ALSA Driver for TASCAM US-144MKII / US-200

An unofficial ALSA kernel module for the TASCAM US-144MKII, US-200 & US-144 USB audio interface.

For TASCAM US-122MKII check us122mkii branch.

This repo is a fork of https://github.com/serifpersia/us144mkii. The only modification is to add support for the US-200.

Project Status

Implemented Features

• Audio Playback
• Audio Capture (Recording)
• MIDI IN / OUT

Supported Devices

• TASCAM US-144MKII (fully tested)
• TASCAM US-200 (newly added support)

Known Limitations

• Non-MKII US-144 devices need more testing

Installation and Usage

This is an out-of-tree kernel module, meaning you must compile it against the headers for your specific kernel version.

Old version of this driver has been merged and is available on rolling release distros like Arch(6.18.x). For Arch users, a community-maintained DKMS package is available in AUR if user intends to install improved driver. Install it via:

paru -S us144mkii-dkms-git

or if you are using yay:

yay -S us144mkii-dkms-git

Step 1: Blacklist the Stock snd-usb-us122l Driver

The standard kernel includes a driver that will conflict with our custom module. You must prevent it from loading.

Follow the steps to blacklist it if lsmod | grep snd_usb_us122l returns results.

1. Create a blacklist file. This tells the system not to load the snd-usb-us122l module.

   echo "blacklist snd_usb_us122l" | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-us122l.conf
   

2. Rebuild your initramfs. This is a critical step that ensures the blacklist is applied at the very start of the boot process, before the stock driver has a chance to load. Run the command corresponding to your distribution:
   • Debian / Ubuntu / Pop!_OS / Mint:

     sudo update-initramfs -u
     

   • Fedora / RHEL / CentOS Stream:

     sudo dracut --force
     

   • Arch Linux / Manjaro:

     sudo mkinitcpio -P
     

   • openSUSE:

     sudo mkinitrd
     

3. Reboot your computer. Reboot the system and check with lsmod | grep snd_usb_us122l again if there is no output the blacklisting is complete.

Note on a More Aggressive Method: If the method above does not work, some systems (like Arch) may load the conflicting module before the blacklist is processed. A more forceful method is to use a udev rule to de-authorize the device for the kernel entirely, preventing any driver from binding to it automatically.

Create the file /etc/udev/rules.d/99-tascam-blacklist.rules and add the following line. This targets the Tascam US-122L/144MKII series product ID (8007).

ATTR{idVendor}=="0644", ATTR{idProduct}=="8007", ATTR{authorized}="0"

After saving, run sudo udevadm control --reload and reboot. Note that with this rule in place, you will likely need to load the us144mkii driver manually with sudo insmod snd-usb-us144mkii.ko each time. The modprobe method is preferred for automatic loading.

Step 2: Install Prerequisites (Kernel Headers & Build Tools)

You need the necessary tools to compile kernel modules and the headers for your currently running kernel. Open a terminal and run the command for your Linux distribution:

*You can attempt build without installing linux headers package first, if you are unable to build then you would need to!

• Debian / Ubuntu / Pop!_OS / Mint:

  sudo apt update
  sudo apt install build-essential linux-headers-$(uname -r)
  

• Fedora / CentOS Stream / RHEL:

  sudo dnf install kernel-devel kernel-headers make gcc
  

• Arch Linux / Manjaro:

  sudo pacman -S base-devel linux-headers
  

• openSUSE:

  sudo zypper install -t pattern devel_basis
  sudo zypper install kernel-devel
  

Step 3: Compile and Load the Driver (US-144MKII / US-200)

This process will build the module from source and load it for your current session. This is the best way to test it on both US-144MKII and US-200 devices.

1. Clone this repository and navigate into the source directory.

git clone https://gitea.nicosanchez.com.ar/marvin/us144mkii.git
cd us144mkii/

2. Compile the module:

   make
   

3. Load the compiled module into the kernel:

   sudo insmod snd-usb-us144mkii.ko
   

4. Connect your TASCAM US-144MKII. Verify that the driver loaded and the audio card is recognized by the system:

   # Check if the kernel module is loaded
   lsmod | grep snd_usb_us144mkii
   
   # Check if ALSA sees the new sound card
   aplay -l
   

   The first command should show snd_usb_us144mkii. The second command should list your "TASCAM US-144MKII" or "TASCAM US-200" as an available playback device. You should now be able to select it in your audio settings and play sound.

Step 4: Install for Automatic Loading on Boot

To make the driver load automatically every time you start your computer, follow these steps after you have successfully compiled it in Step 3.

You can use build_and_install script to do automate this process just sudo chmod +x build_and_install.sh before you run it with ./build_and_install.sh or just do it the manual way.

1. Copy the compiled module to the kernel's extra modules directory. This makes it available to system tools.

   sudo mkdir -p /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/extra/us144mkii
   sudo cp snd-usb-us144mkii.ko /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/extra/us144mkii
   

2. Update module dependencies. This command rebuilds the map of modules so the kernel knows about our new driver.

   sudo depmod -a
   

Now, after a reboot, the us144mkii driver should load automatically.

Reporting Issues & Feedback

If you test this driver, please share your feedback to help improve it. Include:

• Linux distro and version
• Kernel version (uname -r)
• Exact TASCAM model
• How you installed and loaded the driver
• Any errors or problems (logs help)
• Which features worked (playback, capture, MIDI)
• Your setup details (e.g., DAW, ALSA/JACK version, buffer/periods used)

All feedback is welcome—whether it’s a bug, a success, or a suggestion!

Please report your findings via the GitHub Issues page.

License

This project is licensed under the GPL-2.0 see the LICENSE file for details.