[xi_Slick_ix]

First off, big thanks to Matt Devo.

Sorry ahead of time if this has been mentioned, 100 pages is a lot to cover.

I have the M004u, dual booting Xubuntu & ChromeOS. That connects to a Pioneer VSX-822-K over hdmi (more on that in a moment), and then to my TV over hdmi.

The reason I mention the receiver is that I am having really odd audio issues. Initially, before I setup dual booting, (in ChromeOS) I had no audio. Then, after setting up Xubuntu (Pulse Audio), I get no audio (built in audio player, system sounds, Pandora and Netflix in chrome, etc.). In XBMC on Xubuntu, I get audio from DTS-HD, DTS, and Dolby audio tracks in movies, but basically nothing 2-channel based (MP3's, etc.). I've read that Pulse Audio is currently broken on this device in Ubuntu, so, here come the questions:

• Anyone know if there are issues with receivers (specifically Pioneer's) and Chromebox? This receiver handled Crystalbuntu on the OG Apple TV great.
  
• Is Pulse Audio just outright broken on 4th generation Intel Devices in Linux, period? I'll assume this is Intel's fault until corrected.
  
• If Pulse Audio is not broken on the Chromebox / *ubuntu, is there a different version number or distro that I should be / can be using (Ex. Arch?)? (I still definitely want Netflix working, though I'm fine with using pipelight if necessary.)
  
• Is Alsa audio the only way get consistent audio in XBMC currently in *ubuntu 14?
  

-Sorry if I misspelled / listed wrong stats - Bourbon & Coke before dinner gets me every time.

Thanks!

I have a similar setup with a Pioneer receiver and have the same issues. It sounds like it affects all Pioneer HDMI receivers connected to a 4th gen Intel NUC. It seems that there is an Intel driver issue when running at 1080p where the Pioneer receiver won't handshake properly and the sound won't output. If you use a lower resolution the issue goes away. It's actually only 48khz audio that won't play properly (which is most PC audio, passthrough audio seems to work fine) that's why your 2 channel mp3's likely play (since CD's are 44khz). Based on all the other driver issues Intel has to deal with and their lack of updates in various threads on their forum about this issue I doubt it gets fixed anytime soon.

There is a thread with more info on the OpenELEC forums about the issue and a workaround fix but unfortunately the fix is only for OpenELEC. The workaround is to have XBMC downsample all non-passthrough audio at 48khz. It's not a great workaround and you probably won't like it if you're an audiophile. For me it works, I can't tell the difference, it mostly only affects the XBMC menus anyways. I have been providing my custom builds with the fix in that thread if you want to try that setup.

Here's the thread: http://openelec.tv/forum/68-audio/67773-...channel-ok

Thanks for the info! I'm wondering if we (NUC / Chromebox & Pioneer owners) can't tweak EDID values to effectively override whatever information is being improperly sent or lost. Obviously sending static information all the time to the receiver has some drawbacks compared to the receiver and chromebox dynamically updating as necessary, but it could make a band aid for this issue until the drivers get patched. This would need a different thread as it is really specialized to a subset of users, but seems like it would be applicable to a lot of people.