Need help setting up audio in Linux

• Jan 1, 2013 - 23:22

Hi. As a composer/arranger, I've used Sibelius under Windows for years, and would like to try MuseScore under Linux. I've installed MuseScore 1.2 in my Linux Mint 14 64-bit partition, and it looks great, but there's no audio at all. Audio works for other applications (YouTube, mp3s, wavs, oggs, etc.) but nothing from MuseScore. I need to hear notes as I input them, and need to play draft scores.

I haven't changed the factory settings, but here is a screenshot of my MuseScore I/O preferences:

MuseScore-Prefences-IO-20130102.png

Here are the errors I see when I open MuseScore from a terminal:

$ mscore
PulseAudio found, but no need to suspend. Starting mscore.real...
ALSA lib pcm.c:2217:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.rear
ALSA lib pcm.c:2217:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.center_lfe
ALSA lib pcm.c:2217:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.side
ALSA lib audio/pcm_bluetooth.c:1614:(audioservice_expect) BT_GET_CAPABILITIES failed : Input/output error(5)
ALSA lib audio/pcm_bluetooth.c:1614:(audioservice_expect) BT_GET_CAPABILITIES failed : Input/output error(5)
ALSA lib audio/pcm_bluetooth.c:1614:(audioservice_expect) BT_GET_CAPABILITIES failed : Input/output error(5)
ALSA lib audio/pcm_bluetooth.c:1614:(audioservice_expect) BT_GET_CAPABILITIES failed : Input/output error(5)
ALSA lib pcm_dmix.c:957:(snd_pcm_dmix_open) The dmix plugin supports only playback stream
Cannot connect to server socket err = No such file or directory
Cannot connect to server request channel
jack server is not running or cannot be started
registerPlugin: add action idx 1
Load plugin: no menu property
preferences.checkUpdateStartup: 168
lastupdate: 01.01.2013 18:20:12.000

Any tips would be welcome!

Attachment Size
MuseScore-Prefences-IO-20130102.png 53.73 KB

Comments

The first thing I would check is whether the Soundfont is being recognised.

Open the Synthesiser page and check that there is a Soundfont listed in the Soundfont box.

If not, install a suitable soundfont by clicking on the square button to the immediate right.

If that is not the problem come back here.

I have had MuseScore running properly under Linux, but ISTR I had to initially fiddle with the sound settings to get it to go.

Unfortunately my Linux partition won't boot at the moment due to a complete reinstall of Windows XP which overwrote the GRUB bootloader.

In reply to by Magnus Johansson

@Jojo-Schmitz,

Sorry if I was unclear. What I meant by playback working was that I could see the line traveling across the score. But there was still no sound. When I had set things up acording to Magnus's recommendation, playback was grayed out and nothing happened at all.

In reply to by kwatson703

For applications like Ardour, OpenOctaveMidi, Muse and expecially Musescore but virtually any linux application that has audio, you can use JACK to route the audio input output to another application (effects processor/recorder).
JACK is similar to ASIO but with more output ports. qjackctl or patchage are the best graphical apps to view & make connections. If there still isn't any output, in JACK settings, you can use a different driver e.g: ALSA, OSS, PulseAudio etc. and maybe one of those will give you luck, but ALSA is the default. Otherwise, you'll have to dig deeper.

In reply to by kentfx

Well, actually, I didn't check the ALSA audio line. After installing qjackctl, everything "just worked," so I didn't dig any deeper.

I did notice that I had to have my digital piano turned on and connected to the computer before starting MuseScore, so that it would be recognized as an input device.

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