[odinb]

"Failed to initialise audio device" error-message is now back after doing post #15... I did not have that error after doing post #13 on a clean fresh install.

Sorry for being a pain...

Alsamixer now also shows a boatload of audio-devices when run from a terminal, but only 4 when run from the plugin in XBMC.

Update: That was for the HDA Intel, it (alsamixer) actually only shows 4 S/PDIF for default and HDA NVidia.

I also noticed it is the changes to /usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf that decides the default card.

[uncouth]

No pain... It'll serve everyone in the future to get this straightened out.

Okay, no "initalizing" error is good... too bad we lost it. I'll try to backtrack a little more today, the problem is I tried following a few ideas and it may be that the amalgamation of them all is the reason my sound works.

Try to go through post #13 again on a fresh install. We want to get back to you having no initializing errors. Then try going into XBMC and creating a custom audio and passthrough device: plughw:1,9 and if that doesn't work just hw:1,9

IF that fails, try device=hw:1,9 or device=plughw:1,9

Report back if none of that works... When you do reply, make sure to mention if you do or do not get the "failed to initialize audio device" error.

When I'm home I'll check alsamixer for the list of devices to see if it matches what you have.

Edit: I'll try and pick up another USB drive to do a clean install on and try from scratch. If Dharma Final comes out before than, I'll just do a fresh install of that and go it again, this time taking notes of all the steps.

[odinb]

Ok, I now got it working!!
This is for Dharma RC1 Live.

It was simpler than first anticipated.

Here are the instructions:

From a terminal, go into your /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf and remove the following line:

Code:

options snd-hda-intel enable_msi=0 probe_mask=0xffff,0xfff2

by either deleting it, or by putting a # in front of it.


From a terminal, set these options in the /etc/asound.conf file for the HDA Nvidia to be default for the entire system:

Code:

pcm.hdmi19 {
    type hw
    card 1
    device 9
}
pcm.!default hdmi19

Now reboot!


Run alsamixer from a terminal. Choose HDA Nvidia by pressing F6.
Alsamixer will now contain 1x PCM 4x S/PDIF for the HDA NVidia, unmute all!


From XBMC:
Go into: System > System > Audio Output
and set your audiodevices to:
Audio output - HDMI
Audio output device - Defaults
Passthrough output device - iec958

Un-mark "Dolby digital (AC3) capable receiver" & "DTS Capable receiver" unless your unit can actually handle these audio types.

Sounds now works both in menus and in videos, music, etc.!

[fns76]

Will this include in the offical live dirsto?

[uncouth]

The method above confirmed working on Dharma final.

[mantrius]

I've tried this fix on Dharma final and the only thing it seems to work for is getting 2 channel hdmi audio and menu sounds working. Any passthrough of digital audio is still not working. Anyone have any ideas?

[uncouth]

I've tried this fix on Dharma final and the only thing it seems to work for is getting 2 channel hdmi audio and menu sounds working. Any passthrough of digital audio is still not working. Anyone have any ideas?

I just did a full clean install and am having the same issue as you. Will poke around under the hood a bit and see if I can get it working again. It was fine on the RC's, the FINAL must have changed something...

[uncouth]

Well that was fast.

Try going into your system, audio, and change the audio output and passthrough output device to custom. Type in: plughw:1,9

Menu, 2 channel, and 5.1 DTS are all working here.

[jpage4500]

wow.. I had audio out via HDMI working on my Q150 and it stopped working a few days later (nothing changed). So, I found this thread and happily started messing around with all of the files mentioned in it. Now, I've got no audio at all (including menu sounds which I did have before). I also feel like I've got no choice but to reinstall since I've just messed with a bunch of files that probably have no real bearing on this end goal.

As I browse through the many similar threads I get the feeling no one really knows exactly what to do - just that they played with a bunch of settings and voila! As a developer myself this makes me cringe.. wouldn't it be nice to actually know what I'm modifying and why it's being done?

Sorry.. I know everyone's trying to help but I'm very frustrated at all of the different advice to accomplish the same thing. We all have the exact same hardware (Q150), right?? Why is this so difficult? Does the solution change for each version of Linux and/or XBMC released?

joe