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markuzo

Member

Registered: 2015-09-17

Posts: 10

No sound over HDMI over USB 3.1 hub

I am trying to play sound over HDMI through a USB 3.1 hub on a Dell XPS 13 9360.

The output of aplay -l is

**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: ALC3246 Analog [ALC3246 Analog]
  Subdevices: 0/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
  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

which makes me think that I can play sound through HDMI. Or this thinking false because a USB hub should appear as a separate card?

Additionally, pacmd only shows one sink (naturally the one from card 0) and trying to change the active port to an HDMI one doesn't work, presumably the HDMI cable is in the USB hub. Alsa is not muted. Systemctl doesn't have any failed modules.

The video over HDMI works, so how can I go about seeing what the problem is? Any other things I should check?

digitalone

Member

Registered: 2011-08-19

Posts: 346

Re: No sound over HDMI over USB 3.1 hub

I am trying to play sound over HDMI through a USB 3.1 hub on a Dell XPS 13 9360.

Additionally, pacmd only shows one sink (naturally the one from card 0) and trying to change the active port to an HDMI one doesn't work, presumably the HDMI cable is in the USB hub. Alsa is not muted. Systemctl doesn't have any failed modules.

The video over HDMI works, so how can I go about seeing what the problem is? Any other things I should check?

I would suggest you to add

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

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

to /etc/asound.conf or ~/.asoundrc, but you are using pulseaudio and I don't think it's a good idea.
Is pulsaudio needed to you?

markuzo

Member

Registered: 2015-09-17

Posts: 10

Re: No sound over HDMI over USB 3.1 hub

Adding that made alsamixer not start with:

cannot open mixer: Invalid argument

And if I open alsamixer and try to manually set the sound card to hw:0,3 then it says invalid argument.

As for whether I need pulseaudio - I currently cannot play a sound using aplay -D either.

markuzo

Member

Registered: 2015-09-17

Posts: 10

Re: No sound over HDMI over USB 3.1 hub

I just checked what happens if I boot with the USB hub attached and the HDMI shows as plugged in in pavucontrol.

However, there's still no sound coming out of the HDMI device.

digitalone

Member

Registered: 2011-08-19

Posts: 346

Re: No sound over HDMI over USB 3.1 hub

Add only these lines:

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

If it does not work, try replacing device 7 or device 8.
Save the file before you try to output sound.

If it does not work again, uninstall pulseaudio and try again.

Last edited by digitalone (2017-02-13 20:14:27)