Nforce2 sound issues +others

Mikko777 · 2007-05-30 19:47:16

Hi,

Just installed Arch my desktop and I'm getting some grey hair now.

Whatever I do, I can't seem to configure my sounds to work properly.
Sounds DO work though, just not perfectly.

I'm using Nforce2 soundstorm onboard chip with _SPDIFF_ and i'm beginning to feel that its more of a hardware than software problem, so heres the problem:

Can't get mpd to work with mplayer simultaneously, also tremulous wont make a sound and volumecontrol is kinda flaky... So any1 got nforce2 and spdiff to work with dmix and volumecontrol and games?

Heres my asound.conf

#/etc/asound.conf start:
pcm.!default {
    type plug
    slave.pcm "softvol"   #make use of softvol
}
pcm.dsp0 {
    type plug
    slave.pcm "dmixer"
}
pcm.softvol {
    type            softvol
    slave {
        pcm         "dmixer"      #redirect the output to dmix (instead of "hw:0,0")
    }
    control {
        name        "PCM"       #override the PCM slider to set the softvol volume level globally
        card        0
    }
}
pcm.dmixer {
    type dmix
    ipc_key 1024
    ipc_key_add_uid false # let multiple users share
    ipc_perm 0660 # IPC permissions (octal, default 0600)
    slave {
        pcm "hw:0,2"
        period_time 0
        period_size 1024
        buffer_size 8192
        rate 48000
    }
    bindings {
        0 0
        1 1
    }
}
ctl.dmixer {
    type hw
    card 0
}

Then a question how do I change edev mx1000 configured buttons on apps? like logitech drivers in windows?
ie using scrollbutton for back--forth is kinda not what i want also how to map midbutton to that mx1000 side button?

Also im using opensource ati to get aiglx to work and games have graphic anomalies and crash alot, is that normal? Can it be fixed?

Hmmm I think that was all... So user experiences / configs wanted

Mikko777 · 2007-05-31 13:09:11

Question1 Semi--Pending:

Well, ... lotsa nfroce2 users then... ^^

Maybe I wasn't that clear: With that config everything works just not some games (tremulous) and mpd cant play sound same time as mplayer for instance. So is my config wrong? Any1 using any nforce chipset with digital out, please post your config...

Solved question2:

Mouse working just great thanks to GentooWiki <3 , needed xmodmap line and xkeys and keyboardemulator for button tweaking. Here for further reference: http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_Advanced_M … ech_MX1000

Question3:

Guess the opensource drivers are just crappy, atleast they are slower. Well now the question is: aiglx vs official driver, benefits vs piece of mind vs performance considerations. Kinda siding to drop beryl and just official driver from now on.

Last edited by Mikko777 (2007-05-31 13:11:23)

mouse256 · 2007-05-31 13:43:42

Nforce2 is becoming a little more old, and it's not very popular by linux users :-(
But I have nforce2 with soundstorm here too. The card quality still is very good, but the drivers are crap.

There used to be 2 options:
1) the closed-source drivers from nvidia. They provide full hardware support, clear sound, but they are oss and no longer supported
2) opensource drivers made by the community. Doesn't provide hardware mixing, and I never got them working to produce decent sound quality. This is what nvidia is recommending...

I do still use the closed source drivers from nvidia, as they still work and they provide me a much better sound quality. I also maintain them in aur, just search for "nvsound", it should still compile and work.
But be warned that sooner or later a kernel update will make these driver not work anymore, but as long as they do, I'll keep using them...

Mikko777 · 2007-05-31 15:21:30

Yeah kinda what i've read too BUT with the open drivers the sound quality is excellent (atleast it is with digital out). Just the routings etc seem a "bit" "haxory" ^^

mouse256 · 2007-05-31 15:32:40

I might be a little wrong, because it's a very long time ago I've tried the opensource drivers. The sound quality wasn't bad as long as I didn't start mixing 2 signals. for example playing and mp3, as soon as a program like kopete made a noise the quality of the mp3 was screwed. That was the main reason for me to keep using the closed source drivers because you have hardware mixing which makes every program work together with a good quality, something I never managed to do with the opensource drivers (and as you mentioned, the config is a bit tricky so it is maybe possible. I you make it work, please post it here and I'll try it too )

Mefju · 2007-05-31 16:37:36

I have nforce2 too, and quality of sound is perfect. I'm using dmix for software mixing and didn't notice any differences when playing multiple tracks at once. Since I'm on arch I've never touching any asound* file.

I'm using latest alsa and self compiled, custom kernel with ck patchset.

mouse256 · 2007-05-31 16:54:31

I might need to try the opensource drivers again ;-)
@Mefju: which mainboard do you have? as there are nforce2 chipsets with and without soundstorm. Only the ones with soundstorm have the problem, but their quality is also better (or it should be)
@Mikko777: I think your digital out is also a problem with the opensource drivers, but I'm not sure though...

Mefju · 2007-06-03 09:34:00

I have Abit NF7-SL v2.0. Southbridge is MCP-T with soundstorm. Mixing audio streams form rhythmbox (gstreamer) and mplayer works without any problems. I'm not using any of audio editing software, so I can't tell anything about them.

Arch Linux

#1 2007-05-30 19:47:16

Nforce2 sound issues +others

#2 2007-05-31 13:09:11

Re: Nforce2 sound issues +others

#3 2007-05-31 13:43:42

Re: Nforce2 sound issues +others

#4 2007-05-31 15:21:30

Re: Nforce2 sound issues +others

#5 2007-05-31 15:32:40

Re: Nforce2 sound issues +others

#6 2007-05-31 16:37:36

Re: Nforce2 sound issues +others

#7 2007-05-31 16:54:31

Re: Nforce2 sound issues +others

#8 2007-06-03 09:34:00

Re: Nforce2 sound issues +others

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