Ubuntu 9.10--HDMI audio out?

Ok, so here's the question: does anyone know a good tutorial on how to get hdmi audio out working in Ubuntu 9.10?

I'm setting up an htpc. I've figured out how to install flash 10.1 and the nvidia 190.xx drivers but I can't for the life of me figure out how to run the sound through the hdmi cable.

Do I need to swap out alsa for pulseaudio or what?

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

 

Short version: gksudo nvidia-settings, detect displays, set to twinview, apply. Make sure IEC958 is checked in your mixer. Then:

Code:

aplay - l

Should show you which device is your hdmi out. Then you can make an .asoundrc which forces it to that output. There are instructions here, just scroll past the build instructions:
http://n10.wikia.com/wiki/Linux_HOWTO#HDMI_Audio_.5BNVIDIA.5D

 

Easier steps:

1. Install the Nvidia ppa:

Link: https://launchpad.net/~nvidia-vdpau/+archive/ppa

Then open the console and input

Code:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install linux-headers-generic nvidia-glx-190

Finish with:

Code:

sudo nvidia-xconfig -s --no-logo --force-generate

2. Configure ALSA to unmute HDMI audio out:

Code:

sudo alsamixer

Unmute and set volume (MM means muted and OO On)
Hit "m" to toggle mute on/off.
Hit escape to close and input command to save settings.

Code:

sudo alsactl store 0

3. (Optional) Force audio over HDMI:

Create a file named .asoundrc in your home folder.
Copy / paste this info it in and save.

Code:

pcm.!default {
type plug
slave {
pcm "hdmi"
}
}

I did step 1 & 2 and now got audio over hdmi in XBMC 9.11b2.
May be a bit different for you as you try getting flash 10.1b to work.

 

I'm in the same boat as the op was and I've tried the above suggestion as well as the instructions from http://n10.wikia.com/wiki/Linux_HOWT...o_.5BNVIDIA.5D even tho it's for the n10, and I still can't get aplay -l to show hdmi. Does anyone any other ideas?

 

What graphics card do you have?

 

Nvidia 9700M GTS

 

Hm, if it doesn't show up with aplay -l that's definitely not going to work.

Have you compiled a recent ALSA driver build?

http://www.alsa-project.org/main/index.php/Download

It might be worth a try to compile without the patch from my N10 guide. I left it in the guide since it works for most people, but it depends on your distro and kernel / ALSA versions.

You can do a sudo lspci -vvnn | grep 10de, and then take the ID from that (the part that follows 10de) and grep that against alsa-driver-1.0.22/alsa-kernel/pci/hda/patch_nvhdmi.c

Or you can just see all the supported IDs by:

Code:

grep 10de alsa-driver-1.0.22/alsa-kernel/pci/hda/patch_nvhdmi.c

If it shows up, it means your card is supported, if not it needs a patch for it to recognize it. That card should definitely be supported, I had one previously and used it with HDMI audio.

 

After grep 10de alsa-driver-1.0.22/alsa-kernel/pci/hda/patch_nvhdmi.c it does show up but your n10 guide mentions "make sure IEC958 is switched on" but on my machine, IEC958 is the spdif. Could that conflict be causing the problem?

 

That shouldn't cause it to not show up with aplay -l... are you using a recent nvidia driver? Try installing it from the 'latest nvidia' link at the top of the N10 guide. You need the proprietary driver installed for HDMI to work.

It should show up in /proc/asound/card0/codec#3

 

I'm using 190.53. After compiling 1.0.22 aplay show no soundcards found and alsamixer won't open "no such file or directory"

 

Did alsa force-reload throw errors like unknown symbol or something (check dmesg or syslog). If it did manually unload and reload the modules (or try rebooting).

 

Actually after 1.0.22 hdmi now works after forcing it with .asoundrc but aplay now only shows the hdmi and alsamixer only shows spdif. No sound comes out of the computer speakers even if hdmi isn't forced with .asoundrc. How would I go about in switching it back?

But I guess that some progress right?

 

Maybe you need to compile and install alsa-lib and alsa-utils to match the new driver version?

Edit: or maybe the modules arent loaded..?

Edit #2: If all else fails you can aptitude reinstall alsa-base to start fresh...