Arch Linux

BeholdMyGlory

Member

Registered: 2008-08-30

Posts: 93

Can't set default sound device with ALSA [SOLVED]

I just installed Arch on a new laptop, and I can't seem to get sound working properly. By default there's an HDMI sound output:

$ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: Generic [HD-Audio Generic], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: SB [HDA ATI SB], device 0: STAC92xx Analog [STAC92xx Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

Running aplay isn't very successful:

$ aplay /usr/share/sounds/alsa/Front_Center.wav
ALSA lib pcm_dmix.c:1018:(snd_pcm_dmix_open) unable to open slave
aplay: main:660: audio open error: No such file or directory

Running alsamixer only displays one S/PDIF channel which I can mute or unmute. I can, however, switch to the second sound card and I'll get the channels Master, Headphone, Speaker, Mic Jack Mode and Beep. If I try specifying the default card by putting the following

pcm.!default {
type hw
card 1
}
ctl.!default {
type hw
card 1
}

in ~/.asoundrc, I now get the following:

$ aplay /usr/share/sounds/alsa/Front_Center.wav
Playing WAVE '/usr/share/sounds/alsa/Front_Center.wav' : Signed 16 bit Little Endian, Rate 48000 Hz, Mono
aplay: set_params:1065: Channels count non available

However, when I run alsamixer now it shows the second sound device by default. Now, let's try blacklisting the HDMI output and rebooting.

$ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 1: SB [HDA ATI SB], device 0: STAC92xx Analog [STAC92xx Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
$ aplay /usr/share/sounds/alsa/Front_Center.wav
Playing WAVE '/usr/share/sounds/alsa/Front_Center.wav' : Signed 16 bit Little Endian, Rate 48000 Hz, Mono
aplay: set_params:1065: Channels count non available
$ rm ~/.asoundrc
$ aplay /usr/share/sounds/alsa/Front_Center.wav
ALSA lib pcm_dmix.c:1018:(snd_pcm_dmix_open) unable to open slave
aplay: main:660: audio open error: No such file or directory

After removing ~/.asoundrc I now see "This sound device does not have any controls." before switching to the working sound device.

I'm at a loss here. Using -Dplughw:1,0 will always result in sound being played properly, yet I can't manage to set plughw:1,0 to the default sound device. Any ideas?

Last edited by BeholdMyGlory (2011-08-12 17:38:05)

BeholdMyGlory

Member

Registered: 2008-08-30

Posts: 93

Re: Can't set default sound device with ALSA [SOLVED]

All right, I seem to have solved it. The fact that it was only working using plughw: should have tipped me off, but at any rate, this is my working ~/.asoundrc:

pcm.!default {
  type plug
  slave {
    pcm "hw:1,0"
  }
}
ctl.!default {
  type hw
  card 1
}