Linux Audio/sound works in XBMCbuntu but not in XBMC
#1
Hello everyone!

I got sound working in XBMCbuntu through tweaking settings in Gnome ALSA mixer, but when I launch XBMC, I don't get any sound. It does not matter if I log into XBMC from the login screen or login to XBMCbuntu and then launch XBMC, the sound does not work in XBMC. I have tried all of the different audio settings for analog sound output in the XBMC GUI, but none of them work. I have a Creative Audigy PCI sound card. I have disabled the onboard sound in the BIOS.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Ian
Reply
#2
List the output of "aplay -l", "aplay -L", and the settings under Settings > System > Audio. Also describe how your speakers are hooked up (directly to sound card, through receiver, directly to TV, etc.)
HTPC 1 - Zotac ZBOX ID80U | 4GB RAM | 64GB SSD | Openelec | Confluence
HTPC 2 - Zotac ZBOX ID41U | 4GB RAM | 60GB SSD | Openelec | Confluence
Server - unRAID Server | 3 x 2TB WD Green HDD, 1TB WD Black HDD (Cache) | Sabnzbd | CouchPotato | Sickbeard
Reply
#3
My speakers are hooked up the the analog audio output on the back of my sound card.

The "Audio output" settings are "Analog", "Optical/Coax", and "HDMI". The "Audio output device" options are "SB Audigy 2 [Unknown] - default - 2 (ALSA)", "SB Audigy 2 [Unknown] - iec958 - 2 (ALSA)" and "SB Audigy 2 [Unknown] - hdmi - 2 (ALSA)".

"aplay -l":
Code:
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: Audigy2 [SB Audigy 2 [Unknown]], device 0: emu10k1 [ADC Capture/Standard PCM Playback]
  Subdevices: 31/32
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
  Subdevice #1: subdevice #1
  Subdevice #2: subdevice #2
  Subdevice #3: subdevice #3
  Subdevice #4: subdevice #4
  Subdevice #5: subdevice #5
  Subdevice #6: subdevice #6
  Subdevice #7: subdevice #7
  Subdevice #8: subdevice #8
  Subdevice #9: subdevice #9
  Subdevice #10: subdevice #10
  Subdevice #11: subdevice #11
  Subdevice #12: subdevice #12
  Subdevice #13: subdevice #13
  Subdevice #14: subdevice #14
  Subdevice #15: subdevice #15
  Subdevice #16: subdevice #16
  Subdevice #17: subdevice #17
  Subdevice #18: subdevice #18
  Subdevice #19: subdevice #19
  Subdevice #20: subdevice #20
  Subdevice #21: subdevice #21
  Subdevice #22: subdevice #22
  Subdevice #23: subdevice #23
  Subdevice #24: subdevice #24
  Subdevice #25: subdevice #25
  Subdevice #26: subdevice #26
  Subdevice #27: subdevice #27
  Subdevice #28: subdevice #28
  Subdevice #29: subdevice #29
  Subdevice #30: subdevice #30
  Subdevice #31: subdevice #31
card 0: Audigy2 [SB Audigy 2 [Unknown]], device 2: emu10k1 efx [Multichannel Capture/PT Playback]
  Subdevices: 8/8
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
  Subdevice #1: subdevice #1
  Subdevice #2: subdevice #2
  Subdevice #3: subdevice #3
  Subdevice #4: subdevice #4
  Subdevice #5: subdevice #5
  Subdevice #6: subdevice #6
  Subdevice #7: subdevice #7
card 0: Audigy2 [SB Audigy 2 [Unknown]], device 3: emu10k1 [Multichannel Playback]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: Audigy2 [SB Audigy 2 [Unknown]], device 4: p16v [p16v]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

"aplay -L":
Code:
null
    Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)
default:CARD=Audigy2
    SB Audigy 2 [Unknown], ADC Capture/Standard PCM Playback
    Default Audio Device
front:CARD=Audigy2,DEV=0
    SB Audigy 2 [Unknown], ADC Capture/Standard PCM Playback
    Front speakers
rear:CARD=Audigy2,DEV=0
    SB Audigy 2 [Unknown], ADC Capture/Standard PCM Playback
    Rear speakers
center_lfe:CARD=Audigy2,DEV=0
    SB Audigy 2 [Unknown], ADC Capture/Standard PCM Playback
    Center and Subwoofer speakers
side:CARD=Audigy2,DEV=0
    SB Audigy 2 [Unknown], ADC Capture/Standard PCM Playback
    Side speakers
surround40:CARD=Audigy2,DEV=0
    SB Audigy 2 [Unknown], ADC Capture/Standard PCM Playback
    4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=Audigy2,DEV=0
    SB Audigy 2 [Unknown], ADC Capture/Standard PCM Playback
    4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=Audigy2,DEV=0
    SB Audigy 2 [Unknown], ADC Capture/Standard PCM Playback
    5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=Audigy2,DEV=0
    SB Audigy 2 [Unknown], ADC Capture/Standard PCM Playback
    5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71:CARD=Audigy2,DEV=0
    SB Audigy 2 [Unknown], ADC Capture/Standard PCM Playback
    7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
iec958:CARD=Audigy2,DEV=0
    SB Audigy 2 [Unknown], ADC Capture/Standard PCM Playback
    IEC958 (S/PDIF) Digital Audio Output
dmix:CARD=Audigy2,DEV=0
    SB Audigy 2 [Unknown], ADC Capture/Standard PCM Playback
    Direct sample mixing device
dmix:CARD=Audigy2,DEV=2
    SB Audigy 2 [Unknown], Multichannel Capture/PT Playback
    Direct sample mixing device
dmix:CARD=Audigy2,DEV=3
    SB Audigy 2 [Unknown], Multichannel Playback
    Direct sample mixing device
dmix:CARD=Audigy2,DEV=4
    SB Audigy 2 [Unknown], p16v
    Direct sample mixing device
dsnoop:CARD=Audigy2,DEV=0
    SB Audigy 2 [Unknown], ADC Capture/Standard PCM Playback
    Direct sample snooping device
dsnoop:CARD=Audigy2,DEV=2
    SB Audigy 2 [Unknown], Multichannel Capture/PT Playback
    Direct sample snooping device
dsnoop:CARD=Audigy2,DEV=3
    SB Audigy 2 [Unknown], Multichannel Playback
    Direct sample snooping device
dsnoop:CARD=Audigy2,DEV=4
    SB Audigy 2 [Unknown], p16v
    Direct sample snooping device
hw:CARD=Audigy2,DEV=0
    SB Audigy 2 [Unknown], ADC Capture/Standard PCM Playback
    Direct hardware device without any conversions
hw:CARD=Audigy2,DEV=2
    SB Audigy 2 [Unknown], Multichannel Capture/PT Playback
    Direct hardware device without any conversions
hw:CARD=Audigy2,DEV=3
    SB Audigy 2 [Unknown], Multichannel Playback
    Direct hardware device without any conversions
hw:CARD=Audigy2,DEV=4
    SB Audigy 2 [Unknown], p16v
    Direct hardware device without any conversions
plughw:CARD=Audigy2,DEV=0
    SB Audigy 2 [Unknown], ADC Capture/Standard PCM Playback
    Hardware device with all software conversions
plughw:CARD=Audigy2,DEV=2
    SB Audigy 2 [Unknown], Multichannel Capture/PT Playback
    Hardware device with all software conversions
plughw:CARD=Audigy2,DEV=3
    SB Audigy 2 [Unknown], Multichannel Playback
    Hardware device with all software conversions
plughw:CARD=Audigy2,DEV=4
    SB Audigy 2 [Unknown], p16v
    Hardware device with all software conversions
Reply
#4
Choosing "Analog" for Audio Type and the "SB Audigy [Unknown] - default - 2 (ALSA)" for the device results in no sound?
HTPC 1 - Zotac ZBOX ID80U | 4GB RAM | 64GB SSD | Openelec | Confluence
HTPC 2 - Zotac ZBOX ID41U | 4GB RAM | 60GB SSD | Openelec | Confluence
Server - unRAID Server | 3 x 2TB WD Green HDD, 1TB WD Black HDD (Cache) | Sabnzbd | CouchPotato | Sickbeard
Reply
#5
That is correct. No sound comes out of the sound card. It is very odd.

It works great in the desktop environment. Is there any way to tell XBMC to use ALSA's settings for the desktop environment?

Also, when I set "Analog" for Audio Type and the "SB Audigy [Unknown] - default - 2 (ALSA)" XBMC gives a "Failed to initialize audio device" error.
Reply
#6
First make sure it isn't something silly like checking that the volume is up in XBMC (use +/- button to change it). Next try using "Custom" for the Audio Device and entering "surround51:CARD=Audigy2,DEV=0" (if you have 5.1) as the custom device. If you have a different speaker configuration, locate the proper line from the "aplay -L" output and stick it in (e.g. "front:CARD=Audigy2,DEV=0" for a 2.0 speaker config).
HTPC 1 - Zotac ZBOX ID80U | 4GB RAM | 64GB SSD | Openelec | Confluence
HTPC 2 - Zotac ZBOX ID41U | 4GB RAM | 60GB SSD | Openelec | Confluence
Server - unRAID Server | 3 x 2TB WD Green HDD, 1TB WD Black HDD (Cache) | Sabnzbd | CouchPotato | Sickbeard
Reply
#7
There does not seem to be a "Custom" option. The documentation in the Linux XBMC FAQ seems to be for v10 and below. Also, I added a few details to my previous post.

Thanks.
Reply
#8
That's strange. It exists on both of my Eden installs. Have you tried doing the same tweaks to alsamixer on the command line?
HTPC 1 - Zotac ZBOX ID80U | 4GB RAM | 64GB SSD | Openelec | Confluence
HTPC 2 - Zotac ZBOX ID41U | 4GB RAM | 60GB SSD | Openelec | Confluence
Server - unRAID Server | 3 x 2TB WD Green HDD, 1TB WD Black HDD (Cache) | Sabnzbd | CouchPotato | Sickbeard
Reply
#9
I got it to work. I had to change Audio Type to "HDMI" to get the "Custom" Audio device to show up. I then set the Audio device to "Custom" and then the Audio type back to "Analog". After I entered the correct custom device (in my case "front:CARD=Audigy2,DEV=0") it worked.

Now it seems that there is an automount bug in XMBCbuntu. Maybe it is back to Debian for me.
Reply
#10
Automount for a USB stick or hard drive?
HTPC 1 - Zotac ZBOX ID80U | 4GB RAM | 64GB SSD | Openelec | Confluence
HTPC 2 - Zotac ZBOX ID41U | 4GB RAM | 60GB SSD | Openelec | Confluence
Server - unRAID Server | 3 x 2TB WD Green HDD, 1TB WD Black HDD (Cache) | Sabnzbd | CouchPotato | Sickbeard
Reply
#11
Optical disk drives. It seems to be a known bug. There is a whole thread about it here:
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=129753

I tried both of the suggested "solutions" but it still doesn't work.
Reply

Logout Mark Read Team Forum Stats Members Help
Audio/sound works in XBMCbuntu but not in XBMC0