How to pass audio via HDMI (Fedora 7)

[Andrew Junev]

Sunday, November 4, 2007, 8:17:03 PM, you wrote:

> Andrew Junev wrote:
>> Hello All,
>> 
>> I was going to use HDMI to transfer sound as well as video to my SONY
>> LCD TV. The problem is that I don't really know how to do it. 
>> 
>> My video adapter (ASUS EN8600GT/HTDI) has an SPDIF-in connector to
>> pass the audio stream through HDMI interface. I connected my
>> motherboard's SPDIF-out to this one. 
>> Then I un-muted 'IEC958' as described here:
>> http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/Configuring_Digital_Sound_with_AC3_and_SPDIF
>> 
>> But all my attempts to play any audio file gave me no sound. Is there
>> anything else I need to do?
>> 
>> My TV accepts "Two channel linear PCM; 32, 44.1 and 48 kHz; 16, 20 and
>> 24 bits" audio over HDMI input.
>> 
>> When I'm trying to play back a file via mplayer it says the audio
>> stream is 2-channel, 48000Hz PCM. So it should be fine... But I still
>> get no sound.
>> 
>> What else could be wrong?
>> 
>> My motherboard has one internal and one external S/PDIF output. I
>> don't think there is a difference between them, but the internal one
>> is connected to the video card. I read the manual but it said nothing
>> about configuration of the S/PDIF in terms of which one to use. So I
>> assume both outputs should work at the same time... But I might be
>> wrong here.
>> 
>> I would appreciate any help!
>> 
> I only know a little about using the spdif output, so all I can
> offer are some general troubleshooting tips.

> Dumb question time:
>  Are you sure both jacks are outputs?

According to my MB manual, they are both outputs.

>  Did you check the slider level for the IEC958?

There's no slider. It can only be muted. As far as I know, you can't
change volume level of a digital output. Volume control is done at the
external amplifier.

>  Did you check to see if there is more then one IEC958 entry?

There's only one. I just checked that again.

>  Did you try configuring mplayer to use the spdif output?

Yes, I tried all the mplayer settings I could think of.
Still no sound...

> You may want to post the output of "aplay -L" and "aplay -l". You
> may also want to try using aplay from the command line to play a
> sound file. A .wav file is a good choice. (aplay does not play
> mp3s.) From the web site: (with slight modification.)

> aplay -D ALSA:spdif something.wav

I tried this one too, but there's still no sound...

Here's the output of "aplay -L" and "aplay -l":

[root at frontend1 ~]# aplay -L
default:CARD=Intel
    HDA Intel, ALC883 Analog
    Default Audio Device
front:CARD=Intel,DEV=0
    HDA Intel, ALC883 Analog
    Front speakers
surround40:CARD=Intel,DEV=0
    HDA Intel, ALC883 Analog
    4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=Intel,DEV=0
    HDA Intel, ALC883 Analog
    4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=Intel,DEV=0
    HDA Intel, ALC883 Analog
    5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=Intel,DEV=0
    HDA Intel, ALC883 Analog
    5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71:CARD=Intel,DEV=0
    HDA Intel, ALC883 Analog
    7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
null
    Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)
[root at frontend1 ~]# aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 0: ALC883 Analog [ALC883 Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 1: ALC883 Digital [ALC883 Digital]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
[root at frontend1 ~]#


-- 
Best regards,
 Andrew