alsa jack pcm plugin not working when built against libasound2-dev

[tapas]

Binary package hint: libasound2-dev

Install libasound2-dev and libasound2-plugins. Note that the previous ubuntu release removed the alsa jack plugin from the libasound2-plugins package without replacement. It was nonetheless still possible to build it from the corresponding alsa-plugins source tarball and then simply copy it to /usr/lib/alsa-lib/..

Sadly with the gutsy betas even this isn't an option anymore. While it is still possible to build the alsa-plugins-1.0.14 tarball against the 1.0.14 ubuntu libasound2-dev package, the jack plugin simpy doesn't work anymore.

Here's a testcase for you guys:

start jackd [if realtime or not doesn't matter]

add this to your .asoundrc:

pcm.jack {
    type jack
    playback_ports {
        0 alsa_pcm:playback_1
        1 alsa_pcm:playback_2
    }
    capture_ports {
        0 alsa_pcm:capture_1
        1 alsa_pcm:capture_2
    }
}

pcm.jackplug {
#pcm.!default {
    type plug
    slave { pcm "jack" }
}

And then on the console try:

aplay -D jackplug some_wav_file.wav

I consistently get this error message:

~/sound/Ardour_Sessions$ aplay -D jackplug nuu_samba/export/guitar.wav
JACK tmpdir identified as [/dev/shm]
Playing WAVE 'nuu_samba/export/guitar.wav' : Signed 16 bit Little Endian, Rate 48000 Hz, Stereo
aplay: set_params:900: Sample format non available

Not only is it bad english [;)] but also it seems to be a regression as this used to work perfectly fine in gutsy with libasound2 version 1.0.13..

Thanks,
Flo

[tapas (mista-tapas)]

Erm, correction:

"Not only is it bad english [;)] but also it seems to be a regression as this used to work perfectly fine in gutsy with libasound2 version 1.0.13.."

Must read:

"Not only is it bad english [;)] but also it seems to be a regression as this used to work perfectly fine in FEISTY with libasound2 version 1.0.13.."

[tapas (mista-tapas)]

It's a bug in 1.0.14. See here:

http://hg-mirror.alsa-project.org/alsa-lib/rev/917d1281c93f

That's the required fix afaict [not tested]

Debian has fixed packages available...

http://packages.debian.org/lenny/libasound2/i386/download

Have fun.
Flo

[tapas (mista-tapas)]

Fix works (installed the debian package)..

[Erik de Castro Lopo (erikd)]

This also affects a other audio programs that use libasound2 like sweep:

    https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/sweep/+bug/148899

This bug is not fixed by the latest package (libasound2_1.0.14-1ubuntu8_i386.deb).

[Micon Frink (frink)]

This is an ongoing complaint for over a year. The fact that there has been no action taken or even a single response from the package team doesn't look good at all. Since Debian has a fixed package we can ascertain that there are no legal issues at stake. It seems this is just whimsical carelessness...

Please fix this immediately!!! Thank you.

- FRiNK

[briwood (bri-nwood)]

Mista tapas says:

> Fix works (installed the debian package)...

I'd love to know how he installed that package. I'm on 7.10 and I tried the following:

1. download libasound2_1.0.16-2_i386.deb
2. sudo dpkg -i libasound2_1.0.16-2_i386.deb

output from 2:
------
(Reading database ... 136544 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to replace libasound2 1.0.14-1ubuntu8 (using libasound2_1.0.16-2_i386.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement libasound2 ...
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of libasound2:
 libasound2 depends on libc6 (>= 2.7-1); however:
  Version of libc6 on system is 2.6.1-1ubuntu10.
dpkg: error processing libasound2 (--install):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Errors were encountered while processing:
 libasound2
------

I've been unable to figure out if it's possible to upgrade my libc6. Can I manually build one? Any quick pointers?

Thanks!

[Adriaan Leijnse (aidy-)]

This is still an issue in intrepid, and _very_ annoying. Installing the debian unstable packages breaks all kinds of packages that depend on the ubuntu versions...

Sorry for saying this, but it's pretty ridiculous.

[cruiseoveride (cruiseoveride)]

I think Ubuntu needs to provide the jack plugin as part of libasound2-plugins as ALSA intended.

The jack related readme and example conf as in the package, but no driver

dpkg -L libasound2-plugins | grep -i jack
/usr/share/doc/libasound2-plugins/README-jack
/usr/share/doc/libasound2-plugins/examples/asound.conf_jack