Edirol UA-25EX not recognized

[blablack]

Hey Joan,

May be it has something to do with this:
http://alsa.opensrc.org/index.php/Pr..._documentation

But I'm not 100% sure...
May be a module missing in the filesystem area, or one missing in the Alsa part.

/proc/asound/cards should at least exist and display your already existing card...

[[censored]]

Hello [Censored]

...... run this command:

make gconfig

to access the kernel options, go to Device Driver->Sound->Alsa->USB and activate the module USB-Audio.

Those precise options weren't there when the GUI popped up. So what I did instead was: I went to Device Drivers -> Sound -> Advanced Linux Sound Architecture -> USB Devices, double clicked USB Audio/Midi Driver (New). I then selected Save, and quitted the gui app. Is that close enough?

(again, I'm not in front of my computer, so it might not be the exact name and stuff, but i'm sure you'll find it pretty easily)

Understood. Thanks for your time and effort.

Finally, if you never compiled a kernel yourself, I would advise you to check this page:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Kernel/Compile

I have been following that page very faithfully.

I perform the make gconfig in the https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Ke...20your%20needs part of the howto. I always get this error after I perform the recommended "debian/rules updateconfigs"...

Running splitconfig.pl ... 

debian/scripts/misc/oldconfig: line 66: /home/reksub/downloads/kernel/src/linux-2.6.24/debian/scripts/misc/splitconfig.pl: Permission denied
make: *** [updateconfigs] Error 1

I then attempt to do "$AUTOBUILD=1 NOEXTRAS=1 fakeroot debian/rules custom-binary-rt" I get this error ...

Using /media/disk3/stuff/wombatfiles/downloads/kernel/src/linux-2.6.24/debian/build/custom-source-rt as source for kernel
  /media/disk3/stuff/wombatfiles/downloads/kernel/src/linux-2.6.24/debian/build/custom-source-rt is not clean, please run 'make mrproper'
  in the '/media/disk3/stuff/wombatfiles/downloads/kernel/src/linux-2.6.24/debian/build/custom-source-rt' directory.
make[4]: *** [prepare3] Error 1
make[3]: *** [sub-make] Error 2
make[2]: *** [prepare] Error 2
make[1]: *** [sub-make] Error 2
make[1]: Leaving directory `/media/disk3/stuff/wombatfiles/downloads/kernel/src/linux-2.6.24/debian/build/custom-source-rt'
make: *** [/media/disk3/stuff/wombatfiles/downloads/kernel/src/linux-2.6.24/debian/stamps/stamp-custom-prepare-rt] Error 2

Anyone have any idea where I might be going wrong?

[[censored]]

I guess the answer to that is no.

Can anyone recommend a better usb sound card? better = one that I can easily use with linux?

[blablack]

Hello [Censored],

The UA-25EX works perfectly with Linux, and it is always useful to know how to recompile a kernel

I'll try to help the best I can:

Those precise options weren't there when the GUI popped up. So what I did instead was: I went to Device Drivers -> Sound -> Advanced Linux Sound Architecture -> USB Devices, double clicked USB Audio/Midi Driver (New). I then selected Save, and quitted the gui app. Is that close enough?

Yes, that's the module I meant.

The error you get recompiling the kernel... Well it seems to be a bit my fault. The article I advised you to follow is REALLY detailed, but you don't need 3/4 of the information...

First thing first, I would decompress the archive you got for the kernel 2.6.24 into the directory /usr/src. It is where kernel sources are supposed to be.

Once you set up the kernel option using make gconfig and that everything seems to be ok, run this command AS THE ROOT at the root of the kernel source (/usr/src/linux-2.6.24):

CONCURRENCY_LEVEL=2 make-kpkg --initrd kernel_image kernel_headers

Once the compilation is done, install the kernel (still running those commands as root):

cd /usr/src
dpkg -i *.deb

"Normally" everything should work ok, but don't be surprise if you get compilation errors the first time or if you computer behaves strangely after running the kernel. It is rare to get it right the first time !

But whatever errors you get, don't hesitate to ask the question here or google it a bit. You always get somebody else who got the exact same error as you do!

Good luck!

[jhmos]

After you get the kernel source installed, this is what worked for me (the -edirol is optional):
cd /usr/src/linux-source-2.6.24
sudo make-kpkg clean
sudo fakeroot make-kpkg --initrd --append-to-version=-edirol kernel-image kernel-headers

After that, you should have a couple of debian package files in /usr/src. In my example they are named: linux-headers-2.6.24.3-edirol_2.6.24.3-edirol-10.00.Custom_i386.deb
linux-image-2.6.24.3-edirol_2.6.24.3-edirol-10.00.Custom_i386.deb

Its those files you install with dpkg -i

[jhmos]

I don't have any hardware to test Midi functionality. Has anyone given the UA-25EX a good workout using Midi and all?
Just that I'm contemplating making an Ubuntu launchpad bug report that points to the patch, since no one else has yet.
I don't really want to forever have to manually install a bunch of restricted drivers (like NVIDIA) and other stuff every time there is a kernel update.
I guess we might get it quicker than a Ubuntu release if the patch could get into a stable kernel. What are the chances of that?

[blablack]

Hello Jhmos,

I have tested the MIDI part of the UA-25EX extensively and it seems to work ok with:
- 2.6.24 rt
- 2.6.26
- 2.6.27

But as soon as you use Midi with 2.6.26 rt, Jack crashed. Though I think the problem seems to come from Jack or the RT patch.
I couldn't test it on 2.6.27 yet as I don't think the RT patch is available.

What is the next step if we want the patch to be included into ALSA?

[jhmos]

Hi blablack,
I was hoping you knew, I was not even sure who the maintainer was that the patch would have to go through.
I will do some homework looking for the ALSA development list.
From the little I know of kernel patches, device driver patches tend to be more readily accepted and with a bit of luck might get into a 2.27.x kernel (which would apply to Ubuntu 8.10). If I bothered to read the linux kernel mailing list I might have a clue but I haven't done that for years (or had a clue .

Regards,
John.

[jhmos]

Looking for who has been most closely involved with submitted edirol patches lately, I found this extract from a recent git merge request:

[ALSA PATCH] alsa-git merge request
From: Jaroslav Kysela
Date: Fri Oct 10 2008 - 08:43:26 EST
...

Pedro Lopez-Cabanillas (2):
ALSA: snd-usb-audio: support for Edirol UA-4FX device
ALSA: usb-audio: dynamic detection of MIDI interfaces in uaxx-quirk

...

The principle ALSA developers are listed on http://www.alsa-project.org/main/index.php/Alsa_Team

Maybe Pedro would be worth contacting to liaise with regarding a patch submission?

[jhmos]

Hey,
This is in ChangeLog-2.6.28-rc3 !

commit e2736261b4c85e36f7c8a66dd082ec0751230460
Author: Takashi Iwai <tiwai@suse.de>
Date: Mon Oct 20 16:07:45 2008 +0200

ALSA: usb - Add quirk for Edirol UA-25EX advanced modes

Added the quirk for UA-25EX advanced modes.
UA-25EX is almost compatible with UA-25.

Tested-by: Serge Perinsky <sergebass@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: Takashi Iwai <tiwai@suse.de>

So it will at least be in the 2.6.28 kernel and hopefully will be into Intrepid at some time.