[alsa-devel] [bug] SPDIF (digital-out) not working on NForce4/CK804

[Gilles Hemberg]

Hi,

It works!



Solution (in OpenElec 4.2.0; settings on other distros would be similar):
* Create custom asound.state in /storage/.config/ with the following 
contents: http://sprunge.us/SiHH (this state-file will, among other 
things, unmute the appropriate mixer controls, set proper output 
formats, ...).

* Load the above state file with the following command:

     alsactl nrestore 0 -f /storage/.config/asound.state
     (replace the "0" with the card-number corresponding to CK804 on 
your system)

   You may want to add this command to a custom autostart.sh in 
/storage/.config/ so the state is restored on every boot.

* Create intel8x0.conf in /storage/.config/modprobe.d/ with the 
following contents:

     options snd-intel8x0 spdif_aclink=1
     (I am told that this above setting depends on the specific 
motherboard, so this may not work for everyone: it does work on my ASUS 
A8N-SLI Deluxe)

   This was the final setting that solved the issue for me. I did try 
this setting before, but it seems that some sources on the Internet had 
this mis-written as "options snd-intel-8x0 spdif_aclink=1" (notice the 
extra dash).

* In XBMC, select the SPDIF out as both the audio-device AND the 
passthrough device.



I wanted to post the solution that worked (in my case) here so others 
may be able to benefit from my experience.

Thank you very much for your input Raymond: really appreciated!

Bye!
_____
*Gilles Hemberg*
/gilles.hemberg at gmail.com/
On 04/10/2014 07:07, Raymond Yau wrote:
>
> >
> > Command tried:
> >
> >     speaker-test -c2 -r 48000 -D iec958:CARD=CK804,DEV=0
> >
> > Still no sound coming through AVR...
> >
> > For the sake of completeness, I provide a new alsa-info.sh 
> output:http://sprunge.us/ZWLF(I blacklisted the snd_hda_intel this 
> time just to be on the safe side).
> >
> > The git-link below 
> (http://git.alsa-project.org/?p=alsa-lib.git;a=blob;f=src/conf/cards/NFORCE.conf;hb=HEAD) 
> seems to point to the .conf for nForce2/3; min is a nForce4 (don't 
> know if nForce4 is supposed to use this same .conf).
> >
>
> https://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/tiwai/sound.git/commit/sound/pci/intel8x0.c?id=a9e996604f77be6f1f4deb0eb1cc2652000054f1
>
> Either use spdif over ac-link or you have to find out how to use 
> nforce4 secondary spdif output
>
> http://www.nvidia.com/page/pg_20041014863476.html
>
> AUDIO
>
> AC ’97 2.3 compliant interface
>
> Supports 2, 4, 6, or 8-channel audio
> Dual AC-Link: supports up to two codecs
> Dual S/PDIF: supports two simultaneous digital outputs; handles stereo 
> PCM or AC-3 output
> 16-bit or 20-bit stereo, 48kHz output and 16-bit input streams across 
> AC-Link
> 24-bit, 96kHz stereo output on the secondary S/PDIF output
>
> >>
> >> > Sorry to bump in like this, but I was advised to submit a 
> bug-report for the ALSA-drivers on my HTPC: no sound comes through out 
> of my AVR when I select the digital output through SPDIF (TOSLINK).
> >> >
> >> > The relevant parts of my HTPC are as follows:
> >> >     * CPU: Athlon64 X2 3800+
> >> >     * Motherboard: ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe motherboard (BIOS 1805) 
> NForce4 with CK804 sound (relying on a Realtek ALC850 chip)
> >>
> >> >     * RAM: 2x 512 MB DDR-400
> >> >     * GPU: nVidia Geforce GT240 (which carries a HDMI port and 
> uses the snd-
> >> >     * Receiver: Marantz SR7500 (supporting both Dolby Digital 5.1 
> and DTS decoding), connected to motherboard's SPDIF TOSLINK port 
> (optical) + JBL 5.1 speaker-set
> >> >     * OpenElec 4.2.0: Kernel 3.16.3, Alsa 1.0.28
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > Symptoms:
> >> > Speaker-test does not produce any sound. Command used is as follows:
> >> >
> >> >     speaker-test -c2 -r 48000 -D hw:0,2
> >> >
> >> > No sound either from other applications (such as XBMC 13.2).
> >> >
> >> > SPDIF worked flawlessly on the exact same hardware & connections 
> using Win7/XBMC.
> >> > Sound does come through the SPDIF when I use hw:0,0 (= analog 
> device).
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > Things tried (none working):
> >> >     * Blacklisting snd-hda-intel (= HDMI from my GPU) to make 
> sure CK804 is the only sound chip visible.
> >> >
> >> >     * amixer set 'IEC958 Playback AC97-SPSA' Playback 100% unmute
> >>
> >
> >>http://www.realtek.com.tw/products/productsView.aspx?Langid=1&PFid=31&Level=5&Conn=4&ProdID=59
> >>
> >> Take a look at alc850 datasheet
> >>
> >> Simple mixer control 'IEC958 Playback AC97-SPSA',0
> >>   Capabilities: volume volume-joined
> >>   Playback channels: Mono
> >>   Capture channels: Mono
> >>   Limits: 0 - 3
> >>   Mono: 0 [0%]
> >>
> >> This is not volume control, it is SPDIF out Slot Assignment in ac97 
> link
> >>
> >>
>