[Haggy]

it depends if one interpretes white noise as distortion

[havel]

I have just successfully updated my Ubuntu from Hardy to Jaunty, via Intreprid. My only problem is sound not working in XBMC...it works in all other apps like vlc or Rhytmbox. I had sound for a few hours in XBMC but it stopped working. I was able to make it work again doing this:

# rename /etc/init.d/alsa-utils
sudo mv /etc/init.d/alsa-utils /etc/init.d/alsa-utils.x
# reboot your system
reboot
# rename /etc/init.d/alsa-utils.x back to /etc/init.d/alsa-utils
sudo mv /etc/init.d/alsa-utils.x /etc/init.d/alsa-utils
#start the alsamixer and activate iec958 output
alsamixer

But after reboot, I lost my sound again. I then tried again the mentionned solution a few times without success. I am running XBMC 9.04-Beta1 r19616.

I'm now clueless. Anybody having sound problems with XBMC in Jaunty?

[havel]

I'm still having sound problems. I tried the 2 methods proposed here. Sometimes sound comes back. But as soon as I reboot, it's gone again.

I'm running XBMC 9.04-Beta1 r19616 (april 22 2009) on Ubuntu Jaunty 32b

Sound works on any other app.

http://www.pastebin.ca/1412086

Help would be very much appreciated.

[havel]

I think I might have found a solution on the Ubuntu forum. My guess is that the upgrade process from Hardy to Intrepid...to Jaunty probably left unnecessary files on my system. So I found a way make a fresh sound install instead of making a complete reinstall of Ubuntu.

(1) Remove these packages

sudo apt-get --purge remove linux-sound-base alsa-base alsa-utils

(2) Reinstall those same packages

sudo apt-get install linux-sound-base alsa-base alsa-utils

VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: Ubuntu (GNOME) users have reported that packages 'gdm' and 'ubuntu-desktop' are removed after removing the linux-sound-base packages. If this happens, then do the following

sudo apt-get install gdm ubuntu-desktop

(3) Reboot

I took this on this thread:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=205449

Thanks to Lordraiden

[User 29008]

Well a few days ago I had sound issues too. I think though it's definately a Ubuntu issue. I upgraded to Jaunty and my sound was fine. After a few days, suddenly my sound was gone. Only things I played with were X/Nvidia gfx related, though I am not sure if something touched my sound settings. Anyway sound was GONE, not only in XBMC, no sound in Ubuntu at all. Though everything driver/alsa related looked ok.
I tried several solutions from Ubuntu forums, and don't ask me why, suddenly sound was back. I can't reproduce what fixed it. Reinstalling alsa etc. stuff might have done it.

boba

[davidw]

For all with Ubuntu Intrepid I wrote a script to automatic restore the sound on the digital output without restarting the whole system just with restart xbmc!

Make sure that your xbmc-user is allowed to perform this commands without password inquiry (sudo visudo).

Code:

#!/bin/bash
##
# alsabug.sh
##

# Stop XBMC (type in here your command to stop your XBMC
/sbin/initctl stop tty2

# unload Alsa modules
/sbin/modprobe -r snd_seq_oss snd_seq_midi snd_seq_midi_event snd_seq_dummy snd_seq snd_rawmidi snd_pcm_oss snd_mixer_oss snd_hda_intel snd_pcm

# load Alsa modules
/sbin/modprobe -a snd_hda_intel snd_pcm_oss snd_mixer_oss snd_pcm snd_seq_oss snd_rawmidi snd_seq snd_timer snd_seq_device snd

# activate the digital sound output
amixer -- sset IEC958 on

# Start XBMC (type in here your command to start XBMC)
/sbin/initctl start tty2

!! I tested it only with Ubuntu Intrepid !!

My problem is now: how can I include this into XBMC so that I can start this script via remote?!!

Cheers,
David

[xnappo]

My problem is now: how can I include this into XBMC so that I can start this script via remote?!!

Cheers,
David

I just included it in my .xsession:

Code:

export XBMC_PLATFORM_MODE=1
while [ 1 ]
do
    /sbin/modprobe -a snd_hda_intel snd_pcm_oss snd_mixer_oss snd_pcm snd_se
q_oss snd_rawmidi snd_seq snd_timer snd_seq_device snd
    amixer -- sset IEC958 on
    /usr/share/xbmc/xbmc.bin
    /sbin/modprobe -r snd_seq_oss snd_seq_midi snd_seq_midi_event snd_seq_du
mmy snd_seq snd_rawmidi snd_pcm_oss snd_mixer_oss snd_hda_intel snd_pcm
done

case "$?" in
    0 ) # Quit
        touch /tmp/noRestartXBMC
        break ;;
    64 ) # Shutdown System
        sleep 10 ;;
    65 ) # Warm Reboot
        echo Restarting XBMC ... ;;
    66 ) # Reboot System
        sleep 10 ;;
     * ) ;;
esac

xnappo

[SubSense]

"/usr/bin/iecset audio on" worked for me. I hope it stays working
The other method from Tslayer not (maybe I did something wrong).
The method is also a bit difficult te read for a complete linux newbe.

[megadeth]

I've had this where only digital audio would output and NOT analog (still out of spdif).

What I usually do to fix in my scenario is:

0) Stop XBMC
1) Create a file in your home directory called .asoundrc that contains the following single line: pcm.!default spdif
2) Run: speaker-test -c 2
3) If you hear sound, you can stop.
4) Remove .asoundrc
5) Restart XBMC


Try that...

what does it mean when you did that and get sound out of the speaker test, but can't get sound out of xbmc or playing any other file?

my spdif was playing fine. then i turned my computer on today and no sound anymore?

the only thing i did different was use the suspend mode when turning off xbmc.

[megadeth]

update!!

i went back and put xbmc in suspend mode again. turned the computer back on and the sound was back

some kind of bug maybe with suspend mode

[crackers]

I ran into this - but it wasn't limited to XBMC. I did find a very quick, non-reboot work-around elsewhere:

Code:

sudo alsa force-reload

This does essentially the same as the modprobe scripts mentioned above.

[spozen]

Why isn't this a sticky anymore? This is very helpful if you have alsa problems.

[newb2linux]

This NAVIGATION SOUND FIX isnt working for 9.11 what should I do ?

[prrrtpieptoet]

Well, I see I'm not the only one who ran into the problem of audio disappearing all of a sudden in XBMC. However, I guess I am one of the very few that couldn't get it fixed by any of the solutions provided in this thread.

To cut a very long short: if you're on Linux and can't get it fixed either, open the file ~/.xbmc/userdata/guisettings.xml and look for the tag volumelevel under the parent tag audio. Mine was set to -5645 or something like that. Setting it to 0 solved the issue for me.

I don't have a clue what caused that value to be set there. I am running XBMC 9.11 on Mythbuntu 9.10 (Ubuntu Karmic Koala).

[deepblue]

I had this issue occur the other day (MP3 audio and menu clicks just quit) and pulled my hair out trying to fix it. Ended up doing a full reinstall.

Two days later, happened again, this time I found this thread and did the .asoundrc "pcm.!default spdif" trick, restarted XBMC, and all is well.

Question - is there any harm in leaving the .asoundrc file there with that entry? Earlier posts indicate it could cause "issues"...I'd obviously like a permanent fix.

Thanks