Kodi Community Forum

Please help,

I have been using XMBC as my media center for a couple of years now. I run it on XBMCbuntu. I decided to update to Gotham the other day as I was getting problems with the system freezing while playing video.
Since I updated I am no longer able to get 5.1 audio from my optical out on my sound-card.

I have installed XBMCbuntu to the latest version...
xbmc:
Installed: 2:13.1~git20140606.0917-gotham-0trusty
Candidate: 2:13.1~git20140606.0917-gotham-0trusty
Version table:
*** 2:13.1~git20140606.0917-gotham-0trusty 0
500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/team-xbmc/ppa/ubuntu/ trusty/main amd64 Packages
100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
2:12.3+dfsg1-3ubuntu1 0
500 http://nz.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty/universe amd64 Packages

Here is a screen pic of what my audio settings looked like in XBMC before the upgrade...
http://snag.gy/ieHnx.jpg

Now I get the output device 'Xonar DG, Digital S/PDIF' in XBMC. If I choose this I can get stereo sound from the optical, but this does not give me any of the pass-through options that I use to have.

I have poured over forums for a few days now, and have found people with similar problems but none of there solutions have worked for me.
I have made sure that nothing in Alsamixer is muted for this soundcard.

I remember having ahellovatime getting this to work a year ago when I installed XBMCbuntu Frodo. I cant remember how I got it working back then.
I do know pulseaudio was installed on the previous config. With my setup now it seems pulseaudio was not installed during the XBMCbuntu installation, and I cannot install it. I keep getting the message that package pulseaudio is not available (I have tried both through a terminal and synaptic). I know every forum seems to say to uninstall pulseaudio, but it did seem to be working with it previously.

I have tried creating a asoundrc file but im not literate enough to customize this to my own setup. I tried some suggested settings in here but after I save it XBMC will not start up, and when I do an audio test from a terminal it says there are unrecognized characters in asoundrc.

Below are my aplay -l -L settings. If anything else is required please let me know

aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: DG [Xonar DG], device 0: Multichannel [Multichannel]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: DG [Xonar DG], device 1: Digital [Digital]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: Intel [HDA Intel], device 0: ALC662 rev1 Analog [ALC662 rev1 Analog]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: Intel [HDA Intel], device 1: ALC662 rev1 Digital [ALC662 rev1 Digital]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 2: HDMI [HDA ATI HDMI], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

aplay -L
null
Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)
default
sysdefault:CARD=DG
Xonar DG, Multichannel
Default Audio Device
front:CARD=DG,DEV=0
Xonar DG, Multichannel
Front speakers
surround40:CARD=DG,DEV=0
Xonar DG, Multichannel
4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=DG,DEV=0
Xonar DG, Multichannel
4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=DG,DEV=0
Xonar DG, Multichannel
5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=DG,DEV=0
Xonar DG, Multichannel
5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71:CARD=DG,DEV=0
Xonar DG, Multichannel
7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
iec958:CARD=DG,DEV=0
Xonar DG, Multichannel
IEC958 (S/PDIF) Digital Audio Output
dmix:CARD=DG,DEV=0
Xonar DG, Multichannel
Direct sample mixing device
dmix:CARD=DG,DEV=1
Xonar DG, Digital
Direct sample mixing device
dsnoop:CARD=DG,DEV=0
Xonar DG, Multichannel
Direct sample snooping device
dsnoop:CARD=DG,DEV=1
Xonar DG, Digital
Direct sample snooping device
hw:CARD=DG,DEV=0
Xonar DG, Multichannel
Direct hardware device without any conversions
hw:CARD=DG,DEV=1
Xonar DG, Digital
Direct hardware device without any conversions
plughw:CARD=DG,DEV=0
Xonar DG, Multichannel
Hardware device with all software conversions
plughw:CARD=DG,DEV=1
Xonar DG, Digital
Hardware device with all software conversions
sysdefault:CARD=Intel
HDA Intel, ALC662 rev1 Analog
Default Audio Device
front:CARD=Intel,DEV=0
HDA Intel, ALC662 rev1 Analog
Front speakers
surround40:CARD=Intel,DEV=0
HDA Intel, ALC662 rev1 Analog
4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=Intel,DEV=0
HDA Intel, ALC662 rev1 Analog
4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=Intel,DEV=0
HDA Intel, ALC662 rev1 Analog
5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=Intel,DEV=0
HDA Intel, ALC662 rev1 Analog
5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71:CARD=Intel,DEV=0
HDA Intel, ALC662 rev1 Analog
7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
iec958:CARD=Intel,DEV=0
HDA Intel, ALC662 rev1 Digital
IEC958 (S/PDIF) Digital Audio Output
dmix:CARD=Intel,DEV=0
HDA Intel, ALC662 rev1 Analog
Direct sample mixing device
dmix:CARD=Intel,DEV=1
HDA Intel, ALC662 rev1 Digital
Direct sample mixing device
dsnoop:CARD=Intel,DEV=0
HDA Intel, ALC662 rev1 Analog
Direct sample snooping device
dsnoop:CARD=Intel,DEV=1
HDA Intel, ALC662 rev1 Digital
Direct sample snooping device
hw:CARD=Intel,DEV=0
HDA Intel, ALC662 rev1 Analog
Direct hardware device without any conversions
hw:CARD=Intel,DEV=1
HDA Intel, ALC662 rev1 Digital
Direct hardware device without any conversions
plughw:CARD=Intel,DEV=0
HDA Intel, ALC662 rev1 Analog
Hardware device with all software conversions
plughw:CARD=Intel,DEV=1
HDA Intel, ALC662 rev1 Digital
Hardware device with all software conversions
hdmi:CARD=HDMI,DEV=0
HDA ATI HDMI, HDMI 0
HDMI Audio Output
dmix:CARD=HDMI,DEV=3
HDA ATI HDMI, HDMI 0
Direct sample mixing device
dsnoop:CARD=HDMI,DEV=3
HDA ATI HDMI, HDMI 0
Direct sample snooping device
hw:CARD=HDMI,DEV=3
HDA ATI HDMI, HDMI 0
Direct hardware device without any conversions
plughw:CARD=HDMI,DEV=3
HDA ATI HDMI, HDMI 0
Hardware device with all software conversions

I'm not a hardware expert but with SPDIF shouldn't you choose a 2.0 speaker setup, then passthrough, then choose what output options it can handle?

The only options I have on XMBC for my soundcard are Xonar DG, 'Multichannel' & 'Xonar DG, Digital S/PDIF' both are outputting only 2 channels and neither give me the options of pass-through.

---

I have seen a few threads that recommend to change the output in xbmcbuntu to only 2 channels. But I cant seem to do this in alsa (or I dont know how too!) I remember there were a lot more options in pulseaudio for changing the output type.

Hey there kiwi :-)

Can we have a debug log (wiki) and screenshots of your gotham audio settings. SPDIF is working for me, albeit different hardware (Revo R3700).

PS screenshots are best handled via the prtscr button on a keyboard, or the equivalently mapped button on a remote.

Hi Nick,

Heres the screenshots...
http://snag.gy/ateh2.jpg
http://snag.gy/GTMYP.jpg

and logfile...
http://www.xbmclogs.com/show.php?id=245742

I think you need to set expert settings level. Unfortunately the skin you are using doesn't seem to have this obvious. Set your skin to confluence and go back to the settings dialog. You should have the ability to set to expert settins (bottom left) and more options should be revealed.

This hiding of commonly used important settings from Joe User is a Gotham 'feature' :-)

Ohhhhhh....wow....

I cant believe that was all it was! I spent an age trying all these advanced settings and installing plugs and softwares and it was there the whole time.


Its working perfectly now, thanks heaps for the help. Il buy you a beer the next time im in Christchurch!

LOL thanks, what part of the country are you in?

Im what some people might call a JAFA!

LOL you'll get over it.