I am running a fresh install of Xbmcbuntu Gotham on a Zotac Ion, and I need to get simultaneous audio out via HDMI and Analog (3.5 jack). I have done this in the past with XMBC on both alsa and pulseaudio installs, but I can't seem to figure it out with Xmbcbuntu 13.
I have attempted to edit the .asoundrc file (there is no asound.conf file present), but none of the plugs show up in the XBMC settings. I would really like to implement the asla style solution found here:
http://http://ehelion.net/projects/alsa/alsa.html
All the info I could find on Xbmcbuntu said "delete your .asoundrc files" with the only other advice stating that you can edit the !default plug type, so I tried to make a simultaneous plug labeled as !defualt, but that did not work either.
Any help would be greatly appreciated, I could not find any info on how to customize audio output on Xbmcbuntu Gotham.
Thanks!
Thanks for your reply.
Any tips, guidance, or write ups about how to install pulse audio and get Xbmcbuntu to use it?
I could not find much or any info about it, but this fellow seems to have had trouble installing pulse audio on Xbmcbuntu 13:
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=195109
I promise that I'll write it up when I get it working.
Thanks. . .
sudo apt-get install pulseaudio libasound2-plugins
afterwards edit the file as the wiki states and reboot
that's it ... log into the lxde session and start xbmc from there - easier for testing until everything runs
Edit: That fellow had whole lot different trouble.
Getting same problem as that fellow:
Code:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Package pulseaudio is not available, but is referred to by another package.
This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or
is only available from another source
Package libasound2-plugins is not available, but is referred to by another package.
This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or
is only available from another source
However the following packages replace it:
libasound2-plugins:i386
E: Package 'pulseaudio' has no installation candidate
E: Package 'libasound2-plugins' has no installation candidate
I'm trying to figure out the best alternative way of installing this. Again any pointers would be appreciated.
Thanks
EDIT: I went ahead and manually downloaded the deb files, and used apt-get to figure out the dependencies. Something is screwy with the sources or the repositories.
Hi
Have a look at here: /etc/apt/preferences.d
Do you find something like this:
libasound2-plugins.pref, pulseaudio.pref
Therefor pulsaudio is blocked with "apt pinning" method.
Remove them or edit the files to change "Pin-Priority:".
Here's a develper discussion about it.
>>
git<<
It should work afterwards.
Hehe - I see my concern back to that commit were correct :-)
Code:
sudo mv /etc/apt/preferences.d/libasound2-plugins.pref
sudo mv /etc/apt/preferences.d/pulseaudio.pref
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install pulseaudio libasound2-plugins
Remember: We only do this to get Dual Audio output support. Normal xbmc usage that don't need this also don't need pulseaudio.
I got pulse audio installed. I went through the instructions to get dual audio out with no luck.
I tried all sorts of different settings between pavucontrol and xbmc. Pavucontrol was very difficult to see as everything in the desktop/ui was at an incredibly small font.
At some point, the option for passthrough completely disappeared from my Settings>Audio Output, even though it was working, and the option was available when I went to the audio menu while playing videos. Throughout all this I never got any output from the analog jack, so overall a complete failure. So for now I am going to remove pulseaudio and see if I can get things back to where they were.
Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated, but I can't seem to find anyone who has gotten this to work on Xbmcbuntu Gotham. Oh well, maybe I'll eventually go back to Frodo if I can't figure it out.
Thanks
Edit: FYI I am happy to say that simply uninstalling pulseaudio and restarting XBMC got me back to where I started. I might try again if more information pops up. I just didn't feel comfortable with the flakiness of the whole pulseaudio setup as given in the instructions. For example, you are supposed to set output to HDMI, with passthrough, but you are supposed to set it for 2.0 sound. If it is set to 5.1 the channel mapping is obviously wrong, it sounds better with 2.0 selected, but I don't have a test file handy to check the proper mapping. Also when I selected the Simultaneous/combined sink, the passthrough options was there (with HDMI selected but greyed out), then after changing settings, the passthrough section was gone even though it still seemed to work (and what channel setting are you supposed to use with Combined sink? 2.0 or 5.1).
Your analog sound card has 2 channels. So obviously 2.0 - but It does not really matter what you set there PA will downmix at will.
There is no dual audio output for passthrough codecs. Passthrough is exclusive and your Analog Out can't do passthrough at all.
Edit: For the latter a hack is swimming through the xbmc forums, someone just starts Audio Engine two times ... and let's it manage two different devices .. Object Oriented programming at its best :-(
Maybe I should take a step back and explain the exact behavior I am looking for:
Desired behavio/Motivationr: I want dual audio output so I can listen to Music (2 channel MP3s and FLAC) on my stereo and analog output that goes to an FM transmitter so I can hear synchronized music in all areas of the house via FM Radios. Last time I checked it was impossible to do synchronized playback via the network. When I play Videos I want 5.1 passthrough to my stereo via HDMI, I don't need analog out. I would prefer not to switch outputs manually when I play Music vs Videos.
Setup: XBMC>HDMI>STEREO RECIEVER>HDMI>TV
XBMC>Headphone jack>FM Transmitter
I also have XBMC>SPDIF>STEREO RECIEVER but that isn't currently being used
I am currently using CEC for XBMC control via TV Remote.
History: I had this working previously with Eden using Pulseaudio, Dual audio going via SPDIF to RECIEVER and analog out to FM Transmitter as described here:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=875268&page=3
Before that I had the same thing working with Alsa.
Thanks again, maybe now that I explicitly stated my desires you might have some other clever strategy to get me going.