The state of Firewire audio on Linux

[steevc]

This isn't an area I know too much about, so this article was interesting

http://libregraphicsworld.org/blog/entr ... t-on-linux

I've not used a FW interface, but I'm glad there are people working hard to support it. I don't understand all the issues about Ffado vs ALSA, but anything that can make using an interface 'plug and play' would be beneficial to encouraging the use of Linux.

[StudioDave]

This isn't an area I know too much about, so this article was interesting

http://libregraphicsworld.org/blog/entr ... t-on-linux

It inspired quite a thread on the LAU list.

Best,

dp

[Thad E Ginathom]

I find the treatment of Firewire by Ubuntu, which is far as my experience goes so far, utterly dismal.

There is really no recognition that a user, whether a musician, a studio guy, or just a listener, might want to plug in, not only a PCI card or a USB device ...but a Firewire device.

Actually, I seem to remember that, the once I needed to use my old handycam, that was far from plug-and-play too.

Thanks for the article. There is hope for the future, but between the manufacturers and the the distro makers, these guys must be having a far from easy time. Hats off to them.

[steevc]

I don't know how much work Ubuntu/Canonical have done on Firewire. I suspect most of what is there comes from others. As the article says, developers have been hampered by lack of standards and uncooperative manufacturers. I know from experience at work that coding any sort of interface is tricky, even when you have a proper specification, but to work out from scratch seems like magic to me. BTW I've dealt with importing/exporting data from databases rather than directly to hardware.

My only experience with Firewire is with getting video from DV camera. I think when I first tried it years ago you had to jump through some hoops to get the software to see the camera, but it seems to be easier now.

There were comments on LAU that FW is not being offered on many new PCs. Even Apple are dropping it

http://old.nabble.com/FireWire-audio-on ... 17987.html

Hardware support has always been an issue for Linux that has hampered adoption. The manufacturers don't see it as a significant market, so we rely on dedicated developers to write the drivers, often for no pay. Does anyone know if Canonical sponsor driver development? Even if they do support for professional audio interfaces is probably not a top priority, unfortunately.