How to make 4.1 speakers working?

[vrk1219]

Hi,
After installing the Daryna version of Mint Linux, I came to know only 2 front speakers are working.
Please let me know how can I enable the 4,1 speakers I have with me.
I'm using Soundblaster Live soundcard.

Regards
RK Veluvali

[Husse]

How do you connect the speakers?

[vrk1219]

How do you connect the speakers?

I just connected them to the soundcard. The speakers have 2 jacks, which go to the Bass unit, and the unit further spilits the sound into 4 jacks 2 on to the front and 2 to the rear side.

[vrk1219]

How do you connect the speakers?

I just connected them to the soundcard. The speakers have 2 jacks, which go to the Bass unit, and the unit further spilits the sound into 4 jacks 2 on to the front and 2 to the rear side.

Hi all,
Can you people solve my problem?

Thanks in advance.

[Husse]

Added to my very long list of posts that I have not had the time to answer this week
Will come back to you - it's past midnight here now

[vrk1219]

Added to my very long list of posts that I have not had the time to answer this week
Will come back to you - it's past midnight here now

Hi Husse,
I'm desperately looking for a solution... please help me.

[Husse]

Sorry to keep you waiting but I have to help those with a non working computer first and SB Live can be a bit tricky
They mostly work, but...
There are several different versions of SB Live
Run lspci in a terminal and post here
Also run lsmod | grep snd and post here
You can also try this
In /home/your_username there is a hidden file called .asoundrc - if it does not exist create it
Add this at the bottom of the file

Code: Select all

pcm. !default {
         type plug
         slave.pcm "surround51"
         slave.channels 4
         route_policy duplicate
         }

Note - no sudo

[vrk1219]

Sorry to keep you waiting but I have to help those with a non working computer first and SB Live can be a bit tricky
They mostly work, but...
There are several different versions of SB Live
Run lspci in a terminal and post here
Also run lsmod | grep snd and post here

Here are theoutputs

rk@rk-desktop:~$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82946GZ/PL/GL Memory Controller Hub (rev 02)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82946GZ/PL/GL PCI Express Root Port (rev 02)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 01)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 01)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 2 (rev 01)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 3 (rev 01)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 01)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 01)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 01)
00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 01)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 01)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge (rev e1)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801GB/GR (ICH7 Family) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 01)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) IDE Controller (rev 01)
00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801GB/GR/GH (ICH7 Family) SATA IDE Controller (rev 01)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 01)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation G72 [GeForce 7300 LE] (rev a1)
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications, Inc. AR5006EG 802.11 b/g Wireless PCI Express Adapter (rev 01)
03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Attansic Technology Corp. L1 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter (rev b0)
05:01.0 Multimedia audio controller: Creative Labs [SB Live! Value] EMU10k1X

rk@rk-desktop:~$ lsmod | grep snd
snd_hda_intel 263712 0
snd_seq_dummy 4740 0
snd_seq_oss 33152 0
snd_emu10k1x 20484 1
snd_ac97_codec 100644 1 snd_emu10k1x
snd_seq_midi 9600 0
snd_rawmidi 25728 2 snd_emu10k1x,snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_midi_event 8448 2 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi
snd_pcm_oss 44672 0
snd_mixer_oss 17664 1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_seq 53232 6 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_seq_device 9228 5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq
snd_pcm 80388 4 snd_hda_intel,snd_emu10k1x,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss
snd_timer 24324 2 snd_seq,snd_pcm
ac97_bus 3200 1 snd_ac97_codec
snd 54660 13 snd_hda_intel,snd_seq_oss,snd_emu10k1x,snd_ac97_codec,snd_rawmidi,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_seq,snd_seq_device,snd_pcm,snd_timer
soundcore 8800 1 snd
snd_page_alloc 11400 3 snd_hda_intel,snd_emu10k1x,snd_pcm

[Husse]

The chip is EMU10k1X and the corresponding module is loaded
This should normally lead to sound
Silly question - you do plug in to the SB live card not the onboard one?

[vrk1219]

The chip is EMU10k1X and the corresponding module is loaded
This should normally lead to sound
Silly question - you do plug in to the SB live card not the onboard one?

Hey dude,
I have connected speakers to the SB Live card
I don't have any problem with sound, but out of 4 speakers, only 2 front speakers are working.

[Husse]

Did you try this
http://www.linuxmint.com/forum/viewtopi ... 73#p126707

[vrk1219]

You can also try this
In /home/your_username there is a hidden file called .asoundrc - if it does not exist create it
Add this at the bottom of the file

Code: Select all

pcm. !default {
         type plug
         slave.pcm "surround51"
         slave.channels 4
         route_policy duplicate
         }

Note - no sudo

Hi,
I created the .asoundrc file and added the code you gave.
But I was unable to understand your note.

[Husse]

Ahh - I only wanted you not to use sudo for this - the file is to be owned by you in your home folder

[vrk1219]

Ahh - I only wanted you not to use sudo for this - the file is to be owned by you in your home folder

Hey, still my 4.1 speakers are dumb
Should I need to restart my system after I insert the code?

[Husse]

Reboot or restart sound - and I don't remember for sure how to restart sound (alsa)

[Husse]

Damn it - there's a config file for pulse also - not just alsa. I had forgotten about this one - thanks

[vrk1219]

sudo gedit /etc/pulse/daemon.conf

find the line that says "; default-sample-channels = 2"
remove the semicolon and change so it reads

default-sample-channels = 5

save, reboot and you'll have magical multichannel playback for 4.1 surround

for 4.0 surround just set the channels to 4
for 6.1 set it to 7 etc etc.

Hi,
When I tried
sudo gedit /etc/pulse/daemon.conf
I got a blank file opened by the editor...

[vrk1219]

Hmmm maybe we're over thinking this one. Try this - double click on the speaker icon in your task tray, that should bring up your alsamixer settings. There should be a tab that says "switches", make sure there's a tick in the box next to where it says 4 channel output. If there's no entry there click on "help" and preferences, and that will let you select what selections will appear in the mixer. I'm trying like crazy to remember I had a SB Live 5.1 up until Felicia 64 RC1. It was something simple to get it working. Trying to remember if I also went into Amarok settings and configured that for 4 channel too.

Hi, Here are the screenshots for the same.
So, I didn't get any option like that

Also, Now I'm getting the following error while I try to test the sound.

[vrk1219]

Hi,
At last I got rid of this problem.

Thanks a lot to Tofucifer, Husse for trying your best to help me solve this issue.

Actually I posted another question http://www.linuxmint.com/forum/viewtopi ... 90&t=21755
For which I got a reply to visit another thread http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=294275
In which they suggested to upgrade the Kernel to linux-image-2.6.20-15-generic_2.6.20-15.28_i386.deb
So, done it.

I don't even know weather it solved my problem directly or indirectly.... ( all it was a trail and error )


All credits to Linux Mint community.

[Husse]

sudo gedit /etc/pulse/daemon.conf
I got a blank file opened by the editor...

Strange indeed - that means there is no such file...?
And please always use gksu for gedit and other applications with a a GUI - there is a slight risk to use sudo