No Surround on SBLIve in Gutsy

Could you provide some more information please.

Do you have any sound at all from your sound card?

Which card is it? There are several varieties of SB Live cards.

Is it out of a Dell computer?

Is it a 5.1?

Does it have the EMU10K1X chip?

What have you tried so far?

Andre Mangan wrote:
> Your question #21864 on Ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/21864
>
> Status: Open => Needs information
>
> Andre Mangan requested for more information:
> Could you provide some more information please.
>
> Do you have any sound at all from your sound card?
>
Yes I do.
> Which card is it? There are several varieties of SB Live cards.
>
Sound Blaster Live 5.1 32-bit PCI. I also have the Sound Blaster Live
5.1 32-bit USB, but I haven't tried it yet with Ubuntu.
> Is it out of a Dell computer?
>
No, custom built AMD Athlon XP 2000+ w/1GB RAM, 8x AGP nVidia Geforce FX
5600, and SiS chipset.
> Is it a 5.1?
>
Yes, its a 5.1 card but I have 4.1 speakers.
> Does it have the EMU10K1X chip?
>
EMU10K1
> What have you tried so far?
>
I installed the Gnome ALSA Mixer which let me enabled Surround but I the
master volume won't control all of the channels. I have to adjust the
front and back speakers separately. Is there a way to make it so I can
just use the Master Volume control?

--
Michael "TheZorch" Haney
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MSN Messeger: <email address hidden>:

So you in fact already have surround sound working. It is just the volume control that is not functioning to your expectations.

You could try the following:

sudo gedit ~/.asoundrc

Add the following lines at the bottom of this file:

pcm. !default {
         type plug
         slave.pcm "surround51"
         slave.channels 4
         route_policy duplicate
         }

Save and exit. If you want more channels than 4, change that number to 6.

This caused a problem which I was able to reverse by removing the
suggested lines from .asoundrc. Those lines disabled my ability to play
audio with Rymthmbox Music Player completely. Taking the suggested
lines out of the file fixed the problem but my Wave Surround and Master
volumes are still separate. Any other suggestions?

Andre Mangan wrote:
> Your question #21864 on Ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/21864
>
> Status: Open => Answered
>
> Andre Mangan proposed the following answer:
> So you in fact already have surround sound working. It is just the
> volume control that is not functioning to your expectations.
>
> You could try the following:
>
> sudo gedit ~/.asoundrc
>
> Add the following lines at the bottom of this file:
>
> pcm. !default {
> type plug
> slave.pcm "surround51"
> slave.channels 4
> route_policy duplicate
> }
>
> Save and exit. If you want more channels than 4, change that number to
> 6.
>
>

--
Michael "TheZorch" Haney
<email address hidden>
http://thezorch.googlepages.com/home
AIM: <email address hidden>
Yahoo IM: zorchhaney
ICQ: 343230252
GoogleTalk: thezorch
MSN Messeger: <email address hidden>:

What a pity that the code did not do the trick.

From what I have been reading, the Master Volume Control does indeed control only the front channels and the rear channels are controlled separately via the Surround Control. I do not know if turning the Wave Surround Control all the way down will alter that.

I refer you to this URL for more information: http://www.halfgaar.net/surround-sound-in-linux

You might also consider adding "alsamixergui" to your installation. With an icon on your top or bottom panel it makes control of volume for front or rear much easier.