[Pvt_Ryan]

Dharma worked fine for me but when I wiped it and installed Eden I lost all audio. Now I did get this fixed but cant figure out how then my machine died and I reinstalled forgetting that i'd had a custom audio config to make it work.

I am trying to output via optical out. Any help would be appreciated as this is driving me mad. I have enabled spdif in alasmixer as it was disabled by default, but that didnt help.

Regards,

Ryan

Hardware:
Asus A8N SLI

root@MC1:~# aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: CK804 [NVidia CK804], device 0: Intel ICH [NVidia CK804]
Subdevices: 0/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: CK804 [NVidia CK804], device 2: Intel ICH - IEC958 [NVidia CK804 - IEC958]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

root@MC1:~# aplay -L
null
Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)
default:CARD=CK804
NVidia CK804, NVidia CK804
Default Audio Device
front:CARD=CK804,DEV=0
NVidia CK804, NVidia CK804
Front speakers
surround40:CARD=CK804,DEV=0
NVidia CK804, NVidia CK804
4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=CK804,DEV=0
NVidia CK804, NVidia CK804
4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=CK804,DEV=0
NVidia CK804, NVidia CK804
5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=CK804,DEV=0
NVidia CK804, NVidia CK804
5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71:CARD=CK804,DEV=0
NVidia CK804, NVidia CK804
7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
iec958:CARD=CK804,DEV=0
NVidia CK804, NVidia CK804 - IEC958
IEC958 (S/PDIF) Digital Audio Output
dmix:CARD=CK804,DEV=0
NVidia CK804, NVidia CK804
Direct sample mixing device
dmix:CARD=CK804,DEV=2
NVidia CK804, NVidia CK804 - IEC958
Direct sample mixing device
dsnoop:CARD=CK804,DEV=0
NVidia CK804, NVidia CK804
Direct sample snooping device
dsnoop:CARD=CK804,DEV=2
NVidia CK804, NVidia CK804 - IEC958
Direct sample snooping device
hw:CARD=CK804,DEV=0
NVidia CK804, NVidia CK804
Direct hardware device without any conversions
hw:CARD=CK804,DEV=2
NVidia CK804, NVidia CK804 - IEC958
Direct hardware device without any conversions
plughw:CARD=CK804,DEV=0
NVidia CK804, NVidia CK804
Hardware device with all software conversions
plughw:CARD=CK804,DEV=2
NVidia CK804, NVidia CK804 - IEC958
Hardware device with all software conversions

[wsnipex]

just selecting IEC958 as output device in XBMCs audio settings should work.

if not, you can try custom device: plughw:0,2 and hw:0,2 for passthrough device

[Pvt_Ryan]

Thanks mate that's the puppy!!!

[Pvt_Ryan]

Argh Spoke too soon.

I have audio for menus now, but not while a film is playing...

[Csimbi]

Yeah, XBMC is severely broken, audio is only one of these problems.
I found various articles about fixing it, here's my condensed version.

As strange as it may sound, navigation sounds need to be disabled.
In XBMC, go to System->Settings->Appearance->Skin->Navigation sounds.
Turn it off. I.e. set to "(1/3) Off"

Using SSL open up a command prompt and try to get the list of audio devices:

Code:

sudo aplay -l

I said 'try' because it might give you an error.
If you get an error, delete .asoundrc file (or rename in case you want to back it up) and try again; the next time it should work.
It will give something like this:
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 0: ALC662 rev1 Analog [ALC662 rev1 Analog]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 1: ALC662 rev1 Digital [ALC662 rev1 Digital]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
Subdevices: 0/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

Note the card number and the device number of the output you want to use.
For me, the digital output (optical) is card 0 -> device 1.
HDMI might work too, but I prefer S/PDIF for several reasons.

While at the command line, start alsamixer.

Code:

alsamixer

Operational channels are marked as 'OO' while muted ones are marked as 'MM'.
Use the cursor keys to select the channel and change the volume and the 'm' key to mute/unmute and make sure all volumes are up and no output channels are muted (you can mute the inputs like microphone).
Note: mixer channels are muted by default!!!
For me, the S/PDIF was muted; I had to enable it.

You can close the command line window now.

In XBMC, go to System->Settings->System->Audio output
- Change "Audio output" to "Optical/Coax".
- Adjust your speaker configuration to whatever speaker setup you have.
- Set receiver options according to the capabilities of your A/V receiver.
- Change "Audio output device" to Custom.
The default value here is plug:both.
Clear the default value and enter plughw:a,b where 'a' is the card number and 'b' is the device number (from the aplay -l output you noted earlier).
In my case: plughw:0,1
- Change "Passthrough output device" to Custom.
There is no default value here; it's empty.
Enter the exact same thing as you did for the "Audio output device".

Exit from the system settings and it should work now.
If you get no error when you start playing audio yet there's no audio, the channel might be muted or use a low volume (check alsamixer again).

[Pvt_Ryan]

Thanks, but nope still no use.
See attached screen shots

[Pvt_Ryan]

OK solved it.

even though I am connecting to an amp via optical the following is what I have done (Which part solved the problem is anyone guess, but the main thing is it works)

Audio Output settings
Audio Output: Analog
Speaker Config: 5.1
Boost Volume on Downmix: true
Dolby Digital: False
DTS Capable: False
Audio Output Device: Defaults (Alsa)
--------
I ran alsamixer and enabled the Spdif output

-------------------------------

Now not all settings are likely at their optimal but being honest I dont really care as long as I can watch my HD films with Surround sound.

[Csimbi]

Glad you got it working.
Are you sure your receiver is not DD/DTS compatible?

[Pvt_Ryan]

it is compatible but if you set the output to analog those options aren't available. Seems I had to also set my speaker config down to 2.0 as I was getting "missing" audio for some sections, the setup is actually 7.1. But i didnt setup the audio system it's my brothers and his projector, I just provide the HTPC & films.