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#1 2009-04-30 19:34:43

tjwoosta
Member
Registered: 2008-12-18
Posts: 453

cant get stereo sound with alsa

i installed arch about 5 or 6 months ago and setup alsa for sound

The problem is that only the left speaker is working.  Somehow i have gone all this time without ever noticing.  I probably would still have not noticed except i booted into windows the other day, for the first time in about a year, and realized that I had two speakers working with media player.

i've scanned through the wiki and done some google and forum searching, but i can't seem to find anything about getting stereo sound to work with alsa.

Is anybody else having this problem?  What can i do to make both speakers work?

Last edited by tjwoosta (2009-04-30 19:35:44)

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#2 2009-05-01 01:10:53

Odysseus
Member
Registered: 2009-02-15
Posts: 141

Re: cant get stereo sound with alsa

That's wierd.  What's the output of 'amixer contents'?  Just make sure nothing is skewed to one side.


I'm the type to fling myself headlong through the magical wardrobe, and then incinerate the ornate mahogany portal behind me with a Molotov cocktail.

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#3 2009-05-01 01:23:31

tjwoosta
Member
Registered: 2008-12-18
Posts: 453

Re: cant get stereo sound with alsa

[tj@myhost ~]$ amixer contents
numid=2,iface=MIXER,name='Master Playback Switch'
  ; type=BOOLEAN,access=rw------,values=2
  : values=on,on
numid=1,iface=MIXER,name='Master Playback Volume'
  ; type=INTEGER,access=rw---R--,values=2,min=0,max=31,step=0
  : values=31,31
  | dBscale-min=-46.50dB,step=1.50dB,mute=0
numid=7,iface=MIXER,name='PCM Playback Volume'
  ; type=INTEGER,access=rw---RW-,values=2,min=0,max=255,step=0
  : values=255,255
  | dBscale-min=-51.00dB,step=0.20dB,mute=0
numid=5,iface=MIXER,name='Capture Switch'
  ; type=BOOLEAN,access=rw------,values=2
  : values=on,on
numid=4,iface=MIXER,name='Capture Volume'
  ; type=INTEGER,access=rw---R--,values=2,min=0,max=15,step=0
  : values=15,15
  | dBscale-min=0.00dB,step=1.50dB,mute=0
numid=8,iface=MIXER,name='Digital Capture Volume'
  ; type=INTEGER,access=rw---RW-,values=2,min=0,max=120,step=0
  : values=0,0
  | dBscale-min=-30.00dB,step=0.50dB,mute=0
numid=3,iface=MIXER,name='Input Source'  ; type=ENUMERATED,access=rw------,values=1,items=3
  ; Item #0 'Mic'
  ; Item #1 'Front Mic'
  ; Item #2 'CD'
  : values=0
numid=6,iface=MIXER,name='Mux Capture Volume'
  ; type=INTEGER,access=rw---R--,values=2,min=0,max=4,step=0
  : values=0,0
  | dBscale-min=0.00dB,step=10.00dB,mute=0
[tj@myhost ~]$

i have no idea what any of this means

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#4 2009-05-03 00:50:37

tjwoosta
Member
Registered: 2008-12-18
Posts: 453

Re: cant get stereo sound with alsa

bump?

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#5 2009-05-03 17:45:12

tjwoosta
Member
Registered: 2008-12-18
Posts: 453

Re: cant get stereo sound with alsa

ok i just noticed something else that escaped my attention before

if i press the mute button on my keyboard, the sound switches from the left speaker to the right one instead of muting

so i can switch back and forth between speakers but i cant have them both at the same time


here is my ~/.fluxbox/keys file

OnDesktop Mouse1 :HideMenus
OnDesktop Mouse2 :WorkspaceMenu
OnDesktop Mouse3 :RootMenu

Mod1 Tab :NextWindow
Mod1 Shift Tab :PrevWindow
Mod1 F1 :Exec gmrun

Control Right :NextWorkspace
Control Left :PrevWorkspace

XF86AudioMute :Exec amixer -c 0 set Master toggle
XF86AudioLowerVolume :Exec amixer -c 0 set Master 1%-
XF86AudioRaiseVolume :Exec amixer -c 0 set Master 1%+
XF86AudioPlay :Exec mpc toggle
XF86AudioStop :Exec mpc stop
XF86AudioNext :Exec mpc next
XF86AudioPrev :Exec mpc prev

the volume keys work fine but mute just swicthes speakers instad of muting

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#6 2009-05-03 18:37:52

Odysseus
Member
Registered: 2009-02-15
Posts: 141

Re: cant get stereo sound with alsa

Ok, try both "amixer -c 0 cset numid=2 on,off" and "amixer -c 0 cset numid=2 off,on". 
One of those should mute both, the other should unmute both... I hope.

Last edited by Odysseus (2009-05-03 18:43:56)


I'm the type to fling myself headlong through the magical wardrobe, and then incinerate the ornate mahogany portal behind me with a Molotov cocktail.

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#7 2009-05-03 19:57:28

tjwoosta
Member
Registered: 2008-12-18
Posts: 453

Re: cant get stereo sound with alsa

hmm.. i tried the commands you gave me but the same thing happens

if i use the first one it makes only my left speaker work

if i use the second one it makes only the right speaker work

neither one of them mutes or unmutes both


EDIT: Nevermind i got it!

i used

amixer -c 0 cset numid=2 on,on

to unmute both

i can also do

amixer -c 0 cset numid=2 off,off

to mute both


after doing on,on  i can now use the toggle command from my last post to mute and unmute

its strange and i dont understand what happened to make this all happen in the first place, but all is well now thank you for your help smile

Last edited by tjwoosta (2009-05-03 20:03:40)

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#8 2009-05-03 22:48:30

tjwoosta
Member
Registered: 2008-12-18
Posts: 453

Re: cant get stereo sound with alsa

ok, now this is messed up

every time i reboot or shutdown it goes back to only the left speaker

as a crude workaround i have simply added the amixer -c 0 cset numid=2 on,on command to my ~/.fluxbox/startup file


does anybody have any idea why this is happening?

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#9 2009-05-04 18:48:12

osc~
Member
From: brazil
Registered: 2007-07-06
Posts: 117
Website

Re: cant get stereo sound with alsa

run the commands and then do

alsactl store

that will store your alsa configurations

maybe that would help

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#10 2009-05-04 22:19:32

tjwoosta
Member
Registered: 2008-12-18
Posts: 453

Re: cant get stereo sound with alsa

osc~ wrote:

run the commands and then do

alsactl store

that will store your alsa configurations

maybe that would help

yes! 
It worked, thank you.

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