[Fwd: i810 audio fixes 1/2]

[Mike Hearn]

Oops, didn't see this (and gmane doesn't convert attachments, grr)

> On real windows, kmixer causes all sorts of problems with high
> latencies and sample rate artifacts.  That's why the next
> generation of windows is going back to a 98 type model and
> bypassing kmixer for hardware acceleration when the hardware
> supports it.

Argh, this is confusing. How do you know what the next generation 
of Windows (longhorn?!) will do in this regard, has it been published
anywhere?

Also, what is our conversion code like compared to alsalibs? I was told it
probably wasn't as good, but I don't think I've ever heard it - until I
changed the default device to "default" -> "plughw:0,0" WinAMP with WinMM
wouldn't play audio at all!

Finally, if we use the Win98 direct access model for Wine, what happens
when people want to use emulated apps with other apps via ALSA dmix -
we're bypassing the IPC mixing system so we will either block (read: hang)
other programs, or Wine itself will hang waiting for the sound device to
become available. Neither of these results are really acceptable, to be
frank (is there a way to figure out if the device is in use without
hanging?)