Ultralite AVB

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supereb
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Re: Ultralite AVB

Post by supereb »

AudioNarwhal wrote: Fri Dec 23, 2022 9:20 pm

If the drumfix driver is working well except for occasional channel walking / distortion on playback then you could try using only the firmware. If you are getting issues in the record direction I think the normal or patched usb audio class driver would be worth trying.

Edit: The firmware fix, for now, will only effect operation if the interface is being used in “normal class compliant mode” ie. 24x24 channels. I’m only saying this because I think the drumfix driver may support using the vendor mode to increase the channel count, so I’m not sure how you’re set up with that.

With the Drumfix driver, I might go multiple days of two hour sessions without an issue or multiple instances of channel walking within a session. Seems to be working fine for now but I'll report back after a week or two unless I experience channel walking sooner.

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AudioNarwhal
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Re: Ultralite AVB

Post by AudioNarwhal »

stanlea wrote: Sat Dec 24, 2022 6:23 pm

Firmware for 828ES cause a continuous noise when playing.

Interesting, @stanlea, could you tell me what sample rate this is at, and with which driver setup? Also if you could share a recording of the noise that could be helpful.

I am uploading a tool, motu-util, that should be able to tell me some interesting information if used against the shipping firmware (ie. not the one creating the noise). Hopefully this works, let me know if it doesn't run for some reason.

motu-util.zip

If you can post the sample rate you are running at along with the output from this tool will help me debug further. This tool needs to be run while audio is running. Example usage:

Code: Select all

$ ./motu-util 
Usage: motu-util <audio-interface-ip-address>

Code: Select all

$ ./motu-util 169.254.231.248
USB Channel Count: 23
USB State: 0x11
Gathering playback stats...
-----------------------------------------
90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90,
90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90,
90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90,
90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90,
90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 84, 84, 84, 84, 84,
84, 84, 84, 84, 84, 84, 84, 84, 84, 84,
84, 84, 84, 84, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90,
90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90,
90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90,
90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90,
-----------------------------------------
Forcing sync...
Gathering playback stats...
-----------------------------------------
17, 17, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90,
90, 90, 84, 84, 84, 84, 84, 84, 84, 84,
84, 84, 84, 84, 84, 84, 84, 84, 84, 84,
84, 84, 84, 84, 84, 84, 84, 84, 90, 90,
90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90,
90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90,
90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90,
90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90,
90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90,
90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90, 84, 84, 84,
-----------------------------------------
stanlea
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Re: Ultralite AVB

Post by stanlea »

So...
Ubuntu 22.04.1 LTS

MOTU 828ES 0001f2fffe00c13b 1.4.0+90954 1.2.0+90954 828ES Windows 4.0.8.2000 192.168.1.24 9998
Running 128 samples at 48 KHz

CPU Governor set for performance

While running Ardour playing a loop

Code: Select all

 ./motu-util 192.168.1.24
USB Channel Count: 23
USB State: 0x11
Gathering playback stats...
-----------------------------------------
39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39,
39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39,
39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39,
39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39,
39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39,
39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39,
39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39,
39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39,
39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39,
39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39,
-----------------------------------------
Forcing sync...
Gathering playback stats...
-----------------------------------------
17, 17, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39,
39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39,
39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39,
39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39,
39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39,
39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39,
39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39,
39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39,
39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39,
39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39,
-----------------------------------------
shellwalker
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Re: Ultralite AVB

Post by shellwalker »

Hi all,
just wanted to mention that I've created an overview of some key posts of the recent weeks to our README.md:
https://github.com/shellwalker-coder/mo ... ing#readme
or at Johnnys repo:
https://github.com/johnny2k/motu_patch_testing#readme

I hope that helps to track the bits and pieces as we go along. Also it should help anyone entering the scene to get running more quickly.
Further contributions to this list are welcome.

BTW: does anyone know if there is a way to make a post "sticky" (i.e. shown on each page)? If possible then we could set up a sticky post with the most important stuff.

MOTU 828mk3, MOTU 828ES, Cakewalk by Bandlab, Kubuntu 22.04.1 LTS, https://github.com/shellwalker-coder/motu_patch_testing

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Re: Ultralite AVB

Post by stanlea »

AudioNarwhal wrote: Sun Dec 25, 2022 10:51 pm
stanlea wrote: Sat Dec 24, 2022 6:23 pm

Firmware for 828ES cause a continuous noise when playing.

Interesting, @stanlea, could you tell me what sample rate this is at, and with which driver setup? Also if you could share a recording of the noise that could be helpful.

I tried to record with the noise : first a song , then a synth (Helm) with basic organ preset, all recorded directly to an Ardour track.
The firmware used here is the one you posted above. Surprise : rendering is absolutely fine on another computer, no noise. So noise is only occuring at playback I guess.
I'm gonna try to record the output with my cellular phone.

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Re: Ultralite AVB

Post by jkohls »

I've just tried the new 828ES firmware with the un-patched USB module from 5.15.0-56-lowlatency and the patched version. For now I'm just testing 24 and 32 channels with USB2 and UAB modes at 48k with and without Jack.

The summary of the results is that there's decimated audio in UAB mode and the playback speed is too high in USB2 mode.

During playback in UAB there's also audio being played on an interesting group of channels. Some of the channels are playing audio from the video and some are just noise. Audio should only be appearing on channels 1-6 (headphone monitors).

Image

I recorded the output of a sine wave that starts at a constant frequency and then I turn the knob from low to high at the end.

phpBB [audio]

https://soundcloud.com/jk40seven/zoom00 ... al_sharing

Logs and additional info in this zip....
https://github.com/johnny2k/motu_patch_ ... ed_UAB.zip

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Re: Ultralite AVB

Post by stanlea »

I finally succeed at recording the "noise" on my 828ES :

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1E9PXgy ... sp=sharing

Very close to jkohls tries above

I used my first hardware input (microphone) to record my speakers but I have to search for it in the logical ports, it had jump to slot 17. ("logical" in one way)

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Re: Ultralite AVB

Post by AudioNarwhal »

@stanlea Thank you for the recording and motu-util output. I have a hunch as to what could be happening. I will post another firmware for you to try tomorrow.

@jkohls Thank you for the detailed logs! Those dmesg logs are intriguing.

jkohls wrote: Mon Dec 26, 2022 9:04 pm

The summary of the results is that there's decimated audio in UAB mode and the playback speed is too high in USB2 mode.

This statement along with the dmesg logs, makes me wonder if there is a disagreement between the sampling frequency and/or channel count that ALSA thinks the audio interface is running at vs. what the front panel and web app say the interface is running at. Can you double check this? You also might benefit from the firmware tomorrow, but I think there is something additional going on for you.

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Re: Ultralite AVB

Post by AudioNarwhal »

AudioNarwhal wrote: Mon Dec 26, 2022 11:25 pm

@stanlea Thank you for the recording and motu-util output. I have a hunch as to what could be happening. I will post another firmware for you to try tomorrow.

Lets see if this works any better:

MOTU AVB 1.4.5+92559 for UltraLite AVB and Stage-B16.update
MOTU AVB 1.4.5+92559 for 828ES and 8PreES.update

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Re: Ultralite AVB

Post by jkohls »

AudioNarwhal wrote: Mon Dec 26, 2022 11:25 pm

This statement along with the dmesg logs, makes me wonder if there is a disagreement between the sampling frequency and/or channel count that ALSA thinks the audio interface is running at vs. what the front panel and web app say the interface is running at. Can you double check this? You also might benefit from the firmware tomorrow, but I think there is something additional going on for you.

I think you might be right.. I noticed today during testing 1.4.5 that the channel count didn't match in USB2 mode. This file was saying one thing while the webapp showed another. I'm now making sure these match.

➜ cat /proc/asound/card1/pcm0c/sub0/hw_params
access: MMAP_INTERLEAVED
format: S24_3LE
subformat: STD
channels: 24
rate: 48000 (48000/1)
period_size: 512
buffer_size: 1024

So far what I've been testing today is the patched module, 48k, 24 channels all the time from now on, UAB and USB2 modes.

USB2 still has the weird pitch issue but on the UAB side though it's working with clean audio and the correct sample rate. No more decimation! :D

My go to test has been this: streaming audio into a shared desktop session on Discord and routing external audio into the stream. As soon as I get an XRUN any external audio (mic, hardware synths, etc) stops being output to Discord. If I change the routing grid in the web app I can hear it's there and I can see the meter light up on the inputs as well. Any other audio from sources on my machine (VLC, Firefox, VCVRack) still make it through to people but just not my mic or instruments. Restarting jack fixes the issue until the next XRUN. While writing this I think it may have actually come back briefly before going away again. The dmesg logs in this zip may have captured all that.

https://github.com/johnny2k/motu_patch_ ... m_info.zip

I've been unable to test this same thing without Jack but I'll attempt that now.

Edit: Can't really do recording tests that easily without Jack so I'm back to my testing with Discord and streaming. Somehow this time around it's being extremely resilient. To stress it even more I started a video game that has been giving me a ton of audio issues lately. It's been running for almost half an hour now and in that time I've had about 7 XRUNs but they haven't triggered the silent mic issue. I then launched Reaper and had it connect to Jack without issues and then I was able to record without issues as well.

I'll keep letting it run in this configuration and let you know if I run into any other issues.

Are there other configurations you'd like to see tested? I'm thinking of doing sample rate tests but I don't know which ones we should expect to work or not work.

Last edited by jkohls on Tue Dec 27, 2022 9:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
stanlea
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Re: Ultralite AVB

Post by stanlea »

I'm afk until next friday, so I'll have to wait for testing your last firmware.

supereb
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Re: Ultralite AVB

Post by supereb »

@AudioNarwhal

I'm on the 1.4.4+92559 firmware which has been working without fault for four sessions so far. If it would be helpful to you I can stay on it, or switch to your latest firmware. Please advise.

Thanks!

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Re: Ultralite AVB

Post by shellwalker »

jkohls wrote: Tue Dec 27, 2022 8:10 pm

I think you might be right.. I noticed today during testing 1.4.5 that the channel count didn't match in USB2 mode. This file was saying one thing while the webapp showed another. I'm now making sure these match.

@jkohls: is this something we could put in our setup-scripts to make sure settings are consistent?

MOTU 828mk3, MOTU 828ES, Cakewalk by Bandlab, Kubuntu 22.04.1 LTS, https://github.com/shellwalker-coder/motu_patch_testing

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Re: Ultralite AVB

Post by AudioNarwhal »

jkohls wrote: Tue Dec 27, 2022 8:10 pm

Are there other configurations you'd like to see tested? I'm thinking of doing sample rate tests but I don't know which ones we should expect to work or not work.

It should be okay to test all sampling rates in USB Audio Class (UAC) mode (24-channels). This firmware does not yet address any issues in USB2 (vendor) mode.

supereb wrote: Wed Dec 28, 2022 12:03 am

I'm on the 1.4.4+92559 firmware which has been working without fault for four sessions so far. If it would be helpful to you I can stay on it, or switch to your latest firmware. Please advise.

Thanks for the report. If you don't mind updating to 1.4.5 that would be helpful to see if continues working for you or not.

My colleague helped me get the Mk4 build working again :D. Since the Mk4 doesn't have ethernet, this will have to be installed from a windows or mac host.
MOTU AVB 1.4.5+92559 for UltraLite-mk4.update

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Re: Ultralite AVB

Post by jkohls »

shellwalker wrote: Wed Dec 28, 2022 8:13 am
jkohls wrote: Tue Dec 27, 2022 8:10 pm

I think you might be right.. I noticed today during testing 1.4.5 that the channel count didn't match in USB2 mode. This file was saying one thing while the webapp showed another. I'm now making sure these match.

@jkohls: is this something we could put in our setup-scripts to make sure settings are consistent?

Maybe. I think I was confused yesterday with all the rapid changes in configurations I was testing and can now see it's easy to have max channels on the interface set different than Jack or Pulse. The following command only reflects what your audio system is configured for and not the state of the max channel count for the web interface. We could put this in the system information collection script if it would help with debugging problems but I could also just stop changing the channel count to values we don't expect to work :D

Code: Select all

find /proc/asound/ -name hw_params -exec cat {} \;
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