[ale] No sound in X but sound at the console?

James Sumners james.sumners at gmail.com
Sat Sep 13 21:51:13 EDT 2008


I figured out the problem. According to post [1], nVidia silently
introduced audio pass through over HDMI (something I actually want).
Since I just upgraded to the 173 driver set, this is now "enabled" on
my HTPC. However, I cannot get any audio to play over SPDIF; at least,
I'm not able to hear the audio being played over SPDIF. So it
effectively means I'm not getting any audio when I am connected
through HDMI and X is running.

I've temporarily switched over to VGA (through a DVI->VGA converter)
and my system is working again. But I need to figure out this HDMI
audio problem, because this VGA picture is _ugly_.

[1] -- http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=1685534&postcount=39

On Sat, Sep 13, 2008 at 10:40 AM, James Sumners <james.sumners at gmail.com> wrote:
> No. My root account's .xinitrc consists of nothing but e16. My mythtv
> accounts X session just runs ratpoison and mythfrontend. So there
> shouldn't be anything grabbing the sound (particularly esd).
>
> I just started up X with nothing but an xterm and still no sound.
> Could the video card driver be interfering with the sound?
>
> On Sat, Sep 13, 2008 at 1:31 AM, Jim Popovitch <yahoo at jimpop.com> wrote:
>> Ubuntu?  Esd running when in X?  System Preferences -> Sound, disable
>> esd on second tab.
>>
>> -Jim P.
>>
>> On Sat, Sep 13, 2008 at 01:10, James Sumners <james.sumners at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Okay, this one has me stumped. I can do `cat /dev/urandom > /dev/dsp`
>>> or `alsaplay some.wav` at the console to get sound. As root or a sound
>>> privileged user, it doesn't matter. When I start an X session, again,
>>> as root or as a sound privileged user, I can do the same exact thing
>>> and get no sound. To illustrate:
>>>
>>> 1) Login
>>> 2) `alsaplay test.wav` = sound
>>> 3) `xinit`
>>> 4) `alsaplay test.wave` = no sound
>>>
>>> Notice, there wasn't a logout. Anyone have any ideas what could be
>>> causing this? I am totally baffled.
>>>
>>> --
>>> James Sumners
>>> http://james.roomfullofmirrors.com/
>>>
>>> "All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts
>>> pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it
>>> is magnetic to the corruptible. Such people have a tendency to become
>>> drunk on violence, a condition to which they are quickly addicted."
>>>
>>> Missionaria Protectiva, Text QIV (decto)
>>> CH:D 59
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Ale mailing list
>>> Ale at ale.org
>>> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
>>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>>
>
>
>
> --
> James Sumners
> http://james.roomfullofmirrors.com/
>
> "All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts
> pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it
> is magnetic to the corruptible. Such people have a tendency to become
> drunk on violence, a condition to which they are quickly addicted."
>
> Missionaria Protectiva, Text QIV (decto)
> CH:D 59
>



-- 
James Sumners
http://james.roomfullofmirrors.com/

"All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts
pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it
is magnetic to the corruptible. Such people have a tendency to become
drunk on violence, a condition to which they are quickly addicted."

Missionaria Protectiva, Text QIV (decto)
CH:D 59


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