Changeset 2506

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Timestamp:
05/05/14 04:41:29 (10 years ago)
Author:
jwoithe
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README: further changes in preparation for version 2.2.

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  • trunk/libffado/README

    r2504 r2506  
    1 FFADO v2.x 
     1FFADO v2.2 
    22========== 
    33 
    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. 
     4The FFADO project aims to provide a free driver implemenation for FireWire 
     5(IEEE1394, iLink) based audio interfaces.  The focus of the project are on 
     6audio/music production rather than consumer audio.  This means that although 
     7we intend to supported all features at some point, consumer features are 
     8considered less important.  The most obvious example of a consumer feature 
     9is AC3/DTS passthrough support, which is unsupported at the moment. 
    1110 
    1211This package provides the libffado shared library that provides a unified 
    13 programming interface to configure and use all supported devices. Currently 
     12programming interface to configure and use all supported devices. Currently 
    1413this 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). 
     14kit sound server (jackaudio.org).  This backend provides audio and midi 
     15support, and is available both in jackd and its multiprocessor variant 
     16jackdmp.  At present there is no support for ALSA or pulseaudio, although 
     17jack bridging solutions may help in some situations. 
     18 
     19Access to the device internal configuration (the internal mixer and device 
     20settings) is exposed using the ffado-dbus-server daemon.  This daemon 
     21exposes the configurable parameters of all detected devices through DBUS.  
     22The ffado-mixer application in support/mixer/ presents a GUI to control these 
     23parameters. 
    2424 
    2525Features 
    2626-------- 
    27 * 24-bit audio input/output (unlimited number of channels) 
     27* 24-bit audio input/output (number of channels only limited by interface 
     28  hardware) 
    2829* supports for all samplerates a device supports 
    2930* MIDI input/output (unlimited number of channels) 
     
    3637-------------- 
    3738 
    38 The devices officially supported are: 
    39 * ESI Quatafire 610 
    40 * Terratec Producer Phase 88 
    41 * Focusrite Saffire (original/white) 
    42 * Focusrite Saffire Pro10 
    43 * Focusrite Saffire Pro26 
    44 * Focusrite Saffire Pro14, Pro24, Pro40 
    45 * Focusrite Saffire Pro24DSP (audio streaming only, DSP control not available) 
    46 * ECHO AudioFire2, AudioFire4, AudioFire8, AudioFire12 
    47 * Mackie Onyx Mixer FireWire expansion 
    48 * RME Fireface 400, RME Fireface 800 
    49  
    50 The 'officially supported' label is only given to devices that fullfil the 
     39The 'officially supported' label is only given to devices that fulfil the 
    5140following: 
    52 * at least one of the developers has the device 
    53 * the vendor provides development support (access to information) 
    54 * the device works 
    55  
    56 Through reverse-engineering the following devices will also work: 
    57 * MOTU Traveler 
    58 * MOTU 828mkII, MOTU Ultralite, MOTU 896HD, MOTU 8pre, MOTU 4pre 
    59 * Audio only: MOTU Ultralite mk3, MOTU Traveler mk3, MOTU 896mk3, MOTU 828mk3 
    60 * Audio only, firewire interface only: MOTU Ultralite mk3 hybrid 
    61 Note: 
    62 1) The support for these MOTU devices is based on a significant reverse 
    63    engineering effort.  This means that the developers had no support from 
    64    the device vendor, and this of course limits the extent to which problems 
    65    can be solved.  You have been warned.  Please do not buy devices for 
    66    which support is based upon reverse engineering, nor from vendors that 
    67    are Linux-hostile (e.g.  MOTU).  Value the support that some vendors 
    68    provide and buy their stuff.  Check ffado.org for details.  It can't be 
    69    said enough: currently it is extremely unwise to buy a MOTU device if you 
    70    intend to use Linux. 
    71 2) "Audio only" means that FFADO can be used to stream audio to and from the 
    72    device, control sample rate and clock source.  Control of the mixer 
    73    and DSP functions is not presently supported.  It is planned but no ETA 
    74    is available at this stage. 
     41 * at least one of the developers has the device 
     42 * the vendor provides development support (access to information) 
     43 * the device works 
     44 
     45The devices which are officially supported are: 
     46 * ESI Quatafire 610 
     47 * Terratec Producer Phase 88 
     48 * Focusrite Saffire (original/white) 
     49 * Focusrite Saffire Pro10 
     50 * Focusrite Saffire Pro26 
     51 * Focusrite Saffire Pro14, Pro40 
     52 * ECHO AudioFire2, AudioFire4, AudioFire8, AudioFire12 
     53 * Mackie Onyx Mixer FireWire expansion 
     54 * RME Fireface 400, RME Fireface 800 
    7555 
    7656The FFADO driver is written to provide generic support for all devices it 
    7757might be able to handle.  This means that most devices based on the BridgeCo 
    7858BeBoB, the ECHO FireWorks platform or the TC Electronics DICE platform will 
    79 work, at least to a certain extent. 
    80  
    81 Devices for which work is in progress: 
    82 * RME UFX and UCX firewire devices 
     59work, at least to a certain extent.  For some devices specific functions 
     60have been added to augment the generic framework and provide enhanced 
     61support, usually in the area of device and mixer control. 
     62 
     63FFADO includes device-specific functionality for following devices.  The 
     64code has been developed based on feedback received from users, and it has 
     65been reported to work by users.  Note that FFADO may not support all device 
     66functions. 
     67 * Presonus Firebox and Inspire1394 
     68 * Presonus FireStudio Tube, FireStudio Project 
     69 * M-Audio Ozonic, Firewire Solo 
     70 * M-Audio Profire 2626 
     71 * M-Audio Audiophile and 410 (startup workaround needed, see 
     72   http://sourceforge.net/p/ffado/mailman/message/30807938) 
     73 * M-Audio 1814 and ProjectMix (mixer only, audio streaming not supported) 
     74 * Focusrite Saffire Pro24 
     75 * Focusrite Saffire Pro24DSP (audio streaming only, DSP control not available) 
     76 * Yamaha GO44 and GO46 
    8377 
    8478Devices that have been reported to (partially) work with the generic support: 
    85 * Presonus FireBox 
    86 * Presonus FirePod / FP10 
    87 * Alesis io14 
    88 * TC Konnekt 8, Konnekt 24D, Konnekt Live 
     79 * Presonus FirePod / FP10 
     80 * Alesis io14 
     81 * TC Konnekt 8, Konnekt 24D, Konnekt Live 
     82 
     83As a result of a significant reverse-engineering effort a selection of 
     84devices from MOTU are supported.  The developers had no support from the 
     85device vendor and this of course limits the extent to which problems can be 
     86solved.  You have been warned.  Please do not buy devices for which support 
     87is based upon reverse engineering, nor from vendors who are hostile towards 
     88Linux like MOTU.  Value the support that some vendors provide and buy their 
     89stuff.  Check ffado.org for details.  It can't be said enough: currently it 
     90is extremely unwise to buy a MOTU device if you intend to use Linux.  
     91MOTU devices reported to work with FFADO are: 
     92 * MOTU Traveler 
     93 * MOTU 828mkII, MOTU Ultralite, MOTU 896HD, MOTU 8pre, MOTU 4pre 
     94 * Audio only: MOTU Ultralite mk3, MOTU Traveler mk3, MOTU 896mk3, MOTU 828mk3 
     95 * Audio only, firewire interface only: MOTU Ultralite mk3 hybrid 
     96 
     97"Audio only" means that FFADO can be used to stream audio to and from the 
     98device, control sample rate and clock source.  Control of the mixer and DSP 
     99functions is not presently supported.  It is planned but no ETA is available 
     100at this stage. 
     101 
     102Devices for which work is in progress.  These are not yet usable: 
     103 * RME UFX and UCX firewire devices 
    89104 
    90105Usupported devices: 
    91 * Presonus FireStation 
    92 * Presonus FireStudio (all variants) 
    93 * Other TC Konnekt devices 
    94 * Other Alesis devices 
    95 * Metric Halo devices 
     106 * Presonus FireStation 
     107 * Other TC Konnekt devices 
     108 * Other Alesis devices 
     109 * Metric Halo devices 
    96110 
    97111We constantly try to persuade vendors to help us extend our device support. 
     
    213227with the -R flag to enable realtime scheduling for critical threads: 
    214228    $ jackd -R -d firewire 
     229In most cases this is now the default. 
     230 
     231For best results across most hardware it is necessary to use a kernel 
     232configured with the "Low latency desktop" option (CONFIG_PREEMPT) enabled.  
     233Most distributions provide this as an option, often called "low latency".  
     234In general it is no longer necessary to use an RT-patched kernel. 
    215235 
    216236In case of problems 
    217237------------------- 
    218238 
    219 First of all, check whether your problem is in fact a problem, and 
    220 whether it is a FFADO problem. The magic tool for this is google. 
    221  
    222 User support is a rather annoying occupation, especially since it sucks 
    223 time from developers that are not paid for developing, let alone for doing 
    224 user support. Please make sure that you have checked the following places: 
    225     http://www.ffado.org/ 
    226     http://subversion.ffado.org/ 
    227     http://www.google.com
    228       (the terms "ffado-devel" "ffado-user" or "freebob-user" work great) 
    229 Some might consider this a bit arrogant or "newbie-unfriendly", but personally 
    230 I (Pieter Palmers) consider this a matter of politeness towards the developers. 
    231  
    232 If you have tried to find a solution to your problem, but you couldn't find 
    233 one or are confused, don't hesitate to ask for help. The preferred way is by 
    234 signing up to the mailing list as described on http://www.ffado.org/?q=contact. 
     239First of all, check whether your problem is in fact a problem, and whether 
     240it is a FFADO problem. The magic tool for this is google. 
     241 
     242When seeking support from the developers keep in mind that none of the FFADO 
     243developers are paid to work on FFADO or to support FFADO users.  Answering 
     244the same question multiple times reduces the amount of time they have to 
     245work on the code.  Before contacting the developers please see if your query 
     246or problem has been seen before.  The following places are helpful: 
     247 * http://www.ffado.org
     248 * http://subversion.ffado.org/ 
     249 * http://www.google.com/ 
     250   (the terms "ffado-devel" and "ffado-user" work well) 
     251 
     252If you have tried to find a solution to your problem but couldn't or are 
     253confused, don't hesitate to ask for help.  The preferred way is by signing 
     254up to the mailing list as described on http://www.ffado.org/?q=contact. 
    235255 
    236256Writing a bug report