[hennessys]

Does anybody have any experience with Hiface two and Linux Mint (or any other Ubuntu / Debian based system)? I'm going nuts trying to make it work for two days.

 
This is where I'm at the moment:

1. The Hiface is recognised. The support built into the kernel.
2. The output is set to Hiface
3. not muted
4. cat /proc/asound/cards and aplay -l listing it

 
I tried various players without luck. When i run a straigth test it with aplay /usr/share/sounds/alsa/Front_Center.wav gets hanged and i need to terminate it with ctrl+c.
 
Thanks in advance

 

[cladisch]

What kernel version are you using?
Those various players, do they hang too?
 
Are there any error message in the system log (see (/var/log/messages, or the output of dmesg)?

 

[hennessys]

3.13.0-24-generic, it comes with the Mint 17. The hiface support is part of it for a while.
 
The players are playing, just no sound produced. The hanging appears only when i test it from terminal. The HDMI and the 3.5 jack output is ok. I checked my rig from a different laptop and it works, so the problem has to be with the settings.

 

[hennessys]

Dmesg
 
 287.256367] usb 3-1: new high-speed USB device number 5 using xhci_hcd
[  287.272707] usb 3-1: New USB device found, idVendor=249c, idProduct=930b
[  287.272715] usb 3-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[  287.272719] usb 3-1: Product: M2Tech USB Audio 2.0
[  287.272722] usb 3-1: Manufacturer: M2Tech 
[  287.272725] usb 3-1: SerialNumber: 0000
[  287.840623] usbcore: registered new interface driver snd-usb-audio
[  415.563748] 5:1:1: usb_set_interface failed (-71)

 

[cladisch]

So "hanging" means that nothing is shown on the screen? This is normal (except for the missing sound).
 
Google says others have the same problem, but only with Intel USB controllers, and that the device forgets its own name (see "lsusb -v"). This points to a hardware problem.

 

[hennessys]

No,
 
 
after entering "aplay /usr/share/sounds/alsa/Front_Center.wav" to the terminal, it shows:
"Playing WAVE '/usr/share/sounds/alsa/Front_Center.wav' : Signed 16 bit Little Endian, Rate 48000 Hz, Mono"
and nothing happens until i get bored and terminate it with ctrl+c.
 
The other sound devices just play the sound.

 

[cladisch]

That "usb_set_interface failed (-71)" definitely indicates a hardware problem.

 

[hennessys]

yup, but i'm out of ideas.

 

[hennessys]

I booted from the usb install stick and it works after restarting the pulseaudio. I'm loosing my hair....

 

[hennessys]

Thanx cladisch & sorry guys, i lost my patience and I reinstalled the whole thing. If someone have the solution, don't forget to post it.
 
here is a useful thread:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/561961/bit-perfect-audio-from-linux

 

[Claude]

Does your Hiface Two have the latest firmware, released 2 months ago?

 
http://www.m2tech.biz/it/images/hiFaceTWO_REVID.jpg


 
I had lots of problems with the device on Windows 8.1, which I thought were related to that Windows edition and the driver (most Hiface Two users posting here have Windows 7 or 8) . The support sent me beta drivers, which did not work. Then the firmware upgrade solved everything.


 
More about it here: http://www.head-fi.org/t/601203/m2tech-hiface-2/510

 

[hennessys]

As far as i know there is no need for linux driver for the Hiface Two..

 

[Adda]

I had the same problem, but just managed to find a solution.
 
It seems that for some reason, ALSA mutes the hiFace, just for kicks and giggles though.
So use your favorite ALSA mixer to un-mute the hiFace, then run the following command to save your ALSA config so that you don't have to un-mute the hiFace at every boot, and every time you re-plug it:
 

 sudo alsactl store

 

[hennessys]

Please don't tell me it works. i've changed distro at leatst 6 times.
I guess it’s time to go debian base again...

 

[Adda]

Try CrunchBang if you want it to be truly light weight, swift on a 10+ year old laptop and full featured at the same time.