[Jayquility]

Relevant information is that all other audio works fine. Settings to analog or digital doesn't create a problem. I have attempted to play the files in other media players and I am able to obtain 5.1, but obviously xbmc being my main media player, I would like this feature to work. I have looked at every other thread regarding spdif/ac3/audio device fails to initialize. I have tried every suggested solution, and I have come up with nothing.

Specs:
P4 2.6 GHz
Windows XP sp3
1.5 GB RAM
xbmc 9.0.4.1

The problem occurs when I have digital audio enabled and ac3 audio and dts audio enabled. When I try to play a 5.1 audio file, I get a notice that says "audio device failed to initialize, please check audios settings."

See the debug log here: http://pastebin.com/m52971b02

Thanks in advance for any help. My media player is nearly perfect, this is the last piece of the puzzle. Please feel free to ask for any other information.

[Jayquility]

Upgraded directx 9 to the March 2009 update to see if that would help, unfortunately, nothing fixed. Does anyone have any idea what could be wrong? I know that it has something to do with not being able to create a secondary buffer (at least that's what the debug log says), but I can't find this kind of problem anywhere else. I hope someone can point me in the right direction.

[natethomas]

Oh darn. I'd typed out a whole thing, then forgot to post the reply. Anyway, XBMC is reporting a failure to initialize a secondary buffer. I have no idea what that means, so I'm gonna let a dev help you out.

One suggestion though. It looks like you might have two audio drivers. One motherboard and one PCI card. If that's the case, you might consider disabling the motherboard audio chipset from the BIOS. I'm not sure if it'll help you, but it's worth a try.

[Jayquility]

Hey natethomas, thanks so much for the suggestion. I did notice that as well, but I don't actually have a secondary audio card. So, I'm not sure why there is a secondary device there. I am worried that if I go through the bios I might just break audio all together (I've done this before, and it wasn't pretty). I hope a developer can help me, but I understand that they are very busy people. I've been trying for 3 days straight now.

[natethomas]

Next question: do you have any problem when you change the audio output to analog?

[phi2039]

Failure to create the secondary buffer is just a fancy way of saying that we cannot open the device with the requested parameters. On Vista, there will always be at least one message like this, because the buffer is created in software, not hardware.

Usually, a complete failure to initialize the device is indicative that the device does not support the requested format.

@Jayquility: How is your PC connected to your stereo? Also, how are you verifying that 5.1 works correctly with other players? Many times they will fall-back to down-mixing or Dolby Pro Logic if they are unable to use true 5.1.

[Jayquility]

I can verify that the audio does work in analog mode (although it obviously down mixes the output to stereo).

My PC is hooked up to a receiver (that can accept Dolby Digital and DTS) via an optical cable. I can verify that all other players properly play 5.1, because Dolby Digital / DTS both display prominently on my receiver when viewed through alternate players, so no down mix occurs. I know it's a strange problem and even stranger in light of everything else working. I really appreciate all the prompt responses and help. Thanks again.

[Jayquility]

So, I spent some additional time working on this and still haven't had any luck. Does anyone else have any suggestions for me? I'm beginning to become tempted to just do a complete reinstall of windows just to get this to work, but I'd appreciate anybody coming up with a less drastic solution. As always, thank you in advance.

[manuka66]

Having the same problem - playing .avi files on XP SP2 w audio AC3.
Does work in analog mode
Build: XBMC_for_Windows-9.04.1-repack

All other audio works fine on this version and i'm able to play the files on my XBMC on my modded XBOX.

Have encountered 2 files so far with AC3 that do not work.

I would post a debug log but they are not appearing on my system for some reason

[Jayquility]

So, I just noticed a problem in the debug log, when it passes the audio it's only trying to pass 2 channels. If it was a true pass-through it should be detecting 5.1. See the debug log here:

Code:

01:37:45 T:2500 M:702328832  NOTICE: Creating audio device with codec id: 86019, channels: 2, sample rate: 48000, pass-through

Obviously creating an audio device with a codec id of only 2 channels would create a problem, how do I go about fixing this?

According to the debug log the file itself has 5.1 audio.

Code:

01:37:45 T:4988 M:704016384    INFO: ffmpeg:     Stream #0.1: Audio: ac3, 48000 Hz, 5.1, s16

If anyone has any idea what's happening here, I would love to hear some advice. Thanks so much!

[phi2039]

Ignore the 2-channel message. That is how AC3 and DTS are passed over S/PDIF (optical/coax/hdmi). If you want to know more, google IEC61937.

[Jayquility]

Will do, any idea what's wrong here phi? I've already downloaded new drivers and had no luck, uninstalled every codec, and had no luck, then installed new codecs, and still had no luck.

I just wish I knew where in the process things broke. I would appreciate any thoughts you have.

[ingrimsch]

Same Problem here... I also have 5.1/DTS reciever hooked up via optical out, but when I try to playback a .ac3 embedded avi xvid i get the same log errors and the same error messages. I also tried a lot of stuff before posting here:

- Removal of Codecs / Codec Packs
- Disabling 2nd Soundcard in Windows and BIOS
- DirectX Update
- Windows Reinstall
- different XBMC Versions up to the latest nightly build

Nothing has helped so far. I use a driverless USB Sound Card that is able to pass the 5.1 sound trough the optical cable without touching or resampling the signal. Sound Card is self build, but works on every other media player i tried, even on Linux. (Just to aviod being ignored because of this... more info here: http://www.engon.de/audio/usb_tos.htm).

I actually want to get away from my old xbox to a shiny little new PC (for 720p, 1080p the xbox cant handle), now 5.1 sound is the only thing that bugs me since month... I dont want to loose my 5.1 setup in the living room...

Any further Ideas?

Log output here:
http://pastebin.com/f148e1be4

PS: Forgot to mention: If sound output is set to analog instead of digital everything works fine... but thats stereo -.-

[ingrimsch]

I chased this Problem a bit further today and installed an XBMC on my Ubuntu Hardy Laptop, set up the USB Sound Device and everything works perfect. Seems to be a Windows only Problem...

This way I was at least able to proof its no limitation of the soundcard/system... but windows wise I´m not further getting 5.1 to work. If there is no other solution to this for the windows port I´ll set up my media pc on ubuntu, but i´d still prefer windows (other reasons).

Maybe one of the devs has a good Idea how to locate this problem on the windows install?

PS: I tried the Windows port on the same hardware... :p

[phi2039]

Same Problem here... I also have 5.1/DTS reciever hooked up via optical out, but when I try to playback a .ac3 embedded avi xvid i get the same log errors and the same error messages. I also tried a lot of stuff before posting here:

- Removal of Codecs / Codec Packs
- Disabling 2nd Soundcard in Windows and BIOS
- DirectX Update
- Windows Reinstall
- different XBMC Versions up to the latest nightly build

Nothing has helped so far. I use a driverless USB Sound Card that is able to pass the 5.1 sound trough the optical cable without touching or resampling the signal. Sound Card is self build, but works on every other media player i tried, even on Linux. (Just to aviod being ignored because of this... more info here: http://www.engon.de/audio/usb_tos.htm).

I actually want to get away from my old xbox to a shiny little new PC (for 720p, 1080p the xbox cant handle), now 5.1 sound is the only thing that bugs me since month... I dont want to loose my 5.1 setup in the living room...

Any further Ideas?

Log output here:
http://pastebin.com/f148e1be4

PS: Forgot to mention: If sound output is set to analog instead of digital everything works fine... but thats stereo -.-

Generally speaking, S/PDIF passthrough with a USB Audio Device on XP requires support from a miniport driver. Can you verify that any other software is able to pass encoded AC3 or DTS data through to your receiver?

I do not like to point to hardware compatibility in most cases, but it may be accurate in this instance (and not at all related to it being a home-built device).