video and audio problems

[gtsupport]

Its me again!

Ok, so I've got the hyrid to boot properly, LinuxMCE starts, I even managed to get the AV Wizard to run after downloading a new driver for my Nvidia GT430.
The problems I now have are:
1:  when I set the display resolution to 1080p in the AV Wizard I get a blank screen when it restarts.  The best I can select is 720p.  Not the end of the world, but a niggle.
2:  whichever audio output I select I can't hear anything in the second part of the Wizard.  I read in the wiki that for my motherboard (Asus M4A87TD EVO)

"ALSA drivers are not PNP in kubuntu-0810 but updated drivers are installed during the LMCE installation process and which make the audio Plug N Play with LMCE0810!"

Assuming this has happened ok, is there any way to check?

I've tried all the options for audio, and I noted that the optical SPDIF is not working at all when I plug the fibre optic cable in.  If this was Windows I'd re-install the motherboard drivers from the CD, but its not, so I don't know how to go about fixing it    (Bios setting show that HD Audio is enabled)

3:  Living without the audio for now, I continue and get the setup wizard to start.  Great, apart from I only see a big black box in the center of the screen, obviously I can't hear whats going on, but the text points me in the right direction.  I manage to bumble through, but "Oh No" my hauppage winTV card has not been recognised at all, and isn't listed, so I can't get that setup.

So far what I've done is check in the xorg.conf file that the correct Nvidia driver is being used, I've been through several wiki and forum posts, but have come up stumped.  I'm thinking that there is some configuration file somewhere, or something else I'm needing to check, but as I'm new to LinuxMCE its tough going.

Any wizards out there who might be able to help, please post your ideas.

Oh, one thing to note, when LinuxMCE starts it says something like "There were devices that did not start properly, you can still use the system but some functionality will be lost"

Core details:
Asus M4A87TD EVO motherboard
AMD Phenom II 550 Black CPU (dual core, but 4 cores running with core unlocker on MB)
Gigabyte Nvidia GT430 graphics card (1Gb onboard memory)
Hauppage WinTV HVR 2200 capture card
1.5TB SATA HDD
4GB DDR2 RAM
Additional Gigabit NIC. (worked OOTB!)

Thanks.
Matt.

[purps]

Firstly, that graphics card is frigging insane. I'm not sure you need that much grunt. That aside, are you connected to your TV via a VGA cable or an HDMI/DVI cable?

Audio - type "alsamixer" into a terminal. Check all the levels are turned up.

Cheers,
Matt.

[gtsupport]

Hi Matt, thanks for the quick reply.

Graphics card was cheap, and had loads of outputs, also I read that it can delivery audio via HDMI, which was a major factor in choosing.
I'm using a HDMI cable from the graphics card via the AV amp, to the TV.  Initially I setup using a VGA cable and a monitor, but once I had the new driver for the card installed the HDMI output worked, and the Wizard came to life with HDMI so I switch to the TV.

I ran alsamixer, and both levels were at almost 100%, now they are both AT 100%, but without change.  I just ran the AV wizard again to be sure, and this time I selected no overlay or alphablending.  The good news is that now Sarah is in what used to be the black box, bad news I still can't hear what she's saying.

Where to next anyone?

[mythtified]

I did some searches on your motherboard and the sound chip.  It may be too new.  Do some searches on the internet to see if there is a solution to your problem.

[gtsupport]

According to this Wiki page it should be plug and play

http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/ASUS_M4A87TD_EVO

I can't help thinking that there's some setting somewhere I should be checking?  I don't have enough experience with Linux to go much further my myself.

[purps]

Is there still an "HDMI 2" option in the AVWizard? If so, have you tried it?

I don't have my sound going through the HDMI cable, but I have to say, you may be asking a bit much for such a new graphics card to work out of the box with HDMI sound.

You could try installing nVidia drivers from their site. Not usually recommended because it's not supported, but it does mean that the drivers are bang up to date.

Also see if this is relevant to you http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1619802 They're talking about ubuntu 10.10 here, remember we are on 8.10 at the moment.

This is for the GT220 http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/NVidia_GT220_HDMI_sound looks like a pain in the arse.

You may also find this helpful http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Audio_over_HDMI

And yes, in windows you can always reinstall the drivers with a click here and a click there. If you are not confident doing this kind of thing in Linux, then there is always the complete re-install

Cheers,
Matt.

[phenigma]

"ALSA drivers are not PNP in kubuntu-0810 but updated drivers are installed during the LMCE installation process and which make the audio Plug N Play with LMCE0810!"

Assuming this has happened ok, is there any way to check?

I'm running that board now and created that wiki entry.

Code: [Select]

apt-cache policy libasound2
Should tell you that 1.0.18 is installed I think.  1.0.17 is the default in 0810 and .18 is required if you wish to use the onboard S/P-DIF connector.

J.

[phenigma]

According to this Wiki page it should be plug and play

http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/ASUS_M4A87TD_EVO

I can't help thinking that there's some setting somewhere I should be checking?  I don't have enough experience with Linux to go much further my myself.

With the recent issues with Ubuntu End of life I'm not sure if the updated alsa drivers are installing correctly to enable the optical output.  HDMI audio from your graphics card will likely need alsa 1.0.23 and some changes to /etc/asound.conf are also likely required to get HDMI sound working.

I have just purchased an HDMI receiver and I am in the process of getting HDMI sound working through my Nvidia video card.  I have stereo PCM over hdmi working currently but my goal is stereo pcm, multichannel pcm and ac3/dts passthrough.  I'll update the wiki page when I have more concrete information.

J

[gtsupport]

Thanks guys, I've just checked and I've got 1.0.18 installed:
libasound2:
  Installed: 1.0.18-1ubuntu9~dia1
  Candidate: 1.0.18-1ubuntu9~dia1
  Version table:
 *** 1.0.18-1ubuntu9~dia1 0
        500 file: ./ Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     1.0.17a-0ubuntu4 0
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com intrepid/main Packages

@Purps:
There are "DVI/HDMI" and "DVI/HDMI 2" options on the AV Wizard.  I can't get the first option to work, only "DVI/HDMI 2" and thats only at 720p.

when I open the asound.conf file I see the following; is this info of any use?

  GNU nano 2.0.7                      File: asound.conf

pcm_slave.spdif_convert48k {
        pcm "spdif:0"
        rate 48000
}

pcm.spdif_playback {
        type plug
        slave spdif_convert48k
}

pcm_slave.hdmi_convert48k {
        pcm "hdmi:0"
        rate 48000
}

pcm.hdmi_playback {
        type plug
        slave hdmi_convert48k
}

pcm.asym_spdif {
        type asym
        playback.pcm "spdif_playback"
        capture.pcm "plughw:0"
}

pcm.asym_hdmi {
        type asym
        playback.pcm "hdmi_playback"
        capture.pcm "plughw:0"
}

pcm.asym_analog {
        type asym
        playback.pcm "plug:dmix:0"
        capture.pcm "plughw:0"
}
pcm.!default asym_hdmi

[gtsupport]

Ah-ha,

I've just been reading through the thread on the ubuntu forum you suggested purps, and after typing aplay -l I got the following:
aplay: device_list:217: no soundcards found...

Which obviously isn't helpful.  I assume that the onboard sound should have appeared at least, and possibly the Nvidia card HDMI sound as well.  I'm in the process of reading and following threads on the ubuntu forum to see if I can get some newer alsa drivers or anything to work.

[phenigma]

All available sound devices should show up when you execute 'aplay -l'.  Try 'sudo aplay -l' if you're not running it as root.  You should see all the mainboard's onboard sound devices (there are a few) and the nvidia HDA HDMI device from the video card.

J.

[gtsupport]

I was running as root when I typed aplay -l and thats what the result was "aplay: device_list:217: no soundcards found..."

How should I proceed?  I've downloaded the alsa latest drivers, and am planning on installing them next. If this doesn't work is it worth doing a fresh install and trying again?  I haven't bothered with any of the z-wave stuff or tv cards yet, so its not a big deal to start afresh.

Matt.

[rperre]

you need the drivers for the audio card, and probably have to rebuild alsa to include them, sounds like what purps said (major pain in the ...)

Richard

[gtsupport]

ok so I just downloaded, compiled, and installed the latest alsa drivers and now when I type alsa -L I get the following:

front:CARD=SB,DEV=0
    HDA ATI SB, VT1818S Analog
    Front speakers
surround40:CARD=SB,DEV=0
    HDA ATI SB, VT1818S Analog
    4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=SB,DEV=0
    HDA ATI SB, VT1818S Analog
    4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=SB,DEV=0
    HDA ATI SB, VT1818S Analog
    5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=SB,DEV=0
    HDA ATI SB, VT1818S Analog
    5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71:CARD=SB,DEV=0
    HDA ATI SB, VT1818S Analog
    7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
iec958:CARD=SB,DEV=0
    HDA ATI SB, VT1818S Digital
    IEC958 (S/PDIF) Digital Audio Output
null
    Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)


Also when I run alsamixer I now have loads of different channels, (front, center, rear etc) including "IEC958" and "IEC958 D"

Everything is un-muted except the mic channel, and now when I look at the fibre optic cable plugged into the optical SPDIF port there is light (at the end of the tunnel I hope!) so we're heading in the right direction.

Unfortunately when I select the input on my AV amp for optical there is still nothing to be heard.  I ran the AVWizard again, tried hdmi, and optical SPDIF sound options, but alas....silence.

I'm currently deep into some ubuntu forums discussing the work-arounds for the newer graphics cards and hdmi audio, but some of the stuff is not relevant to the version 8.10.  Some of the commands they say to use; I can't get to work.

Methinks there is still some tinkering to be done with a .conf file somewhere along the way.  Will post any solutions I can find, please add anything you feel is worth a try.
Thanks.
Matt.

[gtsupport]

Help needed!

I decided to go for a complete re-install from the DVD, loaded Kubuntu, and from the console installed all the new drivers required for video, audio, lan etc.  I then ran the LinuxMCE install, but now when the machine boots it just comes up with a login prompt, and when I sign in, I have only the "ubuntu" prompt.

How can I get LinuxMCE to start, or even the Kubuntu KDE desktop??

I have a feeling that is was the NVIDIA driver that caused this problem, but I don't know how to undo it without a complete re-install again.  Is there a simple command I can run from the ubuntu prompt to start KDE?

Sorry for all the help requests, gotta get this thing up and running somehow.

Matt.