Hello all, I have a rather peculiar problem that I hope you might help me resolve. Firstly my setup is rather esoteric and will take some time to explain, so I'll apologize in advance for the confusing novel I'm about to write. I have a combined MythvTV back/front end machine that runs in a dual-seat configuration with two instances of Mythfrontend. This machine is purely a Mythtv box and nothing else. No "normal" user interaction occurs on this machine, it doesn't even have any keyboard or mouse. I should point out that for the most part each seat is totally isolated from the other. Every aspect of use in either seat is perfect and does not interfere with the other seat, except for one issue that I will explain monemtarily. Because this particular machine is part of a Savant home automation/control and AV distribution system (which includes a heterogeneous collection of sink devices with varying capabilities), I require that: 1> Each seat output audio and video independently of the other and behave as though the other seat doesn't exist. 2> Each seat must output 8 channel LPCM over HDMI while simultaneously down-mixing to analogue stereo via the built in intel-hda device. 8 Channel audio over HDMI is working perfectly at the ALSA level. Similarly the 8 channel to stereo down-mix is also working perfectly at the ALSA level. This functionality has been repeatedly tested with variations on the following commands: mythtv 8 Channel # sudo -u mythtv0 mplayer -ao alsa:device=plug=mythtv0analogue -channels 8 -format s16le ./8_Channel_ID.wav mythtv 8 Channel # sudo -u mythtv0 mplayer -ao alsa:device=plug=mythtv0digital -channels 8 -format s16le ./8_Channel_ID.wav and mythtv 8 Channel # sudo -u mythtv0 speaker-test -Dmythtv0analogue -c8 -twav mythtv 8 Channel # sudo -u mythtv0 speaker-test -Dmythtv0digital -c8 -twav The problem occurs when I try to use PA to combine the two ALSA devices in each seat into one logical aggregate device using the "load-module module-combine-sink" configuration parameter. In each seat the logical aggregate device is unique to that seat and is comprised of hardware outputs, not used by the other seat. Trying to output sound to this aggregate device in either seat, despite my best efforts, results in only 6 channels being used at the most. All the normal 5.1 (6) channel stuff works fine, given correct test conditions. The channels are mapped properly from Front left (ch 0) right up to rear-right (ch 5) and I can successfully downmix these channels, but side-left (ch 6) and side-right (ch 7) always remain silent. This problem is highly repeatable with commands such as the following: mythtv 8 Channel # sudo -u mythtv0 speaker-test -Dmythtv0pulse -c8 -twav mythtv 8 Channel # sudo -u mythtv0 speaker-test -Dpulse -c8 -twav and mythtv 8 Channel # sudo -u mythtv0 mplayer -ao pulse 127.0.0.1:mythtv0analogue -channels 8 -format s16le ./8_Channel_ID.wav mythtv 8 Channel # sudo -u mythtv0 mplayer -ao pulse 127.0.0.1:mythtv0 -channels 8 -format s16le ./8_Channel_ID.wav mythtv 8 Channel # sudo -u mythtv0 mplayer -ao pulse 127.0.0.1:pulse -channels 8 -format s16le ./8_Channel_ID.wav This is rather confounding as I know that the raw ALSA output devices and definitions are working perfectly, transporting all 8 channels in the correct order and at the correct volume. I have searched the web repeatedly for others with similar issues, but I have not yet found a solution. I have tried numerous configuration options and have refined the setup, for the most part, to have only the features that are absolutely required for the desired functionality. I'm convinced that this is the result of a channel mapping problem in PA as the results do vary somewhat depending on the test method in use. Some test result in only the first three channel being audible others up to 6 but never more than that. I've even tried parec/pacat to try and capture the raw stream from the various monitor devices in PA, the results were mixed, but nothing even close to the full 8 channels could be heard at any time in my recordings, even when played back on different hardware. Machine details are as follows: Sabyon/Gentoo Kernel 3.11.0 Pulseaudio 4.0 alsa-lib 1.0.27.1 alsa-utils 1.0.27.2 Core2Quad at 2.66GHz 4GB Ram 1TB Storage in RAID0 500GB primary disk 00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82G33/G31/P35/P31 Express DRAM Controller (rev 10) 00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82G33/G31/P35/P31 Express PCI Express Root Port (rev 10) 00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 01) 00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family PCI Express Port 1 (rev 01) 00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family PCI Express Port 2 (rev 01) 00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 01) 00:1d.1 USB controller: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 01) 00:1d.2 USB controller: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 01) 00:1d.3 USB controller: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 01) 00:1d.7 USB controller: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 01) 00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge (rev e1) 00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801GB/GR (ICH7 Family) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 01) 00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) IDE Controller (rev 01) 00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family SATA Controller [IDE mode] (rev 01) 00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family SMBus Controller (rev 01) 01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GT218 [GeForce 210] (rev a2) 01:00.1 Audio device: NVIDIA Corporation High Definition Audio Controller (rev a1) 02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 03) 03:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GT218 [GeForce 210] (rev a2) 03:00.1 Audio device: NVIDIA Corporation High Definition Audio Controller (rev a1) 04:00.0 Multimedia video controller: Conexant Systems, Inc. CX23880/1/2/3 PCI Video and Audio Decoder (rev 05) 04:00.1 Multimedia controller: Conexant Systems, Inc. CX23880/1/2/3 PCI Video and Audio Decoder [Audio Port] (rev 05) 04:00.2 Multimedia controller: Conexant Systems, Inc. CX23880/1/2/3 PCI Video and Audio Decoder [MPEG Port] (rev 05) 04:01.0 Multimedia video controller: Conexant Systems, Inc. CX23880/1/2/3 PCI Video and Audio Decoder (rev 05) 04:01.1 Multimedia controller: Conexant Systems, Inc. CX23880/1/2/3 PCI Video and Audio Decoder [Audio Port] (rev 05) 04:01.2 Multimedia controller: Conexant Systems, Inc. CX23880/1/2/3 PCI Video and Audio Decoder [MPEG Port] (rev 05) /etc/daemon.conf *** clip *** ; default-sample-format = s16le default-sample-rate = 48000 alternate-sample-rate = 48000 default-sample-channels = 16 default-channel-map = left,right,rear-left,rear-right,center,lfe,side-left,side-right,aux0,aux1,aux2,aux3,aux4,aux5,aux6,aux7 *** clip *** I can provide far more detail as required, I just don't want to flood you with too much up front.... ;-) Any clues? Thanks in advance, and sorry again for the long post.....
