5.1 audio in 8.04

[amphibem]

I have an ASUS M2N-MX SE motherboard with onboard ALC662 High Definition Audio driving basic Creative powered speakers. Audio works fine in 2-channel mode but I want my machine to be a complete HTPC, including playing DVDs, plus possibly have 2-channel stuff such as TV come out all 6 speakers (ie upmixed).

Can this be done in Ubuntu? Should I be asking this in the general multimedia forumn?

So far I have tested 2-channel stuff, it only comes out the front 2 speakers and the quality isn't great. Just getting the low-end to the sub would improve things.

Next step is try a proper 5.1 DVD, will get back after. Anyone got any idea's, or are there guides I can try following?

Cheers

[amphibem]

OK still havn't tried a 5.1 source but doesn't look good. First I found the upmix settings in mythtv, and currently have 5.1 speakers with passive upmixing set. The other two settings were clearly sending the voices mostly through the center speakers (as you would expect) as the music dominated the voices on that setting. Also, my back speakers tend to get an earth hum while watching TV.

So it is definatly only the front 2 speakers that have audio. I have installed ALSA GUI mixer and GNOME GUI mixer and both of them give me options for 'Line In' and 'Mic' volumes; these are obviously the default settings for the other jacks on the sound card, the ones I want to use for center/sub and surround. I have turned the volume up on these but no dice.

So it appears I need to install something (drivers?) that give me 5.1 rather than 2.0 + line in + mic. What is capable of this?

Edit: OK so followed this simple guide here (http://www.newlinuxuser.com/surround-sound-in-ubuntu/), and then used

speaker-test -Dplug:surround51 -c6 -l1 -twav

Even threw in a restart for good luck (Windows habits die hard!) and still only get sound out of the front speakers. Is it possible this hardware just won't work with Linux?

[laga]

You probably need to change the audio device to something like ALSA:plug:default|plug:surround5.1 I'm sure there are some choices available in that text entry box.

edit I've just seen your edit... maybe a google search is in order to determine if your hardware is indeed supported with multichannel output.

[prshah]

So it appears I need to install something (drivers?) that give me 5.1 rather than 2.0 + line in + mic. What is capable of this?


Why not just double click the Sound icon (Volume Control) and then use the "Switches" tab to change the role of the Mic and line-in?

(See attached screenshot?)

[amphibem]

edit I've just seen your edit... maybe a google search is in order to determine if your hardware is indeed supported with multichannel output.

Hmm thats a good idea. Mostly pulls up people taling about issues getting sound working (which isn't my problem), but in this thread (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=4716522) s4ncho is talking about his 'amixer' settings. I don't know whis is but it look relevant. The code he has has setting for surround, LFE and:

Simple mixer control 'Channel Mode',0
Capabilities: enum
Items: '2ch' '6ch'
Item0: '2ch'

Is this what I want?

Also what I forgot to mention before is that I found the ALSA:surround51 option in mythbuntu but it resulted in no sound output

[amphibem]

Why not just double click the Sound icon (Volume Control) and then use the "Switches" tab to change the role of the Mic and line-in?

(See attached screenshot?)

That looks promising but I can't see that icon (I assume it is usually in the top right corner?). How can I get to those options?

[prshah]

That looks promising but I can't see that icon (I assume it is usually in the top right corner?). How can I get to those options?

If it's not in the top-right corner (speaker with sound waves coming out of it) I have it in Applications-Sound and Video-Volume Control.

Or just press Alt-F2 and type "gnome-volume-control" and press enter... got the options?

[amphibem]

If it's not in the top-right corner (speaker with sound waves coming out of it) I have it in Applications-Sound and Video-Volume Control.

Or just press Alt-F2 and type "gnome-volume-control" and press enter... got the options?

Well this doesn't look promising, opened it from the terminal (turns out I had to install gnome-media first) and the only option under 'switches' is to turn the microphone on.

So it looks like 5.1 isn't supported in Linux on this motherboard?

[prshah]

So it looks like 5.1 isn't supported in Linux on this motherboard?

Or maybe we need to pass some module options during load time; which module is in use for sound? If you don't know, just post the output of lsmod | grep -i snd

[amphibem]

OK this is what I get:

snd_hda_intel 440408 1
snd_pcm_oss 47648 0
snd_mixer_oss 20224 1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm 92168 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm_oss
snd_page_alloc 13200 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
snd_hwdep 12552 1 snd_hda_intel
snd_seq_dummy 5764 0
snd_seq_oss 38912 0
snd_seq_midi 10688 0
snd_rawmidi 29856 1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_midi_event 10112 2 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi
snd_seq 63232 6 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_m idi_event
snd_timer 27912 2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device 10644 5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmi di,snd_seq
snd 70856 13 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm ,snd_hwdep,snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_rawmidi,s nd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_devic e
soundcore 10400 1 snd

[prshah]

OK this is what I get:

snd_hda_intel 440408 1
snd_pcm_oss 47648 0
snd_mixer_oss 20224 1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm 92168 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm_oss
snd_page_alloc 13200 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
snd_hwdep 12552 1 snd_hda_intel
snd_seq_dummy 5764 0
snd_seq_oss 38912 0
snd_seq_midi 10688 0
snd_rawmidi 29856 1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_midi_event 10112 2 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi
snd_seq 63232 6 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_m idi_event
snd_timer 27912 2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device 10644 5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmi di,snd_seq
snd 70856 13 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm ,snd_hwdep,snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_rawmidi,s nd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_devic e
soundcore 10400 1 snd


Looks OK, have you tried using "alsaconf" to configure a multi-channel card? Note: it's not foolproof.

btw, if you use a LiveCD, does everything work the way you want it to?

[volkswagner]

What is the output of
aplay -l
and
aplay -L
My SB 450 shows all 7 outputs of analog plus HDMI and SPDIF.

[amphibem]

First I want to say I am really appreciative of all the help people!

What is the output of
aplay -l
and
aplay -L
My SB 450 shows all 7 outputs of analog plus HDMI and SPDIF.

OK I get that too:

andrew@media-center:/var/lib/mythtv/recordings$ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 0: ALC662 Analog [ALC662 Analog]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 1: ALC662 Digital [ALC662 Digital]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
andrew@media-center:/var/lib/mythtv/recordings$ aplay -L
default:CARD=NVidia
HDA NVidia, ALC662 Analog
Default Audio Device
front:CARD=NVidia,DEV=0
HDA NVidia, ALC662 Analog
Front speakers
surround40:CARD=NVidia,DEV=0
HDA NVidia, ALC662 Analog
4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=NVidia,DEV=0
HDA NVidia, ALC662 Analog
4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=NVidia,DEV=0
HDA NVidia, ALC662 Analog
5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=NVidia,DEV=0
HDA NVidia, ALC662 Analog
5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71:CARD=NVidia,DEV=0
HDA NVidia, ALC662 Analog
7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
null
Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)


btw, if you use a LiveCD, does everything work the way you want it to?

The 7.10 LiveCD didn't work most of the time, and I just installed straight off the 8.04 alternative disk. But I download the standard 8.04 disk and try that of it is helpful.

Unfortunaly I am heading away for a few days holiday and will be unable to do anything for a bit. Any suggestions you guys have i will follow up when I get back :)

[amphibem]

I add for documentations sake that there are a couple of other steps I have tried.

1) To test 5.1 I found this peice of code:

speaker-test -Dplug:surround51 -c6 -l1 -twav

2)New Linux User (http://www.newlinuxuser.com/surround-sound-in-ubuntu/) has a quick tutorial which involves creating a very basic .asoundrc conf file:

pcm.!default {
type plug
slave.pcm “surround51″
slave.channels 6
route_policy duplicate
}

I have done this and the sound still works but it is not 5.1, using the above test. It didn't make any changes to the option in the GNOME volume mixer either.

I will keep working on this when I get back, many thanks to those who have helped so far.

[amphibem]

OK I have been working over PM with user tomcio with this, they have 5.1 working with the ALC662 audio controller.

Add line below:
options snd-hda-intel model=3stack-6ch
to file /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base, than restart your PC. Note, that new channels may be muted.

I have done this and re-started, used volume mixer to make sure the surround channels are unmuted.

I installed Pulse-Audio and what looked like the required components. My .asoundrc is as below


pcm.!default {
type pulse
}
ctl.!default {
type pulse
}


Speaker-test still only plays out front speakers.

So I ask, have I done what is neccesary to enable PusleAudio (and I am a newb here, does Pulse work along side or instead of ALSA?)?

There is more that I have tried but I just lost lost the long post I typed out on this, and I don't feel like typing it all again?

Anythoughts on what I am missing? And on a slightly different note, would a discrete sound card be a viable solution or am i likely to be stuck with the same problem?

[Lindsay.Mathieson]

Just chiming in - I have the same problem - ALC662 on a M2NVM DVI Board. Stero sound is OK but cannot get 5.1 working, have tried the suggestions here on this thread.

[Lindsay.Mathieson]

SOLVED!

I added options snd-hda-intel model=3stack-6ch as mentioned earlier. That gave me the extra channels under alsamixer and enabled the Surround, Center and LFE channels, but still just stereo sound coming out.

Then I noticed at the very right of the alsamixer window (it scrolls left/right!) there was a channel setting which was set to *2*! I set it to 6 and bingo - All six channels worked with "speaker-test -Dplug:surround51 -c 6 -t wav".

Just remember to do a 'alsactl store' to make the changes permanent.

No need for the pulseaudio, .asoundrc or gnome-media.

Now I just have to persuade the mythtv DVD player to do 5.1 ... :)

[amphibem]

Thats good to hear! I am currently not running myth because it doesn't support NZ's DVB-T fully (specifically the AAC audio) but will come back to this if I start using myth again.

[Lindsay.Mathieson]

Thats good to hear! I am currently not running myth because it doesn't support NZ's DVB-T fully (specifically the AAC audio) but will come back to this if I start using myth again.

Ah, I saw mention of that on the GBPVR forums (is that what you're running currently?) - oddball codec isn't it? Hadn't realised it was an issue for Myth.

[amphibem]

Ah, I saw mention of that on the GBPVR forums (is that what you're running currently?) - oddball codec isn't it? Hadn't realised it was an issue for Myth.

No I am running MediaPortal, has the most features (read closest to mythtv :p) of the windows PVR suites. Specifically GBPVR dosn't support multirec AFAIK

[Lindsay.Mathieson]

No I am running MediaPortal, has the most features (read closest to mythtv :p) of the windows PVR suites. Specifically GBPVR dosn't support multirec AFAIK


Interesting, I looked at both GBPCR and MediaPortal. I really like the interface on GBPVR, out of the three (Myth, GBPVR, MP) I thought it was the best that way and it had decent support for Season Pass and a web interface. But Yah, the lack of OpenSource and multirec was a real issue. Multirec makes a huge difference for overlapping back/back recordings and recordings on the same transponder.

I liked the look of MediaPortal but when I last checked it out it was way to unstable for my taste. And the lack of support for season pass or a web interface was a killer. I know they're available as plugins but the integration (to me) was poor.

My main issues with Myth are the clunkiness of the frontend interface and the difficulty of hardware support. I can live with the frontend - its still better than most commercial PVR's and I've got round the last of hardware stuff now ... but the server side is outstanding, the web interface is just brilliant, the support for advert detection, the various transcoding options ... etc :) Drives me crazy sometimes but its a geek toy dream.

[amphibem]

This is getting pretty OT, but i would have to agree with you on pretty much all of that. I do like the MP interface though, just got to get around to removing the annoying sound when a button is pressed!

Definately missing commercial detection and a web interface; the comskip plugin doesnt work for digital TV and the web plugin hasn't been updated for the v1. Nowhere near as polished as Myth. That said 5.1 sound setup was a breeze (I just installed the drivers and changed th speaker setting to '6 speakers' :)) and the hardware acceleration works, can't see that happening in Linux for many years.

[Lindsay.Mathieson]

This is getting pretty OT

yah better call it a day after this :)

and the hardware acceleration works, can't see that happening in Linux for many years.

I'd kill to see proper hardware support for the various video chips ... the 780G boards would be killer under linux. Thats where windows is streets ahead.

There does seem to be strong movement from NVidia, ATI and Intel to open up their docs and source code so maybe we could even see some decent support in the next few months.

[Lindsay.Mathieson]

Ok, back on topic :) I finally hooked up my system to a proper 5.1 amp and tested it with a DVD (Lord of the Rings Extended version). 5.1 definitely works, sounds great in fact.

And the movie looks a lot better with the Myth player than it did with my crappy non-upscaling DVD player.

[udhaychandran]

SOLVED!

I added options snd-hda-intel model=3stack-6ch as mentioned earlier. That gave me the extra channels under alsamixer and enabled the Surround, Center and LFE channels, but still just stereo sound coming out.

Then I noticed at the very right of the alsamixer window (it scrolls left/right!) there was a channel setting which was set to *2*! I set it to 6 and bingo - All six channels worked with "speaker-test -Dplug:surround51 -c 6 -t wav".

Just remember to do a 'alsactl store' to make the changes permanent.

No need for the pulseaudio, .asoundrc or gnome-media.

Now I just have to persuade the mythtv DVD player to do 5.1 ... :)





I added those lines at the end of the alsa-base file. Its not working. I restarted after doing so. But no luck. Can u tell me in which line should i append snd-hda-intel model=3stack-6ch in alsa-base
My aplay -l and aplay -L outputs are
anudh@Dreamland:~$ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 0: ALC883 Analog [ALC883 Analog]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
anudh@Dreamland:~$ aplay -L
default:CARD=Intel
HDA Intel, ALC883 Analog
Default Audio Device
front:CARD=Intel,DEV=0
HDA Intel, ALC883 Analog
Front speakers
surround40:CARD=Intel,DEV=0
HDA Intel, ALC883 Analog
4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=Intel,DEV=0
HDA Intel, ALC883 Analog
4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=Intel,DEV=0
HDA Intel, ALC883 Analog
5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=Intel,DEV=0
HDA Intel, ALC883 Analog
5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71:CARD=Intel,DEV=0
HDA Intel, ALC883 Analog
7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
null
Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)

[tux-gamer]

SOLVED!

I added options snd-hda-intel model=3stack-6ch as mentioned earlier. That gave me the extra channels under alsamixer and enabled the Surround, Center and LFE channels, but still just stereo sound coming out.

Then I noticed at the very right of the alsamixer window (it scrolls left/right!) there was a channel setting which was set to *2*! I set it to 6 and bingo - All six channels worked with "speaker-test -Dplug:surround51 -c 6 -t wav".

Just remember to do a 'alsactl store' to make the changes permanent.

No need for the pulseaudio, .asoundrc or gnome-media.

Now I just have to persuade the mythtv DVD player to do 5.1 ... :)

Thanks, for your post.
Now i can get 6 channel in my BIOSTAR GF8100M2+ TE with ALC662 :D
btw, if i do speaker-test, the sound is crappy...
but, in mplayer, arts, and other aplications, the sound is perfect and great...