Arch Linux

aringq

Member

Registered: 2026-01-28

Posts: 2

[SOLVED] Audio through HDMI not working

I have a windows 10 PC and an Arch Linux laptop (6.18.6-arch1-1).
I've tried connecting both of them via the same HDMI cable to a philips monitor and a philips TV.
The windows PC has audio on both, the laptop only on the monitor and not TV.

$ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: ALC3246 Analog [ALC3246 Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 3: HDMI 0 [PHILIPS FTV]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 7: HDMI 1 [HDMI 1]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 8: HDMI 2 [HDMI 2]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

When I do a speaker-test with card 0 device 3 i get sound coming from TV:

$ speaker-test -c 2 -D hw:0,3

Or when I change ~/.asoundrc or /etc/asound.conf to use it as the default, the speaker-test and aplay with wav files play sound from the TV correctly:

pcm.!default {
    type hw
    card 0
    device 3
}

Everything is unmuted in alsamixer, and whenever I play something, the audio volume section in the bottom-right shows the soundbar moving as if something is playing. Tho when I do the speaker-test or aplay the soundbar doesn't move.
I've selected Digital Stereo (HDMI) Output in both pavucontrol and the audio volume section at the bottom-right.

output of wpctl status:

$ wpctl status
PipeWire 'pipewire-0' [1.4.10, ac@Delhi, cookie:1297878895]
 └─ Clients:
        32. WirePlumber                         [1.4.10, ac@Delhi, pid:1225]
        33. pipewire                            [1.4.10, ac@Delhi, pid:1227]
        44. libcanberra                         [1.4.10, ac@Delhi, pid:1435]
        46. WirePlumber [export]                [1.4.10, ac@Delhi, pid:1225]
        56. kwin_wayland                        [1.4.10, ac@Delhi, pid:1305]
        60.                                     [1.4.10, ac@Delhi, pid:1435]
        61. plasmashell                         [1.4.10, ac@Delhi, pid:1462]
        62. libcanberra                         [1.4.10, ac@Delhi, pid:1462]
        63. xdg-desktop-portal                  [1.4.10, ac@Delhi, pid:1314]
        64.                                     [1.4.10, ac@Delhi, pid:1462]
        65. Firefox                             [1.4.10, ac@Delhi, pid:1862]
        66. Firefox                             [1.4.10, ac@Delhi, pid:1862]
        68. wpctl                               [1.4.10, ac@Delhi, pid:10018]

Audio
 ├─ Devices:
 │      47. Built-in Audio                      [alsa]
 │  
 ├─ Sinks:
 │  *   55. Built-in Audio Digital Stereo (HDMI) [vol: 1.00]
 │  
 ├─ Sources:
 │  
 ├─ Filters:
 │  
 └─ Streams:
        67. Firefox                                                     
             69. output_FR       > PHILIPS FTV:playback_FR      [init]
             71. output_FL       > PHILIPS FTV:playback_FL      [init]

Video
 ├─ Devices:
 │      34. Integrated_Webcam_HD                [v4l2]
 │      45. Integrated_Webcam_HD                [v4l2]
 │  
 ├─ Sinks:
 │  
 ├─ Sources:
 │  *   42. Integrated_Webcam_HD (V4L2)        
 │  
 ├─ Filters:
 │  
 └─ Streams:

Settings
 └─ Default Configured Devices:
         0. Audio/Sink    alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1f.3.hdmi-stereo
         1. Audio/Source  alsa_input.usb-Corsair_CORSAIR_HS70_Pro_Wireless_Gaming_Headset-00.pro-input-0

Running wpctl status with -k flag shows the sink as 'PHILIPS FTV'.

Thank you!

Last edited by aringq (2026-01-28 19:47:16)

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 25,005

Re: [SOLVED] Audio through HDMI not working

pactl list cards
pactl list sinks

If direct ALSA works,  there will be ways to make pipewire work. (just to make sure, if you really intend to use pipewire you should remove that config you created for testing this now...)

Last edited by V1del (2026-01-28 19:22:46)

aringq

Member

Registered: 2026-01-28

Posts: 2

Re: [SOLVED] Audio through HDMI not working

Thanks for the reply. Switching to PulseAudio fixed HDMI audio on my system, so I’m using that for now and marking this solved.

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 25,005

Re: [SOLVED] Audio through HDMI not working

Pipewire and pulseaudio basically use 1:1 the same code for card/profile enumeration so I somewhat doubt this can't be fixed in pipewire (speaking of which, if you had pulseaudio and wireplumber installed at the same time that will have been a logically conflict that can cause all sorts of weirdness, in which case the proper fix would have been installing pipewire-pulse in lieu of pulseaudio)

One thing that does differ and might well be the cause is that pipewire polls with 48kHz by default and pulseaudio with 44.1kHz. If this is the relevant difference pipewire could be configured relevantly: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/PipeWi … ample_rate