Cannot get center and rear channels to work properly Pulseaudio

R

ryanvade

Guest
This has been driving me crazy all week. :mad: I can't hear what is being said when watching movies. Especially surround sound movies. I am using Pulse with PlexHT on my HTPC. Audio/video is going out of an Nvidia GT 520 to my Tv. I have a 5.1 surround system and for some reason I cannot get the center and rear audio channels to work. No sound from them. I have read the wiki pages soo many times now. No idea what to do. Here are my config files:
daemon.conf:
Code:
# 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, write to the Free Software
# Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307
# USA.

## Configuration file for the PulseAudio daemon. See pulse-daemon.conf(5) for
## more information. Default values are commented out.  Use either ; or # for
## commenting.

; daemonize = no
; fail = yes
; allow-module-loading = yes
; allow-exit = yes
; use-pid-file = yes
; system-instance = no
; local-server-type = user
; enable-shm = yes
; shm-size-bytes = 0 # setting this 0 will use the system-default, usually 64 MiB
; lock-memory = no
; cpu-limit = no

; high-priority = yes
; nice-level = -11

; realtime-scheduling = yes
; realtime-priority = 5

exit-idle-time=0
; exit-idle-time = 20
; scache-idle-time = 20

; dl-search-path = (depends on architecture)

; load-default-script-file = yes
; default-script-file = /etc/pulse/default.pa

; log-target = auto
; log-level = notice
; log-meta = no
; log-time = no
; log-backtrace = 0

; resample-method = speex-float-1
; enable-remixing = yes
; enable-lfe-remixing = no

; flat-volumes = yes

; rlimit-fsize = -1
; rlimit-data = -1
; rlimit-stack = -1
; rlimit-core = -1
; rlimit-as = -1
; rlimit-rss = -1
; rlimit-nproc = -1
; rlimit-nofile = 256
; rlimit-memlock = -1
; rlimit-locks = -1
; rlimit-sigpending = -1
; rlimit-msgqueue = -1
; rlimit-nice = 31
; rlimit-rtprio = 9
; rlimit-rttime = 1000000

; default-sample-format = s16le
; default-sample-rate = 44100
; alternate-sample-rate = 48000
 default-sample-channels = 6
 default-channel-map = front-left,front-right,rear-left,rear-right,front-center,lfe

; default-fragments = 4
; default-fragment-size-msec = 25

; enable-deferred-volume = yes
; deferred-volume-safety-margin-usec = 8000
; deferred-volume-extra-delay-usec = 0
default.pa:
Code:
#!/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, write to the Free Software Foundation,
# Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA.

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

.nofail

### Load something into the sample cache
#load-sample-lazy x11-bell /usr/share/sounds/gtk-events/activate.wav
#load-sample-lazy pulse-hotplug /usr/share/sounds/startup3.wav
#load-sample-lazy pulse-coldplug /usr/share/sounds/startup3.wav
#load-sample-lazy pulse-access /usr/share/sounds/generic.wav

.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:0,7
#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

# X11 modules should not be started from default.pa so that one daemon
# can be shared by multiple sessions.

### Load X11 bell module
#load-module module-x11-bell sample=bell-windowing-system

### Register ourselves in the X11 session manager
#load-module module-x11-xsmp

### Publish connection data in the X11 root window
#.ifexists module-x11-publish.so
#.nofail
#load-module module-x11-publish
#.fail
#.endif

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

load-module module-combine channels=6 channel_map=front-left,front-right,rear-left,rear-right,front-center,lfe
system.pa:
Code:
#!/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, write to the Free Software Foundation,
# Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA.

# This startup script is used only if PulseAudio is started in system
# mode.

### 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/hal support)
load-module module-detect
.endif

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

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

### 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

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

### Enable positioned event sounds
load-module module-position-event-sounds
aplay -l:
Code:
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 7: HDMI 1 [HDMI 1]
  Subdevices: 0/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: VT82xx [HDA VIA VT82xx], device 0: ALC883 Analog [ALC883 Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: VT82xx [HDA VIA VT82xx], device 1: ALC883 Digital [ALC883 Digital]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

Looking at pactl I noticed some weird channel mapping:
Code:
Server String: /run/user/1000/pulse/native
Library Protocol Version: 29
Server Protocol Version: 29
Is Local: yes
Client Index: 3
Tile Size: 65472
User Name: ryanvade
Host Name: ryanvade-plex
Server Name: pulseaudio
Server Version: 5.0
Default Sample Specification: s16le 6ch 44100Hz
Default Channel Map: front-left,front-left-of-center,front-center,front-right,front-right-of-center,rear-center
Default Sink: alsa_output.pci-0000_02_00.1.hdmi-surround-extra1
Default Source: alsa_output.pci-0000_02_00.1.hdmi-surround-extra1.monitor
Cookie: 25e5:3d12
I have no idea where these extra channels are coming from. The extra-hdmi.conf file with the hdmi-surround-extra1 profile does not mention any of these other channels.

What shoul I do to get center/rear channels working?
 


I have read the wiki pages
Which wiki? A URL might be useful.

(I only know the theory and don't have practical experience.)

Have you killed and restarted Pulseaudio, or restarted your HTPC? (Maybe as a Server it isn't often restarted?)

Have you checked Alsamixer to check that all channels are muted?

Have you tried in a Terminal: speaker-test -c 6
 
Last edited:
Which wiki? A URL might be useful.

(I only know the theory and don't have practical experience.)

Have you killed and restarted Pulseaudio, or restarted your HTPC? (Maybe as a Server it isn't often restarted?)

Have you checked Alsamixer to check that all channels are muted?

Have you tried in a Terminal: speaker-test -c 6

speaker-test -c 6
speaker-test -c 6
speaker-test -c 6
ah sorry. More info. :)
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Pulseaudio

Pulse was killed and resurrected numerous times. The server was restarted numerous times. I did use the speaker-test command. Only front-left/right worked.
 
Be brave, forum pal. I often experience problems with Pulse scattering audio for longer than acceptable while volume is raised/lowered.

Does anyone know of an audio sink more functional for my humble stereo audio? Pure alsa also won't make it (Hijacking, I know)
 
How about:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/PulseAudio/Examples#HDMI_output_configuration

There is a heading:
HDMI output configuration
which suggests a particular problem with Nvidia cards
and a sub-heading
Manually configuring PulseAudio to detect the Nvidia HDMI
which gives an example

whereas you have two lines:


???
A suggestion from the Arch forums:
Code:
load-module module-alsa-sink sink_name=HDMI_OUT device=hw:0,7  channels=6 channel_map=front-left,front-right,rear-left,rear-right,front-center,lfe
 
After re-reading the wiki pages, hours of tinkering, I decided to check if a hardware problem could be happening. I am using pc surround sound with a tv, which means I have to convert from digital-analog. It turns out the converter broke.

I connected the analog connectors to the built-in connectors and I get full surround sound. Unfortunately internet TV/Bluray disks cannot play 5.1 surround but I rarely use them.
 

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