AV Linux USB Audio recording problem

[2BFrank]

Hi, I have just installed AV Linux 6.03 - no problem (altough it can't find SWAP) - but can't get any audio into it using USB Interfaces.
(M-Audio Fast Track Pro or Zoom R8).

Here's what I'm trying to do:
-Plugging Guitar or Mic into the M-Audio; I can find it in the JACK settings as hw 1,1.
-Patching "capture" into "output" in the patchbay; then I would like to record it into Audacity or Qtractor.
-But Audacity only lets me select "ALSA" as source, not "Jack" as I usually did, and no sound.
- Meterbridge to check the level crashes instantly on start.
- Qtractor says it can't find JACK, altough it is running.

- Fatal mistake?? I did make available upgrades in synaptic, but then read it is not advisable. Can I roll the changes back?

I would really appreciate some advice, as the M-Audio has worked in earlier Ubuntu versions (but not in 12.04).

[varpa]

AVLinux is not designed to be a rolling release tracking all upgrades, so it is not unlikely that upgrading all packages broke something, and certainly your experience indicates that your system is has many problems. I don't know how to do a roll-back of upgrades in any simple way. There is a history of upgraded packages in synaptic, so you can see what has been changed, but I think it would be incredibly tedious to try to revert a large number of packages. I think it would be much quicker to re-install AVLinux. When I use AVLinux, or in fact an audio distro, I install it to a 20 GB partition which includes the home directory which I only use for configuration data. I make separate partition(s) for music or any other significant data. This way I can upgrade or change the OS without disturbing my data, also, I can install several OS versions in different partitions which I share the same data partition, using the same username/id on all systems so I can switch seamlessly between different (linux audio) distros. If you can boot from AVLinux from DVD you could check your system functionality before doing a re-install. Its a bit slow running from DVD, but you can test your hardware. Also, are your USB devices known to work in linux? In addition, I know some USB device support was broken in some kernel versions, but I don't know the details.

[2BFrank]

Thanks for the reply. The M-Audio is listed as supported on the LinuxMusicians Wiki though.
The missing kernel support would be annoying.

[Mr.Miles]

Hi - I just installed the latest AV Linux a few weeks ago and had to figure some of the same stuff out.
First, I'd agree that if you've compromised the system with unneccesary package updates (that might have not gone well), reinstalling is the first step. For the 45 min it'll take you it's probably worth it.
I don't have a lot of experience with Audacity, but for me to get my Zoom B3 working as a USB interface with Ardour 3, what I've figured out to do is configure Jack (with the QjackCtrl app) to use the hardware (under the "setup" menu), but then NOT run it (i.e. press "play" or "start" or whatever it's labelled as) and also make NO connections in the patch bay. This was pretty counter-intuitive to me, at least after watching the 4 or 5 YouTube primers on Jack setups... but heck, it's what worked. Again, might not be the same situation with Audacity, but worth a shot.
EDIT: Forgot to add, to do all that before starting Ardour...

[bazsound]

if your using audacity you need to change it to Jack in the settings.

ardour though is much better for recording.

route your capture port to the input of a track in ardour.