Focusrite Scarlett 2nd and 3rd Gen standalone mode

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geoffrey
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Focusrite Scarlett 2nd and 3rd Gen standalone mode

Post by geoffrey »

The Scarlett interfaces that have internal mixers (2nd Gen 6i6, 18i8, 18i20 and 3rd Gen 4i4, 8i6, 18i8, 18i20) have a "standalone" mode which lets you use the interface as a standalone mixer, not connected to a PC. When trying to do this I discovered that the interfaces have an internal switch to enable/disable this mode and it ships with it disabled. The MAC/Windows driver enables standalone mode automatically but the Linux driver does not.

As that's an unacceptable state of affairs, I present to you: https://github.com/geoffreybennett/scar ... v5.15.12s1
This release adds support for enabling/disabling the "standalone" mode of the Gen 2/3 Scarlett interfaces which have internal mixers (4i4 and above). When standalone mode is enabled, the interface will continue to pass audio even if not connected to a USB host.
In alsamixer you should find the setting nearby "Sync Status". Don't forget that alsamixer wants you to press "M" to toggle any playback switch controls (like this one).

If you can test, please do. Not just this new feature, but make sure I didn't break anything else as I refactored things. Once I get a couple of thumbs up then I'll submit it for inclusion in mainline.
seahorse
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Re: Focusrite Scarlett 2nd and 3rd Gen standalone mode

Post by seahorse »

hi geoffrey,
I have installed AVL since a few months . Last night I installed the liquorix 5.15-14.1~buster Kernel, because I get that tip from the AVL-Forum. Now my question here : are there the same capabilities in this kernel as in your 5.15 kernel.
I bought the Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 8 months ago. But unfortunately I could not use the device until today due to a lack of drivers.

However, after installing this liquorix kernel, I can now see that I report the Scarlett 4i4 directly.
With lsusb I get the following:
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 1235:8212 Focusrite Novation Scarlett 4i4 USB

That was not the case until yesterday. Nothing was shown to me. However, I can only see in alsamixer that the device is recognized. But I don't see a 'Sync Status' yet. That's why I can't press an 'M'.

Hence the question:
are there differences between your kernel and the liquorix kernel?
Or can these settings be made via parameters? e.g. via a start script?

Unfortunately, I'm not at all versed in kernel things. It's been way too long.

Hope you can help me there? I would be really happy anyway and would be grateful for any help

Many greetings
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Re: Focusrite Scarlett 2nd and 3rd Gen standalone mode

Post by wolftune »

Don't want to derail this thread, but I installed the updated kernel, and now I have times where audio output just stops, no sound until I restart my 18i8 3rd Gen. With the prior release of your kernel (though somehow I got a low-latency kernel, so maybe that was from another source), I did not have this problem.
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Re: Focusrite Scarlett 2nd and 3rd Gen standalone mode

Post by wolftune »

EDIT: Nevermind about my claim that the kernel was at fault for losing audio output on the 18i8. I now got the problem again despite reverting to 5.14

I think it's a TLP issue or something
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Re: Focusrite Scarlett 2nd and 3rd Gen standalone mode

Post by geoffrey »

seahorse wrote: Fri Jan 14, 2022 8:24 am hi geoffrey,
I have installed AVL since a few months . Last night I installed the liquorix 5.15-14.1~buster Kernel, because I get that tip from the AVL-Forum. Now my question here : are there the same capabilities in this kernel as in your 5.15 kernel.
I bought the Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 8 months ago. But unfortunately I could not use the device until today due to a lack of drivers.

However, after installing this liquorix kernel, I can now see that I report the Scarlett 4i4 directly.
With lsusb I get the following:
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 1235:8212 Focusrite Novation Scarlett 4i4 USB

That was not the case until yesterday. Nothing was shown to me. However, I can only see in alsamixer that the device is recognized. But I don't see a 'Sync Status' yet. That's why I can't press an 'M'.

Hence the question:
are there differences between your kernel and the liquorix kernel?
Or can these settings be made via parameters? e.g. via a start script?

Unfortunately, I'm not at all versed in kernel things. It's been way too long.

Hope you can help me there? I would be really happy anyway and would be grateful for any help

Many greetings
Hi seahorse,

The Scarlett driver I wrote isn't actually needed to use the device; the 4i4 is class-compliant and works out-of-the-box in Linux.

The driver is only needed to control the advanced features of the interface. The driver is present in the regular Linux kernel since 5.14.0, so you would have it in the liquorix kernel, but it does need to be enabled. Please have a look at the alsa-scarlett-gui github repo: https://github.com/geoffreybennett/alsa-scarlett-gui USAGE.md as that explains how to enable the driver if that's what you want to do.

The 5.15 kernel mentioned in this thread only adds the "standalone" switch in addition to what you have in the liquorix kernel, but unless you're trying to use the interface in standalone mode, you don't need it.

Regards,
Geoffrey.
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Re: Focusrite Scarlett 2nd and 3rd Gen standalone mode

Post by RockMaster »

geoffrey wrote: Thu Mar 17, 2022 5:26 pm
seahorse wrote: Fri Jan 14, 2022 8:24 am hi geoffrey,
I have installed AVL since a few months . Last night I installed the liquorix 5.15-14.1~buster Kernel, because I get that tip from the AVL-Forum. Now my question here : are there the same capabilities in this kernel as in your 5.15 kernel.
I bought the Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 8 months ago. But unfortunately I could not use the device until today due to a lack of drivers.

However, after installing this liquorix kernel, I can now see that I report the Scarlett 4i4 directly.
With lsusb I get the following:
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 1235:8212 Focusrite Novation Scarlett 4i4 USB

That was not the case until yesterday. Nothing was shown to me. However, I can only see in alsamixer that the device is recognized. But I don't see a 'Sync Status' yet. That's why I can't press an 'M'.

Hence the question:
are there differences between your kernel and the liquorix kernel?
Or can these settings be made via parameters? e.g. via a start script?

Unfortunately, I'm not at all versed in kernel things. It's been way too long.

Hope you can help me there? I would be really happy anyway and would be grateful for any help

Many greetings
Hi seahorse,

The Scarlett driver I wrote isn't actually needed to use the device; the 4i4 is class-compliant and works out-of-the-box in Linux.

The driver is only needed to control the advanced features of the interface. The driver is present in the regular Linux kernel since 5.14.0, so you would have it in the liquorix kernel, but it does need to be enabled. Please have a look at the alsa-scarlett-gui github repo: https://github.com/geoffreybennett/alsa-scarlett-gui USAGE.md as that explains how to enable the driver if that's what you want to do.

The 5.15 kernel mentioned in this thread only adds the "standalone" switch in addition to what you have in the liquorix kernel, but unless you're trying to use the interface in standalone mode, you don't need it.

Regards,
Geoffrey.
The GUI app looks awesome, though I'm struggling a bit with the install. Did anyone manage to install it on Ubuntu 20.04 by any chance?
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Re: Focusrite Scarlett 2nd and 3rd Gen standalone mode

Post by geoffrey »

RockMaster wrote: Tue Mar 29, 2022 11:29 am The GUI app looks awesome, though I'm struggling a bit with the install. Did anyone manage to install it on Ubuntu 20.04 by any chance?
What errors are you getting?
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Re: Focusrite Scarlett 2nd and 3rd Gen standalone mode

Post by RockMaster »

geoffrey wrote: Tue Mar 29, 2022 1:37 pm
RockMaster wrote: Tue Mar 29, 2022 11:29 am The GUI app looks awesome, though I'm struggling a bit with the install. Did anyone manage to install it on Ubuntu 20.04 by any chance?
What errors are you getting?
So I think I kinda have an idea of what's wrong. Unlike more "progressive" distros, Ubuntu 20.04 doesn't have gtk4 lib and from quick looking around it seems that trying to force it in could make things worse. But 22.04 comes out in less than a month and I think it will have the gtk4, so I guess I have to wait.
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Re: Focusrite Scarlett 2nd and 3rd Gen standalone mode

Post by bluzee »

LTS releases get a bit dated by the time the next one rolls out for sure. Unlike QT, GTK doesn't have binary releases that you can download and install to /opt making it possible to run a newer version than the distro ships with. You can compile it from source and install to /opt but it's a big process. I'm with you in that I'll just wait.
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