Connecting a synth to my laptop ?

[merlyn]

According to this :

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/TASCAM_US-122

you simply need the alsa-firmware package.

[TDNE]

I've installed that from my package manager & nothing happened. Unless there are subsequent steps?

I steered away from this tutorial because :

"NOTE: The Ubuntu Studio should be setup before continuing on with this tutorial. "
&
"It should add that the Ubuntu Studio was setup prior to doing the steps in this tutorial. If you actually have use for a US-122, you probably have use for many of the other pieces of Ubuntu Studio. More information on the Ubuntu Studio Project can be viewed at http://ubuntustudio.com"

which is something else for me get wrong.

Also in step 6 (step 4 needs this location too) :

"NOTE: /path/to/ represents the location of your ld2-ezusb.hex file that was in the usx2y-f2-0.1b.tar.bz2 archive downloaded from Landerland.de."
(this was step 3 but as far as I can see there is no location specified in that command )
& then:
"or, if you are using a more recent version of Ubuntu: "
I Don't know how old these instructions are so can't tell which to use. LL is ubuntu based but has different version naming.

I got to the the link I posted from this tutorial end of step 7. It seemed a more straight forward version of the same thing that didn't need me to install yet another ap - unless Ubuntu studio is better than Ardour. It was also dated 2018.

[merlyn]

if you've installed alsa-firmware then you've done most of the steps in the link you posted :

https://alsa.opensrc.org/Tascam_US-122.

From the link I posted it says if the lights don't come on do this :

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# sudo usx2yloader

Then :

If you get a message like "No USX2Y-compatible cards found", do the following:

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# sudo ln -s /usr/share/alsa/firmware/usx2yloader /lib/firmware/usx2yloader

It's a shame you've had so much hassle. I hope the above works

[Linuxmusician01]

After closer inspection of the mentioned Libre Music Production web page (link) it does not recommend the Tascam US-122 at all. We here now now why. Quote:

Don't assume that all models of an audio interface work equally well. A case in point is the Tascam US-122. This is a USB 1.1 device that works well under Linux, however, it has now been superseded by the US-122mk11, which does not work under Linux, as it is a non-class compliant USB 2.0 device. There may be other variants that don't work too. Always make sure the specific model version is supported before splashing out any cash.

The forum topics that state that they got the Tascan US-122 working might be talking about a revision different from the one we're talking 'bout here. Unfortunately for the topic starter he stumbled on something that is for the very, very seasoned Linuxer. I mean, very old hardware that might need you to compile something from source, old source code is notorious for not compiling on newer systems, not precisely knowing what revision of the hardware you have, etc. etc.

[..]Unfortunately those Behringer units you mentioned don't seam to have any DIN sockets.

Oops! Sorry, my bad.

However: good luck man.


P.S. One of the cheapest audio devices I can find that has Midi is (still) a Behringer. It's the Behringer UMC204 (85 Euro) (second hand: ?). But if you want to connect a Midi keyboard to your computer to play computer-synthesizers you can also use one of those cheap USB to Midi cables.

[TDNE]

Still out of luck here.

I checked the 8 packages from that list against those showing in my package manager & made sure that all have been installed (via package manager).

With the tascam USB'd to my laptop went to the C/L instruction : cd usx2yloader/
& got: No such file or directory (if I add sudo got no such command)

followed with - lsusb - anyway to get expected:
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 04f2:b40e Chicony Electronics Co., Ltd HP Truevision HD camera
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 1a40:0101 Terminus Technology Inc. Hub
Bus 001 Device 012: ID 1604:8006 Tascam US-122 Audio/Midi Interface (without fw)
Bus 001 Device 010: ID 1bcf:0005 Sunplus Innovation Technology Inc. Optical Mouse

went with the instruction ' # to finally load the firmware.' : fxload -s ./tascam_loader.ihx -I /usr/share/alsa/firmware/usx2yloader/us122fw.ihx -D /dev/bus/usb/001/012

got:
Permission denied : /dev/bus/usb/001/012

So tried : sudo fxload -s ./tascam_loader.ihx -I /usr/share/alsa/firmware/usx2yloader/us122fw.ihx -D /dev/bus/usb/001/012

& got : ./tascam_loader.ihx: unable to open for input.

ran this anyway : sudo usx2yloader

& got : usx2yloader: no US-X2Y-compatible cards found

Not a problems as there's an instruction for this - so I ran : sudo ln -s /usr/share/alsa/firmware/usx2yloader /lib/firmware/usx2yloader

But got this : ln: failed to create symbolic link '/lib/firmware/usx2yloader': File exists

STILL don't have the 'much coveted green light'...

Is it possible that - ./tascam_loader.ihx: unable to open for input. - means that when it was previously installed on an XP machine that it was somehow locked, a bit like a mobile phone?


As to which tascam I have - it looks just like this one : https://en.audiofanzine.com/usb-interfa ... #id:259289
which also looks like the one on the front of the PDF manual I downloaded that states it's USB 1.1 (ie. class compliant - allegedly)

The MKii, which is the one said to be troublesome in that article, looks like this : http://www.music-blvd.com/store/product ... 79-th.html

Something is clearly wrong somewhere but I don't think it's me buying the wrong model unless tascam snuck in 2.0 USB variant in the old housing though that seems an odd thing to do.

I do appreciate all the effort everyone has put in trying to help me here, it just sucks that none of it's working.

[Linuxmusician01]

Are you trying to follow the instructions here: https://alsa.opensrc.org/Tascam_US-122 ?

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cd usx2yloader/
No such file or directory

This means that none of the other command have any use. I think that you do not have much experience on the command line (I'm old: I worked with MS-DOS back in the day which is command line only). Do you know what the command cd means? It means "change directory". It's like clicking on a folder (= directory) in a file browser like Nemo or the Windows Explorer. If your're not in the proper directory then, of course, nothing from the instructions will work.

Let's start over. In the instructions it says that you must download the file alsa-firmware-1.0.29.tar.bz2 (a so called compressed "archive") from here using the command wget. Make sure you've got that file in a folder on your hard disk somewhere. Then you can go on with extracting the archive...

[TDNE]

OK thanks. Yes, I'm not experienced at c/l - how did you tell...

I clicked your 'here' link & got a dialogue box asking to open/save alsa-firmware-1.0.29.tar.bz2 so i saved it to a folder in one of my 'home' folders. I take it that's what you had in mind & not use the c/l wget.

[Linuxmusician01]

OK thanks. Yes, I'm not experienced at c/l - how did you tell...

I clicked your 'here' link & got a dialogue box asking to open/save alsa-firmware-1.0.29.tar.bz2 so i saved it to a folder in one of my 'home' folders. I take it that's what you had in mind & not use the c/l wget.

Now unpack it. I think you only have to double click it and then choose "extract", or use the right-hand mouse button and choose "Extract here". But beware, after this you're gonna have to do complicated stuff from the command line (i.e. copy the firmware to a location on your hard disk and use a c/l program to load the firmware into your Tascam US-122 audio device).

By the way: do you have the KXStudio repository activated on your Linux computer (I'm too lazy to read through this topic if you have)? If so, then you can install the package alsa-firmware and you do not have to install the firmware that is in the archive you just downloaded. I think somebody already asked you to do so and it didn't work I think...

[khz]

As a newbie I would not try to install alsa-firmware in my distribution outside of the package manager, just for security reasons. It would be useful to know what you are doing. This hasn't happened to me in Linux^audio for 20 years, fortunately. Alsa-firmware, ~current ("~" because Debian is rather slow in packages, but stable/reliable) is https://packages.debian.org/buster/alsa ... re-loaders 1.1.7-1, installing via the package manager, getting reliable distributions and security updates and then using its audio MIDI interface is easy. But such hacks are the worst kind of bullying from this company, ~never updateable again.

In my opinion such products/devices are not worth getting running. The question is also how and what then everything goes.
In this case, I'd rather buy another audio MIDI interface and never buy anything from Tascam US-122 again. Such companies/products are just annoying, similar to Nvidia for example.
<IMHO>

I'm sorry that you came across this extremely frustrating product through my link regarding "Understanding recording hardware".

Does it have to be a USB device? PCIe would be my first choice.
Other executable USB audio MIDI interfaces have already been mentioned here and you can learn more here: which work completely without much effort.

[TDNE]

I can't find an emojee here for tearing your hair out. You sure know how to confuse a guy.

khz:
I take it you are talking about built in obsolescence. Tascam are not unique in that. I was just thinking of that the other day - based on what is happening here. I realized anything that depends on updates or drivers is at the mercy of those who make the updates. Withdraw that support & the device will become obsolete sooner or later. For me I don't what to contribute to crating more waste by junking something that is basically serviceable & why I try to stick with second hand stuff & open source - where I can.

Other executable USB audio MIDI interfaces have already been mentioned here and you can learn more here: which work completely without much effort.

I think you forgot to add the link. I'm not sure I can get this US-122 going so may have to get something else. I should have that MIDI to USB cable soon. I've never heard of PCIe or if my laptop has such a port. I want to keep this as simple as I can with stuff I already know how to use.

On to alsa-firmware: I have alsa-firmware-loaders 1.1.0-0ubuntu1 installed according to my package manager. Doesn't seem to have done me any good so far. I also have all these installed :- fxload ; alsa-base ; alsa-tools ; alsa-tools-gui ; alsa-utils ; alsamixergui ; alien .

linuxmusician01:
I'm sure KXStudio repository hasn't been mention so far but I mentioned that this tutorial : https://help.ubuntu.com/community/TASCAM_US-122 : talks about Ubuntu studio project (i don't have this installed but it shows in my package manager). How do I find out if I have KXStudio repository ? Perhaps I should wait for this cable to arrive & see if that works - could save us all a lot of bother.

I'd have chucked the towel in a while ago if it wasn't for the fact that I really Really like the sound of this K-station.

[merlyn]

So tried : sudo fxload -s ./tascam_loader.ihx -I /usr/share/alsa/firmware/usx2yloader/us122fw.ihx -D /dev/bus/usb/001/012

& got : ./tascam_loader.ihx: unable to open for input.

The error message doesn't say what it couldn't open. The fact that you got 'File exists' when you tried to create a link means that this could be a problem with paths.

So we can find where tascam_loader.ihx and us122fw.ihx are with :

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$ sudo find / -name tascam_loader.ihx 
$ sudo find / -name us122fw.ihx

Then use the full paths in the fxload command.

[TDNE]

I was just about to mention the file exists thing. I'll see what your commands return.

Well i find this a bit creepy. After hitting return for find / -name tascam_loader.ihx i was asked for my password which i entered. There was a very long pause (presumably while it searched every file on my HD). I then got :

find: ‘/run/user/1000/gvfs’: Permission denied

I ran find / -name us122fw.ihx didn't ask for password & almost immediately returned the same message. Realized I'd missed Sudo off both so re-did them but got exactly the same result.

[Linuxmusician01]

So tried : sudo fxload -s ./tascam_loader.ihx -I /usr/share/alsa/firmware/usx2yloader/us122fw.ihx -D /dev/bus/usb/001/012

& got : ./tascam_loader.ihx: unable to open for input.

The error message doesn't say what it couldn't open. The fact that you got 'File exists' when you tried to create a link means that this could be a problem with paths.

So we can find where tascam_loader.ihx and us122fw.ihx are with :

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$ sudo find / -name tascam_loader.ihx 
$ sudo find / -name us122fw.ihx

Then use the full paths in the fxload command.

He downloaded the archive and could not cd to the directory it's in. Problem is that he has the archive ant that he must unpack it. That's why said file is not yet on his PC. You're a few steps ahead of him.

[TDNE]

crossed postings here. Does that explain my results in post just after Merlyn's?

[TDNE]

He is referring to what I did earlier :

ran this anyway : sudo usx2yloader

& got : usx2yloader: no US-X2Y-compatible cards found

Not a problems as there's an instruction for this - so I ran : sudo ln -s /usr/share/alsa/firmware/usx2yloader /lib/firmware/usx2yloader

But got this : ln: failed to create symbolic link '/lib/firmware/usx2yloader': File exists