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quasiholomorph

Member

From: Zurich, Switzerland

Registered: 2015-12-28

Posts: 25

Sound over HDMI

I am having troubles getting sound to work reliably over HDMI on my Intel NUC7i5BNK. The NUC is connected to a Dell U2717D via HDMI and the monitor itself is connected to a speaker. I tried

aplay -D plughw:0,* /usr/share/sounds/alsa/Front_Center.wav

for the various devices aplay -l listed, but I never hear a sound. What puzzles me is that it worked once, but it stopped working after a reboot (and I certainly did not change any configs). If I use the very same HDMI cable to connect to my Macbook, it all works fine, so it certainly is not a faulty cable. No idea what's wrong. Any help is greatly appreciated.

drcouzelis

Member

From: Connecticut, USA

Registered: 2009-11-09

Posts: 4,092

Website

Re: Sound over HDMI

When did it last work correctly? What packages have been installed since it last worked (taking into account the reboot)?

quasiholomorph

Member

From: Zurich, Switzerland

Registered: 2015-12-28

Posts: 25

Re: Sound over HDMI

It worked (yesterday), and I did a reboot and it wouldn't work anymore, so no packages were installed between the working and non-working state.

quasiholomorph

Member

From: Zurich, Switzerland

Registered: 2015-12-28

Posts: 25

Re: Sound over HDMI

By chance I just turned off the screen and back on again. The display complains that "Unsupported audio format. Please set the audio output on your audio player to Pulse-code modulation (PCM) if available."

WFV

Member

From: ☭USSA⛧⭒⭒⭒⭒

Registered: 2013-04-23

Posts: 288

Re: Sound over HDMI

did you check your pulse audio settings, try different settings to see what works (like PCM)?

---

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quasiholomorph

Member

From: Zurich, Switzerland

Registered: 2015-12-28

Posts: 25

Re: Sound over HDMI

I did, PCM is checked (and cannot be unchecked anyway). I now suspect it is a hardware issue. If anyone can confirm working audio via HDMI on an Intel Kaby Lake NUC it would be greatly appreciated.

zetilozeyaho

Member

Registered: 2017-05-19

Posts: 5

Re: Sound over HDMI

Works here with NUC7I3BNH and ALSA via HDMI without issues.

quasiholomorph

Member

From: Zurich, Switzerland

Registered: 2015-12-28

Posts: 25

Re: Sound over HDMI

Ok, thanks for this info. I removed pulseaudio and just tried to make it work with alsa. If I use speaker-test and specify HDMI as the device then I get again the same error message from my display (unsupported audio format). So how can I specify PCM output in alsa?

drcouzelis

Member

From: Connecticut, USA

Registered: 2009-11-09

Posts: 4,092

Website

Re: Sound over HDMI

If you suspect it's a hardware issue, I always test it by live-booting another operating system (such as Linux Mint) and seeing if it works there.

quasiholomorph

Member

From: Zurich, Switzerland

Registered: 2015-12-28

Posts: 25

Re: Sound over HDMI

Ok, tested with Linux Mint, works just fine. Still no idea what to do. Any help is greatly appreciated.

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 21,657

Re: Sound over HDMI

Post

sudo fuser -v /dev/snd/*
aplay -lL
amixer -c$insert index of the correct card from aplay -l output
dmesg | grep snd

quasiholomorph

Member

From: Zurich, Switzerland

Registered: 2015-12-28

Posts: 25

Re: Sound over HDMI

Sorry, took me a moment. Any help is still greatly appreciated.

sudo fuser -v /dev/snd/*
                     USER        PID ACCESS COMMAND
/dev/snd/controlC0:  username         612 F.... pulseaudio

aplay -lL
null
    Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)
default:CARD=PCH
    HDA Intel PCH, ALC283 Analog
    Default Audio Device
sysdefault:CARD=PCH
    HDA Intel PCH, ALC283 Analog
    Default Audio Device
front:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
    HDA Intel PCH, ALC283 Analog
    Front speakers
surround21:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
    HDA Intel PCH, ALC283 Analog
    2.1 Surround output to Front and Subwoofer speakers
surround40:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
    HDA Intel PCH, ALC283 Analog
    4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
    HDA Intel PCH, ALC283 Analog
    4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
    HDA Intel PCH, ALC283 Analog
    5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
    HDA Intel PCH, ALC283 Analog
    5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
    HDA Intel PCH, ALC283 Analog
    7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
hdmi:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
    HDA Intel PCH, HDMI 0
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=PCH,DEV=1
    HDA Intel PCH, HDMI 1
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=PCH,DEV=2
    HDA Intel PCH, HDMI 2
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=PCH,DEV=3
    HDA Intel PCH, HDMI 3
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=PCH,DEV=4
    HDA Intel PCH, HDMI 4
    HDMI Audio Output
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: ALC283 Analog [ALC283 Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  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
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 9: HDMI 3 [HDMI 3]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 10: HDMI 4 [HDMI 4]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

amixer -c 0
Simple mixer control 'Master',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pswitch
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 87
  Mono:
  Front Left: Playback 56 [64%] [-23.25dB] [on]
  Front Right: Playback 56 [64%] [-23.25dB] [on]
Simple mixer control 'PCM',0
  Capabilities: pvolume
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 255
  Mono:
  Front Left: Playback 255 [100%] [0.00dB]
  Front Right: Playback 255 [100%] [0.00dB]
Simple mixer control 'IEC958',0
  Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Mono
  Mono: Playback [off]
Simple mixer control 'IEC958',1
  Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Mono
  Mono: Playback [on]
Simple mixer control 'IEC958',2
  Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Mono
  Mono: Playback [on]
Simple mixer control 'IEC958',3
  Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Mono
  Mono: Playback [on]
Simple mixer control 'IEC958',4
  Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Mono
  Mono: Playback [on]
Simple mixer control 'Loopback Mixing',0
  Capabilities: enum
  Items: 'Disabled' 'Enabled'
  Item0: 'Disabled'

dmesg | grep snd
[    2.006639] snd_hda_intel 0000:00:1f.3: enabling device (0000 -> 0002)
[    2.468154] snd_hda_intel 0000:00:1f.3: bound 0000:00:02.0 (ops i915_audio_component_bind_ops [i915])
[    2.501036] snd_hda_codec_realtek hdaudioC0D0: autoconfig for ALC283: line_outs=1 (0x21/0x0/0x0/0x0/0x0) type:hp
[    2.501042] snd_hda_codec_realtek hdaudioC0D0:    speaker_outs=0 (0x0/0x0/0x0/0x0/0x0)
[    2.501045] snd_hda_codec_realtek hdaudioC0D0:    hp_outs=0 (0x0/0x0/0x0/0x0/0x0)
[    2.501047] snd_hda_codec_realtek hdaudioC0D0:    mono: mono_out=0x0
[    2.501050] snd_hda_codec_realtek hdaudioC0D0:    inputs:

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 21,657

Re: Sound over HDMI

Simple mixer control 'IEC958',0
  Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Mono
  Mono: Playback [off]

amixer -c0 set 'IEC958',0 unmute

However since you are using pulseaudio, you might rather want to enable/unmute the HDMI output there in e.g. pavucontrol. If you don't manage to do that post

pacmd list-cards
pacmd list-sinks

(if you intend to keep on using pulseaudio it would further be advisible to install pulseaudio-alsa so that ALSA only applications are automatically rerouted to pulse)

quasiholomorph

Member

From: Zurich, Switzerland

Registered: 2015-12-28

Posts: 25

Re: Sound over HDMI

Thanks for this! I now turned IEC958 on as you recommended

Simple mixer control 'Master',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pswitch
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 87
  Mono:
  Front Left: Playback 60 [69%] [-20.25dB] [on]
  Front Right: Playback 60 [69%] [-20.25dB] [on]
Simple mixer control 'PCM',0
  Capabilities: pvolume
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 255
  Mono:
  Front Left: Playback 255 [100%] [0.00dB]
  Front Right: Playback 255 [100%] [0.00dB]
Simple mixer control 'IEC958',0
  Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Mono
  Mono: Playback [on]
Simple mixer control 'IEC958',1
  Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Mono
  Mono: Playback [on]
Simple mixer control 'IEC958',2
  Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Mono
  Mono: Playback [on]
Simple mixer control 'IEC958',3
  Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Mono
  Mono: Playback [on]
Simple mixer control 'IEC958',4
  Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Mono
  Mono: Playback [on]
Simple mixer control 'Loopback Mixing',0
  Capabilities: enum
  Items: 'Disabled' 'Enabled'
  Item0: 'Disabled'

However, my Dell display (U2717D) still complains "Unsupported audio format. Please set the audio output on your audio player to Pulse-code modulation (PCM) if available."

Last edited by quasiholomorph (2017-06-24 09:54:43)

quasiholomorph

Member

From: Zurich, Switzerland

Registered: 2015-12-28

Posts: 25

Re: Sound over HDMI

I would still very much appreciate any help about this annoying issue.

JohnBobSmith

Member

From: Canada

Registered: 2014-11-29

Posts: 804

Re: Sound over HDMI

Just a thought, but double check that the PCM setting in alsamixer isn't muted/off/whatever. You can also manually select the soundcard from alsamixer and then try running speaker-test. Pass -c <int> if you want more channels. HDMI may be called S/PDIF or similar. You can also verify a bunch of other sound related settings from alsamixer quite easily. Finally, what does your /etc/pulse/default.pa look like? It may be helpful to someone who knows how to interpret it.

---

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Everyday, I make a conscious choice to overcome my challenges and my problems. It's not easy, but its better than the alternative...

quasiholomorph

Member

From: Zurich, Switzerland

Registered: 2015-12-28

Posts: 25

Re: Sound over HDMI

I think these "superficial settings" are all correct. What puzzles me is that on very rare occasions the sound works all of a sudden, but doesn't work anymore upon reboot. No idea why. In any case, here's /etc/pulse/default.pa

#!/usr/bin/pulseaudio -nF
#
# This file is part of PulseAudio.
#
# PulseAudio is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
# under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
# the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
# (at your option) any later version.
#
# PulseAudio is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
# WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
# General Public License for more details.
#
# You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
# along with PulseAudio; if not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.

# This startup script is used only if PulseAudio is started per-user
# (i.e. not in system mode)

.fail

### Automatically restore the volume of streams and devices
load-module module-device-restore
load-module module-stream-restore
load-module module-card-restore

### Automatically augment property information from .desktop files
### stored in /usr/share/application
load-module module-augment-properties

### Should be after module-*-restore but before module-*-detect
load-module module-switch-on-port-available

### Load audio drivers statically
### (it's probably better to not load these drivers manually, but instead
### use module-udev-detect -- see below -- for doing this automatically)
#load-module module-alsa-sink
#load-module module-alsa-source device=hw:1,0
#load-module module-oss device="/dev/dsp" sink_name=output source_name=input
#load-module module-oss-mmap device="/dev/dsp" sink_name=output source_name=input
#load-module module-null-sink
#load-module module-pipe-sink

### Automatically load driver modules depending on the hardware available
.ifexists module-udev-detect.so
load-module module-udev-detect
.else
### Use the static hardware detection module (for systems that lack udev support)
load-module module-detect
.endif

### Automatically connect sink and source if JACK server is present
.ifexists module-jackdbus-detect.so
.nofail
load-module module-jackdbus-detect channels=2
.fail
.endif

### Automatically load driver modules for Bluetooth hardware
.ifexists module-bluetooth-policy.so
load-module module-bluetooth-policy
.endif

.ifexists module-bluetooth-discover.so
load-module module-bluetooth-discover
.endif

### Load several protocols
.ifexists module-esound-protocol-unix.so
load-module module-esound-protocol-unix
.endif
load-module module-native-protocol-unix

### Network access (may be configured with paprefs, so leave this commented
### here if you plan to use paprefs)
#load-module module-esound-protocol-tcp
#load-module module-native-protocol-tcp
#load-module module-zeroconf-publish

### Load the RTP receiver module (also configured via paprefs, see above)
#load-module module-rtp-recv

### Load the RTP sender module (also configured via paprefs, see above)
#load-module module-null-sink sink_name=rtp format=s16be channels=2 rate=44100 sink_properties="device.description='RTP Multicast Sink'"
#load-module module-rtp-send source=rtp.monitor

### Load additional modules from GConf settings. This can be configured with the paprefs tool.
### Please keep in mind that the modules configured by paprefs might conflict with manually
### loaded modules.
.ifexists module-gconf.so
.nofail
load-module module-gconf
.fail
.endif

### Automatically restore the default sink/source when changed by the user
### during runtime
### NOTE: This should be loaded as early as possible so that subsequent modules
### that look up the default sink/source get the right value
load-module module-default-device-restore

### Automatically move streams to the default sink if the sink they are
### connected to dies, similar for sources
load-module module-rescue-streams

### Make sure we always have a sink around, even if it is a null sink.
load-module module-always-sink

### Honour intended role device property
load-module module-intended-roles

### Automatically suspend sinks/sources that become idle for too long
load-module module-suspend-on-idle

### If autoexit on idle is enabled we want to make sure we only quit
### when no local session needs us anymore.
.ifexists module-console-kit.so
load-module module-console-kit
.endif
.ifexists module-systemd-login.so
load-module module-systemd-login
.endif

### Enable positioned event sounds
load-module module-position-event-sounds

### Cork music/video streams when a phone stream is active
load-module module-role-cork

### Modules to allow autoloading of filters (such as echo cancellation)
### on demand. module-filter-heuristics tries to determine what filters
### make sense, and module-filter-apply does the heavy-lifting of
### loading modules and rerouting streams.
load-module module-filter-heuristics
load-module module-filter-apply

### Make some devices default
#set-default-sink output
#set-default-source input

quasiholomorph

Member

From: Zurich, Switzerland

Registered: 2015-12-28

Posts: 25

Re: Sound over HDMI

Without (consciously) having changed anything it now works. I suspect some update took care of this annoying issue.