[alsa-devel] bug

[Ricard Wanderlof]

Sorry, I just can't keep silent on this... though I fear this will go 
nowhere ... :-(

On Tue, 31 Mar 2015, Nikita N. wrote:

> [ ... ] software is verified can damage the speakers, if not used 
> somehow correctly.
> ...
> We were hoping in some form of amend from yourself, about the dangerous
> software you produced and distributed to public.
> ...
> We were hoping at least in a simple warning popping up from your tool,
> when user sets any "hazardous" levels.

There is nothing wrong with the software. As MAarten points out, it does 
the same as any other mixer software. There is a problem with the 
hardware. It is akin to turning up the volume control on your stereo 
system and burning out the speakers in your room. If that happens, you 
have a hardware combination that is incorrectly a designed (i.e. your 
amplifier is too powerful for your speakers), it's not your hand with 
which you turned up the volume that is is 'dangerous'.

I appreciate that users might be upset when that happens, and rightly so, 
however, they should be upset with the hardware design, i.e. in this case 
the PC manufacturer.

In essence, a PC that behaves this way is broken, and if it starts 
emitting smoke when this happens it might even be dangerous and should be 
returned to the manufacturer for replacement. Period.

The same thing would apply if the power supply catches fire while playing 
a CPU- and graphic intensive game, because the large amount of power 
needed. Faulty hardware. Replace it, or buy a reputable brand next time.

That said, with some proper input we might be able to minimize the problem 
in software, given the proper help about which levels are considered 
"dangerous". That is something that must be determined for each specific 
hardware, there is no "dangerous" level from a software point of view.

> We were hoping at least-least in a warning popping up from your tool at
> runtime, something like "Warning: improper settings for this level, this
> level and this might result in damages to your audio devices".

There is no such level that the software can know about. Setting the 
output levels to maximum is not necessarily bad, wrong or dangerous. It 
depends on the hardware, and very likely hardware which the software can 
not know about (such as the exact type of speakers).

/Ricard
-- 
Ricard Wolf Wanderlöf                           ricardw(at)axis.com
Axis Communications AB, Lund, Sweden            www.axis.com
Phone +46 46 272 2016                           Fax +46 46 13 61 30