speaker-test: limited user freedom and utility
| Affects | Status | Importance | Assigned to | Milestone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| alsa-utils (Ubuntu) |
Fix Committed
|
Wishlist
|
Erik Ackermann | ||
Bug Description
Binary package hint: alsa-utils
The speaker-test utility in alsa-utils restricts the sine wave frequency to 50-5000Hz.
Therefore:
> speaker-test -test sine -f 30
outputs a sine wave of 50Hz instead of the specified 30Hz.
While the author of the code introduced such restriction to prevent people causing physical damage ( to their speakers or even themselves ) it restricts the users freedom and lowers the application of the utility as a signal generator.
For example, while creating a sound system for a car, you may test the speakers work at varying frequencies below 50Hz but would be unable to do so with speaker-test.
I propose that a new switch is added to the program that is not affected by the restriction ( or disables the restrictions ) and modify the description of the existing switch. For example:
-f,--frequency sine wave frequency in Hz (50-5000). See --force-frequency
--force-frequency forces the frequency even if outside the 50-5000Hz range
I may be able to provide a patch to do this but I have not programmed in the speaker-test source language ( C? ) before so it would require some scrutiny.
| Changed in alsa-utils: | |
| importance: | Undecided → Wishlist |
| Xyem (xyem) wrote | #1 |
| David Henningsson (diwic) wrote | #2 |
| Changed in alsa-utils (Ubuntu): | |
| status: | New → Confirmed |
| Erik Ackermann (domohawk) wrote | #3 |
| Changed in alsa-utils (Ubuntu): | |
| assignee: | nobody → Erik Ackermann (domohawk) |
| status: | Confirmed → Fix Committed |
If I provide a patch for this, would it be considered for inclusion?
Would it be better if I created a patch and submitted it upstream?
I'm new to contributing patches so I would appreciate some guidance.