Mandriva 2006.0 x86_64 : no spdif sound inside KDE 3.4

stock · Silver Joined: 15 Nov 2003 Posts: 29

(If you run a Linux desktop with linux kernel 2.6.14 or higher, things have become more easy, as the OSS-Emulation features have improved significantly, giving oldfashioned audio applications like macromedia flash 9 a new life. Newcomers into Linux audio programming are welcomed with a jump start. Here's an update.)

I installed Mandriva 2006.0 x86_64 but get no spdif sound inside KDE 3.4. On the command line things like :

$ aplay -Dspdif testsound.wav

just work fine . But inside KDE 3.4 when one chooses ALSA , there's not a single sound to
be heard. Maybe inside the KDE 3.4 sound config one needs to configure a spdif
device inside the artsd config. Anyone who has a spdif setup working with Mandriva 2006.0
using a digital spdif speaker set?

Code:

[jackson:stock]:(~)$ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: AMD8111 [AMD AMD8111], device 0: Intel ICH [AMD AMD8111]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
[jackson:stock]:(~)$
[jackson:stock]:(~)$ aplay -L
PCM list:
hw {
@args.0 CARD
@args.1 DEV
@args.2 SUBDEV
@args.CARD {
type string
default {
@func getenv
vars {
0 ALSA_PCM_CARD
1 ALSA_CARD
}
default {
@func refer
name 'defaults.pcm.card'
}
}
}
@args.DEV {
type integer
default {
@func igetenv
vars {
0 ALSA_PCM_DEVICE
}
default {
@func refer
name 'defaults.pcm.device'
}
}
}
@args.SUBDEV {
type integer
default {
@func refer
name 'defaults.pcm.subdevice'
}
}
type hw
card $CARD
device $DEV
subdevice $SUBDEV
}
plughw {
@args.0 CARD
@args.1 DEV
@args.2 SUBDEV
@args.CARD {
type string
default {
@func getenv
vars {
0 ALSA_PCM_CARD
1 ALSA_CARD
}
default {
@func refer
name 'defaults.pcm.card'
}
}
}
@args.DEV {
type integer
default {
@func igetenv
vars {
0 ALSA_PCM_DEVICE
}
default {
@func refer
name 'defaults.pcm.device'
}
}
}
@args.SUBDEV {
type integer
default {
@func refer
name 'defaults.pcm.subdevice'
}
}
type plug
slave.pcm {
type hw
card $CARD
device $DEV
subdevice $SUBDEV
}
}
plug {
@args.0 SLAVE
@args.SLAVE {
type string
}
type plug
slave.pcm $SLAVE
}
shm {
@args.0 SOCKET
@args.1 PCM
@args.SOCKET {
type string
}
@args.PCM {
type string
}
type shm
server $SOCKET
pcm $PCM
}
tee {
@args.0 SLAVE
@args.1 FILE
@args.2 FORMAT
@args.SLAVE {
type string
}
@args.FILE {
type string
}
@args.FORMAT {
type string
default raw
}
type file
slave.pcm $SLAVE
file $FILE
format $FORMAT
}
file {
@args.0 FILE
@args.1 FORMAT
@args.FILE {
type string
}
@args.FORMAT {
type string
default raw
}
type file
slave.pcm null
file $FILE
format $FORMAT
}
null {
type null
}
cards 'cards.pcm'
front 'cards.pcm.front'
rear 'cards.pcm.rear'
center_lfe 'cards.pcm.center_lfe'
side 'cards.pcm.side'
surround40 'cards.pcm.surround40'
surround41 'cards.pcm.surround41'
surround50 'cards.pcm.surround50'
surround51 'cards.pcm.surround51'
surround71 'cards.pcm.surround71'
iec958 'cards.pcm.iec958'
spdif 'cards.pcm.iec958'
modem 'cards.pcm.modem'
default 'cards.pcm.default'
dmix 'cards.pcm.dmix'
dsnoop 'cards.pcm.dsnoop'
[jackson:stock]:(~)$

stock · Silver Joined: 15 Nov 2003 Posts: 29

After a lot of troublesome debugging i found the solution. I even went back to mandrake 10.1 x86_64 to debug things. At first i started debugging sound using the artsd FAQ from kde.org

http://docs.kde.org/development/en/kdebase/faq/sound.html

One first kills artsd with artsshell terminate , and next i started the artsd from the command line using : artsd -l 0 displaying both on Mandrake 10.1 and Mandriva 2006.0 the same error message :

purelithium · Silver Joined: 06 Nov 2005 Posts: 62 Location: Canada

Thanks so much! you've helped so much! I finally got my spdif to work on 2006 x86_64.

All I had to do was put the force audio device location parameter in.
_________________
Gelan Hopkins

When you have a problem, reboot. It will probably fix whatever was broken.

http://easyurpmi.zarb.org/ -- use it. know it.

purelithium · Silver Joined: 06 Nov 2005 Posts: 62 Location: Canada

Ok, I lied. *laugh*

I have "normal" output from my spdif, but I can't get AC3 or DTS to work with Kaffeine. Any video files that are encoded with these are not watchable, as I only get the "background" channels, no voices, or very faint voices.

What is wrong?
_________________
Gelan Hopkins

When you have a problem, reboot. It will probably fix whatever was broken.

http://easyurpmi.zarb.org/ -- use it. know it.

stock · Silver Joined: 15 Nov 2003 Posts: 29

" have "normal" output from my spdif, but I can't get AC3 or DTS to work with Kaffeine."

AFAIK Kaffeine uses the xine engine. I do know how to get spdif sound inside xine, which also then provides for AC3 and DTS sound. My advise is to first remove all the old xine settings by removing .xine :

purelithium · Silver Joined: 06 Nov 2005 Posts: 62 Location: Canada

Hmm, that would be excellent if my ./xine directory even had a config file in it. Sorry, didn't mean to be cheeky =) It's only got the catalog.cache, which seems to be a file telling wher the xine libraries are. Plus, I can't launch xine from the commandline, bash doesn't recognize the command "xine"

I can change those parameters you said graphically in Kaffeine and now I have no sound output whereas I had some before when the speaker arrangement was set to Surround 5.1

So, it stands to reason that my settings are being kept somewhere else and I need to delete that file to make xine/kaffeine regenerate it to defaults, then make the changes.
_________________
Gelan Hopkins

When you have a problem, reboot. It will probably fix whatever was broken.

http://easyurpmi.zarb.org/ -- use it. know it.

stock · Silver Joined: 15 Nov 2003 Posts: 29

no xine ? hmm you should make sure all the xine gear is installed :

purelithium · Silver Joined: 06 Nov 2005 Posts: 62 Location: Canada

Hmm... I don't really like the xine interface. I actually like the Kaffeine interface. But none of this is working. I can't even get proper sound out of my analog outputs.

Actually since I installed xine and modified things, I get no sound out of anything when trying to play a digital signal. Analogue files like MP3's, regualr .avi or .mpg files work fine, it's only in situations where encoded stuff is being played.

Also, i looked through the config file that xine made and I don't have a audio.speaker_arrangement parameter, i only have audio.output.speaker_arrangement option. I changed it to passthrough and still nothing. This is aggravating. Almost aggravating enough to go back to windows (or maybe not....)
_________________
Gelan Hopkins

When you have a problem, reboot. It will probably fix whatever was broken.

http://easyurpmi.zarb.org/ -- use it. know it.

purelithium · Silver Joined: 06 Nov 2005 Posts: 62 Location: Canada

Hang on. I just checked my cables, and it seems that I was using a plain RCA cable for the SPDIF coaxial, maybe I have to get a specific SPDIF cable?

But, even ifthat was the case, I should be able to hear properly from the regular analog outputs(1/8" phone jacks)

Hmm... strange.
_________________
Gelan Hopkins

When you have a problem, reboot. It will probably fix whatever was broken.

http://easyurpmi.zarb.org/ -- use it. know it.

purelithium · Silver Joined: 06 Nov 2005 Posts: 62 Location: Canada

Ok, Changing the speaker output to Pass Through negates all digital audio. This is strange, as I've been able to watch these movies before, on this system, just using a different speaker setup.
_________________
Gelan Hopkins

When you have a problem, reboot. It will probably fix whatever was broken.

http://easyurpmi.zarb.org/ -- use it. know it.

purelithium · Silver Joined: 06 Nov 2005 Posts: 62 Location: Canada

Ok. Figured it out. The parameter: device.alsa_passthrough_device has to be set to "default" NOT "iec958:AES0=0x6....."

This directs the passthrough to the proper device and allows the audio to be decoded by external decoders.

Thanks for the help!
_________________
Gelan Hopkins

When you have a problem, reboot. It will probably fix whatever was broken.

http://easyurpmi.zarb.org/ -- use it. know it.

stock · Silver Joined: 15 Nov 2003 Posts: 29

amazing, i just found out that when running alsamixer and i do NOT put "IEC958 Playback AC97-SPSA" to 0, all the sound is gone.

purelithium · Silver Joined: 06 Nov 2005 Posts: 62 Location: Canada

Yep, same here.
_________________
Gelan Hopkins

When you have a problem, reboot. It will probably fix whatever was broken.

http://easyurpmi.zarb.org/ -- use it. know it.

awilliamson · Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2005 4:36 am Post subject:

I think the ALSA guys decided long ago that giving all the controls simple and obvious names which would make it clear which way you should set them would be just way, way too easy...

(and, of course, to keep us all on our toes, every two releases they change the old cryptic name to a new cryptic name, and swap the setting, so when before it should have been off, now it must be on. If they didn't do this, my afternoons would be boring.)
_________________
Adam Williamson | Editor, Mandriva Community Newsletter; Mandriva Club Monkey | awilliamson A T mandriva D 0 T com
All opinions posted here are my own and do not represent official Mandriva policy.

purelithium · Silver Joined: 06 Nov 2005 Posts: 62 Location: Canada

awilliamson · Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2005 3:25 am Post subject:

ALSA drives me bonkers to an extent nothing else can manage. Most of the actual functional stuff they do works really well, but they don't seem to have anyone whose job is to say "this is what we need to do to make normal people who don't actually _live_ this stuff understand what they're supposed to do. And please don't CHANGE it, okay?"
_________________
Adam Williamson | Editor, Mandriva Community Newsletter; Mandriva Club Monkey | awilliamson A T mandriva D 0 T com
All opinions posted here are my own and do not represent official Mandriva policy.

purelithium · Silver Joined: 06 Nov 2005 Posts: 62 Location: Canada

More drama! I tried to play mp3's in amaroK last night and no sound. doh. This was the first time since I got my spdif working that I tried to play music.

stock: I was wondering if you were using the standard amarok-xine-engine package from the mirrors, or what you are using because when I try to use the xine engine, amaroK crashes. I'll keep looking around.

Also, what version of amarok do you have? my amarok settings box doesn't look like yours, you have way more options in the xine engine box than I do. I'm using the standard amarok 1.3.1 from the mirrors
_________________
Gelan Hopkins

When you have a problem, reboot. It will probably fix whatever was broken.

http://easyurpmi.zarb.org/ -- use it. know it.

purelithium · Silver Joined: 06 Nov 2005 Posts: 62 Location: Canada

figured it out.

I just had to disable the "Override device location" parameter. That is not needed to configure SPDIF output in Mandriva, which is strange....

I can't say for sure what is required for SPDIF in mandriva, but I think it's the fact that you have to select ALSA as the audio device in the KDE sound system.

In actual fact, I didn't have to do nearly as much configuration as you did to sort this problem out for myself.
_________________
Gelan Hopkins

When you have a problem, reboot. It will probably fix whatever was broken.

http://easyurpmi.zarb.org/ -- use it. know it.