problem with Alsa and surround sound

[Janina Sajka]

Even though I have an old SB Live here, I can't give you specific
pointers just now. But, I think you should be aware that many, if not
all, of the alsa dirvers are still very much in flux. This isn't to say
that things are not usable, just that you may need to twiddle, and you
may need to get a newer version of the libraries and/or the drivers and
utilities.

I haven't been tracking the sb live chat on the alsa-developer list,
even though I sort of monitor the list. I have noticed quite a bit of
discussion recently about the sb live, which is why I'm leaving this
message for you.

Monty Lilburn writes:
> Hello List,
> 
> I posted a similar message on the alsa list but did not get a response. 
> In reviewing the speakup archives and my every now and again monitoring I 
> know there loads of alsa enthusiasts who hang out on Speakup.  Hopefully 
> someone can help!
> 
> I recently upgraded my machine to an AMD64 running Debian and ALSA. 
> Previous to this, I was running an Intel32 machine running Slackware and 
> OSS/emu-tools.  Needless to say,  I'm a big-time newby when it comes to 
> the architecture, sound driver and Linux distro.
> 
> I am experiencing several difficulties with my set-up of a Via82xx 
> on-board chip and SB-live + LiveDrive II.  Most of these are resolvable (I 
> hope) and is just a case of getting comfortable with ALSA and amixer since 
> I used to use OSS.
> 
> My first question relates to my SB-Live and routing...
> 
> Here's what I have:
> 
> My 'SB Live Analog/Digital Output Jack' switched on.  This is because I 
> have my Sb-Live connected via a digital SP-Dif 1/8-mini to RCA-style jack 
> on my 5.1 capable amp.
> 
> I have my TV-audio coming into the SB-Live Line-IN 1/8-mini jack.
> 
> The idea here is that I can play audio files on my computer (MP3 Etc) as 
> well as have the audio from the TV play on the 5.1 capable amp.
> 
> The playing of audio-files works fine - playing on all 6 speakers, but 
> unfortunately the TV-audio (plugged into the Line jack) only plays over 
> the two front speakers.
> 
> In order to have the TV-audio play at all, I had to  execute the command:
> 
> # amixer sset Line,0 90 captureon
> 
> 
> So, my question is, How do I get audio from my Line jack to play over all 
> speakers?
> 
> I read in some archives and docs that this will work by switching off the 
> 'SB-Live Analog/Digital Output Jack' and setting the 'Wave Surround' but 
> this really isn't an option since I am using the 'SB-Live Analog/Digital 
> Output Jack'.  In the past, emu-tools's emu-dspmgr let me setup routes 
> which accomplished this but unfortunately the emu-tools do not work on my 
> amd64/Debian distro.
> 
> My custom kernel: V2.6.10 is running Alsa V1.0.6.
> 
> I would appreciate any help that anybody can give!
> 
> Thanks in advance,
>    Monty
> 
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-- 

Janina Sajka				Phone: +1.202.494.7040
Partner, Capital Accessibility LLC	http://www.CapitalAccessibility.Com

Chair, Accessibility Workgroup		Free Standards Group (FSG)
janina at freestandards.org		http://a11y.org

If Linux can't solve your computing problem, you need a different problem.