RE: References, please: /dev/sequencer and Ensoniq 1371
Kenneth Pronovici <pronovic@skyjammer.com> wrote:
>
>
> I'm at my wit's end here. I have a 'testing' system that's got an
> Ensoniq 1371 sound card in it. I recompiled the kernel after I got the
> card, and sound in general (xmms, sound effects in Doom, etc.) has been
> working fine for months. However, /dev/sequencer doesn't seem to work.
>
> A long dig through the archives at Google has netted me not much in the
> way of useful information. It appears that this particular Ensoniq model
> doesn't support MIDI in hardware, and that's the root of my problem.
>
> I've read through the Linux Sound HOWTO and about 20 other documents, but
> I can't find one that says conclusively whether there's a way to get
> /dev/sequencer working with this card (or any card that doesn't have a
> hardware-based MIDI capability). Is there a way to get /dev/sequencer
> support through some sort of software MIDI emulation, or am I out of luck?
>
> Any pointers to references would be appreciated. I don't mind RTFM, if I
> can find it. ;-)
>
> Thanks, and please CC me on responses.
>
> KEN
Sorry to be bearer of bad tidings, but you you pretty much have it
figured out. I have been fighting this same problem for over 2.5 years
and still don't have a "the" answer.
A "satisfactory" alternative comes in the form of a midi-->wave
converter program call Timidity. You can get this from the Debian
package list. In addition you will have to d/l and install the GUS
soundfont (patch) files to make it work. The downside of this is that
it is fairly CPU-intensive and you really need a 300 Mz CPU or better to
make the sound stream run smoothly. Anything less and the sound breaks
up evertime you move the mouse or any other activity that uses the CPU
comes along. This makes using it for midis in games a bit problematic
on older, slower CPUs.
Timidity is a command-line program. If you are using KDE, then you can
install the KMIDI (NOT KMID) program and get a good GUI front-end to
it. You still need the GUS soundfont (patch) file. The appropriate
packages are:
timidity or kmidi
timidity-patches
The "timidity-patches" is "suggested" for either timidity or kmidi, so
you will have to d/l at least 2 separate packages. There is NOT any
dependency between the two. I know for sure they are available in
Debian "testing" and I am pretty sure they are in Debian "stable" as
well.
These are generally good cards, but if you really require MIDI support,
you might want to consider going to something that has built-in MIDI
support. I switched to the SB-64 AWE, here. It sounds just a good, and
CAN be configured to play MIDI files... but that isn't easy either!!
Cheers,
-Don Spoon-
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