[NTLUG:Discuss] Sound Problems

[Peter A. Koren]

On Tue, 2005-07-12 at 07:51 -0500, lonny.dahl at verizon.com wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> On Mon, 2005-07-11 at 11:41 -0500, Peter A. Koren wrote:
> > > On Sun, 2005-07-10 at 21:58 -0500, Stuart Johnston wrote:
> > > > Peter A. Koren wrote:
> > > > > On Sun, 2005-07-10 at 17:51 -0500, Stuart Johnston wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > >>Peter A. Koren wrote:
> > > > >>
> > > > >>>I got my DVD/CD player/burner working for DVD's (video and sound),
> but
> > > > >>>playing audio CD's produces no sound running KsCD. KsCD shows that
> the
> > > > >>>Music is playing and even gets the correct information from
> servers on
> > > > >>>the net to add to the cddb data base. Double clicking on a
> > wav file on a
> > > > >>>data CD works, but regular audio CDs do not work. I'm running a
> RHEL
> > > > >>>(Fedora 3) derived distribution on an AMD 64 based system. Sound
> seems
> > > > >>>to work for everything but normal CD playing.
> > > > >>>
> > > > >>>Any hints?
> > > > >>
> > > > >>Make sure that you have an audio cable connected from your cd drive
> to
> > > > >>your sound card (or motherboard).  Also go into your audio mixer
> and
> > > > >>check the volume of the CD audio inputs.
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > I assume that since I was able to play wave files from a data CD
> that my
> > > > > cable is properly installed. Am I wrong?
> > > >
> > > > Yes.
> > > >
> > > > > Is .wav data sent digitally As
> > > > > a file over the EIDE ribbon cable or does the drive firmware decode
> it
> > > > > and send it along over the analog 4-pin sound cable? I just donot
> know.
> > > >
> > > > It will be sent digitally over the IDE cable.  The Audio cable (can
> be
> > > > digital or analog) is only used when playing CD-Audio discs.
> > > >
> > > > > And since DVDs work (video and sound), I have to ask, "does analog
> sound
> > > > > go over the analog cable or digitally over the EIDE cable?" If the
> > > > > former, the cable must be OK.
> > > >
> > > > I believe that DVD does not use the Audio cable.
> > > >
> > > > If you have XMMS installed, go to Options -> Preferences (Ctrl-P).
> > > > Select "CD Audio Player" and click Configure.  Now select "Digital
> audio
> > > > extraction" under Play mode.  This should allow you to play audio CDs
> 
> > > > without the Audio cable.
> > >
> > >
> > > Yes!!!! It worked. It took a while downloading (56k modem) the xmms
> > > files, but it was worth it. I will still make a stab at replacing the
> > > analog cable (I have an old working one with the right plugs), but it
> is
> > > no longer important. BTW, I've had previous distributions that had xmms
> > > installed, but they all used the fancy skins that hid the functionality
> > > of the product. I guess it is like real life. Glitz too often wins over
> > > grit -- in this case eye candy destroys an effective user interface.
> > >
> > > Thanks for the winning hint.
> > >
> > > -- Pete
> >
> > The replacement cable also failed, so the the problem may be in the
> > DVD/CD burner/player. Oh, I also found the KsCD switch for digital (over
> > the EIDE interface) playback. So I do not really care if analog CD audio
> > works or not. BTW, the hardware is the 16X Emprex unit Fry's has been
> > hawking at $50.
> >
> > -- Pete
> 
> I just built a 64 bit box using a Pioneer DVD/CD burner/player that wasn't
> listed on any of the compatibility web sites (I need to add it).  So far,
> everything works, although I have yet to burn a DVD.  The analog sound
> works fine with music CD's, I've burned music CD's with it using K3B and it
> hasn't had any trouble reading data DVD's.  I don't have mplayer (or an
> equivalent) set up on this machine yet so I haven't tried watching a movie
> on it, but have every confidence it'll work just fine.  I can't remember
> what I paid for it though.
> 
> Wayne Dahl
> 

I have now played a DVD movie. I spent the good part of a day installing
Ogle and the front end Goggles. I've also gotten Xine to work, but
Kaffeine is broken under KDE (but works under Gnome -- go figure!).
Goggles is a slick front end and Ogle works well, except that when it
quits it leave a lot of "stuff" around like a non house broken dog --
lots of processes that don't get cleaned out until the next login. I
can't even eject the DVD. I have to use "kill -9 ..." on at least half a
dozen steaming piles of ogle poop (processes) in order to eject a disk.
When I get the time, I will have to write a script to clean up the mess
ogle creates. I'll call it "Ogle pooper scooper".

Actually, I like Ogle. It was not dropping frames, as was Xine. A
cleanup script would make Ogle reasonably user friendly, though it would
be better if the author cleaned up the code. Yeah, I know -- it's free
software so I should not whine. Any way, I've got lots of problems to
solve with my new installation.

-- Pete