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Re: pulseaudio only finds one sink but alsa shows all



On Thursday, 30 Dec 2021 at 10:23, didier gaumet wrote:
> Sorry to insist, but do you mean that the configuration tab only
> *lists* HDMI even if you click on the HDMI profile?
> Or that this tab only *shows* the (HDMI) by-default profile if you do
> not click on it, so not *listing* anything?  

Hello Didier,

No problem in insisting.  Part of my problem is not knowing how to frame
my question and give the right background information so any prompting
is welcome!

Please see image attached, showing what I see in the configuration tab
of pavucontrol.  I cannot capture the image of the popup menu that
appears when I click on the Digital Stereo (HDMI 2) Output profile but
all it lists are Digital (Stereo or Surround) HDMI outputs, all but one
not available.

On other systems, there are other entries in the configuration tab which
is what I would expect here as well.  My fundamental question is why
does the on-board sound card not appear for this system?

All of my sound configurations are defaults, IIRC.

>>From what I understand, but I am not sure I understand correctly,
> Pulseaudio won't use devices already used by Alsa. So, for example, if
> you have a media software setup that declares to use alsa instead of
> Pulseaudio, while you use that software, Pulseaudio cannot access the
> devices used by Alsa (not sure of that).  

I do not (consciously) have any software set up to use alsa.  I have
only mentioned alsa for two reasons: on previous threads in this
newsgroup, alsamixer is mentioned as a means of diagnosing sound issues
and because alsamixer does show all the devices/channels.  Having said
this, all the audio/vidoe software I use (emms in Emacs via vlc,
Firefox, Skype, Teams, Zoom, ...) go through pulseaudio and appear in
the pavucontrol Playback tab when in use.

> If your (media softwares and Alsa) setup does not prevent the use of
> Pulseaudio, I would imagine that you simply have to switch the profile
> in the configuration tab (between "HDMI" and something roughly called
> "Stereo Analog Duplex" or something like that)

Yes, this is what I have had in the past but the alternatives
disappeared some time ago now (sometime halfway through 2020, I think).
I've resisted trying to sort this out while I have had to depend on
sound working, at least to some degree, while I had online meeting and
teaching requirements.  Now I have a short break from these so I am
trying to solve the problem, but it's not a mission critical problem!

> As a side note, in a terminal you will obtain a full blown report on
> Pulseaudio with the pa-info or pactl list something commands (cf
> respective manpages)

Yes, these exist and I can generate full reports.  I just do not know
what to look for.  Any pointers would be welcome and I would be happy to
send the output of these to this group.

My pulseaudio settings are as they come "out of the box" including, for
instance, the use of module-udev-detect instead of explicitly using any
of the alsa modules.

> Another way of doing things would be to split (simultaneous playing)
> the audio output between your monitor speakers (Nvidia, HDMI) and your
> headphones (Intel analogic card, mini-jack). The Pulseaudio doc gives
> some hints there:

Thank you for the link.  I will read that FAQ in case I can find
something to help.  I am not sure combining outputs is what I want but
maybe that's what I need to do.  I'll play around.

Thank you,
eric

-- 
Eric S Fraga with org 9.5.1 in Emacs 29.0.50 on Debian 11.2

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