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Full Version: "failed to initialize audio device" (xbmc in ubunt.-Acer revo 3610)
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Hello everyone.

I running XBMC with ubunto on the Acer Revo, through the optical sound output:
* in the 'sound preferences' menu, the 'settings for selected device' is set to :
'Digital Stereo (IC958) Output +Analog Stereo input'

* in XBMC the audio output is set to 'Digital' , next option is set to
'Internal Audio Digital Stereo (IEC958)'

The Passthrough output device is (IEC958).

Problem - when I start a movie which has DTS output... Xbmc pops up an error message at the bottom right of the screen reading "failed to initialize audio device",
My Denon receiver doesnt detect the DTS Sound.

I jump out of the movie, and restart the movie for the second time,
the DENON goes click and reads "DTS" And the sound is on!!!!

No matter which movie I play with DTS sound, first time I run it the error pops up..
second time I run it, the sound is back. I would love to post the log file, but I cannot find it in my home directory (if anyone could help), I have debug mode enabled, and XBMC does not crash once.

Does anyone know why this happens? 2 months ago, (before reinstalling ubuntu and xbmc) I never had this problem. First time I ran the movie, sound was on.

anyone have any idea to why this is happening?
Kind regards Dcdemon
Do you use the AEON-Skin? I encountered a similar message. Using Confluence everything works fine. I have installed the LiveCD for NVidia ION made by XBMCFREAK.NL on my Revo 3610.
ostfriesengott Wrote:Do you use the AEON-Skin? I encountered a similar message. Using Confluence everything works fine. I have installed the LiveCD for NVidia ION made by XBMCFREAK.NL on my Revo 3610.

Hi there, and thanks for your reply.

Well I was running aeon a few days ago, but yesterday I reinstalled
ubuntu, installed the newest nvidia x64 drivers, installed XBMC

so now its without Aeon, a "clean" installation.. and it still does the "Failed to initialize audio device" message.. if I turn the Audio to Analog, there's no problem at all.

With XBMC Live, can you run Aeon? Because I might consider installing XBMC live (on ubuntu), if it runs without problems and can run Aeon.

When you run XBMC Live, can you use the weather program ? (does it go online and check for movie info and so on)
Yes, you can add it later. But it's not included in xbmcfreak's livecd.
ostfriesengott Wrote:Yes, you can add it later. But it's not included in xbmcfreak's livecd.

does the weather application work with XBMC Live? (can it go online and fetch the data? try adding another city for example)

Because then I will try installing this and see if it fixes my issues with the sound.
Sure! Just install it to your hd. Everything works out of the box on my revo 3610, also my remote.
ostfriesengott Wrote:Sure! Just install it to your hd. Everything works out of the box on my revo 3610, also my remote.

alright.. mate. thats awesome.

You wouldnt happen to have the link (download) for the exact release/Version of XBMC live you are using now would you? Smile

Thanks a million times btw. Im gonna give this a shot.
does anyone have a suggestion to what I can do?
Running xbmc from an USB unfortunately added more issues Tongue

can anyone help me find the log for XBMC on ubuntu.. I cant seem to find it. I could paste it in here for more info on the problem.
Hi dcdemon,

Just to let you know that I have the exact same issue (even down to the Denon Surround Amp)

System
Acer Aspire Revo R3610
Intel Atom Dual Core N330
2GB RAM, 250GB HDD
GeForce 9400 ION

Operating System
Ubuntu 10.0.4 (lynx)

XBMC
XBMC 9.11 (Camelot)

I have nothing new to add at present, but as a soon as I get time to look into this fault I will post it hear.
Right it seems the issue is a conflict between ALSA & PulseAudio sound drivers.

My fix was the following: -

  1. sudo apt-get autoremove paulseaudio.
  2. Reboot computer.
  3. Open XBMC and go to the audio settings. The Audio out and Passthrough maybe be identified as "Pulse:", so change them to IEC958.
  4. Open a video with DTS or AC3 audio and enjoy sweet digital surround straight away. Laugh
How did you get around the issue of losing access to the Sound control panel in Ubuntu, and also losing all other sound apart from music & video in XBMC after you removed pulse audio? Its a necessary component of Ubuntu so removing it throws up a whole bunch of other issues. In the end I had to reinstall it so I got all the other sound back.
DannyBoy999 Wrote:How did you get around the issue of losing access to the Sound control panel in Ubuntu, and also losing all other sound apart from music & video in XBMC after you removed pulse audio? Its a necessary component of Ubuntu so removing it throws up a whole bunch of other issues. In the end I had to reinstall it so I got all the other sound back.

I use ALSA sound drives instead of PULSE.
Did you have to install those separately before/after removing the Pulse drivers?