Audio Device Unavailable

Discussion in 'Linux, BSD and Other OS's' started by pelvis_3, Jan 6, 2006.

  1. pelvis_3

    pelvis_3 HWF Member For Life

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    Now that i have me DVD's working, i was happy until last night i tried to play one with Xine.
    I got to the menu, clicked play movie and then i get hit with This error screen, claming that the Audio device is unavailable.
    I made sure all other possible apps that use sound are closed and also closed KMix,
    Tried switching between ALSA and OSS on the Application and the OS level.
    Tried using Xine and MPlayer but Kaffeine plays them perfectly, go figure!
    MPlayer gives me a similar Error.

    Any help would be appreciated, Thanks.
    pelvis_3
     
  2. Anti-Trend

    Anti-Trend Nonconformist Geek

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    Run the User Management tool:
    Code:
    userdrake
    ...or System --> Configuration --> Other --> User Administration

    Edit your user account, and add yourself to the groups "audio" and "video". Let me know if the problem still persists.
     
  3. pelvis_3

    pelvis_3 HWF Member For Life

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    Thanks AT.
    Just tried and it didn't work, same error in both apps :(
     
  4. Anti-Trend

    Anti-Trend Nonconformist Geek

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    Did you log out and log back in before retrying it?
     
  5. pelvis_3

    pelvis_3 HWF Member For Life

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    I sure did :)
     
  6. Anti-Trend

    Anti-Trend Nonconformist Geek

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    Bare with me, I'm honestly trying to troublshoot your problems here because I've never seen that before. :) Go to System --> Configuration --> KDE --> Sound --> Sound System. Under the Hardware tab, set the audio device to Advanced Linux Sound Architecture.
     
  7. pelvis_3

    pelvis_3 HWF Member For Life

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    Already done that :)
    I actually had it working properly at first, then i tried to configure Xine to use 5.1 instead of 2 channel. That didn't work so i opened KMix (as it was not running by defualt with the install), and after that, the sound didn't work!
    Do you think it may be KMix confusing the sound system or something?
    And if it is, it's really weird because all i did was open it.
     
  8. Anti-Trend

    Anti-Trend Nonconformist Geek

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    Make sure your audio driver in Xine is set to ALSA as well. OSS is a terrible sound system, why it is left in many Linux distros by default is beyond me (I compile it out completely when I build my kernels). That could be your problem. :)

    [​IMG]

    Notice in my screenshot it says "Auto". That is fine on my system, where it only has ALSA to choose from. On yours, it may be using OSS. Force it to use ALSA rather than giving it the option.
     
  9. pelvis_3

    pelvis_3 HWF Member For Life

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    Ok then, it works when i set it back to use 2.1 channel, but as soon as set it to 5.1 or 6 channel i get the same error.
    Is there any way i can watch my movies in surround sound?
    P.S - Thanks for all this :)
     
  10. Anti-Trend

    Anti-Trend Nonconformist Geek

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    I can watch movies perfectly in Mplayer or Xine using ALSA and 5.1 surround on my EMU10k2-based Audigy 2. What kind of sound card do you have in that system?
     
  11. pelvis_3

    pelvis_3 HWF Member For Life

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    I'm using the onboard nForce2 Audio.
    I checked on the ALSA website and it's fully compatible.
    Do i need a new a52dec or something?
     
  12. Anti-Trend

    Anti-Trend Nonconformist Geek

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    Wouldn't hurt. I believe I have it installed.
     
  13. pelvis_3

    pelvis_3 HWF Member For Life

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    After a while of fiddling i got the a52dec's installed but it still doesn't make any difference.
    I was thinking of just buying an Audigy2 ZS Value or something becuase the ALSA website shows complete compatibility except audio capture.
    Good idea or not?
    Will Mandriva just auto configure it for me? Forgive the n00b question.
     
  14. Anti-Trend

    Anti-Trend Nonconformist Geek

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    If the sound card has a EMU10k chipset, it would be a good investment. I love the way my Audigy 2 works in Linux. As for the out-of-the-box functionality, yeah it works right away, the system will auto-config it for you. My only suggestion is to avoid confusion and disable the NF audio from the BIOS right before you install the Audigy2. That way you free up the resources and you don't have to configure 2 cards in your OS'es.
     
  15. pelvis_3

    pelvis_3 HWF Member For Life

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    Cheers :cool:
     
  16. pelvis_3

    pelvis_3 HWF Member For Life

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    I went out and bought an Audigy Value and it works great, w00t :good:
    My only gripe is that KMixer doesn't adjust the volume of all channels at the same time.
    Is there any way to change this?
    P.S - I configured the card to use the emu10k1 driver instead of the default snd-ca0106 driver if that makes any difference :)

    pelvis_3
     
  17. Anti-Trend

    Anti-Trend Nonconformist Geek

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    The reason you're having mixing problems probably has to do with the fact that that isn't a real EMU10k2 sound processor, it's a SigmaTel STAC9721/23. If it works with the emu10k1 drivers I'll be really surprised.
     
  18. pelvis_3

    pelvis_3 HWF Member For Life

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    Yeah, it works with either of the drivers with no difference whatsoever.
    Although, i did have to tell XMMS to use software volume control.
     
  19. pelvis_3

    pelvis_3 HWF Member For Life

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    Hmmm, still not out of the lurch.
    Now, every time i restart the computer and log on to Mandriva, my sound card reverts to the emu10k1 OSS drivers instead of the ALSA driver module. And if i change it back to the defualt snd-ca0106 module the sound won't work in XMMS.
    So the card works with these drivers so far:
    snd-ca0106 but only for DVD's
    emu10k1 ALSA
    audigy ALSA
    snd-audigyls ALSA (which is what Mandriva detects my card as)
    So, which module am i supposed to use?
     
  20. Anti-Trend

    Anti-Trend Nonconformist Geek

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    Use whichever ALSA module works best for you, and change XMMS' output plugin to ALSA as well (see screenshot below). OSS has been completely replaced by ALSA, as the latter is superior in every possible way. The only reason OSS is still utilized at all is for legacy support.

    [​IMG]

    P.S. - amaroK with the Xine-Engine plugin using ALSA is the best audio player you can hope for. :) Once I discovered amaroK, XMMS began to collect dust.
     

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