[SOLVED] No sound through HDMI amplifier under Linux Mint 19.2 Cinnamon

TornadoDivine · 09-15-2019, 06:44 AM

Hi,

I'm very new to Linux, having just installed Mint Cinnamon 19.2 (4.15.0-62-generic GNU/Linux) and all seems to be working well apart from the HDMI sound through the amplifier.
All devices go via HDMI to the amp, then the amp has HDMI to the TV.
This works under Windows with the right HDMI 5.1 output.

I have looked around and tried several things but whilst video works nicely, audio refuses to play nicely. Sites such as:

https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...-a-4175614490/
https://jaysdesktop.blogspot.com/201...untu-1004.html

If anyone can shed some light on this, it would be much appreciated.
Running various commands below gives me:
lspci | grep -i audio: output

Code:

00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset High Definition Audio Controller (rev 05)
01:00.1 Audio device: NVIDIA Corporation GF119 HDMI Audio Controller (rev a1)

lspci -s 01:00.1 -nnk

Code:

01:00.1 Audio device [0403]: NVIDIA Corporation GF119 HDMI Audio Controller [10de:0e08] (rev a1)
	Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. GF119 HDMI Audio Controller [1043:847b]
	Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
	Kernel modules: snd_hda_intel

aplay -l

Code:

**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: ALC887-VD Analog [ALC887-VD Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 3: ALC887-VD Digital [ALC887-VD Digital]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 7: HDMI 1 [HDMI 1]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

xrandr

Code:

Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1920 x 1080, maximum 16384 x 16384
DVI-I-1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
HDMI-1 connected primary 1920x1080+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 1107mm x 623mm
   1920x1080     60.00*+  50.00    59.94    30.00    24.00    29.97    23.98  
   1920x1080i    60.00    50.00    59.94  
   2880x576      50.00  
   2880x576i     50.00  
   1600x900      60.00  
   2880x480      60.00    59.94  
   2880x480i     60.00    59.94  
   1280x1024     60.02  
   1280x720      60.00    50.00    59.94  
   1440x576      50.00  
   1024x768      60.00  
   1440x480      60.00    59.94  
   800x600       60.32  
   720x576       50.00  
   720x480       60.00    59.94  
   640x480       60.00    59.94  
VGA-1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)

egrep -r -i hdmi /proc/asound/*

Code:

/proc/asound/card0/codec#0:  Device: name="ALC887-VD Digital", type="HDMI", device=3
/proc/asound/card0/codec#0:  Pin Default 0x18561130: [Jack] Digital Out at Int HDMI
/proc/asound/card1/pcm3p/info:id: HDMI 0
/proc/asound/card1/pcm3p/info:name: HDMI 0
/proc/asound/card1/pcm3p/sub0/info:id: HDMI 0
/proc/asound/card1/pcm3p/sub0/info:name: HDMI 0
/proc/asound/card1/pcm7p/info:id: HDMI 1
/proc/asound/card1/pcm7p/info:name: HDMI 1
/proc/asound/card1/pcm7p/sub0/info:id: HDMI 1
/proc/asound/card1/pcm7p/sub0/info:name: HDMI 1
/proc/asound/card1/codec#0:Codec: Nvidia GPU 1c HDMI/DP
/proc/asound/card1/codec#0:  Pincap 0x09000094: OUT Detect HBR HDMI DP
/proc/asound/card1/codec#0:  Pin Default 0x185600f0: [Jack] Digital Out at Int HDMI
/proc/asound/card1/codec#0:  Pincap 0x09000094: OUT Detect HBR HDMI DP
/proc/asound/card1/codec#0:  Pin Default 0x185600f0: [Jack] Digital Out at Int HDMI
/proc/asound/card1/codec#0:  Pincap 0x09000094: OUT Detect HBR HDMI DP
/proc/asound/card1/codec#0:  Pin Default 0x585600f0: [N/A] Digital Out at Int HDMI
/proc/asound/card1/codec#0:  Pincap 0x09000094: OUT Detect HBR HDMI DP
/proc/asound/card1/codec#0:  Pin Default 0x585600f0: [N/A] Digital Out at Int HDMI
/proc/asound/card1/codec#0:  Device: name="HDMI 1", type="HDMI", device=7
/proc/asound/card1/eld#0.1:connection_type		HDMI
/proc/asound/NVidia/pcm3p/info:id: HDMI 0
/proc/asound/NVidia/pcm3p/info:name: HDMI 0
/proc/asound/NVidia/pcm3p/sub0/info:id: HDMI 0
/proc/asound/NVidia/pcm3p/sub0/info:name: HDMI 0
/proc/asound/NVidia/pcm7p/info:id: HDMI 1
/proc/asound/NVidia/pcm7p/info:name: HDMI 1
/proc/asound/NVidia/pcm7p/sub0/info:id: HDMI 1
/proc/asound/NVidia/pcm7p/sub0/info:name: HDMI 1
/proc/asound/NVidia/codec#0:Codec: Nvidia GPU 1c HDMI/DP
/proc/asound/NVidia/codec#0:  Pincap 0x09000094: OUT Detect HBR HDMI DP
/proc/asound/NVidia/codec#0:  Pin Default 0x185600f0: [Jack] Digital Out at Int HDMI
/proc/asound/NVidia/codec#0:  Pincap 0x09000094: OUT Detect HBR HDMI DP
/proc/asound/NVidia/codec#0:  Pin Default 0x185600f0: [Jack] Digital Out at Int HDMI
/proc/asound/NVidia/codec#0:  Pincap 0x09000094: OUT Detect HBR HDMI DP
/proc/asound/NVidia/codec#0:  Pin Default 0x585600f0: [N/A] Digital Out at Int HDMI
/proc/asound/NVidia/codec#0:  Pincap 0x09000094: OUT Detect HBR HDMI DP
/proc/asound/NVidia/codec#0:  Pin Default 0x585600f0: [N/A] Digital Out at Int HDMI
/proc/asound/NVidia/codec#0:  Device: name="HDMI 1", type="HDMI", device=7
/proc/asound/NVidia/eld#0.1:connection_type		HDMI
/proc/asound/PCH/codec#0:  Device: name="ALC887-VD Digital", type="HDMI", device=3
/proc/asound/PCH/codec#0:  Pin Default 0x18561130: [Jack] Digital Out at Int HDMI
/proc/asound/pcm:01-03: HDMI 0 : HDMI 0 : playback 1

Being very new to Linux, I'm not sure what a lot of the above tells me

I have GNOME AlsaMixer installed and Pulse Audio Control (playing with both has made no difference).
In AlsaMixer, I see two options:
1. Realtek ALC887-VD, this has lots of channels (Master, Headphones, etc) and then the ticked boxes for IEC958/IEC958 Default PCM
2. Nvidia GPU but although there are two ticked boxes for IEC958, there are no mixer channel options like I have for the Realtek sound.

In Pulse Audio output devices, I have two options on Output Devices
1. Nvidia GF119 HDMI Audio Controller Digital Surround Sound 5.1 (HDMI 2)
Port: HDMI/DisplayPort 2 (plugged in)
2. Built in Audio Digital Stereo HDMI
Port: HDMI/DisplayPort.

Under Configuration:
GF119 HDMI Audio Controller Profile: Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI 2) Output
Built in Audio Profile: Digital Stereo (HDMI) Output

If I open up the Sound application I can see both devices under Output, yet when I test them, neither outputs anything. I've tried testing them through the application and then through the kernel, no sound output.

I tried unplugging my HDMI cable from the graphics card to the built in device but that stopped the video from working as well. If anyone has any ideas it would be much appreciated. I've been running around in circles trying to resolve this with no luck so far.

TornadoDivine · 09-16-2019, 11:51 AM

After more playing around I have fixed my sound issue.
I was nosing around in the system settings and had a look at the Driver Manager app. This listed my display driver as xserver-xorg-video-nouveau (open source) for the graphics and then oem-audio-hda-daily-dkms for the audio.
Driver Manager recommended that I change the display driver to the Nvidia one (v390) which is the latest one.
Soon as I changed to this and restarted... I now have sound.

Only minor thing is it recognizes the amp as the TV and max resolution is 1920 x 1080 but I can live with that as I've now got working sound.

Thanks to all who read the post

business_kid · 09-16-2019, 12:35 PM

Just emerged victorious from a sound fight here

Try putting 'Solved' as a search term when searching threads. You need to do 2 things

Get sound working in pulse. Maximise a terminal, run 'sudo alsamixer' & you'll probably see 1 column. Press F6, select your sound card, and you should see many columns in an ncurses 1970s type display. Use left/right arrow keys to move left/right, up/down to change levels, and 'm' to mute/unmute. Unmute everything. That usually sorts sound on Mint.
Pulseaudio responds poorly to changes. In all dangers, temptations, afflictions & difficulties, run 'sudo pkill pulse'. You needn't worry about restarting it because pulseaudio respawns; You can't get rid of it, unfortunately.