Linux AudioEngine testers - Linux only

EDID detection should work with a 3.2 kernel and Sandybridge/Ivybridge processors - least it did for me (I've switched back to my nvidia card for now so cannot check unless I yank it again). However at the time - this was some weeks ago now before all of Gnif's recent changes - all I got was the receiver dropping in and out of Multi In and lots of static with DTS HD Master and Dolby TrueHD. The log reported constant buffer underruns (someone posted similar in the Audioengine topic and I replied with "same" to that. You need a 3.3 kernel for CEA mode detection.

This weekend I may faff around with it again and see if it works now - I wondered at the time if it was an ALSA issue rather than Audioengine.

(2012-04-10 12:23)abudabi Wrote:  Aww man... I was about to get my hands down and dirty and try to compile AE. So are you saying I'm outta luck with my Ati HD5450 on ubuntu?

It's been a while since I've had my back speakers connected but I'm pretty sure I got 5.1 sound via HDMI last time they were up... or I'm loosing my mind

You will be able to get DTS and Dolby 5.1 via HDMI because those two formats only utilize two channels. The HD codecs such as DTS-HD and TrueHD require more than two channels. fglrx and OSS drivers on Linux only implement 2 channels via HDMI on ALSA. Supposedly they need additional information from AMD regarding how to get > 2 channels to work but AMD is caught up in constant legal red tape.

I ran an ATI card at first with AE and got constant errors that ALSA could not open the required number of channels for HD codecs. My research to date is that ATI based cards still cannot passthrough > 2 channel audio. You can, however, use ffmpeg to decode the audio first and then output via PCM to your receiver. Not the best situation but it will work. I ended up just switching to an nVidia card.

(2012-04-11 21:33)abudabi Wrote:  I currently have the Xvba version installed but would like to play around with the AE build. How do I compile it without hosing my current xbmc installation? Uber noob here.. havent compiled a thing in my life before.

(2012-04-12 08:33)Roelio Wrote:  Ps. To bad I don't have enough knowledge of compiling it.. So I'll be waiting for some binaries.

(2012-04-12 12:42)Roelio Wrote:  ps. the OP mentioned something about us people to please not become a tester so I think it's wise to move out.

Mostly because some experience with git and compiling was necessary. Now that gnif has officially updated his branch with the core xbmc code, I'd feel more comfortable posting binaries. I'll update the first post with generic compile instructions and then compile an x86 and x86_64 build on Ubuntu later.

@wingrunr21 I completely understand the reason for this. Gratitude for the update!

Anybody know which NVIDIA cards support AE? What is the cutoff?



thanks,
noumenon

(2012-04-13 15:56)wingrunr21 Wrote:  ...
You will be able to get DTS and Dolby 5.1 via HDMI because those two formats only utilize two channels. The HD codecs such as DTS-HD and TrueHD require more than two channels. fglrx and OSS drivers on Linux only implement 2 channels via HDMI on ALSA. Supposedly they need additional information from AMD regarding how to get > 2 channels to work but AMD is caught up in constant legal red tape.

I ran an ATI card at first with AE and got constant errors that ALSA could not open the required number of channels for HD codecs. My research to date is that ATI based cards still cannot passthrough > 2 channel audio. You can, however, use ffmpeg to decode the audio first and then output via PCM to your receiver. Not the best situation but it will work. I ended up just switching to an nVidia card. ...

@wingrun21 - thanks for coming back to my issue #184 on Openelec. I had figured as much that no more than two channels were being passed over HDMI on my ATI GPU and that I'd have to wait on AMD to release some driver improvements. I'll probably just stick with Windows for the moment as the motherboard supports multichannel and HD audio just fine in that environment.

(2012-04-13 16:49)noumenon Wrote:  Anybody know which NVIDIA cards support AE? What is the cutoff?

nVidia has excellent documentation on HDMI audio for their cards: ftp://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/gpu-hd...io_support

I would not go lower than a GeForce 2xx series card. I know that the 210 and 220 are advertised as being able to stream HD audio. I have a GTX 440 that does the job well.

I'm taking this off Gnif's main thread, as I'm unsure what is going on and don't want to clutter his main thread.

(2012-04-12 23:14)cdhesse Wrote:  

(2012-04-12 18:42)gnif Wrote:  @cdhesse - Sure, I am interested if it was working as you say, please provide full logs for both Eden and AE builds via pastebin.com

Hi Gnif...

Here is the fresh XBMCBuntu/Eden log where passthrough works: (DTS)
http://pastebin.com/LnLQ30TZ
Interestingly - it says that it fails and reverts to "default"?


Here is the AE log where it doesn't:
http://pastebin.com/JxyTQizz

In the AE log I also played a 5.1 FLAC just to show it working in non-passthrough mode...

I'm thinking - do I have an abnormal setup vs. the rest of the testers? I've never been able to get passthrough to work with audio engine, dating back many months now.

Motherboard: Gigabyte H55M-USB3
Processor: Intel i3 550 (first gen i3)
Vidieo Card/HDMI Hookup: NVidia GT 430 (EVGA)

I would think this is pretty normal hardware wise. I've only used Linux/Ubuntu... 10.04, 11.10, and now XBMCBuntu... none working.

Passthrough works fine in EDEN, but as soon as I compile and run AE it fails. Also interesting to report, I always have to specify custom.

In EDEN:
normal sound - CUSTOM "hw:0,9"
passthrough - CUSTOM "hw:0,9"

in AE -
normal sound - CUSTOM "hw:CARD=NVidia,DEV=9" - NOTHING else works, including hw:0,9 which works in EDEN
and of course, nothing works for passthrough, which is my problem.

Anybody else have this problem, or this hardware? I've tried everything...

tried CUSTOM "hdmi:CARD=NVidia,DEV=9" ? case might be important here

Probably not DEV=9 with HDMI, probably DEV=0 (or 1 or 3)

(2012-04-14 01:07)cdhesse Wrote:  In EDEN:
normal sound - CUSTOM "hw:0,9"
passthrough - CUSTOM "hw:0,9"

in AE -
normal sound - CUSTOM "hw:CARD=NVidia,DEV=9" - NOTHING else works, including hw:0,9 which works in EDEN
and of course, nothing works for passthrough, which is my problem.

Anybody else have this problem, or this hardware? I've tried everything...

Try in both custom devices:

hdmi:CARD=NVidia,DEV=1

That's what works on my GTX440. Make sure you input it exactly like that.