Version: (using KDE KDE 3.1.4) Installed from: Debian testing/unstable Packages There is a major usability problem in the "sound system" kcm: A lot of options are completely useless for 99,9% of the users, and all they do is add to their confusion with the amount of options in KCM. Examples: "Exchange security and reference info over the X11 server" -> should be just on or off, even I as a generally computer-proficient guy have no idea, let alone a user "Run soundserver with realtime priority" -> a user does not need this choice, always on "Autosuspend if idle for xxx seconds" -> a user does not need this choice, pick a sane default "Message display" -> errors only is a sane default, a user does not need this choice "Use custom sampling rate" -> why oh why would a normal user want to change this "Other custom options" -> sigh "Audio buffer size" -> pick a sane default, possibly autodetect the amount of horsepower on a user's system. "Load/Save Volumes" -> the load button does absolutely nothing for me, doesn't even open a dialog. I guess this means it can be removed too. No idea what it's for anyway. "Hardware Settings" -> no idea what either of these do. Is this useful on any normal user's desktop pc "MIDI" -> this entire tab seems pretty useless to me, I have no idea how many users these day have a MIDI device, but can you please check if it's realistic that a normal user would want to change something here ? cheers domi
I don't agree with a couple of your "user doesn't need this": > "Autosuspend if idle for xxx seconds" Those people running programs that aren't aRts-aware must be able to make artsd autosuspend quite fast. So, unless you're proposing a 1 or 2 second delay as a "sane default", this option is needed. > "Use custom sampling rate" Some soundcards will only work correctly if the sampling rate is a specific one. For instance, even today with ALSA on Linux 2.6.0, if I don't set the rate to 48000 in aRts and mplayer (to name another program), things get distorted. >possibly autodetect the amount of horsepower on a user's system. Ouch... Not easy. Most of the others I agree with you. I also agree with you that this KCM has to be remodelled for KDE 3.3.
Subject: Re: KControl: remove useless and confusing options regarding the sound server Thiago Macieira writes: > I don't agree with a couple of your "user doesn't need this": >> "Autosuspend if idle for xxx seconds" > Those people running programs that aren't aRts-aware must be able to > make artsd autosuspend quite fast. So, unless you're proposing a 1 > or 2 second delay as a "sane default", this option is needed. I see. Maybe this should really be changed to an arts wishlist bug that it should release the audio device whenever it's not using it, possibly with a small delay. Or is this what "suspending" means perhaps, or does it mean that artsd exits ? If that is what "suspending" means, then I don't see why a default of about 2 seconds would not be OK. >> "Use custom sampling rate" > Some soundcards will only work correctly if the sampling rate is a > specific one. For instance, even today with ALSA on Linux 2.6.0, if > I don't set the rate to 48000 in aRts and mplayer (to name another > program), things get distorted. ACK. Then perhaps we could add a small checkbox saying "Use 48000 sampling rate because my sound card is broken". This would be better than the current free choice IMHO. >> possibly autodetect the amount of horsepower on a user's system. > Ouch... Not easy. Hm, well, that's why I said "possibly" :) On linux, you could check /proc/cpuinfo for the bogomips rating, but this is not at all portable. > Most of the others I agree with you. I also agree with you that this > KCM has to be remodelled for KDE 3.3. Thanks. I intend to try and work on KControl after 3.2 and my exams, so I might just get around to doing it myself. cheers domi
> I also agree with you that this KCM has to be remodelled for KDE 3.3. This module was redesigned for 3.2. Isn't it good enough as it is now?
> I see. Maybe this should really be changed to an arts wishlist bug > that it should release the audio device whenever it's not using it, > possibly with a small delay. Or is this what "suspending" means > perhaps, or does it mean that artsd exits ? If that is what > "suspending" means, then I don't see why a default of about 2 seconds > would not be OK. Because then you could have issues with the sound server suspending too quickly after playing an MP3 or CD or whatnot. 10 seconds seems like a better default here. btw, suspending means that the device is closed so that other programs can open it. AFAIK, artsd doesn't exit on suspend. > ACK. Then perhaps we could add a small checkbox saying "Use 48000 > sampling rate because my sound card is broken". This would be better > than the current free choice IMHO. Actually, it wouldn't be the sound card that's broken, but the driver, and telling the user that their driver is broken is not a good idea, IMHO. I prefer the free choice. > Hm, well, that's why I said "possibly" :) On linux, you could check > /proc/cpuinfo for the bogomips rating, but this is not at all > portable. Not to mention that using the bogomips rating is not a good way to determine the CPU's (or CPUs') speed.
Henrique Pinto writes: >> I also agree with you that this KCM has to be remodelled for KDE >> 3.3. > This module was redesigned for 3.2. Isn't it good enough as it is > now? Oh, I was not aware of that. I have just taken a look at the new version, and a lot of things have definitely improved. I can live with this version much better, and there are prolly more important problems in kcontrol now than those that are left in here. cheers domi
Matt Rogers writes: > ------- You are receiving this mail because: ------- > You reported the bug, or are watching the reporter. > http://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=72003 matt.rogers@kdemail.net > changed: > What |Removed |Added > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > CC| |matt.rogers@kdemail.net > ------- Additional Comments From matt.rogers@kdemail.net 2004-02-05 > 04:38 ------- >> I see. Maybe this should really be changed to an arts wishlist bug >> that it should release the audio device whenever it's not using it, >> possibly with a small delay. Or is this what "suspending" means >> perhaps, or does it mean that artsd exits ? If that is what >> "suspending" means, then I don't see why a default of about 2 >> seconds would not be OK. > Because then you could have issues with the sound server suspending > too quickly after playing an MP3 or CD or whatnot. 10 seconds seems > like a better default here. btw, suspending means that the device is > closed so that other programs can open it. AFAIK, artsd doesn't exit > on suspend. k >> ACK. Then perhaps we could add a small checkbox saying "Use 48000 >> sampling rate because my sound card is broken". This would be >> better than the current free choice IMHO. > Actually, it wouldn't be the sound card that's broken, but the > driver, and telling the user that their driver is broken is not a > good idea, IMHO. I prefer the free choice. I disagree. The driver of course needs fixing, and there should be no options for working around bugs. Anyway, I can live with the version that is currently in the redesigned kcm: have a checkbox "use custom sampling rate" allowing or disallowing you to enter a custom rate. >> Hm, well, that's why I said "possibly" :) On linux, you could check >> /proc/cpuinfo for the bogomips rating, but this is not at all >> portable. > Not to mention that using the bogomips rating is not a good way to > determine the CPU's (or CPUs') speed. Well, yeah, but it's no big problem if the measurement is far from perfect. cheers domi
Arts is no longer developed and has been unmaintained for quite some time - more than 2 years. With phonon as the replacement for arts in KDE4, we're closing out all the arts bugs in Bugzilla since there is no chance of them being fixed. Thanks