[alsa-devel] X-Fi Titanium: Capture is possible only with unmuted input

[Thor Kristoffersen]

On Mon, Aug 30, 2010 at 12:08 PM, Takashi Iwai <tiwai at suse.de> wrote:
> At Mon, 30 Aug 2010 12:02:49 +0200,
> Thor Kristoffersen wrote:
>>
>> On Mon, Aug 30, 2010 at 11:45 AM, Takashi Iwai <tiwai at suse.de> wrote:
>> > At Mon, 30 Aug 2010 11:43:14 +0200,
>> > Thor Kristoffersen wrote:
>> >>
>> >> On Mon, Aug 30, 2010 at 11:32 AM, Takashi Iwai <tiwai at suse.de> wrote:
>> >> >> On Mon, Aug 30, 2010 at 11:07 AM, Takashi Iwai <tiwai at suse.de> wrote:
>> >> >> >> On Mon, Aug 30, 2010 at 10:46 AM, Takashi Iwai <tiwai at suse.de> wrote:
>> >> >> >> >> >> I'm having issues with an X-Fi Titanium and ALSA.  The problem is that
>> >> >> >> >> >> it appears to be impossible to capture without unmuting the channel I'm
>> >> >> >> >> >> capturing from.
>> >> >> >> >> >
>> >> >> >> >> > What do you mean exactly "unmuting the channel I'm capturing from"?
>> >> >> >> >> > If you mean to turn on/off "XXX Capture Switch", then it's a feature,
>> >> >> >> >> > no bug.
>> >> >> >> >>
>> >> >> >> >> No, I mean that capture is possible only when mute=off and capture=on.
>> >> >> >> >
>> >> >> >> > Which mute?  Please be more specific.
>> >> >> >>
>> >> >> >> The signal I'm trying to capture is coming in through the SPDIF-i
>> >> >> >> channel, so I'm talking about the mute and capture flags on that
>> >> >> >> channel. However, I also tried the analog input (line), and the
>> >> >> >> problem is exactly the same on that channel.
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > Well, this is still unclear (what actually do you mean "channel") but
>> >> >> > let me guess:
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> >  the recording from either mic or line-in doesn't work unless you unmute
>> >> >> >  via "Front Playback Switch" mixer element.
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > Correct?
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Not really. I use gnome-alsamixer, and there is a mixer element called
>> >> >> "SPDIF-i" that has a slider, a "Mute" switch, and a "Capture" switch.
>> >> >> I connect a digital source to the SPDIF input on the card, and then I
>> >> >> try to record it with arecord from device hw:0,0. The only way I'm
>> >> >> able to record sound is by setting the Mute switch (of the SPDIF-i
>> >> >> mixer element) to off and the Capture switch to on.
>> >> >
>> >> > There is no mixer switch names "SPDIF-i".  It's cut in alsamixer's
>> >> > display.  To check more exactly, make a diff of amixer outputs between
>> >> > working and non-working states.
>> >> >
>> >> > But, what you wrote above is about the SPDIF input, not about the
>> >> > analog input, right?  Let's focus on one of them first.
>> >>
>> >> The problem is exactly the same with the analog input,
>> >
>> > Hmm... what do you mean "exactly the same"?
>> > Does "SPDIF-in" mixer have to be unmuted?  Or any other mixer element?
>>
>> No, what I mean is that in order to capture sound from the analog
>> input, it is necessary to set the Mute switch to off and the Capture
>> switch to on on the Line mixer control.
>
> Ah, now it's becoming clear.  So it's "Line-in" mixer to be unmuted
> if you want to record from line-in, right?

Yes, that's correct, when trying to record from the analog input.

> And "Line-in Playback Volume" plays no role for recording?

I don't know. The signal I'm trying to capture is rather weak, so I
have only tried this with the volume at max.

Thor