1 |
FFADO v2.0 |
---|
2 |
========== |
---|
3 |
|
---|
4 |
The FFADO project aims to provide a free driver implemenation for FireWire |
---|
5 |
(IEEE1394, iLink) based (semi-) professional audio interfaces. The focus of |
---|
6 |
the project are on audio/music production rather than consumer audio. This |
---|
7 |
means that, although we intend to supported all features at some point, |
---|
8 |
consumer features are considered less important. The most obvious example of |
---|
9 |
a consumer feature is AC3/DTS passthrough support, which is unsupported at |
---|
10 |
the moment. |
---|
11 |
|
---|
12 |
This package provides the libffado shared library that provides a unified |
---|
13 |
programming interface to configure and use all supported devices. Currently |
---|
14 |
this library is used by the 'firewire' backends of the jack audio connection |
---|
15 |
kit sound server (jackaudio.org). This backend provides audio and midi support, |
---|
16 |
and is available both in jackd and it's multiprocessor variant jackdmp. |
---|
17 |
(note: At the moment there is no support for ALSA nor for pulseaudio.) |
---|
18 |
|
---|
19 |
Access to the device internal configuration (e,g, internal mixer) is exposed |
---|
20 |
using the ffado-dbus-server daemon. This daemon exposes the configurable |
---|
21 |
parameters of all detected devices through DBUS. The ffadomixer application in |
---|
22 |
support/mixer presents a GUI to control these parameters (only for officially |
---|
23 |
supported devices). |
---|
24 |
|
---|
25 |
Features |
---|
26 |
-------- |
---|
27 |
* 24-bit audio input/output (unlimited number of channels) |
---|
28 |
* supports for all samplerates a device supports |
---|
29 |
* MIDI input/output (unlimited number of channels) |
---|
30 |
* Support for S/PDIF and ADAT/SMUX I/O |
---|
31 |
* Internal mixer and device control support for all officially supported |
---|
32 |
devices (NOTE: no support for internal DSP) |
---|
33 |
* Support for device aggregation (limited to devices on the same bus) |
---|
34 |
|
---|
35 |
Device Support |
---|
36 |
-------------- |
---|
37 |
|
---|
38 |
The devices officially supported are: |
---|
39 |
* ESI Quatafire 610 |
---|
40 |
* Terratec Producer Phase 88 |
---|
41 |
* Focusrite Saffire (original/white) |
---|
42 |
* Focusrite Saffire LE (black) |
---|
43 |
* Focusrite Saffire PRO10 |
---|
44 |
* Focusrite Saffire PRO26 |
---|
45 |
* ECHO AudioFire2, AudioFire4, AudioFire8, AudioFire12 |
---|
46 |
* Mackie Onyx Mixer FireWire expansion |
---|
47 |
|
---|
48 |
The 'officially supported' label is only given to devices that fullfil the |
---|
49 |
following: |
---|
50 |
* at least one of the developers has the device, or a closely related one |
---|
51 |
* the vendor provides development support (access to information) |
---|
52 |
* the device works |
---|
53 |
|
---|
54 |
Through reverse-engineering the following devices will also work: |
---|
55 |
* MOTU traveller |
---|
56 |
* MOTU 828mkII |
---|
57 |
Note: the support for these devices is based on a significant reverse |
---|
58 |
engineering effort. This means that the developers had no support from the |
---|
59 |
device vendor, and this of course limits the extent to which problems can |
---|
60 |
be solved. You have been warned. Please do not buy devices for which support |
---|
61 |
is based upon reverse engineering, nor from vendors that are Linux-hostile |
---|
62 |
(e.g. MOTU). Value the support that some vendors provide and buy their |
---|
63 |
stuff. Check ffado.org for details. It can't be said enough: currently it is |
---|
64 |
extremely unwise to buy a MOTU device if you intend to use Linux. |
---|
65 |
|
---|
66 |
The driver is written to provide generic support for all devices it might be |
---|
67 |
able to handle. This means that most devices based on the BridgeCo BeBoB or |
---|
68 |
the ECHO FireWorks platform will work, at least to a certain extent. |
---|
69 |
|
---|
70 |
Devices that have been reported to (partially) work with the generic support: |
---|
71 |
* Presonus FireBox |
---|
72 |
* Presonus FirePod / FP10 |
---|
73 |
* Terratec Producer Phase 24 |
---|
74 |
* Terratec Producer Phase X24 |
---|
75 |
|
---|
76 |
Unsupported devices (non-functional): |
---|
77 |
* Presonus FireStation |
---|
78 |
* Presonus FireStudio (all variants) |
---|
79 |
* TC Konnekt (all variants) |
---|
80 |
* Alesis devices |
---|
81 |
* Metric Halo devices |
---|
82 |
* RME Firewire devices |
---|
83 |
* M-Audio FireWire 410 |
---|
84 |
* M-Audio FireWire 1814 |
---|
85 |
* M-Audio ProFire 2626 |
---|
86 |
|
---|
87 |
We constantly try to persuade vendors to help us extend our device support. Don't |
---|
88 |
hesitate to let a vendor know that you would like to have their device(s) supported. |
---|
89 |
|
---|
90 |
Dependencies |
---|
91 |
------------ |
---|
92 |
|
---|
93 |
To build libffado you need several libraries. For all libraries a |
---|
94 |
version is provided which is a 'known good' version. The first few |
---|
95 |
libraries it seems it is not necessary that the version must |
---|
96 |
match. The chances that it works also with an older versions are good: |
---|
97 |
|
---|
98 |
libxml++2 (>= 2.13.0) |
---|
99 |
|
---|
100 |
These libraries here should be at least the version listed: |
---|
101 |
|
---|
102 |
libraw1394 (>= 1.3.0), http://www.linux1394.org |
---|
103 |
libiec61883 (>= 1.1.0), http://www.linux1394.org |
---|
104 |
dbus-1 (>= 1.0), http://dbus.freedesktop.org |
---|
105 |
|
---|
106 |
Currently only the jackd audio server is supported. |
---|
107 |
|
---|
108 |
jackd (>= 0.109.12), http://jackaudio.org |
---|
109 |
[NOTE: at the time of writing, this is the development (SVN) version.] |
---|
110 |
|
---|
111 |
Optionally, but recommended is that you install qjackctl: |
---|
112 |
|
---|
113 |
qjackctl (>= 0.2.20.10), http://sourceforge.net/projects/qjackctl |
---|
114 |
|
---|
115 |
To build the optional ffado device mixer control utility you also require: |
---|
116 |
|
---|
117 |
Qt (>= 4.0), http://trolltech.com/products/qt |
---|
118 |
SIP (>= 4.7.0), http://www.riverbankcomputing.co.uk/sip/index.php |
---|
119 |
PyQt (note below), http://www.riverbankcomputing.co.uk/pyqt/ |
---|
120 |
dbus-python (>= 0.82.0), http://dbus.freedesktop.org/releases/dbus-python/ |
---|
121 |
|
---|
122 |
The mixer applets are available for both QT3 and QT4. However, the QT3 versions |
---|
123 |
are no longer actively developed. The build script will automatically fallback |
---|
124 |
to the QT3 version if you don't have QT4 installed. |
---|
125 |
|
---|
126 |
The version of PyQt must be chosen to exactly match the version of Qt in use. |
---|
127 |
For Qt 4.x use PyQt 4.x. |
---|
128 |
|
---|
129 |
SIP is only required to compile PyQt. If using a binary package of PyQt |
---|
130 |
SIP should not be needed. |
---|
131 |
|
---|
132 |
How to build |
---|
133 |
------------ |
---|
134 |
|
---|
135 |
If you want to build the release version you can simply do following: |
---|
136 |
|
---|
137 |
$ scons |
---|
138 |
$ scons install |
---|
139 |
|
---|
140 |
If you want some debug information (because something seems not |
---|
141 |
to work correctly) you can try to do following: |
---|
142 |
|
---|
143 |
$ scons DEBUG=yes |
---|
144 |
$ scons install |
---|
145 |
|
---|
146 |
More extended instructions can be found here: |
---|
147 |
http://subversion.ffado.org/wiki/CompilationGuides |
---|
148 |
|
---|
149 |
NOTE: In order to build jackd with ffado support, you have |
---|
150 |
to install libffado before you build jackd. The backend to use in jackd is |
---|
151 |
firewire. |
---|
152 |
|
---|
153 |
NOTE: the beta versions are distributed with debugging enabled by default. |
---|
154 |
|
---|
155 |
DISTRIBUTION PACKAGERS NOTE: Please do not enable support for devices |
---|
156 |
if it is not on by default. If device support for a specific device |
---|
157 |
is not turned on by default by the developers, it means that it is not |
---|
158 |
ready yet. Most of the time it is placeholder code for future devices. |
---|
159 |
|
---|
160 |
Running jackd |
---|
161 |
------------- |
---|
162 |
|
---|
163 |
The easiest way to run this is using qjackctl. There are only minor |
---|
164 |
differences with the other backends, however you should change some |
---|
165 |
of the default values: |
---|
166 |
- It is recommended to change the 'periods/buffer' field to 3, especially |
---|
167 |
if you use low period sizes (=< 128) |
---|
168 |
- It is recommended to raise the RT priority to 70. |
---|
169 |
|
---|
170 |
In order to get it running from the command line, you need to provide some |
---|
171 |
arguments to jackd. |
---|
172 |
|
---|
173 |
Run |
---|
174 |
|
---|
175 |
$ jackd -d firewire --help |
---|
176 |
|
---|
177 |
to see the backend options. You can easily figure out how to set them using |
---|
178 |
the remarks given above (for qjackctl). |
---|
179 |
|
---|
180 |
For the other aspects of jackd usage, consult the jackd documentation. |
---|
181 |
|
---|
182 |
Here is a sample session (without realtime support enabled): |
---|
183 |
|
---|
184 |
$ jackd -d firewire |
---|
185 |
no message buffer overruns |
---|
186 |
jackd 0.111.0 |
---|
187 |
Copyright 2001-2005 Paul Davis and others. |
---|
188 |
jackd comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY |
---|
189 |
This is free software, and you are welcome to redistribute it |
---|
190 |
under certain conditions; see the file COPYING for details |
---|
191 |
|
---|
192 |
JACK compiled with System V SHM support. |
---|
193 |
loading driver .. |
---|
194 |
3106528665: (ffado.cpp)[ 99] ffado_streaming_init: libffado 1.999.20 built Apr 26 2008 20:26:32 |
---|
195 |
libiec61883 warning: Established connection on channel 0. |
---|
196 |
You may need to manually set the channel on the receiving node. |
---|
197 |
libiec61883 warning: Established connection on channel 1. |
---|
198 |
You may need to manually set the channel on the transmitting node. |
---|
199 |
|
---|
200 |
(Note: you can safely ignore the libiec61883 warnings, they are normal.) |
---|
201 |
|
---|
202 |
An important remark is that for good performance, one should always run jack |
---|
203 |
with the -R flag to enable realtime scheduling for critical threads: |
---|
204 |
$ jackd -R -d firewire |
---|
205 |
|
---|
206 |
In case of problems |
---|
207 |
------------------- |
---|
208 |
|
---|
209 |
First of all, check whether your problem is in fact a problem, and |
---|
210 |
whether it is a FFADO problem. The magic tool for this is google. |
---|
211 |
|
---|
212 |
User support is a rather annoying occupation, especially since it sucks |
---|
213 |
time from developers that are not paid for developing, let alone for doing |
---|
214 |
user support. Please make sure that you have checked the following places: |
---|
215 |
http://www.ffado.org/ |
---|
216 |
http://subversion.ffado.org/ |
---|
217 |
http://www.google.com/ |
---|
218 |
(the terms "ffado-devel" "ffado-user" or "freebob-user" work great) |
---|
219 |
Some might consider this a bit arrogant or "newbie-unfriendly", but personally |
---|
220 |
I (Pieter Palmers) consider this a matter of politeness towards the developers. |
---|
221 |
|
---|
222 |
If you have tried to find a solution to your problem, but you couldn't find |
---|
223 |
one or are confused, don't hesitate to ask for help. The preferred way is by |
---|
224 |
signing up to the mailing list as described on http://www.ffado.org/?q=contact. |
---|
225 |
|
---|
226 |
Writing a bug report |
---|
227 |
-------------------- |
---|
228 |
|
---|
229 |
Note that the more effort you put in your bug report, the more effort we |
---|
230 |
will put into helping you. |
---|
231 |
|
---|
232 |
Make sure you have compiled a DEBUG=yes version of |
---|
233 |
libffado. If not there is no way we can trace the problem. |
---|
234 |
|
---|
235 |
When reporting a problem, please run jackd with the --verbose option, |
---|
236 |
and add the -v6 option to the firewire backend: |
---|
237 |
$ jackd --verbose [...] -d firewire -v6 [...] |
---|
238 |
|
---|
239 |
( [...] = other options ) |
---|
240 |
|
---|
241 |
This will generate an increadible amount of debug output that should |
---|
242 |
contain what we need to track down the problem. If you have troubles |
---|
243 |
saving the output, try redirecting it to a file: |
---|
244 |
|
---|
245 |
$ jackd --verbose -d firewire -v6 2> ffado-jack.log |
---|
246 |
|
---|
247 |
this will create a ffado.log file containing the output. Use CTRL-C |
---|
248 |
to exit jack if necessary. |
---|
249 |
|
---|
250 |
The distribution contains a tool to gather some information about your |
---|
251 |
system. you can run it as follows: |
---|
252 |
|
---|
253 |
$ cd support/tools |
---|
254 |
$ python ffado-diag.py > ffado-diag.log |
---|
255 |
|
---|
256 |
It will check your system for basic problems and gather some information |
---|
257 |
regarding your hardware configuration. This will allow us to diagnose |
---|
258 |
your problem faster. |
---|
259 |
|
---|
260 |
Once the logs have been created you can create a support ticket at |
---|
261 |
http://subversion.ffado.org/newticket |
---|
262 |
|
---|
263 |
Be sure to include the following information: |
---|
264 |
* the log file(s) (zipped/tar.gz'ed and attached) |
---|
265 |
* the device you're trying to use |
---|
266 |
* a description of what went wrong and how to reproduce it. You |
---|
267 |
preferrably try to figure out a sequence of steps that can reliably |
---|
268 |
reproduce the issue on your system. A one-time failure is very difficult |
---|
269 |
to diagnose and/or fix. |
---|
270 |
* the distribution and its version |
---|
271 |
|
---|
272 |
|
---|