HDMI nvidia HDA sound issues ZOTAC ZBOX (id41) - 1004

[tompin2]

Dear all,

I have created this new Post so it help other to find information about his issue.  I started a post about Video issues and ended up with 1 page for video and two more about audio problems.  I hope this help other to share and get all the information needed.

So far my problem is more or less described in post http://forum.linuxmce.org/index.php/topic,12594.0.html  give it a look, there is good information.

So far my problem is that for ZOTAC ZBOX aka ID41 is working half way now, speaker-test works and with some modifications at asound.conf I get the sound working but no ac3 nor DTS (regardless of the pass-through check on web admin).  Other might find this information useful for nvidia hda soundcards using hdmi

On the next post I'll try to copy information from the post above and condense it properly so all the information related to this issue stays in one place.

Cheers,

T
 

[l3mce]

Sorry... I was saying to make your changes to the template, and see if they are preserved, rather than making changes to the /etc/asound.conf file every time.

[bushtech]

Still trying to figure out what's potting.When I play dvd from core I get sound from all speakers in 5.1 setup. If I do  speaker-test -D hdmi -c2 I get audio from 2 speakers (L+R). If I try  speaker-test -D hdmi -c7 I get : Playback open error: -16,Device or resource busy.

My old Denon amp (Fed by fiber from TV) is set on auto for input. I am thinking what I'm am actually getting is the equivalent of 5 channel stereo

Alsamixer (V1.0.22) outputting via S/pdif. Is this correct?

[tompin2]

Still trying to figure out what's potting.When I play dvd from core I get sound from all speakers in 5.1 setup. If I do  speaker-test -D hdmi -c2 I get audio from 2 speakers (L+R). If I try  speaker-test -D hdmi -c7 I get : Playback open error: -16,Device or resource busy.

My old Denon amp (Fed by fiber from TV) is set on auto for input. I am thinking what I'm am actually getting is the equivalent of 5 channel stereo

Alsamixer (V1.0.22) outputting via S/pdif. Is this correct?

Hi Bushtech,

Sorry for the delay, I'm Having similar problems maybe worst, I don't even get 5.1 with playing DVDs from the core.  For some reason it is not sending 5.1 audio.  I had problem trying speaker test with alsa 1.0.22, in order to get perfect test regardless of the channel configuration I upgraded to 1.0.25.  I believe that my problem is on the device naming.  My systems believes that "hdmi" audio is something else than hw:0,7.  I need to know how to change correct that problem.   I hope it helps.

T

[Viking]

Hi,

Not sure if it is the same thing. On my 1004 system (see link below) I also have got no AC3 sound on the MD. The output is from my soundcard spdif optical to the amplifier.

It works nicely in the test in the 1004 AV wizard though!
Also in 804 it works.

But DVD and other things are only played as PCM over the optical SPDIF!?

Regards Viking

[bushtech]

Tompin 2
Does your alsamixer also say s/pdif output? This bothers me as I can see my s/pdif out on the zbox is lit up red i.e transmitting.

Viking
I have had sound a couple of times but a reboot or 2 soon kills the sound. Although I have recently started suspecting that when I have sound it's not 5.1 dolby but the amp converting 2 channel sound to 5 channel stereo.

[tompin2]

Tompin 2
Does your alsamixer also say s/pdif output? This bothers me as I can see my s/pdif out on the zbox is lit up red i.e transmitting.

Viking
I have had sound a couple of times but a reboot or 2 soon kills the sound. Although I have recently started suspecting that when I have sound it's not 5.1 dolby but the amp converting 2 channel sound to 5 channel stereo.

Hi Bushtech, Let me check on it write you back.

[ardirtbiker]

Re-igniting this thread!!!!


Ive managed to get stereo audio from my MD (NVidia GTX 550 Ti) to my receiver.  Ive gone thru all the other threads and other internet searches, but cannot find a viable solution to resolving the 'stereo only' issue.

I had to upgrade the kernel to 2.6.38 to even get the system to see the HDA NVidia devices (read somewhere on nVidia web site that minimum was 2.6.38)
*** I even tried 3.0.0-24 kernel as well... at this point is when I got the stereo audio thru HDMI****

Alsa is at 1.0.24.

Both my onboard sound card and NVidia card use the snd-hda-intel driver:

0 [SB             ]: HDA-Intel - HDA ATI SB
                     HDA ATI SB at 0xf7ff4000 irq 16
1 [NVidia         ]: HDA-Intel - HDA NVidia
                     HDA NVidia at 0xfbe7c000 irq 19

standard testing yields proper results:
aplay -D plug:hdmi /usr/share/sounds/alsa/Front_Center.wav  plays the .wav file.
speaker-test -D plug:hdmi -c8 plays the 'static' thru each speaker in succession.

It is ONLY in LMCE that i get stereo audio ...  in AVWizard audio setup and after MD is active playing a 5.1 or 7.1 movie.


Has anyone gotten any farther?


any help will be greatly appreciated.

Dennis

[tompin2]

Hi Ardirtbiker,

I haven't been able to get too far either.  No luck with the wiki page posted by l3mce.  Even if I follow step by step the wiki of hdmi audio on 1004, just after finish it.  I only get audio if I run speaker-test at the command first.  After that, kdesktop have sounds but xine doesn't and of course lmce neither.  I don't know what to do any more!

I hope to find the answer soon.

Cheers!

[l3mce]

We have made changes to the code to try and overcome this, and I believe that following the wiki and using this new code probably won't work right.

I need to sit down with someone who is doing a fresh install, and go over things step by step to try and determine the issue. What I do know, is that AVWizard will not play audio with the fresh code, but audio SHOULD work in the system anyway... unless you follow the wiki. Then I expect things will not work, because the db value of card 1 will be wrong... and I don't expect it will ever work.

[ardirtbiker]

success!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Okay... lets see what I can tell I did.

here is my asound.conf file... it may have extra junk from all the things I tried... but it works:

Code: [Select]

pcm_slave.convert {
@args [ RATE CARD DEV ]
@args.RATE {
type integer
}
@args.CARD {
type string
}
@args.DEV {
type integer
default 0
}
pcm {
@func concat
strings [ $CARD "," $DEV ]
}
rate $RATE
}

pcm.spdif_playback {
type plug
slave {
@func concat
strings [ "convert:RATE=48000,CARD=spdif:%MAIN_CARD%" ]
}
}

pcm.hdmi_playback {
type plug
slave {
@func concat
strings [ "convert:RATE=48000,CARD=hdmi:%MAIN_CARD%" ]
}
}

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

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

pcm.asym_analog {
type asym
playback.pcm "%ANALOG_PLAYBACK_CARD%"
capture.pcm "plughw:%MAIN_CARD%"
}

pcm.!default {
type hw
card NVidia
device 7
}

ctl.!default {
type hw
card NVidia
}

#
#  Hardware output from HDMI
#

pcm.!hdmi {
@args [ CARD DEV AES0 AES1 AES2 AES3 ]
@args.CARD {
type string
default {
@func getenv
vars [
ALSA_IEC958_CARD
ALSA_PCM_CARD
ALSA_CARD
]
default {
@func refer
name defaults.pcm.iec958.card
}
}
}
@args.DEV {
type integer
default {
@func igetenv
vars [
ALSA_IEC958_DEVICE
]
default {
@func refer
name defaults.pcm.iec958.device
}
}
}
@args.AES0 {
type integer
# consumer, not-copyright, emphasis-none, mode=0
default 0x04
}
@args.AES1 {
type integer
# original, PCM coder
default 0x82
}
@args.AES2 {
type integer
# source and channel
default 0x00
}
@args.AES3 {
type integer
# fs=48000Hz, clock accuracy=1000ppm
default 0x02
}
type empty
slave.pcm {
@func refer
name {
@func concat
strings [
"cards."
{
@func card_driver
card $CARD
}
".pcm.hdmi." $DEV ":"
"CARD=" $CARD ","
"AES0=" $AES0 ","
"AES1=" $AES1 ","
"AES2=" $AES2 ","
"AES3=" $AES3
]
}
}
hint {
show {
@func refer
name defaults.namehint.basic
}
description "HDMI Audio Output"
device $DEV
}
}

pcm.!default {
type plug
slave {
pcm "hw:0,1"
format S32_LE
}
}

pcm.!default {
     type plug
     slave.pcm "hdmi"
}

The later modifications came from here: http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/AllensDigitalAudioHowto

I also modified xine.conf according to this: http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/NVidia_GT220_HDMI_sound


I am also running a higher kernel version... I tried 2.6.38 before these modifications (which i didnt work) then updated to 3.0.0-24 before making these modifications.   (my nvidia card - GTX 550 Ti - requires at least 2.6.38 to see the NVidia HDMI audio hardware).

I'll keep informing if something happens.

Dennis

UPDATE:    Mythtv plays surround fine, and movies play proper audio as well.

[l3mce]

You guys are killing me with duct tape. Literally smothering me out.

I have had ID41s working audio without ANY massage.

Your speaker-test's are wrong. If you want to test surround the appropriate command is:
speaker-test -Dplug:surround51 -c6 -t sine -l 1 -D hw:0,7

for instance... change card and device as appropriate.

[ardirtbiker]

l3mce,

before making any mods above, running speaker test worked... running a command of ' aplay -D plughw:hdmi  blah blah blah..' worked also.  i could not get any audio in mythtv other than stereo, and all my movies were in stereo as well.  

The default settings didnt work...     so, you do what ya gotta do until a proper fix can be obtained!!!  <grin>

Dennis

[l3mce]

ardirtbiker...


I do not have this equipment, and I live in absolute squaller. I need peoples help to make this work. These hacks de-motivate people from helping ME make this stuff work automagically.

I like you. Very fond. Stop supplying duct tape, dump into chat, and help me make this WORK.

[ardirtbiker]

l3mce,
what is it that you need from me so as to work toward a fix?   Ive never gone into irc... and I see you are like 4 or 5 hours ahead of me.  But if I get into irc... Im sure someone is going to want INFO... I'd like to be prepared.

I do realize that it is not practical to have all possible hardware to test...   It is easy enough to put my MD back to default (however I think that the kernel required for my card needs to be greater than the default... I tried the backported alsa 1.0.24 before upgrading the kernel, but none of the HDMI audio devices were seen without the updated kernel).

Dennis