Hi,
With a fresh ubuntu 8.10 install, spdif output worked as expected. I
unmuted both IEC958 and IEC958 Digital in alsamixer, and when I played
audio with mplayer, I would get audio through my spdif output.
Then, fast forward a couple of days, and it randomly stopped working
(I have no idea what triggered this). I would try to play something
in mplayer, and nothing would come out of the spdif output.
However, I discovered that I could get spdif output working with the
mplayer option -ao alsa:device=spdif. This was the only way I could
get sound to play - I tried different combinations of
alsa:device=hw=N,M (N, M being integers), but only spdif worked.
So, I figured there was some setting that got flipped when it randomly
stopped working, and kept being set back by /etc/init.d/alsa-utils via
/var/lib/alsa/asound.state. So, I stopped alsa-utils, renamed
asound.state, and restarted the computer, hoping that all previous
settings would be blown away. Even though a new asound.state was
created, and many of the volumes, etc, looked reset (like the master
volume was muted), other volume levels did not seem to be touched.
Additionally, this "hidden setting" was also still wrong - mplayer
would only play with device=spdif.
After a lot of trial and error, and running a lot more programs, (like
speaker-test), this magic setting flipped back (who knows when) and
mplayer started working again (it would play audio through spdif by
default as well as when I used alsa:device=hw=0,M and
alsa:device=spdif). Because my old non-working asound.state was
saved, I could identify the exact setting. I've attached the diff as
asound.diff. By manually changing this setting by stopping the
alsa-utils service, chaning the setting and then starting the
alsa-utils service, I can toggle between the two behaviors I've been
experiencing (mplayer working by default, and mplayer needing the
alsa:device=spdif in order to work). Since both asound.state files
have the exact same levels in alsamixer, how the heck do I properly
make this setting? What do the numbers in the setting mean?
If anyone has any knowledge or ideas that could bring some sanity to
my situation, it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Kyle
PS:
To add to the mystery here, I've also included the output of aplay -L
and aplay -l (it's the same for both asound.state files). Nowhere in
here do I see any mention of spdif or of iec958. So why is mplayer
working with alsa:device=spdif? Where is that going to?
% aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 0: ALC888 Analog [ALC888 Analog]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 1: ALC888 Digital [ALC888 Digital]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
% aplay -L
default:CARD=NVidia
HDA NVidia, ALC888 Analog
Default Audio Device
front:CARD=NVidia,DEV=0
HDA NVidia, ALC888 Analog
Front speakers
surround40:CARD=NVidia,DEV=0
HDA NVidia, ALC888 Analog
4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=NVidia,DEV=0
HDA NVidia, ALC888 Analog
4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=NVidia,DEV=0
HDA NVidia, ALC888 Analog
5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=NVidia,DEV=0
HDA NVidia, ALC888 Analog
5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71:CARD=NVidia,DEV=0
HDA NVidia, ALC888 Analog
7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
hdmi:CARD=NVidia,DEV=0
HDA NVidia
HDMI Audio Output
null
Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)
Attachment:
asound.diff
Description: Binary data
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