<sect1 id="sndserver">
<sect1info>

<authorgroup>
<author>
<firstname>Mike</firstname>
<surname>McBride</surname>
</author>
<author>
<firstname>Jost</firstname>
<surname>Schenck</surname>
</author>
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</authorgroup>

<date>2002-02-12</date>
<releaseinfo>3.00.00</releaseinfo>

<keywordset>
<keyword>KDE</keyword>
<keyword>KControl</keyword>
<keyword>sound server</keyword>
<keyword>sound</keyword>
<keyword>aRts</keyword>
</keywordset>
</sect1info>

<title>Sound Server</title>

<para>This control module is used to configure the settings for the
&arts; sound server (the &kde; sound server).</para>

<sect2 id="sndserver-general">
<title>General</title>

<para>The top option, labeled <guilabel>Start aRts soundserver on KDE
startup</guilabel>, enables (or disables) the <application>aRts sound
server</application>.  </para>

<para>The rest of the panel consists of three options for the
<application>aRts soundserver</application>.</para>

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Enable network transparency</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>If this option is enabled, then sound requests from the network
will be honored by the sound server.  If this option is disabled, the sound
server will only honor requests from the local
computer.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Exchange security and reference info over the X11 server</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>If you have enabled network transparency, this option
will allow the exchange of security and reference information.  If in
doubt, and you have enabled network transparency, this option should be
checked.</para></listitem> 
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Run soundserver with realtime priority</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>Enabling this option will give the soundserver priority over
other applications, which will help alleviate any problems delivering
uninterupted sound.</para>
<note><para>This option may require permissions you do not have as a regular
user.</para>
<para>This option also relies on certain real time support from your
system which may not be available.</para>
<para>If you do not have the necessary permissions, or your system does
not have the real time support necessary, enabling this option will not
cause problems.</para></note></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Autosuspend if idle for</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>Normally &arts; locks the sound card device, so that other
applications cannot use it.  If you enable this option, then if &arts;
has been idle for the amount of time you set, it will suspend itself,
allowing any application access to the sound hardware.  If &arts;
receives another request, it will unsuspend, and continue as normal.
Enabling this option may cause a small delay when you start an &arts;
application.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Display messages using</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>The application that will be used to display messages from the
&arts; server.  The default is <application>artsmessage</application>
and this should probably not be changed unless you have thoroughly read
the &arts; documentation.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Message Display</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>You can select how detailed the messages are that &arts; displays
to you.  You can choose to see only error messages, debug messages that
are useful to the developers (you probably only want that level if you
are a developer, or one has asked you to set this).  Or you can choose
to see generally informational messages when &arts; is doing something
such as suspending itself.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

</variablelist>

<para>At the bottom of this page is a button that allows you to
<guibutton>Test Sound</guibutton>.</para>

</sect2>

<sect2 id="sndserver-soundio">
<title>Sound I/O</title>

<para>The first option you can configure in the <guilabel>Sound
I/O</guilabel> panel is the <guilabel>Sound I/O method</guilabel>.  It
tells &arts; which sound system to use for input and output of
sound. Current choices are <acronym>ALSA</acronym> (Advanced &Linux;
Sound Architecture), <acronym>OSS</acronym> (Open Sound System), no
audio at all and autodetect. In most cases <quote>Autodetect</quote>
will be perfect for you.</para>

<para>Other options are:</para>

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Enable full duplex operation</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>This option allows the soundserver to play and record sound at
the same time.  This option should be enabled if you use applications (such as
internet telephones) which require simultaneous record and
playback.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Use custom sound device</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>Normally, the sound server defaults to using the device called
<filename class="devicefile">/dev/dsp</filename> for sound output. That
should work in most cases. An exception is for instance if you are using
devfs, then you should use <filename
class="devicefile">/dev/sound/dsp</filename> instead. Other alternatives
are things like <filename class="devicefile">/dev/dsp0</filename> or
<filename class="devicefile">/dev/dsp1</filename> if you have a
soundcard that supports multiple outputs, or you have multiple
soundcards.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Use custom sampling rate</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>Normally, the sound server defaults to using a sampling rate of
44100 Hz (<acronym>CD</acronym> quality), which is supported on almost any
hardware. If you are using certain Yamaha soundcards, you might need to
configure this to 48000 Hz here, if you are using old SoundBlaster cards, like
SoundBlaster Pro, you might need to change this to 22050 Hz. All other values
are possible, too, and may make sense in certain contexts (&ie; professional
studio equipment).</para> 
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Other custom options</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>There are some options offered by
&arts; which may not be available in this control module, so you can add
command line options here which will directly be passed to
<application>artsd</application>. The options will be appended, so they
will in doubt override the choices made in the
<acronym>GUI</acronym>. To see the possible choices, open a &konsole;
window, and type <userinput><command>artsd</command>
<option>-h</option></userinput>.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Audio buffer size (response time)</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>This slider determines how quickly the soundserver can use your
computers resources.  The faster the response time, the higher the
<acronym>CPU</acronym> load will be.</para>
<tip><para>I would recommend that you start with the soundserver set at
250 ms, and use &kde; for a while.  If you notice that the sound does
not work correctly, increase the responsivness one step at a time until
the problems disappear.</para></tip>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

</variablelist>

</sect2>

<sect2 id="sndserver-author">
<title>Section Author</title>

<para>This section written by Mike McBride
<email>mpmcbride7@yahoo.com</email></para>

<para>Updated by Jost Schenck <email>jost@schenck.de</email></para>

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</sect2>
</sect1>


