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

[George Galt]

On Mon, Mar 16, 2009 at 3:28 PM, Robert <RobertCL at iname.com> wrote:
> 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.
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users at mythtv.org
> http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>

Robert:

If you are interested, when it comes time to test a new version, I'll
let you know and send you a copy.

George