USB sound card on Ubuntu
August 6, 2008 6:12 pm Uncategorized
Last week I had to install a M-AUDIO Fast Track Pro USB sound card on a computer with Ubuntu. Well, I’m not so good on audio subjects, so I asked Oraculo about ‘m-audio fast track ubuntu‘, where I found some good info.
But, to ease your work if you have to install such sound card, I wrote a step-by-step tutorial on how to install it on Ubuntu 8.04:
- Step 1: Plug the sound card on the computer via USB.
Thus, I finish the step-by-step tutorial.
When I connected the sound card, I looked what dmesg said. As I connected the USB, Ubuntu has registered the driver needed. So I tested and everything seemed ok.
Don’t you wonder why some operating systems ask you to install the driver from a CD?
David McKendrick :
Date: August 6, 2008 @ 7:04 pm
Well — I assume some operating systems might want to ensure you’re using the right drivers for the related hardware without requiring online connectivity.
What I do wonder is why it takes me about 6 hours of digging through an X11/xorg.conf file to enable a secondary monitor on Ubuntu though when some operating systems have it work right out of the box
anthony :
Date: August 6, 2008 @ 7:07 pm
I don’t know, that looks pretty tough. If I ever get this, I’ll be sure to write all your complicated steps down so I don’t mess anything up or do it in the wrong order. Thanks for all your hard work!
Andre Noel :
Date: August 6, 2008 @ 8:10 pm
Hi David,
Well, I can configure it on Ubuntu without go to xorg.conf on Hardy. Did you try on the Screen Resolution or Screen and Graphics dialogs?
Noelinho :
Date: August 6, 2008 @ 8:18 pm
Wow, nice. Even I can manage that.
Andy :
Date: August 6, 2008 @ 10:22 pm
I seem to remember reading somewhere that the higher-ups in m-audio were very interested in making sure their stuff works well in Linux. So make sure you keep on encouraging them
In regard to the more general problem (including setting up monitors), just look at the long term picture. Windows doesn’t look like it is even trying to help people avoid installing drivers, but every day Linux gets closer to the day when you can plug in anything and have it do magic. So while there might be some rough edges at the moment, there are already people working on fixing that.
Andre Noel :
Date: August 6, 2008 @ 11:34 pm
Very good to know it, Andy…
Sebastian :
Date: August 7, 2008 @ 8:15 am
Really, there is a Step2 missing:
and thats why there is a driver needed in Windows.
Cause the main functionality is also present in Windows without needing a driver. - As with all USB Sound hardware -
the driver in Windows is needed for adjusting the latency and number of channels.
Because as the card is only USB1, it can’t provide 4 channels at 96Khz.
so if you like recording or playback at 96 Khz you got to turn off 2 channels.
already acomplished that in Ubuntu?
I’ve not tried that yet…
wjl (Wolfgang Lonien) :
Date: August 7, 2008 @ 9:34 am
Well, that was one impressive HowTo
Still, with it being a USB device, and me having bad experiences with those: can you tell us a bit about lag with this one?
I mean, if you connect some midi keyboard and record some tracks, how’s it? And audio? Would be cool to know more about ongoing development here…
rawsausage :
Date: August 7, 2008 @ 11:16 am
“Don’t you wonder why some operating systems ask you to install the driver from a CD?” Perhaps you should try newer than 5+ years old one? The newest ones fetch drivers automatically from the internet to the previously unknown devices. No need for CDs.
Artem Vakhitov :
Date: August 7, 2008 @ 12:34 pm
Nice! Might influence my future purchases (currently I’m considering M-Audio Firewire Solo). Are all card features working as expected?
Andre Noel :
Date: August 7, 2008 @ 1:36 pm
Thanks for the comments…
I can’t answer about the quality and features, because I only installed it. It’s not mine… Sorry.
Steve :
Date: August 8, 2008 @ 4:20 am
I had a similar experience when I plugged in my Zoom H4 audio recorder/interface. I just need to work out how I get Linux to work at 44.1KHz rather than up-shifting to 48KHz.
USB audio seems generally well supported these days, but as people have said you may need extra software to use special features.