Arch Linux

Qandi

Member

Registered: 2013-05-02

Posts: 15

KDE Sound Hell... [SOLVED]

Okey, so here's the deal;
I have a problem with getting sound to work in applications/programs in KDE. I can get sound from notifications and if i "test" my device in phonon , and in VLC i get sound if i go to "Audio>Audio Device>" and select my audio device( Xonar STX Multi channel Front Speakers). Other than that my system is silent.

I have unmuted stuff and ducked around in alsamixer,pulseaudio and so on, no results...
Yesterday i found that i could set the default sound device in [~/.asoundrc], which lead to the notifications being able to play sound...

I'm guessing if i can force all applications to use the specific device that i already specified in phonon, that might be a solution to my problem, but all ideas are welcome

Thx in advance

Edit: ~/asoundrc

Last edited by Qandi (2013-05-06 18:34:20)

schmidtbag

Member

From: NH, USA

Registered: 2011-02-08

Posts: 337

Re: KDE Sound Hell... [SOLVED]

In phonon, you have to set the priority of the output device and apply that output to the other lists.  That's probably all you need to do.

While being a KDE user for about 3 years, phonon is probably the worst designed part of the entire DE in both usability and functionality.  There are times where I boot up and I for some reason get no SPDIF sound and can't get it back until I reboot (I have still yet to figure out how to restart alsa in Arch).  There are other times I plug in a USB device and phonon gives some error saying one of my sound sources has failed, but it hasn't.  HDMI output is also glitchy, where it'll randomly decide what program will be able to play sounds.  I don't get any of these problems with other DEs, on the other hand, no other DE allows you to so easily switch audio outputs without PulseAudio.

Qandi

Member

Registered: 2013-05-02

Posts: 15

Re: KDE Sound Hell... [SOLVED]

Been there, done that, doesn't work

The last time i rebooted (now, 30 seconds ago) my soundcard doesn't show up at all in phonon, so now my notification sounds don't work either...

So now i'm back to square one.

Oh, and your post reminded me that this wasnt an issue in Gnome 3... it just worked over there so i never really gave it any thought.
I decided to switch to KDE for obvious reasons( Gnome 3 isn't Gnome 2 ), but i still havent got sound on KDE...

This is really starting to bug me...

schmidtbag

Member

From: NH, USA

Registered: 2011-02-08

Posts: 337

Re: KDE Sound Hell... [SOLVED]

Try reinstalling ALSA altogether.  Also, if you're using PulseAudio, try removing that and see if that helps.  If you're not using it, then try it and see if that helps hahaha.

Qandi

Member

Registered: 2013-05-02

Posts: 15

Re: KDE Sound Hell... [SOLVED]

Hehe, im on it

Qandi

Member

Registered: 2013-05-02

Posts: 15

Re: KDE Sound Hell... [SOLVED]

Nop, no luck... I'm starting to think that the apps just dont underrstand that the Xonar Output is the one to play to...
KDE plays its music on startup, and everything seems ok, only any other programs(excluding VLC cause i've set it manually) dont seem to play to the right output...

schmidtbag

Member

From: NH, USA

Registered: 2011-02-08

Posts: 337

Re: KDE Sound Hell... [SOLVED]

Just wondering but do you have integrated audio?  If so, can you check if that works?  Also, which channel are you expecting to hear out of?  I wonder if there's a way to override phonon, I never bothered to try but maybe I should.

Try checking out:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ad … chitecture
There is a lot of info in there.

Qandi

Member

Registered: 2013-05-02

Posts: 15

Re: KDE Sound Hell... [SOLVED]

I do have integrated, but i've never used it... Im using a Asus Xonar Essence STX card, and theres a  "device" named Xonar Multichannel Device, which plays audio when i use the test button in Phonon, an thats what i want to use. Vlc has an option to set output manually, which is why VLC works for me.

Im trying pulseaudio with pauvcontrol now... Hope it works!

Qandi

Member

Registered: 2013-05-02

Posts: 15

Re: KDE Sound Hell... [SOLVED]

ok, now i got something weird...
i put " pulseaudio" to see if i could start it that way ( im a newb) and out comes:

[qandi@Archer ~]$ pulseaudio
W: [pulseaudio] source.c: Default and alternate sample rates are the same.
E: [pulseaudio] module-gconf.c: Unable to read or parse data from client.
E: [pulseaudio] module.c: Failed to load module "module-gconf" (argument: ""): initialization failed.
E: [pulseaudio] main.c: Module load failed.

...

schmidtbag

Member

From: NH, USA

Registered: 2011-02-08

Posts: 337

Re: KDE Sound Hell... [SOLVED]

Well the reason I brought up the integrated audio is because the sound might be coming out of that instead.  Are you sure you set the priorities to ALL output sections in phonon?  The fact that sound is playing shows that the device is properly recognized, but KDE will only play sounds out of the speakers you tell it to do.  For example look at the following picture:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c … ttings.png
If you want to play sound out of HDMI, you have to click on the last option and then keep pressing the "Prefer" button until it is on the top of the list.  THEN, you need to make sure it is on the top of the list in all the other categories under "Audio Output".  You can do this by clicking on the "Apply Device List to..." button.

So, can you confirm this is what you did?

schmidtbag

Member

From: NH, USA

Registered: 2011-02-08

Posts: 337

Re: KDE Sound Hell... [SOLVED]

ok, now i got something weird...
i put " pulseaudio" to see if i could start it that way ( im a newb) and out comes:

[qandi@Archer ~]$ pulseaudio
W: [pulseaudio] source.c: Default and alternate sample rates are the same.
E: [pulseaudio] module-gconf.c: Unable to read or parse data from client.
E: [pulseaudio] module.c: Failed to load module "module-gconf" (argument: ""): initialization failed.
E: [pulseaudio] main.c: Module load failed.

...

Check out this:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/PulseAudio

Qandi

Member

Registered: 2013-05-02

Posts: 15

Re: KDE Sound Hell... [SOLVED]

I had been through there three times allready, but it seems that my messing around with Phonon, Alsa, pulse and pavu, finally has paid off.... i installed pavu, selected sound device from there(again, for the 3. time), and magic appeared!

I can HEARRR!!!

Thank you for your help, i appreciate it so much:P

What i did this time:
Installed KDE
Installed pulseaudio
Installed pavucontroller
Set "insert working soundcard device" as my Master channel in Kmix
Set "default" as preferred in Phonon
installed all codecs+flash and all that sweet stuff
Open program, play sound, and set "your soundcard here" as output and playback device in pauvcontrol

Voila, you can listen to.....stuff.
You may have to unmute all devices in alsa, but that wasnt a problem for me.