[mythtv-users] Followed Digital Sound setup, many how-to's, and still completely lost.

[Rich West]

Rich West wrote:
> Steven Adeff wrote:
>   
>> On 2/3/07, Rich West <Rich.West at wesmo.com> wrote:
>>   
>>     
>>> Rich West wrote:
>>>     
>>>       
>>>> Steven Adeff wrote:
>>>>       
>>>>         
>>>>> On 2/3/07, Rich West <Rich.West at wesmo.com> wrote:
>>>>>         
>>>>>           
>>>>>> Rich West wrote:
>>>>>>           
>>>>>>             
>>>>>>> *sigh*  I am reluctantly sending this to the listt, but no matter what I
>>>>>>> try, I cannot seem to get consistent results from any of the "digital
>>>>>>> sound" how-to's.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Goal:
>>>>>>> Pump all sound out via SPDIF and let my receiver do the work.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Near Goal:
>>>>>>> Hey, I would be content if I just had to switch the input on my receiver
>>>>>>> from the TV setting (L/R stereo in)) to my DVD setting (Optical 5.1
>>>>>>> Audio in).
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> What I have tried so far:
>>>>>>> http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/Configuring_Digital_Sound#ALSA_Utilities,
>>>>>>> http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_Dolby_Digital_Out_(AC3,_SPDIF) (I have FC5,
>>>>>>> but I thought some of it might apply), along with following a couple of
>>>>>>> threads in the list.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Here's where I am at:
>>>>>>> <..snip..>
>>>>>>> Although I've read the Wiki's, How-To's, and other postings, I just feel
>>>>>>> like I am missing something simple here...
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>             
>>>>>>>               
>>>>>> Muhaha.. I just got things working.  I missed the thread from "Josh
>>>>>> <TwoOneSix at thatclothingco.com>" titled "Re: [mythtv-users] M-Audio
>>>>>> Revolution 5.1 and FC6 [Working!]".
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The piece I was missing was (sort-of) listed in his message.  I needed
>>>>>> to set the default audio-output to ALSA:default along with the
>>>>>> passthrough device to ALSA:default.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Watching LiveTV and watching recordings now outputs via the SPDIF
>>>>>> optical connection (interestingly, my receiver flips to "Dolby
>>>>>> Prologic"), and watching DVD Video's also outputs the sound via SPDIF
>>>>>> optical and the receiver properly sees the incoming stream as AC3.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Interestingly, though, MythMusic no longer outputs anything.. Gotta look
>>>>>> in to that.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> BYW: Thanks Josh!
>>>>>>
>>>>>> -Rich
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>           
>>>>>>             
>>>>> MythMusic has a separate device option, so you just need to go into
>>>>> the MythMusic settings and change it to match what you have for TV.
>>>>>
>>>>>         
>>>>>           
>>>> After seeing in my mythtvfrontend.log (I never even knew that there was
>>>> a "-v audio" option to mythfrontend. :) ):
>>>> 2007-02-03 13:42:04.346 Opening ALSA audio device 'spdif'.
>>>> 2007-02-03 13:42:04.347 in SetParameters(format=2, channels=2,
>>>> rate=44100, buffer_time=500000, period_time=125000)
>>>> 2007-02-03 13:42:04.348 AudioOutput Error: Rate doesn't match (requested
>>>> 44100Hz, got 48000Hz)
>>>>
>>>> And then seeing your message, I changed the output device to /dev/dsp.
>>>> Muhahah.. that worked.  I just set it to /dev/dsp to use the L/R audio out.
>>>>
>>>> It's actually kind of interesting that the optical input on my receiver
>>>> is tagged as "CD Optical Audio In".  CD's are 44.1khz, right?
>>>>
>>>> Too bad I can't pump everything through the optical connection.. I
>>>> wonder why it won't send it at 44.1khz..
>>>>       
>>>>         
>>> Wow.. didn't realize just how close I was. :)
>>>
>>> I updated /etc/modprobe.conf to include:
>>> options snd-pcm-oss adsp_map=1
>>>
>>> As per the KnoppMyth Wiki (I'm not running KnoppMyth, though), but that
>>> alone did not help.  However, a little further UP in that wiki entry, I
>>> came across an /etc/asound.conf entry:
>>> pcm.!default {
>>> type plug
>>> slave {
>>> pcm "spdif"
>>> rate 48000
>>> format S16_LE
>>> }
>>> }
>>>
>>>
>>> I put that in place, updated the default output device and passthrough
>>> device to be "ALSA:default" and set the MythMusic device back to "default".
>>>
>>> Viola!  Everything goes through the optical connection... :)
>>>     
>>>       
>> Rich, I humbly ask that you create a mythtv wiki entry for your setup
>> to help any of those that may be looking to use the same sound setup
>> you have.
>>   
>>     
>
> There currently is a WIKI entry for Digital Sound.. I'll update it to 
> reflect my experiences..

Ok.. Done.  :)

-Rich