[stupidnoob]

My setup is XBMCbuntu 11.0 on a slightly older machine with a PCI 8400GS card. I have the internal audio cable going from the video card to the onboard header. I have the computer directly connected to the TV through HDMI. This same setup worked perfectly with an older version of XBMCbuntu. VIdeo works great over HDMI but no audio at all. I stupidly didn't write down the combo on the "audio output" page that worked previously. I've been doing allot of googling and the following is what I tried so far:
"aplay -l" - This shows two devices but neither say "HDMI" or "digital", just card 0: "V8237 [VIA 8237], device 0(and 1): VIA 8237 [VIA 8237]" and a couple of identical devices. Not much help there.
"alsamixer" - Had a couple of devices muted but I unmuted them and nothing changed.
In the "audio output" settings screen, set "Audio Output" to HDMI, Turned off dolby and DTS. Tried a bunch of combinations for Audio output device and passthrough output device. I even tried custom with "plughw:0,0" and "plughw:0,1" but those didn't work either.
"speaker-test -c2 -twav -Dplughw:0,0" and "speaker-test -c2 -twav -Dplughw:0,1". Both said that they were playing but no output. Setting to a higher number like 1,1 gave an error.

I'm at a loss. Please give me a hint as to where I could look for more information or the setup that worked for you if you have the same type of hardware

Thanks!

[pumkinut]

Post your output of aplay -l and aplay -L, not paraphrased results, but the whole thing. Also, why go from the video card to the onboard sound header. Does the 8400GS not output audio along with video on the HDMI connection? That would be the only reason to follow your course of action. From the limited output of aplay -l you've posted, the nVidia card is not listed as a usable audio device, just your onboard sound codec.

[stupidnoob]

Hello Pumkinut,

I've posted the requested info below. The internal s/pdif cable is required with these older video cards to route sound from the soundcard through the HDMI connection. I originally tried it without and was told on this forum I needed it.

aplay -l:
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: V8237 [VIA 8237], device 0: VIA 8237 [VIA 8237]
Subdevices: 3/4
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
Subdevice #1: subdevice #1
Subdevice #2: subdevice #2
Subdevice #3: subdevice #3
card 0: V8237 [VIA 8237], device 1: VIA 8237 [VIA 8237]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

aplay -L

null
Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)
default:CARD=V8237
VIA 8237, VIA 8237
Default Audio Device
front:CARD=V8237,DEV=0
VIA 8237, VIA 8237
Front speakers
surround40:CARD=V8237,DEV=0
VIA 8237, VIA 8237
4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=V8237,DEV=0
VIA 8237, VIA 8237
4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=V8237,DEV=0
VIA 8237, VIA 8237
5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=V8237,DEV=0
VIA 8237, VIA 8237
5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
iec958:CARD=V8237,DEV=0
VIA 8237, VIA 8237
IEC958 (S/PDIF) Digital Audio Output
dmix:CARD=V8237,DEV=0
VIA 8237, VIA 8237
Direct sample mixing device
dmix:CARD=V8237,DEV=1
VIA 8237, VIA 8237
Direct sample mixing device
dsnoop:CARD=V8237,DEV=0
VIA 8237, VIA 8237
Direct sample snooping device
dsnoop:CARD=V8237,DEV=1
VIA 8237, VIA 8237
Direct sample snooping device
hw:CARD=V8237,DEV=0
VIA 8237, VIA 8237
Direct hardware device without any conversions
hw:CARD=V8237,DEV=1
VIA 8237, VIA 8237
Direct hardware device without any conversions
plughw:CARD=V8237,DEV=0
VIA 8237, VIA 8237
Hardware device with all software conversions
plughw:CARD=V8237,DEV=1
VIA 8237, VIA 8237
Hardware device with all software conversions

I hope this helps.

[pumkinut]

Try this:

Code:

speakertest -D plughw:0,1 -c2

When you try the above from a terminal, do you get any sound from your speakers?

[stupidnoob]

I did the "speaker-test -D plughw:0,1 -c2" and unfortunetly my TV stayed silent. I plugged some headphones directly into the headphone port on the computer and did hear a distinct hiss alternating between the left and right channel. I guess we know that my soundcard is working in some fashion. I also tried substituting 0,0 for the device, which behaved exactly the same as 0,1. I also tried 0,3, 1,0, 1,1, but they all came back as "No such file or directory"

[stupidnoob]

Update:
I was really botherd by the fact that the old version worked without issue so I booted off of my xbmc-live 10.0 disc and tried it out. At first, after switching the audio output to HDMI, it was the same problem - not a peep. Then I switched to a terminal and ran the speaker-test command below. I still didn't get anything from my TV but when I switched back to the XBMC front end, I had sound!

I rebooted the livecd to make sure this wasn't a fluke and the same test worked again. It doesn't work with 11.0 though. What does this suggest? Has anyone else gotten this same setup to work under a updated 11.0 install? I could use some confirmation that this can work with Eden.

[pumkinut]

Okay, try the speakertest command with this, hw:CARD=V8237,DEV=0 or 1, plughw:CARD=V8237,DEV=0 or 1, as the device.

[stupidnoob]

Just to confirm, I ran the following:

speaker-test -c2 -D plughw:CARD=V8237,DEV=0
speaker-test -c2 -D plughw:CARD=V8237,DEV=1

Both resulted in a silent TV, although I am hearing it through the headphone port on the computer, as before. The output is below if you need it:

speaker-test 1.0.24.2

Playback device is plughw:CARD=V8237,DEV=0
Stream parameters are 48000Hz, S16_LE, 2 channels
Using 16 octaves of pink noise
Rate set to 48000Hz (requested 48000Hz)
Buffer size range from 17 to 17832
Period size range from 8 to 8917
Using max buffer size 17832
Periods = 4
was set period_size = 4458
was set buffer_size = 17832
0 - Front Left
1 - Front Right
and repeat.....

[stupidnoob]

pumkinut,

Thanks for trying to help me. I've run out of time to screw with this and am going back to 10.0. Next time I'll know to test the live cd more thoroughly before installing. Maybe I'll try again when 11.1 comes out or I build a newer rig. Good luck to anyone else trying to get this working!

[pumkinut]

It sounds as if your onboard codec is working fine, as evidenced by the sound through the headphone jack. It doesn't sound like the audio bitstream is being passed to your video card for output to HDMI. I'm not sure what else to offer you. I've got a bug in my ear over it though, so I may do some searching on my own. If I find anything, I'll be sure to let you know.

When in alsamixer, did you press the F6 key to see if any other audio devices were present? If not, give it a try and see if HDA Nvidia shows up. If it does, you may find one or more SPDIF entries that might or might not be muted. If they are muted, unmute them and exit out. Check available devices with aplay -l again to see if anything new shows up, and you might try the speakertest again.

[stupidnoob]

Thanks again for taking an interest in this. I blew away my Eden install and re-installed Dharma. It took a little bit of trying but I now have audio - sort of. I got sound working by choosing HDMI, and then choosing ie958 for the audio output and pass through. I can't tell you how thrilled I was to actually hear something come from the TV.

Of course, it wouldn't be that easy . mp3's and videos played at a very high pitch. After doing some reading here:
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=43938&page=2
I added an <audio> section to advancedsettings.xml which made mp3's sound normal again. No such luck with video. Any idea why? My test file has audio encoded as mp3 so it should work, right?

I created a couple different asound.conf files in /etc based on forum posts but none have fixed the problem. I don't suppose there is a <video> section I can add to advancedsettings.xml?

[pumkinut]

What resample value did you put in the advancedsettings.xml file? Try 48000 and if that doesn't work try 44000. Basically, you're resampling the audio to something that the codec wants.

[stupidnoob]

I used 48000, which fixed music files but not video files. 44000 didn't make a difference for either. Does the video player need a seperate entry in advancedsettings.xml?