esound & xmms

[Mi And]

I'd like to use the media player XMMS under XFree86 4.2 (iBook 2001 model). It installed alright using Fink (even if I had to do a little running around to get the MESA library working), but now I'm not able to play any sound with it. There's always a window saying "Soundcard not usable" or something like that.

ESD is running, doesn't want to play either though, if I got the command line util right. Sound apps like iTunes are closed.

There's a little section about problems with XMMS on the Fink-Site (http://fink.sourceforge.net/); but it doesn't solve the problem. Doesn't run in root mode or anything.

Since XMMS is a damn nice app - any thoughts about it? Known problem? There were messages on the Fink ML about XMMS issues like this, but no answers.

Help appreciated,
Mi

[Mi And]

I should add that after installing XMMS via Fink, I didn't run any install script or anything. Perhaps I should have? (You never know there are some, because Fink seems to do everything for you, but that doesn't seem to be true).

[sao]

can be really annoying (I had the same problem long ago).

To solve it, do the following in this order:

1.Check the processes in terminal and if "esd" is running as root, kill it.

2.Be sure to select the "eSound Output Plugin" in the xmms preferences.

3.Type in an xterm:

esd &

if you hear a sound, then it should be working.

Press play in xmms

Cheers...

[Mi And]

Thanks for the tip. Even with esd _not_ running as root, killing it in terminal.app and restarting it within xterm helped.

Guess it's normal that one can't regulate the sound volume using the controls in XMMS?

And, what I also saw: Both visualization plugins and the programm itself doesn't seem to be terribly fast. W/ Visuals running, sometimes the MP3s missed a beat. Open GL Analyzser looked terrible.

That normal for XFree86/XDarwin? Will we have to live with it? What's the reason?

Your .5 cents appreciated.

[sao]

Don't know the reason...

I experience the same problems with the volume (I adjust it in OS X)

And the visualization plugins are nothing much.

But at least xmms works and I can have music in XFree.

Have you installed some faces yet ? Some are very cool to match with your Theme.


Cheers...

[Untmdsprt]

Can someone elaborate on killing esd, and what other things I need to do to get xmms working? What other files go along with xmms? I'm just learning Unix, so I don't understand all the commands. I do get the error that the soundcard is not configured properly. I have checked the preferences, and esound is selected as the output.

BTW, Gnome control center also doesn't have sound even though I've installed it's files.


Thanks,


U

[sao]

Untmdsprt,

I don't know how comfortable you will feel with this explanation, but let's try.

The problem with no sound usually happens because things getting launched from the menu are getting run as root, but not from the command line.

Since xmms forks an esd process the first time you run it, then you'll have one running as root already, which subsequent regular user processes may not be allowed to use. To confirm this, try the following command in terminal.app:

ps aux | grep esd

If the first column is root, then hunt that process down and kill it:

kill <processnumber> ( Note the number (PID) after the owner name)

and restart 'esd' from the command line, by running:

esd &

If you hear a sound, esound is working.

Then, open XFree86, and run from an xterm:

xmms &

For more information read:

http://fink.sourceforge.net/faq/usage-packages.php#xmms-quiet


Cheers...

[Untmdsprt]

I did understand your reply, and tried everything you suggested. The esd was processing under my name and not root.

I also went to the link as suggested, and I'm assuming /tmp/.esd is a directory. Apparently, my system doesn't have this, and that may be the cause of why I can't get xmms to work.

My problem is while I could understand all this, finding out the right commands, software, etc. is the trouble.

Thanks,

[sao]

Untmdsprt,

I also don't have /tmp/.esd, but esd works fine here.

I remember when I had first xmms installed and no sound was coming out, I tried for several weeks again and again to make it work (I even posted to the xmms-mailing list).

I learned at the time, that many people encountered the same problem with no clear solution, till one day, I just ran the advice I gave you above once more, and it worked.

I really don't know why. (?)


Cheers...