Official Kodi Wiki - User contributions [en]

Archive:Linux audio

2015-12-26T21:58:04Z

HunterZ: /* Hardware Vendor Specifics */ add ION

{{mininav|[[Audio]]}}
<section begin="intro" />This page describes how to set up audio for Linux-based systems. Primarily, it covers how to setup Kodi when using either ALSA or PulseAudio.<section end="intro" />

= PulseAudio vs ALSA =

Linux has two different audio systems, these are '''[[w:PulseAudio|PulseAudio]]''' and '''[[w:Advanced Linux Sound Architecture|Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (ALSA)]]'''.

If you have a PC that is exclusively used for Kodi then using ALSA maybe the best solution.

If you have a PC runs many applications other than Kodi then using PulseAudio maybe the the best solution.
<br />

== PulseAudio FAQ ==
To help you decide which is best for you:
{{See|PulseAudio#FAQ}}

== Configuring PulseAudio ==
When using PulseAudio some configuration at the OS level maybe necessary to get audio from XBMC.

For how to do this
{{See|PulseAudio}}

= Hardware Vendor Specifics =

== AMD ==

For AMD GPU's there are two sets of drivers available, the AMD supplied binary fglrx drivers or the newer Radeon OSS drivers.

=== fglrx Drivers ===

The AMD fglrx drivers on Linux support TrueHD, LPCM 7.1 and DTS-HD starting with kernel 3.13.

The AMD developers responsible for the fglrx drivers have failed to provide any updates or improvements to the XvBA hardware acceleration API which is for example used in the infamous xvba-va-driver. We suggest you disable hw decoding support and choose multithreaded Software Decoding in the Video -> Acceleration settings.

=== Radeon OSS Drivers ===

As a consequence of the lack of XvBA updates, XBMC's developers got in contact with the AMD OSS developers to see what could be done to improve AMD graphics in Linux, the result was the Radeon OSS drivers which have been developed to use the open source VDPAU API.

The Radeon OSS driver are now more feature rich and better performing than the fglrx ever were, amongst other things they are capable of allowing HD audio (DTS-HD, TrueHD) to be bitstreamed.

For more detail see forum thread:

{{forum link2|[[forum:174854|Linux - Radeon OSS with vdpau (howto)]] Discussion and further information.}}<br />

== Intel GPU HD Audio ==
Ubuntu 14.04 and therefore Xbmcbuntu v13 support HD Audio with intel hardware (IVB, SNB, HSW) out of the box you don't have to do any modifications to your system configuration. If and only if you are running a very old distribution, e.g. Ubuntu 12.04 that is shipped with an old kernel {{see|Intel Linux Modifications for HD Audio}}, those changes will break and harm your audio on a recent distributions, don't change your config files.

== nVidia ION ==
See [[HOW-TO:Remap HDMI audio on Gen 1 ION - Linux]] for help on remapping HDMI audio channels.

Archive talk:Remap HDMI audio on Gen 1 ION - Linux

2015-11-15T05:09:53Z

HunterZ: /* Kodi 14.0 Helix note */

== Some XBMCbuntu 12.0 Frodo official release version notes ==
* In "Audio output = HDMI" mode, "Passthrough output device" is '''NOT''' used for some reason. Instead, only "Audio output device" is used for everything (including menu sounds).
* Here is an .asoundrc that better accommodates desktop application usage in XBMCbuntu, by setting up an ALSA dmix plugin by default: http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=90910&pid=1320755#pid1320755
* I don't think that Gen 1 ION is able to passthrough AAC over HDMI. XBMC seems to implicitly convert to LPCM when it can, or AC3 as the second choice.
--[[User:HunterZ|HunterZ]] 14:44, 2 February 2013 (EST)

== Kodi 14.0 Helix note ==
It appears that in KodiBuntu 14.0 Helix with default ALSA config, attempting to play 6-channel AAC audio over HDMI no longer results in a 6-channel LPCM passthrough with incorrect mappings. Instead, it appears to end up as 6-channel LPCM non-passthrough with correct mappings. I guess Kodi's AudioEngine is performing the remapping for us, which is probably a good thing.

This means that my Frodo .asoundrc in the article is no longer needed for Kodi itself. However, speaker-test shows that the ALSA-level mappings are still wrong, so remapping is still needed if you plan to use 6+ channel audio in non-Kodi apps. In this case, you can probably just configure Kodi to use hdmi_hw or some other untouched output.

I've updated the article with this info.
--[[User:HunterZ|HunterZ]] ([[User talk:HunterZ|talk]]) 20:11, 1 January 2015 (EST)

:Update: I guess this regressed in 15.x Isengard? I think I had to put the remapping fix back in. --[[User:HunterZ|HunterZ]] ([[User talk:HunterZ|talk]]) 00:09, 15 November 2015 (EST)

== Kodi rename note ==

Just a quick note about the Kodi name change with respect to this article: I think we can leave things as-is, XBMC is only mentioned in the context of particular versions of the software.
--[[User:HunterZ|HunterZ]] ([[User talk:HunterZ|talk]]) 20:14, 1 January 2015 (EST)

Archive:Remap HDMI audio on Gen 1 ION - Linux

2015-11-15T05:05:01Z

HunterZ: Isengard config

Some early nVidia ION-based motherboards have their HDMI audio channels mapped incorrectly. There are two relatively simple methods to remap HDMI audio at the OS-level on nVidia ION-based systems; which one you use depends on your setup. If you require passthrough, disabling Pulseaudio (if your distribution uses it by default) is necessary to configure ALSA to remap the channels. Configuring Pulseaudio to remap the channels is another option if you don't require passthrough.

It should be noted that whenever editing config files, it's best to backup the original.

== ALSA ==
The following steps require the removal of Pulseaudio if your distribution uses it by default.

HDMI audio output requires several steps to configure properly. My requirements were passthrough, non-passthrough and menu sounds all coming over HDMI to my receiver (fairly common). Some challenges were that the Gen 1 ION had incorrect channel mappings (e.g. Center came out of Left Rear) and menu sounds do not default to HDMI.

I first noticed the audio channels were mis-mapped while watching a movie - all the voices were coming out of the left rear channel, not center. To verify this, I ran the following command:

<pre>speaker-test -D hdmi -c 6</pre>

To correct the output, I created the following channel mapping in ~/.asoundrc or /etc/asound.conf(.asoundrc overrides the default alsa settings per user, while /etc/asound.conf is a global settings override)

=== 11.x Eden with 7.1 speakers ===
==== ALSA Configuration ====
Untested in Frodo.
<pre>
pcm.hdmi-remap {
type route
slave.pcm hdmi
ttable.0.0 1
ttable.1.1 1
ttable.2.4 1
ttable.3.5 1
ttable.4.2 1
ttable.5.3 1
ttable.6.6 1
ttable.7.7 1
}
</pre>

:{{Note|There is intentionally no ''slave.channels'' line in the configuration file since it seems to corrupt the digital stream and prevented proper DTS and DD passthrough to my receiver. If you hear static when using passthrough, this might be the reason why!}}
;To test our new configuration, we can run:

<pre>speaker-test -D hdmi-remap -c 6</pre>

Hopefully the channels will now be mapped correctly.

==== Kodi Configuration ====
Within Settings -> System -> Audio Output, I set the following values:

* Audio Output : '''HDMI'''
* Speaker Configuration : '''7.1'''
* Boost volume level on downmix : '''No'''
* Dolby Digital (AC3) capable receiver : '''Yes'''
* DTS capable receiver : '''Yes'''
* Audio output device : '''Custom'''
* Custom audio device : '''hdmi-remap'''
* Passthrough output device : '''hdmi(ALSA)'''

==== Menu Sounds ====
:{{Note|Not needed in Frodo.}}
To configure menu sounds, I told alsa to use the hdmi-remap device as default. I did this by adding the following section to my ~/.asoundrc file:

<pre>pcm.!default {
type plug
slave.pcm hdmi-remap
}</pre>

=== 12.x Frodo / 13.x Gotham with 5.1 speakers (simple fix) ===
==== ALSA Configuration ====
<pre>
pcm.!default {
type plug
slave {
pcm both
}
}
pcm.both {
type route
slave {
pcm hdmi
}
ttable.0.0 1
ttable.1.1 1
ttable.2.4 1
ttable.3.5 1
ttable.4.2 1
ttable.5.3 1
}
</pre>

;To test our new configuration, we can run:
<pre>speaker-test -D hdmi -c 6</pre>

==== Kodi Configuration ====
Within Settings -> System -> Audio Output, I set the following values:

* Audio Output : '''HDMI'''
* Speaker Configuration : '''5.1'''
* Boost volume level on downmix : '''No'''
* Dolby Digital (AC3) capable receiver : '''Yes'''
* DTS capable receiver : '''Yes'''
* Audio output device : '''HDA NVidia HDMI 0'''
* Passthrough output device : '''HDA NVidia HDMI 0'''

After a reboot, sound should be working as expected. Feel free to update this information as needed.

{{forum link2|[[forum:147733|'''Linux''' Frodo HDMI audio channel remap discussion]]}}

=== 12.x Frodo / 13.x Gotham with 5.1 speakers (including desktop application fix) ===
==== ALSA Configuration ====
The following .asoundrc settings will allow Kodi to use exclusive HDMI passthrough, while defaulting to a dmix plugin for the Kodibuntu desktop mode (so that multiple applications can share HDMI access):

<pre>pcm.hdmi_hw {
type hw
card=0
device=3
}

pcm.hdmi_direct {
type route
slave {
pcm hdmi_hw
}
ttable.0.0 1
ttable.1.1 1
ttable.2.4 1
ttable.3.5 1
ttable.4.2 1
ttable.5.3 1
}

pcm.hdmi_shared {
type route
slave {
pcm hdmi_dmix
}
ttable.0.0 1
ttable.1.1 1
ttable.2.4 1
ttable.3.5 1
ttable.4.2 1
ttable.5.3 1
}

pcm.hdmi_dmix {
type dmix
ipc_key 1024
ipc_key_add_uid false
ipc_perm 0666
slave {
pcm hdmi_hw
}
}

pcm.!default {
type plug
slave.pcm "hdmi_shared"
}</pre>

;Test passthrough mode with:

<pre>speaker-test -D hdmi_direct -c 6</pre>

;And default/shared mode with:

<pre>speaker-test -c 6</pre>

;It may also be worth testing each with -c 2 instead of -c 6 to ensure that 2-channel inputs will work.

==== Kodi Configuration ====
Within Settings -> System -> Audio Output, I set the following values:

* Audio Output : '''HDMI'''
* Speaker Configuration : '''5.1'''
* Boost volume level on downmix : '''No'''
* Dolby Digital (AC3) capable receiver : '''Yes'''
* DTS capable receiver : '''Yes'''
* AAC capable receiver : '''Yes''' ''(note that AAC appears to reach my receiver as 5.1 LPCM, regardless of this setting)''
* MultiChannel LPCM capable receiver : '''Yes'''
* Audio output device : '''HDA NVidia HDMI(hdmi_direct)'''
* Passthrough output device : '''HDA NVidia HDMI(hdmi_direct)''' ''(note that this setting apparently doesn't matter, as Frodo seems to use the "Audio output device" setting for both passthrough and non-passthrough modes when "Audio Output" is set to "HDMI")''

After a reboot, sound should be working as expected in both Kodi and in Kodibuntu desktop applications. Feel free to update this information as needed.

{{forum link2|[[forum:90910|Problem with 5.1 channel mapping, help configuring asound.conf]]}}

=== 14.x Helix ===
It appears that remapping may no longer be necessary in Helix for the benefit of Kodi itself, as Kodi appears to perform the remapping itself in software. If remapping is needed for other Linux apps, it should be possible to still use the Frodo/Gotham .asoundrc above but configure Kodi itself to use an output that is not remapped.

Indeed the remapping can even cause Kodi to crash with AESink recording a segfault in libasound.

=== 15.x Isengard with 5.1 speakers (including desktop application fix) ===
Remapping is definitely still needed for me for all forms of non-pass-through 5.1 audio.

For some reason, my ALSA config for 12.x/13.x above no longer works for Kodibuntu 15.2 in desktop mode logins (no sound at all), so here's an updated .asoundrc that works as before:
<pre># --auto-generated-- by /etc/xbmc/live.d/01-make-asoundrc.sh
# AUTOUPDATE=False # change this to disable updating of this file
pcm.hdmi_hw {
type hw
card=0
device=3
}

pcm.hdmi_dmix {
type dmix
ipc_key 5678293
ipc_key_add_uid true
ipc_perm 0660
ipc_gid audio
slave {
channels 6
pcm {
format S16_LE
rate 48000
nonblock true
type hw
card 0
device 3
}
period_size 1024
buffer_size 8192
}
}

pcm.hdmi_direct {
type plug
slave {
pcm hdmi_hw
}
ttable.0.0 1
ttable.1.1 1
ttable.2.4 1
ttable.3.5 1
ttable.4.2 1
ttable.5.3 1
}

pcm.hdmi_shared {
type plug
slave {
pcm hdmi_dmix
}
ttable.0.0 1
ttable.1.1 1
ttable.2.4 1
ttable.3.5 1
ttable.4.2 1
ttable.5.3 1
}

pcm.!default {
type plug
slave {
pcm hdmi_dmix
}
ttable.0.0 1
ttable.1.1 1
ttable.2.4 1
ttable.3.5 1
ttable.4.2 1
ttable.5.3 1
}
</pre>

== Pulseaudio ==
Some may find that removing Pulseaudio breaks other programs and causes problems. If your setup does not require passthrough and your receiver supports multichannel PCM, you may want to configure Pulseaudio instead. These directions were adapted from [http://askubuntu.com/questions/48406/inverted-surround-channels/142942#142942 here.]

=== Configure Pulseaudio ===
1. Run from the command-line: <pre>speaker-test -c6 -twav</pre>

2. Note which channels need to be remapped, I just wrote them down like so:
<pre> SOUND SPEAKER
Left Front ————-> Left Front
Center Front ————-> Left Rear
Right Front ————-> Right Front
Left Rear ————-> Center Front
Subwoofer (lfe) ————-> Right Rear
Right Rear ————-> Subwoofer (lfe)</pre>

3. Edit "/usr/share/pulseaudio/alsa-mixer/profile-sets/extra-hdmi.conf" with your favorite text editor as root. I'm using xubuntu 12.04, so I'll be using leafpad:
<pre>sudo leafpad /usr/share/pulseaudio/alsa-mixer/profile-sets/extra-hdmi.conf</pre>

4. This file contains the Pulseaudio profiles for your HDMI audio outputs. There should be a few entries that say something about 5.1 or 7.1 audio over HDMI. Like this:
<pre>[Mapping hdmi-surround]
description = Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI)
device-strings = hdmi:%f
paths-output = hdmi-output-0
channel-map = front-left,front-right,rear-left,rear-right,front-center,lfe
priority = 3
direction = output</pre>

Edit them to fit your needs based on the channel map you wrote down earlier. I edited all of them (except the 7.1 ones, as I only have a 5.1 setup, I would assume things would be similar for 7.1) like so:
<pre>[Mapping hdmi-surround]
description = Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI)
device-strings = hdmi:%f
paths-output = hdmi-output-0
channel-map = front-left,front-right,front-center,lfe,rear-left,rear-right
priority = 3
direction = output</pre>

5. Restart Pulseaudio to load your new channel maps and run a speaker test:
<pre>pulseaudio -k
pulseaudio --start
speaker-test -c6 -twav</pre>
If everything is coming out of the right channel then you're all set!

=== Configure Kodi ===
Within Settings -> System -> Audio Output, set:

* Audio Output : '''HDMI'''
* Speaker Configuration : '''5.1''' (or 7.1 depeding on your setup)
* Boost volume level on downmix : '''Yes'''
* Dolby Digital (AC3) capable receiver : '''No'''
* DTS capable receiver : '''No'''
* Audio output device : '''defaults(Pulseaudio)'''
* Passthrough output device : '''hdmi(ALSA)''' (won't be used, you can set it to whatever you'd like)

{{note|Pulseaudio and Kodi do not work with passthrough as of Eden (not tested in Frodo, but likely the same). That is why we are telling Kodi the receiver can't decode AC3 and DTS. Theoretically speaking, there is no difference between decoding in software or on your receiver. Some may disagree, however the receiver tells me that it is indeed receiving 5.1 multichannel PCM. Sounds seem to be mapped correctly.}}
Tested with Xubuntu 12.04, Eden, on an ASRock ION330 motherboard

{{forum link2|[[forum:150806|Linux: Remapping Pulseaudio Channels]]}}

{{helix updated}}
{{isengard updated}}

[[Category:Audio]]
[[Category:How-to]]
[[Category:Linux]]
[[Category:NVidia]]

Archive talk:Remap HDMI audio on Gen 1 ION - Linux

2015-01-02T01:14:02Z

HunterZ: /* Kodi rename note */ new section

== Some XBMCbuntu 12.0 Frodo official release version notes ==
* In "Audio output = HDMI" mode, "Passthrough output device" is '''NOT''' used for some reason. Instead, only "Audio output device" is used for everything (including menu sounds).
* Here is an .asoundrc that better accommodates desktop application usage in XBMCbuntu, by setting up an ALSA dmix plugin by default: http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=90910&pid=1320755#pid1320755
* I don't think that Gen 1 ION is able to passthrough AAC over HDMI. XBMC seems to implicitly convert to LPCM when it can, or AC3 as the second choice.
--[[User:HunterZ|HunterZ]] 14:44, 2 February 2013 (EST)

== Kodi 14.0 Helix note ==
It appears that in KodiBuntu 14.0 Helix with default ALSA config, attempting to play 6-channel AAC audio over HDMI no longer results in a 6-channel LPCM passthrough with incorrect mappings. Instead, it appears to end up as 6-channel LPCM non-passthrough with correct mappings. I guess Kodi's AudioEngine is performing the remapping for us, which is probably a good thing.

This means that my Frodo .asoundrc in the article is no longer needed for Kodi itself. However, speaker-test shows that the ALSA-level mappings are still wrong, so remapping is still needed if you plan to use 6+ channel audio in non-Kodi apps. In this case, you can probably just configure Kodi to use hdmi_hw or some other untouched output.

I've updated the article with this info.
--[[User:HunterZ|HunterZ]] ([[User talk:HunterZ|talk]]) 20:11, 1 January 2015 (EST)

== Kodi rename note ==

Just a quick note about the Kodi name change with respect to this article: I think we can leave things as-is, XBMC is only mentioned in the context of particular versions of the software.
--[[User:HunterZ|HunterZ]] ([[User talk:HunterZ|talk]]) 20:14, 1 January 2015 (EST)

Archive talk:Remap HDMI audio on Gen 1 ION - Linux

2015-01-02T01:11:04Z

HunterZ:

Archive:Remap HDMI audio on Gen 1 ION - Linux

2015-01-02T01:10:02Z

HunterZ: Add a 14.0 Helix note

Some early nVidia ION-based motherboards have their HDMI audio channels mapped incorrectly. There are two relatively simple methods to remap HDMI audio at the OS-level on nVidia ION-based systems; which one you use depends on your setup. If you require passthrough, disabling Pulseaudio (if your distribution uses it by default) is necessary to configure ALSA to remap the channels. Configuring Pulseaudio to remap the channels is another option if you don't require passthrough.

It should be noted that whenever editing config files, it's best to backup the original.

==ALSA==
The following steps require the removal of Pulseaudio if your distribution uses it by default.

HDMI audio output requires several steps to configure properly. My requirements were passthrough, non-passthrough and menu sounds all coming over HDMI to my receiver (fairly common). Some challenges were that the Gen 1 ION had incorrect channel mappings (e.g. Center came out of Left Rear) and menu sounds do not default to HDMI.

I first noticed the audio channels were mis-mapped while watching a movie - all the voices were coming out of the left rear channel, not center. To verify this, I ran the following command:

<pre>speaker-test -D hdmi -c 6</pre>

To correct the output, I created the following channel mapping in ~/.asoundrc or /etc/asound.conf(.asoundrc overrides the default alsa settings per user, while /etc/asound.conf is a global settings override)

===XBMC 11.x Eden with 7.1 speakers===
====ALSA Configuration====
Untested in Frodo.
<pre>
pcm.hdmi-remap {
type route
slave.pcm hdmi
ttable.0.0 1
ttable.1.1 1
ttable.2.4 1
ttable.3.5 1
ttable.4.2 1
ttable.5.3 1
ttable.6.6 1
ttable.7.7 1
}
</pre>

:{{Note|There is intentionally no ''slave.channels'' line in the configuration file since it seems to corrupt the digital stream and prevented proper DTS and DD passthrough to my receiver. If you hear static when using passthrough, this might be the reason why!}}
;To test our new configuration, we can run:

<pre>speaker-test -D hdmi-remap -c 6</pre>

Hopefully the channels will now be mapped correctly.

====XBMC Configuration====
Within Settings -> System -> Audio Output, I set the following values:

* Audio Output : '''HDMI'''
* Speaker Configuration : '''7.1'''
* Boost volume level on downmix : '''No'''
* Dolby Digital (AC3) capable receiver : '''Yes'''
* DTS capable receiver : '''Yes'''
* Audio output device : '''Custom'''
* Custom audio device : '''hdmi-remap'''
* Passthrough output device : '''hdmi(ALSA)'''

====Menu Sounds====
:{{Note|Not needed in Frodo.}}
To configure menu sounds, I told alsa to use the hdmi-remap device as default. I did this by adding the following section to my ~/.asoundrc file:

<pre>pcm.!default {
type plug
slave.pcm hdmi-remap
}</pre>

===XBMC 12.x Frodo / 13.x Gotham with 5.1 speakers (simple fix)===
====ALSA Configuration====
<pre>
pcm.!default {
type plug
slave {
pcm both
}
}
pcm.both {
type route
slave {
pcm hdmi
}
ttable.0.0 1
ttable.1.1 1
ttable.2.4 1
ttable.3.5 1
ttable.4.2 1
ttable.5.3 1
}
</pre>

;To test our new configuration, we can run:
<pre>speaker-test -D hdmi -c 6</pre>

====XBMC Configuration====
Within Settings -> System -> Audio Output, I set the following values:

* Audio Output : '''HDMI'''
* Speaker Configuration : '''5.1'''
* Boost volume level on downmix : '''No'''
* Dolby Digital (AC3) capable receiver : '''Yes'''
* DTS capable receiver : '''Yes'''
* Audio output device : '''HDA NVidia HDMI 0'''
* Passthrough output device : '''HDA NVidia HDMI 0'''

After a reboot, sound should be working as expected. Feel free to update this information as needed.

{{forum link2|[[forum:147733|'''Linux''' Frodo HDMI audio channel remap discussion]]}}

===XBMC 12.x Frodo / 13.x Gotham with 5.1 speakers (including desktop application fix)===
====ALSA Configuration====
The following .asoundrc settings will allow XBMC to use exclusive HDMI passthrough, while defaulting to a dmix plugin for the XBMCbuntu desktop mode (so that multiple applications can share HDMI access):

<pre>pcm.hdmi_hw {
type hw
card=0
device=3
}

pcm.hdmi_direct {
type route
slave {
pcm hdmi_hw
}
ttable.0.0 1
ttable.1.1 1
ttable.2.4 1
ttable.3.5 1
ttable.4.2 1
ttable.5.3 1
}

pcm.hdmi_shared {
type route
slave {
pcm hdmi_dmix
}
ttable.0.0 1
ttable.1.1 1
ttable.2.4 1
ttable.3.5 1
ttable.4.2 1
ttable.5.3 1
}

pcm.hdmi_dmix {
type dmix
ipc_key 1024
ipc_key_add_uid false
ipc_perm 0666
slave {
pcm hdmi_hw
}
}

pcm.!default {
type plug
slave.pcm "hdmi_shared"
}</pre>

;Test passthrough mode with:

<pre>speaker-test -D hdmi_direct -c 6</pre>

;And default/shared mode with:

<pre>speaker-test -c 6</pre>

;It may also be worth testing each with -c 2 instead of -c 6 to ensure that 2-channel inputs will work.

====XBMC Configuration====
Within Settings -> System -> Audio Output, I set the following values:

* Audio Output : '''HDMI'''
* Speaker Configuration : '''5.1'''
* Boost volume level on downmix : '''No'''
* Dolby Digital (AC3) capable receiver : '''Yes'''
* DTS capable receiver : '''Yes'''
* AAC capable receiver : '''Yes''' ''(note that AAC appears to reach my receiver as 5.1 LPCM, regardless of this setting)''
* MultiChannel LPCM capable receiver : '''Yes'''
* Audio output device : '''HDA NVidia HDMI(hdmi_direct)'''
* Passthrough output device : '''HDA NVidia HDMI(hdmi_direct)''' ''(note that this setting apparently doesn't matter, as Frodo seems to use the "Audio output device" setting for both passthrough and non-passthrough modes when "Audio Output" is set to "HDMI")''

After a reboot, sound should be working as expected in both XBMC and in XBMCbuntu desktop applications. Feel free to update this information as needed.

{{forum link2|[[forum:90910|Problem with 5.1 channel mapping, help configuring asound.conf]]}}

===Kodi 14.x Helix===
It appears that remapping may no longer be necessary in Helix for the benefit of Kodi itself, as Kodi appears to perform the remapping itself in software. If remapping is needed for other Linux apps, it should be possible to still use the Frodo/Gotham .asoundrc above but configure Kodi itself to use an output that is not remapped.

==Pulseaudio==
Some may find that removing Pulseaudio breaks other programs and causes problems. If your setup does not require passthrough and your receiver supports multichannel PCM, you may want to configure Pulseaudio instead. These directions were adapted from [http://askubuntu.com/questions/48406/inverted-surround-channels/142942#142942 here.]

===Configure Pulseaudio===
1. Run from the command-line: <pre>speaker-test -c6 -twav</pre>

2. Note which channels need to be remapped, I just wrote them down like so:
<pre> SOUND SPEAKER
Left Front ————-> Left Front
Center Front ————-> Left Rear
Right Front ————-> Right Front
Left Rear ————-> Center Front
Subwoofer (lfe) ————-> Right Rear
Right Rear ————-> Subwoofer (lfe)</pre>

3. Edit "/usr/share/pulseaudio/alsa-mixer/profile-sets/extra-hdmi.conf" with your favorite text editor as root. I'm using xubuntu 12.04, so I'll be using leafpad:
<pre>sudo leafpad /usr/share/pulseaudio/alsa-mixer/profile-sets/extra-hdmi.conf</pre>

4. This file contains the Pulseaudio profiles for your HDMI audio outputs. There should be a few entries that say something about 5.1 or 7.1 audio over HDMI. Like this:
<pre>[Mapping hdmi-surround]
description = Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI)
device-strings = hdmi:%f
paths-output = hdmi-output-0
channel-map = front-left,front-right,rear-left,rear-right,front-center,lfe
priority = 3
direction = output</pre>

Edit them to fit your needs based on the channel map you wrote down earlier. I edited all of them (except the 7.1 ones, as I only have a 5.1 setup, I would assume things would be similar for 7.1) like so:
<pre>[Mapping hdmi-surround]
description = Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI)
device-strings = hdmi:%f
paths-output = hdmi-output-0
channel-map = front-left,front-right,front-center,lfe,rear-left,rear-right
priority = 3
direction = output</pre>

5. Restart Pulseaudio to load your new channel maps and run a speaker test:
<pre>pulseaudio -k
pulseaudio --start
speaker-test -c6 -twav</pre>
If everything is coming out of the right channel then you're all set!

===Configure XBMC===
Within Settings -> System -> Audio Output, set:

* Audio Output : '''HDMI'''
* Speaker Configuration : '''5.1''' (or 7.1 depeding on your setup)
* Boost volume level on downmix : '''Yes'''
* Dolby Digital (AC3) capable receiver : '''No'''
* DTS capable receiver : '''No'''
* Audio output device : '''defaults(Pulseaudio)'''
* Passthrough output device : '''hdmi(ALSA)''' (won't be used, you can set it to whatever you'd like)

{{note|Pulseaudio and XBMC do not work with passthrough as of Eden (not tested in Frodo, but likely the same). That is why we are telling XBMC the receiver can't decode AC3 and DTS. Theoretically speaking, there is no difference between decoding in software or on your receiver. Some may disagree, however the receiver tells me that it is indeed receiving 5.1 multichannel PCM. Sounds seem to be mapped correctly.}}
Tested with Xubuntu 12.04, XBMC Eden, on an ASRock ION330 motherboard

{{forum link2|[[forum:150806|Linux: Remapping Pulseaudio Channels]]}}

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Archive:Remap HDMI audio on Gen 1 ION - Linux

2014-11-30T17:49:53Z

HunterZ: /* ALSA Configuration */ update to fix dmix errors when using Steam in-home streaming client on XBMCBuntu; TODO: test bindings settings in place of ttable

Some early Nvidia ION based motherboards have their HDMI audio channels mapped incorrectly. There are two relatively simple methods to remap HDMI audio on Nvidia ION-based systems. Which one you use depends on your setup. If you require passthrough, disabling Pulseaudio (if your distribution uses it by default) is necessary to configure ALSA to remap the channels. Configuring Pulseaudio to remap the channels is another option if you don't require passthrough.

It should be noted, that whenever editing config files it's best to backup the original.

==Remapping Surround Channels (ALSA)==

The following steps require the removal of Pulseaudio if your distribution uses it by default.

HDMI audio output requires several steps to configure properly. My requirements were passthrough, non-passthrough and menu sounds all coming over HDMI to my receiver (fairly common). Some challenges were that the Gen 1 ION had incorrect channel mappings (e.g. Center came out of Left Rear) and menu sounds do not default to HDMI.

I first noticed the audio channels were mis-mapped while watching a movie - all the voices were coming out of the left rear channel, not center. To verify this, I ran the following command:

<pre>speaker-test -D hdmi -c 6</pre>

To correct the output, I created the following channel mapping in ~/.asoundrc or /etc/asound.conf(.asoundrc overrides the default alsa settings per user, while /etc/asound.conf is a global settings override)

===For 7.1: Eden===
====ALSA Configuration====
Untested in Frodo.
<pre>
pcm.hdmi-remap {
type route
slave.pcm hdmi
ttable.0.0 1
ttable.1.1 1
ttable.2.4 1
ttable.3.5 1
ttable.4.2 1
ttable.5.3 1
ttable.6.6 1
ttable.7.7 1
}
</pre>

:{{Note|There is intentionally no ''slave.channels'' line in the configuration file since it seems to corrupt the digital stream and prevented proper DTS and DD passthrough to my receiver. If you hear static when using passthrough, this might be the reason why!}}
;To test our new configuration, we can run:

<pre>speaker-test -D hdmi-remap -c 6</pre>

Hopefully the channels will now be mapped correctly.

====XBMC Configuration====
Within Settings -> System -> Audio Output, I set the following values:

* Audio Output : '''HDMI'''
* Speaker Configuration : '''7.1'''
* Boost volume level on downmix : '''No'''
* Dolby Digital (AC3) capable receiver : '''Yes'''
* DTS capable receiver : '''Yes'''
* Audio output device : '''Custom'''
* Custom audio device : '''hdmi-remap'''
* Passthrough output device : '''hdmi(ALSA)'''

====Menu Sounds====
:{{Note|Not needed in Frodo.}}
To configure menu sounds, I told alsa to use the hdmi-remap device as default. I did this by adding the following section to my ~/.asoundrc file:

<pre>pcm.!default {
type plug
slave.pcm hdmi-remap
}</pre>

===For 5.1: Frodo and Later===
====ALSA Configuration====
<pre>
pcm.!default {
type plug
slave {
pcm both
}
}

pcm.both {
type route
slave {
pcm hdmi
}
ttable.0.0 1
ttable.1.1 1
ttable.2.4 1
ttable.3.5 1
ttable.4.2 1
ttable.5.3 1
}
</pre>

;To test our new configuration, we can run:
<pre>speaker-test -D hdmi -c 6</pre>

====XBMC Configuration====
Within Settings -> System -> Audio Output, I set the following values:

* Audio Output : '''HDMI'''
* Speaker Configuration : '''5.1'''
* Boost volume level on downmix : '''No'''
* Dolby Digital (AC3) capable receiver : '''Yes'''
* DTS capable receiver : '''Yes'''
* Audio output device : '''HDA NVidia HDMI 0'''
* Passthrough output device : '''HDA NVidia HDMI 0'''

After a reboot, sound should be working as expected. Feel free to update this information as needed.

{{forum link2|[[forum:147733|'''Linux''' Frodo HDMI audio channel remap discussion]]}}

===For 5.1 with desktop application support on XBMCbuntu Frodo===
====ALSA Configuration====
The following .asoundrc settings will allow XBMC to use exclusive HDMI passthrough, while defaulting to a dmix plugin for the XBMCbuntu desktop mode (so that multiple applications can share HDMI access):

<pre>pcm.hdmi_hw {
type hw
card=0
device=3
}

pcm.hdmi_direct {
type route
slave {
pcm hdmi_hw
}
ttable.0.0 1
ttable.1.1 1
ttable.2.4 1
ttable.3.5 1
ttable.4.2 1
ttable.5.3 1
}

pcm.hdmi_shared {
type route
slave {
pcm hdmi_dmix
}
ttable.0.0 1
ttable.1.1 1
ttable.2.4 1
ttable.3.5 1
ttable.4.2 1
ttable.5.3 1
}

pcm.hdmi_dmix {
type dmix
ipc_key 1024
ipc_key_add_uid false
ipc_perm 0666
slave {
pcm hdmi_hw
}
}

pcm.!default {
type plug
slave.pcm "hdmi_shared"
}</pre>

;Test passthrough mode with:

<pre>speaker-test -D hdmi_direct -c 6</pre>

;And default/shared mode with:

<pre>speaker-test -c 6</pre>

;It may also be worth testing each with -c 2 instead of -c 6 to ensure that 2-channel inputs will work.

====XBMC Configuration====
Within Settings -> System -> Audio Output, I set the following values:

* Audio Output : '''HDMI'''
* Speaker Configuration : '''5.1'''
* Boost volume level on downmix : '''No'''
* Dolby Digital (AC3) capable receiver : '''Yes'''
* DTS capable receiver : '''Yes'''
* AAC capable receiver : '''Yes''' ''(note that AAC appears to reach my receiver as 5.1 LPCM, regardless of this setting)''
* MultiChannel LPCM capable receiver : '''Yes'''
* Audio output device : '''HDA NVidia HDMI(hdmi_direct)'''
* Passthrough output device : '''HDA NVidia HDMI(hdmi_direct)''' ''(note that this setting apparently doesn't matter, as Frodo seems to use the "Audio output device" setting for both passthrough and non-passthrough modes when "Audio Output" is set to "HDMI")''

After a reboot, sound should be working as expected in both XBMC and in XBMCbuntu desktop applications. Feel free to update this information as needed.

{{forum link2|[[forum:90910|Problem with 5.1 channel mapping, help configuring asound.conf]]}}

==Remapping Surround Channels (Pulseaudio)==
Some may find that removing Pulseaudio breaks other programs and causes problems. If your setup does not require passthrough and your receiver supports multichannel PCM, you may want to configure Pulseaudio instead. These directions were adapted from [http://askubuntu.com/questions/48406/inverted-surround-channels/142942#142942 here.]

===Configure Pulseaudio===
1. Run from the command-line: <pre>speaker-test -c6 -twav</pre>

2. Note which channels need to be remapped, I just wrote them down like so:
<pre> SOUND SPEAKER
Left Front ————-> Left Front
Center Front ————-> Left Rear
Right Front ————-> Right Front
Left Rear ————-> Center Front
Subwoofer (lfe) ————-> Right Rear
Right Rear ————-> Subwoofer (lfe)</pre>

3. Edit "/usr/share/pulseaudio/alsa-mixer/profile-sets/extra-hdmi.conf" with your favorite text editor as root. I'm using xubuntu 12.04, so I'll be using leafpad:
<pre>sudo leafpad /usr/share/pulseaudio/alsa-mixer/profile-sets/extra-hdmi.conf</pre>

4. This file contains the Pulseaudio profiles for your HDMI audio outputs. There should be a few entries that say something about 5.1 or 7.1 audio over HDMI. Like this:
<pre>[Mapping hdmi-surround]
description = Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI)
device-strings = hdmi:%f
paths-output = hdmi-output-0
channel-map = front-left,front-right,rear-left,rear-right,front-center,lfe
priority = 3
direction = output</pre>

Edit them to fit your needs based on the channel map you wrote down earlier. I edited all of them (except the 7.1 ones, as I only have a 5.1 setup, I would assume things would be similar for 7.1) like so:
<pre>[Mapping hdmi-surround]
description = Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI)
device-strings = hdmi:%f
paths-output = hdmi-output-0
channel-map = front-left,front-right,front-center,lfe,rear-left,rear-right
priority = 3
direction = output</pre>

5. Restart Pulseaudio to load your new channel maps and run a speaker test:
<pre>pulseaudio -k
pulseaudio --start
speaker-test -c6 -twav</pre>
If everything is coming out of the right channel then you're all set!

===Configure XBMC===
Within Settings -> System -> Audio Output, set:

* Audio Output : '''HDMI'''
* Speaker Configuration : '''5.1''' (or 7.1 depeding on your setup)
* Boost volume level on downmix : '''Yes'''
* Dolby Digital (AC3) capable receiver : '''No'''
* DTS capable receiver : '''No'''
* Audio output device : '''defaults(Pulseaudio)'''
* Passthrough output device : '''hdmi(ALSA)''' (won't be used, you can set it to whatever you'd like)

{{note|Pulseaudio and XBMC do not work with passthrough as of Eden (not tested in Frodo, but likely the same). That is why we are telling XBMC the receiver can't decode AC3 and DTS. Theoretically speaking, there is no difference between decoding in software or on your receiver. Some may disagree, however the receiver tells me that it is indeed receiving 5.1 multichannel PCM. Sounds seem to be mapped correctly.}}
Tested with Xubuntu 12.04, XBMC Eden, on an ASRock ION330 motherboard

{{forum link2|[[forum:150806|Linux: Remapping Pulseaudio Channels]]}}

[[Category:How-to]]
[[Category:Linux]]