[mythtv-users] Mythsqueezebox Volume Control Doesn't Work

[Robert]

George Galt wrote:
> On Mon, Mar 16, 2009 at 2:59 PM, Robert <RobertCL at iname.com> wrote:
>> Robert wrote:
>>> George Galt wrote:
>>>> On Sun, Mar 15, 2009 at 5:22 PM, Robert <RobertCL at iname.com> wrote:
>>>>> Hi,
>>>>>
>>>>> I've managed to get the mythsqueezebox plugin compiled and working on
>>>>> Gentoo.  All seems well, except the volume control doesn't actually
>>>>> change
>>>>> the volume.
>>>>>
>>>>> I can "appear" to change the volume using either the volume buttons on
>>>>> my
>>>>> remote (I see the volume bar in mythsqueezebox move on-screen) or using
>>>>> the
>>>>> volume control from squeezecenter (web interface) but the actual volume
>>>>> of
>>>>> playback never changes.
>>>>>
>>>>> I've looked in mythfrontend logs, but there are no obvious errors.  I'm
>>>>> thinking of buying some squeezebox hardware, so I'd like to get this
>>>>> working
>>>>> so I can use it with that.
>>>>>
>>>>> Where should I start looking?
>>>>>
>>>>> (just to be clear, I do hear the music I've added to the playlist being
>>>>> played, it's just that chaning the volume doesn't work)
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>> Robert.
>>>>>
>>>>> Mythtv-0.21_p19961 (-fixes?)
>>>>> media-libs/portaudio-19_pre20071207
>>>>> Linux version 2.6.28.7 (root at quad) (gcc version 4.1.2 (Gentoo 4.1.2
>>>>> p1.1))
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> mythtv-users mailing list
>>>>> mythtv-users at mythtv.org
>>>>> http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>>>>>
>>>> Robert:
>>>>
>>>> What output are you using?  It seems that somehow there is a conflict
>>>> with how the plugin uses portaudio and using anything other than the
>>>> standard "stereo" audio out on the soundcard (using something like the
>>>> SPDIF out).  If this is the case, try using the standards "stereo" out
>>>> for sound to see if this fixes it.  I'm not suggesting you leave it
>>>> this way -- obviously, this is something that will have to be fixed.
>>>>
>>>> I've been considering dropping portaudio altogether, but it is a
>>>> bigger project than I've got time for right now, so it will take some
>>>> time.
>>>>
>>>> George
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> MythTV is setup to use:
>>>    Audio Output Device: ALSA:default
>>>    Mixer Device: ALSA:default
>>>    Mixer Controls: PCM
>>>
>>> However, if I change to:
>>>    Audio Output Device: /dev/pcm
>>>    Mixer Device: /dev/mixer
>>>
>>> Then volumne control doesn't work at all in Myth :-(  So I guess there is
>>> some problem on my system as a whole in that /dev/mixer doesn't work
>>> properly.
>>>
>>> It looks like PortAudio is using OSS ??  So I'm guessing it's using
>>> /dev/mixer by default and hence why it doesn't work.
>>>
>>> So "all" I need to do is fix /dev/mixer....  Hmm.  I've never really got
>>> to grips with alsa config, it's kind of just worked...
>>>
>>> Robert.
>> Ok, some success, I installed aumix to test the OSS mixer and noticed I
>> didn't have a PCM device.
>>
>> I confirmed this by looking in /proc/asound/card0/oss_mixer which said 'PCM
>> "" 0'.  So after some googling found that I should
>>
>>        echo 'PCM "PCM" 0' > /proc/asound/card0/oss_mixer
>>
>> Doing this made aumix show a PCM mixer (that works) and this seems to have
>> made the volume control work in mythsqueezebox :-))
>>
>> So it all seems to be working ok.
>>
>> I hope you find time to develop this plugin further, because it seems like
>> it would be a useful addition.
>>
>> Robert.
> 
> Robert:
> 
> Thanks for the information and for sticking with the plugin.  I'm sort
> of holding off on further development until I can focus on a newer
> version that works under the new MythUI structure in myth 0.22.  At
> that time, I'm going to tackle a few outstanding issues -- such as the
> use of portaudio.

That sounds like a very sensible idea!  (both waiting for 0.22 and 
getting rid of portaudio)

Like you say in your README file, there's not a lot else for Myth users 
in this space!  I've been ssh-ing in and running squeezeslave-alsa for 
long enough, but it's getting annoying to have to do that everytime I 
want to listen to music - I can't leave it running as it locks the audio 
device and Mythfrontend wont output any audio.

Anyway, looking forward to the next version :-)

Robert.