundcard Boss Micro BR-80 I can see it when listing audio devices using aplay -l or aplay -L but qjackctl does not show it. Started qjackctl after the sourcard was plugged in.

Starting jackd manualy "jackd -d alsa -d hw:2" works (tried both playback and record with ardour2).

Devices listed by qjackctl: /dev/dsp, /dev/audio, plughw:0 and hw:0 (same list in interface, input and output drop-down menus)

Devices listed by aplay/arecord:

aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: Generic [HD-Audio Generic], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: SB [HDA ATI SB], device 0: ALC892 Analog [ALC892 Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: SB [HDA ATI SB], device 1: ALC892 Digital [ALC892 Digital]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 2: BR80AUDIO [BR-80(AUDIO)], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

erik@jojda:~$ arecord -l
**** List of CAPTURE Hardware Devices ****
card 1: SB [HDA ATI SB], device 0: ALC892 Analog [ALC892 Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 2: BR80AUDIO [BR-80(AUDIO)], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]
  Subdevices: 0/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

aplay -L
default
    Playback/recording through the PulseAudio sound server
hdmi:CARD=Generic,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, HDMI 0
    HDMI Audio Output
dmix:CARD=Generic,DEV=3
    HD-Audio Generic, HDMI 0
    Direct sample mixing device
dsnoop:CARD=Generic,DEV=3
    HD-Audio Generic, HDMI 0
    Direct sample snooping device
hw:CARD=Generic,DEV=3
    HD-Audio Generic, HDMI 0
    Direct hardware device without any conversions
plughw:CARD=Generic,DEV=3
    HD-Audio Generic, HDMI 0
    Hardware device with all software conversions
sysdefault:CARD=SB
    HDA ATI SB, ALC892 Analog
    Default Audio Device
front:CARD=SB,DEV=0
    HDA ATI SB, ALC892 Analog
    Front speakers
surround40:CARD=SB,DEV=0
    HDA ATI SB, ALC892 Analog
    4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=SB,DEV=0
    HDA ATI SB, ALC892 Analog
    4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=SB,DEV=0
    HDA ATI SB, ALC892 Analog
    5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=SB,DEV=0
    HDA ATI SB, ALC892 Analog
    5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71:CARD=SB,DEV=0
    HDA ATI SB, ALC892 Analog
    7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
iec958:CARD=SB,DEV=0
    HDA ATI SB, ALC892 Digital
    IEC958 (S/PDIF) Digital Audio Output
dmix:CARD=SB,DEV=0
    HDA ATI SB, ALC892 Analog
    Direct sample mixing device
dmix:CARD=SB,DEV=1
    HDA ATI SB, ALC892 Digital
    Direct sample mixing device
dsnoop:CARD=SB,DEV=0
    HDA ATI SB, ALC892 Analog
    Direct sample snooping device
dsnoop:CARD=SB,DEV=1
    HDA ATI SB, ALC892 Digital
    Direct sample snooping device
hw:CARD=SB,DEV=0
    HDA ATI SB, ALC892 Analog
    Direct hardware device without any conversions
hw:CARD=SB,DEV=1
    HDA ATI SB, ALC892 Digital
    Direct hardware device without any conversions
plughw:CARD=SB,DEV=0
    HDA ATI SB, ALC892 Analog
    Hardware device with all software conversions
plughw:CARD=SB,DEV=1
    HDA ATI SB, ALC892 Digital
    Hardware device with all software conversions
sysdefault:CARD=BR80AUDIO
    BR-80(AUDIO), USB Audio
    Default Audio Device
front:CARD=BR80AUDIO,DEV=0
    BR-80(AUDIO), USB Audio
    Front speakers
surround40:CARD=BR80AUDIO,DEV=0
    BR-80(AUDIO), USB Audio
    4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=BR80AUDIO,DEV=0
    BR-80(AUDIO), USB Audio
    4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=BR80AUDIO,DEV=0
    BR-80(AUDIO), USB Audio
    5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=BR80AUDIO,DEV=0
    BR-80(AUDIO), USB Audio
    5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71:CARD=BR80AUDIO,DEV=0
    BR-80(AUDIO), USB Audio
    7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
iec958:CARD=BR80AUDIO,DEV=0
    BR-80(AUDIO), USB Audio
    IEC958 (S/PDIF) Digital Audio Output
dmix:CARD=BR80AUDIO,DEV=0
    BR-80(AUDIO), USB Audio
    Direct sample mixing device
dsnoop:CARD=BR80AUDIO,DEV=0
    BR-80(AUDIO), USB Audio
    Direct sample snooping device
hw:CARD=BR80AUDIO,DEV=0
    BR-80(AUDIO), USB Audio
    Direct hardware device without any conversions
plughw:CARD=BR80AUDIO,DEV=0
    BR-80(AUDIO), USB Audio
    Hardware device with all software conversions

Any ideas what's going on?

[Len Ovens (len-ovenwerks)]

On Sun, 22 Sep 2013, zasran wrote:

> Public bug reported:
>
> When I plug in the USB soundcard Boss Micro BR-80 I can see it when
> listing audio devices using aplay -l or aplay -L but qjackctl does not
> show it. Started qjackctl after the sourcard was plugged in.
>
> Starting jackd manualy "jackd -d alsa -d hw:2" works (tried both
> playback and record with ardour2).
>
> Devices listed by qjackctl: /dev/dsp, /dev/audio, plughw:0 and hw:0
> (same list in interface, input and output drop-down menus)

Umm, just checking... beside the qjackctl Interface dropdown you mention
above there is a smaller box (to the right) with a > in it. Have you
looked for your device in there (try clicking on it)? Also have you tried
just editing the Interface box itself to hw:2?

I'll admit I found it odd at first too.

[zasran (erik-zasran)]

Didn't occur to me to try it before, yes, the little '>' buttons the the right of interface, input and output dropdowns shows different values, including hw:2.

It's pretty confusing, the tooltips don't help much either, they seem to say the same thing:

Interface dropdown tooltip: 'The PCM device name to use'
Interface '>' tooltip: 'Select PCM device name'

Input device dropdown tooltip: 'Alternate input device for capture'
Input device '>' tooltip: 'Select input device for capture'

Output device dropdown tooltip: 'Alternate output device for playback'
Output device '>' tooltip: 'Select output device for playback'

The values for all dropdown menus are:
  - (default)
  - /dev/dsp
  - /dev/audio
  - plughw:0
  - hw:0

The values for all '>' menus:
  - hw:0 HD-Audio Generic
  - hw:1 HDA ATI SB
  - hw:1,0 ALC892 Analog
  - hw:2 BR-80(AUDIO)
  - hw:2,0 USB Audio
  - (default)

Selecting Interface hw:2 BR-80(AUDIO) works, qjackctl starts jackd successfully and both recording and playback work (tested using ardour2).

Guess it's less of a bug than I originally thought but it would be great if it was explained what the two selectors (dropdown and '>' button) are and why they have different values. Maybe it would be possible to consolidate the two into one selection menu?

[Len Ovens (len-ovenwerks)]

On Sun, 22 Sep 2013, zasran wrote:

> Didn't occur to me to try it before, yes, the little '>' buttons the the
> right of interface, input and output dropdowns shows different values,
> including hw:2.

Great, It seems to me I was talking to you on irc before that. I am sorry
I didn't "twig" to what you were missing.

> Guess it's less of a bug than I originally thought but it would be great
> if it was explained what the two selectors (dropdown and '>' button) are
> and why they have different values. Maybe it would be possible to
> consolidate the two into one selection menu?

You are of course free to:
a) talk to the upstream author.
b) send him a patch.

From some of his comments on LAU I would suggest that his non-computer
life has gotten much more complex/interesting and coding is therefore
getting less time.

I shall mark this bug as invalid then. It does work as intended... even if
the intended way is somewhat confusing.