On 17 Nov 2006 19:24:12 GMT, Fabrice DELENTE wrote:



>Hello.

>I'd like to enable 5.1 sound under ALSA 1.0.13, but I can't.

>The page on alsa.opensrc.org says to try

>aplay -Dsurround51 wavfile

>but it doesn't use the right soundcard (it tries on my first soundcard,
>which is not 5.1-able).

>How can I tell it to use my other soundcard instead of the 1st one?

man aplay

Fabrice DELENTE wrote:
>
> How can I tell it to use my other soundcard instead of the 1st one?

Have you read the stuff about multiple sound cards at
http://alsa.opensrc.org/MultipleCards ?

> man aplay

I've read the manpage, but I don't see anything relevant.

Any hint?

--
Fabrice DELENTE

> > How can I tell it to use my other soundcard instead of the 1st one?

> Have you read the stuff about multiple sound cards at
> http://alsa.opensrc.org/MultipleCards ?

Yes, I have already read and used that to setup the system; the problem is,
the order of my cards is now set and I don't want to change it; surround51
is defined for the default card in share/alsa.conf, and I don't see how to
enable it for a card that is not the default.

--
Fabrice DELENTE

On 17 Nov 2006 20:27:49 GMT, Fabrice DELENTE wrote:


>> man aplay

>I've read the manpage, but I don't see anything relevant.

>Any hint?

You're asking how to select the sound card?
Use the -D switch.

> You're asking how to select the sound card?
> Use the -D switch.

No, I'm asking how to enable surround sound on my 3rd soundcard. There's a
surround51 pcm, but it wants to use my 1st soundcard. I can use my 3rd card,
but only in stereo. How do I use the surround51 pm with my 3rd soundcard.



À bientôt.

--
Fabrice DELENTE

SVP, ne m'envoyez pas de pièces jointes aux formats Word, PowerPoint, RTF
(formats propriétaires). Utilisez des formats libres comme txt, html,
OpenOffice.Org ou PDF. Merci. Voir
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/no-wor...hments.fr.html

"Fabrice DELENTE" wrote in message
news:455ebdeb$0$5756$426a74cc@news.free.fr...
> > You're asking how to select the sound card?
> > Use the -D switch.
>
> No, I'm asking how to enable surround sound on my 3rd soundcard. There's a
> surround51 pcm, but it wants to use my 1st soundcard. I can use my 3rd
card,
> but only in stereo. How do I use the surround51 pm with my 3rd soundcard.
>
> À bientôt.
> --
> Fabrice DELENTE
>
> SVP, ne m'envoyez pas de pièces jointes aux formats Word, PowerPoint, RTF
> (formats propriétaires). Utilisez des formats libres comme txt, html,
> OpenOffice.Org ou PDF. Merci. Voir
> http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/no-wor...hments.fr.html

Sometimes the solution is to change the hardware. Go with one sound
subsytem that works and does what you want.

later.....

> Sometimes the solution is to change the hardware. Go with one sound
> subsytem that works and does what you want.

Well the hardware is capable, since it's a Soundblaster Audigy SE, which is
a 7.1 card. So it should do what I want; the only problem is knowing which
parameters to give to alsa.

--
Fabrice DELENTE

Fabrice DELENTE wrote:
>>> How can I tell it to use my other soundcard instead of the 1st one?
>
>> Have you read the stuff about multiple sound cards at
>> http://alsa.opensrc.org/MultipleCards ?
>
> Yes, I have already read and used that to setup the system; the problem is,
> the order of my cards is now set and I don't want to change it; surround51
> is defined for the default card in share/alsa.conf, and I don't see how to
> enable it for a card that is not the default.

Ahh, I see. Can you try adding the following stanza to your ~/.asoundrc
file:

pcm.!surround51 {
type hw
card X
}

Note that X should be replaced with the proper number for the desired
card, which can be obtained from /proc/asound/cards.

That *should* override the default definition for the "surround51"
device you want to use and route it to the card you...I think. (I gave
up on the multiple card thing a while ago and just disabled the on-board
sound to use the good card instead. So my memory of these things is a
little rusty and I have no way to test it.)

Thanks for the update.

> Ahh, I see. Can you try adding the following stanza to your ~/.asoundrc
> file:

> pcm.!surround51 {
> type hw
> card X
> }

> Note that X should be replaced with the proper number for the desired
> card, which can be obtained from /proc/asound/cards.

Done.

I can't try with xmms, since I don't have appropriate WAV or MP3 files.

However, it doesn't work with a DVD in mplayer:

mplayer dvd://1 -aid 128 -ao alsa:device=surround40 -channels 4

gives

AUDIO: 48000 Hz, 4 ch, s16le, 384.0 kbit/12.50% (ratio: 48000->384000)
Selected audio codec: [a52] afm: liba52 (AC3-liba52)
================================================== ========================
AO: [alsa] 48000Hz 2ch s16le (2 bytes per sample)
Starting playback...

so the file is 4-channels but is played as 2-channels...

--
Fabrice DELENTE

"Fabrice DELENTE" wrote in message
news:455f4c51$0$26239$426a74cc@news.free.fr...
>
> > Sometimes the solution is to change the hardware. Go with one sound
> > subsytem that works and does what you want.
>
> Well the hardware is capable, since it's a Soundblaster Audigy SE, which
is
> a 7.1 card. So it should do what I want; the only problem is knowing which
> parameters to give to alsa.
> --
> Fabrice DELENTE

I was mostly thinking of removing the other sound cards.

later.....