5.1 surround sound only playing in stereo FC3

[Elwynd]

Hi all

I've searched like mad and haven't come across anything like this. I'm only getting sound through 2 speakers. I'm at my wits' end! This is what I've done so far:

Checked on volume control that everything's turned up.
Checked on alsamixer that everything's turned up.
Checked that it's also happening when I do the sound card detection test thing.
Checked the balance on the speakers themselves(!).
Checked that it's doing the same thing as root and my user (it is).

Because it's also happening on the sound card detection test, I assume it's some sort of system setting that needs tweaking, but just in case, I also checked the settings on Xine to make sure it's using Alsa, tried it with OSS too, checked that it's set to output 5.1 surround (I even checked the config file).

I'm using kernel version 2.6.10-1.770_FC3, with a VIA 8237 soundcard. Motherboard is Abit KT7, so it has separate audio connectors.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! I'm a complete newbie to Linux, though, so please be gentle

Su

[elamathilinux]

Hi all!
I do have a similar problem
I use Creative Inspire 4.1 speakers
Only the front two speakers are working
in mixer, controls are up. but i cant get rear speakers working.

Analog Devices AD1980 / VIA 8235
ALSA driver: via82xx
Mainboard: Asus A7V8X-X, VIA KT400 chipset,
inbuilt

[bitrain]

Open kmix (or the gnome equivalent) and go to the switches tab. Is there a "enable 4 speakers" option? If so, enable and enjoy. If not, try other settings there.

[daneel971]

I think that your problem could be that the default alsa device is the plain stereo output. You have to set your apps so that they use surround51 when the sound has 6 channel.
If you use xine, you will find an option for this in the config window, under audio (both in xine-ui and Kaffeine).
If you use mplayer, try

mplayer -channels 6 -ao alsa:device=surround51 yoursixchannelsfile

[neubus]

I haven't been able to get 5.1 to work on my system either

I have -
- Sound Blaster Audigy 2 value pci soundcard
- Audigy 2 Value [SB0400]
- SigmaTel STAC9750,51
- Alsa v1.0.10
- Fedora Core 4 ( 2.6.11-1.1369 )

I've installed Alsa rpm's ok

alsaconf detected and setup ok

unmuted "Audigy Analog/Digital Output Jack" using alsamixer
(this enables the soundcard to produce sound for some reason)

changed settings in xine (a media player)
- audio driver to use = alsa
- speaker setup = Surround 5.1

xine gives an error of another program using the PCM device.

I put this in /etc/asound.conf
http://sabi.co.uk/Cfg/ALSA/asound.conf

Can now run xine.

testing sound using "speaker-test -c6"
- only produces sound on the front speakers but puts it to all speakers
- ie Frontleft + Rearleft + Sub on the Front Left test
- ie Frontright + Rearright + center on the Front Right test

- adjusting volume controls in alsamixer while playing xine does control indivitual speakers (Front, Surround, LFE)
but the PCM controls for the same do nothing to the volume.

/etc/modules.conf looks like this

alias eth0 via-rhine

# --- BEGIN: Generated by ALSACONF, do not edit. ---
# --- ALSACONF version 1.0.9rc4a ---
alias snd-card-0 snd-emu10k1
alias sound-slot-0 snd-emu10k1
# --- END: Generated by ALSACONF, do not edit. ---

speaker-test -c6 -Dsurround51 #produces

speaker-test 0.0.8

Playback device is surround51
Stream parameters are 48000Hz, S16_LE, 6 channels
Using 16 octaves of pink noise
ALSA lib conf.c:1592snd_config_load1) _toplevel_:51:23:No such file or directory
ALSA lib conf.c:2837snd_config_hook_load) /etc/alsa/cards/aliases.conf may be old or corrupted: consider to remove or fix it
ALSA lib conf.c:2700snd_config_hooks_call) function snd_config_hook_load returned error: No such file or directory
ALSA lib pcm.c:1969snd_pcm_open_conf) Invalid type for PCM surround51 definition (id: surround51, value: cards.pcm.surround51)
Playback open error: -22,Invalid argument
ALSA lib pcm.c:1969snd_pcm_open_conf) Invalid type for PCM surround51 definition (id: surround51, value: cards.pcm.surround51)
Playback open error: -22,Invalid argument

speaker-test -c6 -Dplug:surround51 #produces

speaker-test 0.0.8

Playback device is plug:surround51
Stream parameters are 48000Hz, S16_LE, 6 channels
Using 16 octaves of pink noise
ALSA lib conf.c:1592snd_config_load1) _toplevel_:51:23:No such file or directory
ALSA lib conf.c:2837snd_config_hook_load) /etc/alsa/cards/aliases.conf may be old or corrupted: consider to remove or fix it
ALSA lib conf.c:2700snd_config_hooks_call) function snd_config_hook_load returned error: No such file or directory
ALSA lib pcm.c:1969snd_pcm_open_conf) Invalid type for PCM surround51 definition (id: surround51, value: cards.pcm.surround51)
Playback open error: -22,Invalid argument
ALSA lib pcm.c:1969snd_pcm_open_conf) Invalid type for PCM surround51 definition (id: surround51, value: cards.pcm.surround51)
Playback open error: -22,Invalid argument



I imagine that if I can at least get "speaker-test -c6" to produce the correct result everything should work in 5.1.

help help help

[neubus]

ok, simple solution,

tryed using "speaker-test -Dplug:surround51 -c6" not as root, and it all worked fine

[ajamison]

i tried that and it slowly turns the speakers on but i noticed that is is getting the rear and front channels mixed up