[pulseaudio-tickets] [Bug 50256] pasuspender alsa hook test fix.

Wed Jun 6 06:56:57 PDT 2012

https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=50256

--- Comment #16 from oiaohm at gmail.com 2012-06-06 06:56:57 PDT ---
Opps I moused clicked at the wrong time.

ALSA_CONFIG_PATH really I would prefer to avoid touching this if we can. 
Historically its been the universal way to stomp on ALSA to make it do what you
wish.   But that does not really make it right.

If someone has hardware issues and they are wanting to test that out they might
have intentionally set ALSA_CONFIG_PATH to alter how Alsa inits up.

Now we have the idea go and override this is this wise.  Each environmental var
should have a role.   Currently its abused  ALSA_CONFIG_PATH global hardware
defines is in the alsa.conf files.  Temp overrides should exist as a different
environmental option.  This would make life so many times simpler. 

The bending of ALSA_CONFIG_PATH tracks to stacks and stacks of historic stuff
ups.   The .asoundrc was always intended for those more temporary settings. 
Problem was we were never given a environmental var to push it around.

So hardware setting and temp settings are getting bashed around by one
environmental var this does explain why it goes so badly wrong.

Wine has global defines like the base if it default registry.  This is read
every time a prefix is created.   Then we have more localised configurations
contained to the WINEPREFIX.

So my use of global is exactly correct.  Its more way of thinking about what
you should and not be playing with.   Playing with wine registry master
template location of wine registry is not the correct way to address a
application problem.

This case we have a single application we are trying to fix yet we are moving
the look up location to configure sound cards and hoping the one we point to
points back to the correct one.  This spells trouble to me.

If a alsa envormental var existed for pulseaudio, jackaudio and any other audio
server or per application alterations of sound config so avoiding touching
ALSA_CONFIG_PATH that contains information to setup hardware at times. 
Failures would be reduced.

"ALSA_CONFIG_PATH 
    file to use instead of ALSA_CONFIG_DIR/alsa.conf" 
ALSA_MIXER_SIMPLE 
    file to use instead of ALSA_CONFIG_DIR/smixer.conf 
ALSA_MIXER_SIMPLE_MODULES 
    path to modules .so files"
Nothing currently provided is correct for the problem at hand.

You say it would be hard to do a full alsa as if untouched in pasuspender. 
Reality this is only because of lack of clear separation of roles in the
environmental vars.

If sound server settings were not mixed with hardware configuration information
in alsa.conf existing back to a pure alsa would be very straight forwards.

Like if a ALSA_ASOUNDRC_FILE option existed in the library or
ALSA_SOUNDSERVER_FILE existed in the library for extra settings and sound
servers used this.  That file would contain like all your pulseaudio setup
stuff.  So remove then remove var and magically alsa application would init up
like pulseaudio is not running as long as pulseaudio had disconnected from the
audio.

Yes the reality is alsa was designed to be able to change configuration at lot.
 But someone presumed that users would only need one configuration file so
never made .asoundrc environmental var settable.

Wine without its WINEPREFIX environmental var would be the same problem.  For
us this would be 100 percent unworkable and we cannot understand why audio guys
keep on trying to place all settings in the one alsa.conf files.  Then complain
things get hard.  Not seeing that the problem is not having a single extra
environmental var you need.

Remember when ALSA started ALSA_CONFIG_PATH did not exist either it was hard
coded into the library.  Current ~/.asoundrc is hard coded this is the file
that should contain all the users own unique configuration changes.  Sound
server should be in .asoundrc somehow.  Most likely as a environment var
telling applications where to look .asoundrc up from.  This also would have
allowed wine to work around the pulseaudio suspender issue.  Hey read this
.asoundrc file that corrects default to point somewhere sane.

When something is hard coded when it should not be leaded to doing stacks of
painful operations to oneself without any sane need.  This is why pulseaudio
has such a hard time dropping back to alsa without pulseaudio.

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