Although the crash mentioned is in kde multimedia the issues concern configuration of amarok as a working media player.
Please point me if this is not the forum for this bug.

adam

DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
DISTRIB_RELEASE=8.10
DISTRIB_CODENAME=intrepid
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 8.10"
KERNEL=2.6.27-9-generic
-Computer-
Processor : 2x AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5200+
Memory : 1927MB (1288MB used)
Operating System : Ubuntu 8.10
User Name : adam (Adam Saltiel)
Date/Time : Sat 14 Feb 2009 18:46:58 GMT
-Display-
Resolution : 1440x900 pixels
OpenGL Renderer : GeForce 6150SE nForce 430/PCI/SSE2
X11 Vendor : The X.Org Foundation
-Multimedia-
Note - nothing found in this section                                 <--- Note this.
-Input Devices-
Macintosh mouse button emulation
AT Translated Set 2 keyboard
Logitech USB Mouse
Note - unable to dected non-USB mouse                 <--- Note this.




Update to KDE Version 4.2.00 (KDE 4.2.0)
Update to Ubuntu kernel core <--- failed, does not recognise boot disk UUID, is not used or relevant in     following.
Update to Firefox to 3.2apre minefield
Update and install of various to support OSS, Phonon, Pulse, Gstreamer Xine etc.

Outcome.
Amarok was updated to version 2.0.1 prior to this activity and did work.
The issue is between Amarok and probably as a simpler example, Dragon player, and OSS.

The following are noted issues.
With ossxmix open -
No matter what packages* for gstreamer I have installed KDE System Settings/Multimedia/Backend shows
a. GStreamer with no icon - maybe a symptom?
b. If GStreamer is selected only greyed out cards show - previous behaviour has been to show a default device.
If, when showing default device, selected and tested with play, System Settings crashes, output pasted below.
c. When GStreamer selected and preferred, stop and starting amarok does not play sound, but PulseAudio volume control under playback tab now reads ALSA plug-in [amarok]: ALSA Playback

*There maybe another package I need?
Greyed - when I start system the configuration dialogue comes up asking whether KDE should 'forget' previously installed devices that are no longer present on the syste. These are e.g. HDA NVidia (ALC 662 analogue) that the system previously used. I select for KDE to not forget these devices.

Otherwise, when GStreamer selected, Dragon player starts but selected media does not appear to play, the progress bar is stationary.
Amarok crashes when attempt to start.

If, when selecting Xine backend, Amarok starts and will appear to play media.
The same is true when default device is selected using the procedure to prefer gstreamer.

Dragon player also appears to play in that the progress bar moves.
Note the following -
In ossxmix under vmix0 the pcm6 label is relabeled as firefox.
        firefox flash plays                              OK.
  The sound control in flash controls volume        OK.
When Xine plays pcm7 label becomes relabeled as xine.
        Audio and vidio play                          OK.
        Volume control in Xine is in active.                KO.

When either Amarok or Dragon player are playing there is no relabeling and no sound!                KO.

PulseAudio
Amarok is the only application found as an audio stream under Playback devices.
The Pulse volume controls have no effect.

From experiments I believe that pulseaudio is needed as a layer on OSS, to register devices, but its controls do not work.

Conclusion - applications that rely on OSS and Gstreamer do not play sound in this setup.
Application that rely on OSS and Xine or flash, I expect flash interfaces with OSS directly, do play sound.
Amarok relies on gstreamer and therefore is mute.
gstreamer does interface with pulseaudio.
pulseaudio does not correctly interface with OSS.
I am unsure if it is the OSS wrapper to ALSA - I have no also modules loaded, only oss.
I am unsure how this works, is it necessary to have both alsa and oss modules loaded and the oss modules will wrap the alsa ones?




Application: KDE Control Module (kcmshell4), signal SIGABRT
0x00007f7126cc06e1 in nanosleep () from /lib/libc.so.6
[Current thread is 0 (LWP 6996)]

Thread 4 (Thread 0x4371c950 (LWP 7022)):
#0  0x00007f71239352d9 in pthread_cond_wait@@GLIBC_2.3.2 () from /lib/libpthread.so.0
#1  0x00007f711ac5c99b in ?? () from /usr/lib/libxine.so.1
#2  0x00007f711ac628be in ?? () from /usr/lib/libxine.so.1
#3  0x00007f71239313ea in start_thread () from /lib/libpthread.so.0
#4  0x00007f7126cfecbd in clone () from /lib/libc.so.6
#5  0x0000000000000000 in ?? ()

Thread 3 (Thread 0x43f1d950 (LWP 7023)):
#0  0x00007f71239352d9 in pthread_cond_wait@@GLIBC_2.3.2 () from /lib/libpthread.so.0
#1  0x00007f711ac5c99b in ?? () from /usr/lib/libxine.so.1
#2  0x00007f711ac6396e in ?? () from /usr/lib/libxine.so.1
#3  0x00007f71239313ea in start_thread () from /lib/libpthread.so.0
#4  0x00007f7126cfecbd in clone () from /lib/libc.so.6
#5  0x0000000000000000 in ?? ()

Thread 2 (Thread 0x41718950 (LWP 7034)):
#0  0x00007f7126cf5236 in poll () from /lib/libc.so.6
#1  0x00007f71164d5abd in ?? () from /usr/lib/libpulse.so.0
#2  0x00007f71164ca01a in pa_mainloop_poll () from /usr/lib/libpulse.so.0
#3  0x00007f71164cb438 in pa_mainloop_iterate () from /usr/lib/libpulse.so.0
#4  0x00007f71164cb500 in pa_mainloop_run () from /usr/lib/libpulse.so.0
#5  0x00007f71164d58bd in ?? () from /usr/lib/libpulse.so.0
#6  0x00007f71164f1f60 in ?? () from /usr/lib/libpulse.so.0
#7  0x00007f71239313ea in start_thread () from /lib/libpthread.so.0
#8  0x00007f7126cfecbd in clone () from /lib/libc.so.6
#9  0x0000000000000000 in ?? ()

Thread 1 (Thread 0x7f7129c146f0 (LWP 6996)):
[KCrash Handler]
#5  0x00007f7126c4b015 in raise () from /lib/libc.so.6
#6  0x00007f7126c4cb83 in abort () from /lib/libc.so.6
#7  0x00007f712853b5a5 in qt_message_output (msgType=QtFatalMsg, buf=) at global/qglobal.cpp:2102
#8  0x00007f712853b6e7 in qFatal (msg=) at global/qglobal.cpp:2303
#9  0x00007f7115452038 in ?? () from /usr/lib/kde4/plugins/phonon_backend/phonon_gstreamer.so
#10 0x00007f711b61931a in ?? () from /usr/lib/libphonon.so.4
#11 0x00007f711b61b243 in ?? () from /usr/lib/libphonon.so.4
#12 0x00007f711b6182e6 in Phonon::MediaNodePrivate::~MediaNodePrivate () from /usr/lib/libphonon.so.4
#13 0x00007f711b617935 in ?? () from /usr/lib/libphonon.so.4
#14 0x00007f711b6154bb in Phonon::MediaObject::~MediaObject () from /usr/lib/libphonon.so.4
#15 0x00007f711b852a03 in DevicePreference::on_testPlaybackButton_toggled (this=0x18470d0, down=) at /build/buildd/kdebase-runtime-4.2.0/phonon/kcm/devicepreference.cpp:730
#16 0x00007f711b85a5f7 in DevicePreference::qt_metacall (this=0x18470d0, _c=QMetaObject::InvokeMetaMethod, _id=, _a=0x7fff31c51740)
    at /build/buildd/kdebase-runtime-4.2.0/obj-x86_64-linux-gnu/phonon/kcm/moc_devicepreference.cpp:92
#17 0x00007f712863f6d4 in QMetaObject::activate (sender=0x1969ad0, from_signal_index=, to_signal_index=31, argv=0xffffffffffffffff) at kernel/qobject.cpp:3031
#18 0x00007f7127e81df2 in QAbstractButton::toggled (this=0x1b54, _t1=false) at .moc/release-shared/moc_qabstractbutton.cpp:192
#19 0x00007f7127c08006 in QAbstractButton::setChecked (this=0x1969ad0, checked=84) at widgets/qabstractbutton.cpp:758
#20 0x00007f7127c07cca in QAbstractButtonPrivate::click (this=0x1969b30) at widgets/qabstractbutton.cpp:520
#21 0x00007f7127c07f65 in QAbstractButton::mouseReleaseEvent (this=0x1969ad0, e=0x7fff31c520a0) at widgets/qabstractbutton.cpp:1110
#22 0x00007f7127ccf74a in QToolButton::mouseReleaseEvent (this=0x1b54, e=0x1b54) at widgets/qtoolbutton.cpp:671
#23 0x00007f712794f139 in QWidget::event (this=0x1969ad0, event=0x7fff31c520a0) at kernel/qwidget.cpp:7163
#24 0x00007f71278fca5d in QApplicationPrivate::notify_helper (this=0x14ee0d0, receiver=0x1969ad0, e=0x7fff31c520a0) at kernel/qapplication.cpp:3803
#25 0x00007f712790504a in QApplication::notify (this=, receiver=0x1969ad0, e=0x7fff31c520a0) at kernel/qapplication.cpp:3528
#26 0x00007f71291ea5db in KApplication::notify () from /usr/lib/libkdeui.so.5
#27 0x00007f712862b381 in QCoreApplication::notifyInternal (this=0x7fff31c52e10, receiver=0x1969ad0, event=0x7fff31c520a0) at kernel/qcoreapplication.cpp:587
#28 0x00007f71279043e8 in QApplicationPrivate::sendMouseEvent (receiver=0x1969ad0, event=0x7fff31c520a0, alienWidget=0x1969ad0, nativeWidget=0x15dbb50, buttonDown=,
    lastMouseReceiver=@0x7f7128282000) at ../../include/QtCore/../../src/corelib/kernel/qcoreapplication.h:212
#29 0x00007f7127968909 in QETWidget::translateMouseEvent (this=0x15dbb50, event=) at kernel/qapplication_x11.cpp:4042
#30 0x00007f71279677ff in QApplication::x11ProcessEvent (this=0x1a6, event=0x7fff31c52960) at kernel/qapplication_x11.cpp:3160
#31 0x00007f712798ec84 in x11EventSourceDispatch (s=0x14f18d0, callback=0, user_data=0x0) at kernel/qguieventdispatcher_glib.cpp:142
#32 0x00007f7123b7fd3b in g_main_context_dispatch () from /usr/lib/libglib-2.0.so.0
#33 0x00007f7123b8350d in ?? () from /usr/lib/libglib-2.0.so.0
#34 0x00007f7123b836cb in g_main_context_iteration () from /usr/lib/libglib-2.0.so.0
#35 0x00007f712865370f in QEventDispatcherGlib::processEvents (this=0x14edff0, flags=) at kernel/qeventdispatcher_glib.cpp:319
#36 0x00007f712798e44f in QGuiEventDispatcherGlib::processEvents (this=0x1b54, flags=) at kernel/qguieventdispatcher_glib.cpp:198
#37 0x00007f7128629ca2 in QEventLoop::processEvents (this=, flags={i = 835005520}) at kernel/qeventloop.cpp:143
#38 0x00007f7128629e2d in QEventLoop::exec (this=0x7fff31c52c90, flags={i = 835005616}) at kernel/qeventloop.cpp:194
#39 0x00007f7127d14825 in QDialog::exec (this=0x15dbb50) at dialogs/qdialog.cpp:447
#40 0x00007f7129830b7f in kdemain (_argc=2, _argv=0x7fff31c53638) at /build/buildd/kdebase-runtime-4.2.0/kcmshell/main.cpp:275
#41 0x00007f7126c36466 in __libc_start_main () from /lib/libc.so.6
#42 0x00000000004006e9 in _start ()

Install/switch to the xine Phonon backend. The GStreamer one is very buggy at this point.

Hi Mark,
Thanks for reply.
In systems settings/multimedia/backend I also have the option to prefer Xine. I have done this and still no sound from Amarok.
When I do so PulseAudio and ESound appear in the device list.
I set these as the two preferred devices for all audio.
In test of either of these from this panel there is no sound.
In Pulse Volume Control widget the volume controls show audio stream for the pulseaudio test, this is lost at end of test and xine esd audio output plugin which is sticky.
Starting Amarok 4.2.0 volume control shows amarok:Audio Stream when playing. This is sticky, I guess for so long as Amarok is up.
In volume control drop down - move stream - there is one option - simultaneous output. I believe this is OK.
In ossxmix firefox has mapped to pcm6.
There is nothing mapped to pcm7.
If I play something in xine there is output. This is mapped to pcm7 as xine, but no control comes up in pulseaudio volume control.
If I attempt to play something in gxine volume controls come up in pulseaudio volume control but there is no mapping in ossxmix and no output.
Conclusion - pulseaudio ---> oss is not functioning.
But oss tests OK and I believe it is being used in all cases where sound is played.
I have searched around this but cannot find anything definitive that I can follow.
Those that work on pulse generally claim it is a packaging issue for Ubuntu. I suspect this is true.
Any ideas?

on Ubuntu, also install "libxine1-ffmpeg" to make xinelib handle MP3, etc.

HI,
I have
libxine1-ffmpeg 1.1.15-0ubuntu3.1intrepid1 installed.

Notice that xine itself is OK on its own, but not gxine.
I do have most of the alsaplayer pcm versions installed, but not alsaplayer-deamon. Should they come out, do they conflict?
There seems to be something missing between OSS and xine, thoughts or thoughts where else to post?

Best,
Adam

To set the gstreamer input/output options, even if you don't have gnome installed, it's easiest if you install gnome-media, this provides the gstreamer properties utility.

If you can't find it on the menu after installation open a teminal window and type:

gstreamer-properties

: Don't know what you have for OSS. In Jaunty the only OSS stuff I see are related to the alsa oss compatibility modules. The alsa-oss compatibility modules do not use dmix so unless your audio hardware does hardware mixing, you are limited to one application using the hardware at a time, even with hardware mixing a lot of applications made bad assumptions and tried to grab exclusive access anyway. For alsa native applications dmix provides the mixing in software depending on the driver, most should be working with it these days. Pulse also provides software mixing.

In the Ubuntu forums there should be some sticky posts somewhere that provide some audio trouble shooting steps.

Personally if the problems seem to be related to the pulse audio daemon, I prefer to uninstall anything to do with pulse audio that doesn't cause something I want to keep to be uninstalled.

There seem to be some issues between pulse and alsa with certain hardware, I don't remember which off hand, but I remember some mention of intel and realtek and I expect issues are probably more common with the newer hd-audio variants.

Later, Seeker

Hi folks,
Sorry for not coming back but work pressures!
Seeker, your suggestions do not solve the problem in my case.
My problem is specific to the way that Amarok (and some other programs) does not pick up the OSS environment.
I have the gstreamer-properties applet. With default input and output set to OSS I can play a test sound with output and hear an intermitent clicking with input. In ossxmix a pcm channel is taken up with label gstreamer. This occurs whether or not I am using another pcm channel, e.g. playing something through firefox flash at the same time.
It is this mechanism that does not occur with Amarok.
In those devices that play this is OK whether pulse or gstreamer is chosen in kde4 multimedia. For those that do not play changing makes no difference, and introduces other weirdness.
I think this is a problem for Amarok.
The main reason I think this is that sources of information on sound in linux are very dispersed around the net, depending on the nature of the problem. But Amarok is a front end component that must be a test case of the choice in KDE4 to go with OSS. Therefore it is in connection with Amarok, and on these forums, that it would be most helpful the problem is resolved. That said, I did try and post my original output as a bug to KDE but, for some reason, my login process failed.
What do others think? Should I try again to post the bug?

adamsaltiel wrote:I think this is a problem for Amarok.
The main reason I think this is that sources of information on sound in linux are very dispersed around the net, depending on the nature of the problem. But Amarok is a front end component that must be a test case of the choice in KDE4 to go with OSS. Therefore it is in connection with Amarok, and on these forums, that it would be most helpful the problem is resolved. That said, I did try and post my original output as a bug to KDE but, for some reason, my login process failed.
What do others think? Should I try again to post the bug?

Unless you actually went to http://www.4front-tech.com/ downloaded/compiled/installed the OSS driver, you shouldn't use OSS output for anything you don't have to.

It doesn't sound like Amarok is the one with the problem, or that it is even an issue with any KDE stuff.

Sounds like something with drivers and routing if inputs/outputs, which, if you are using Alsa would be something for the Alsa developers or with your distribution developers,  or with 4Front if it is OSS4.

It does sound like a bug to me though.

For Debian Lenny or the last few versions of Ubuntu,  if you are using Alsa one more thing to try is to open a terminal window and type:

asoundconf list

: to get a list of sound cards. On the computer I'm sitting at this gives me:

AudioPCI
Bt878

: the AudioPCI being my actual sound card, so I use that with the set-default-card option:

asoundconf set-default-card AudioPCI

: when you go through this process it creates a configuration in your home directory on how to route audio through the card.

Don't know what else to tell you, my knowledge doesn't run a whole lot deeper than that on the Alsa stuff.

Don't really know anything about the 4front driver, have not used any actual OSS stuff since alsa started to take over as the preferred driver.

Later, Seeker