ALSA Driver for TASCAM US-144MKII

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

❗ Current Status: Work in Progress

This driver is under active development.

✅ Implemented Features

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

📝 To-Do & Known Limitations

• Find Bugs, if possible improve perforamnce/stablity

Installation and Usage

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

Step 1: 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:

• 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 2: 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.

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-us144mkii.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.

4. After rebooting, verify the stock driver is not loaded by running lsmod | grep snd_usb_us122l. This command should produce no output.

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 us144mkii.ko each time. The modprobe method is preferred for automatic loading.

Step 3: Compile and Load the Driver

This process will build the module from source and load it for your current session. This is the best way to test it.

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

2. Compile the module:

   make
   

3. Load the compiled module into the kernel:

   sudo insmod 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 us144mkii
   
   # Check if ALSA sees the new sound card
   aplay -l
   

   The first command should show us144mkii. The second command should list your "TASCAM US-144MKII" 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.

1. Tell the system to load the module on boot.

   echo "us144mkii" | sudo tee /etc/modules-load.d/us144mkii.conf
   

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

   sudo cp us144mkii.ko /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/extra/
   

3. 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.

License

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