How to use multiple sound cards
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Hello List, I am dispairing about a problem with my sound cards: I have two sound cards in my computer (the on-board sound on the mainboard and an additional creative card). Both cards are detected by YaST and configured as sound card snd0 and snd1. But all my programs use only the card which is configured as snd0. Is there any way to use both sound cards simultaneously as output? Or can I at least switch somewhere between the two cards? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Bye, Jürgen - -- BR Technologies GmbH & Co.KG Im Bahlbrink 11-13, D-30827 Garbsen, Germany Tel : +49-5131-4404-20 - Fax: +49-5131-4404-56 e-Mail: mell@br-tech.de - Internet: www.br-tech.de -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.2 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQFEXP8oB4NmPJNW5OERAroNAJ9UenwDCL0QnYejmfDTma+agLmaoQCglY1+ wIYlXQDA4LzkrGn5K3/kohQ= =vJGe -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
On Saturday 06 May 2006 15:55, Jürgen Mell wrote:
Hello List,
I am dispairing about a problem with my sound cards: I have two sound cards in my computer (the on-board sound on the mainboard and an additional creative card). Both cards are detected by YaST and configured as sound card snd0 and snd1. But all my programs use only the card which is configured as snd0. Is there any way to use both sound cards simultaneously as output? Or can I at least switch somewhere between the two cards? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Bye, Jürgen
Hi Jürgen, Before you do too much meddling around with configuration, let's start with the basics: What mainboard do you have? What make/model is the sound card? What are the outputs of 'lspci' and 'lsmod'? regards, Carl
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On Sunday 07 May 2006 00:07, Carl Hartung wrote:
On Saturday 06 May 2006 15:55, Jürgen Mell wrote:
Hello List,
I am dispairing about a problem with my sound cards: I have two sound cards in my computer (the on-board sound on the mainboard and an additional creative card). Both cards are detected by YaST and configured as sound card snd0 and snd1. But all my programs use only the card which is configured as snd0. Is there any way to use both sound cards simultaneously as output? Or can I at least switch somewhere between the two cards? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Bye, Jürgen
Hi Jürgen,
Before you do too much meddling around with configuration, let's start with the basics:
What mainboard do you have? What make/model is the sound card? What are the outputs of 'lspci' and 'lsmod'?
Hi Carl, this does not seem to be hardware or configuration problem. Both sound cards get configurued by YaST and in kmix I can even select the card for which I can modify settings (volume etc.). But this seems to be the only program where I can select which card to use. Each other program just outputs its sound on the card which is configured as snd0 by YaST. I am just looking for some 'main switch' where I can select the card I want to use (without re-configuring everything by means of YaST). Maybe I have just got 'tomatoes on my glasses' here and I just do not find the right spot where this is set. The optimal solution for me would be if the sound was output by both cards simultaneously (the 'other' OS does this on my notebook if I add an external USB sound device there). Here the hardware details: Mainboard is EPOX EP8K3A+ Soundcard is Creative Labs SB Live! lspci shows: 00:00.0 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8366/A/7 [Apollo KT266/A/333] 00:01.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8366/A/7 [Apollo KT266/A/333 AGP] 00:09.0 DMA controller: PLX Technology, Inc. PCI <-> IOBus Bridge (rev 02) 00:0a.0 Multimedia audio controller: Creative Labs SB Live! EMU10k1 (rev 08) 00:0a.1 Input device controller: Creative Labs SB Live! MIDI/Game Port (rev 08) 00:0c.0 Ethernet controller: D-Link System Inc DGE-528T Gigabit Ethernet Adapter (rev 10) 00:0d.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10) 00:0e.0 RAID bus controller: Triones Technologies, Inc. HPT366/368/370/370A/372/372N (rev 05) 00:11.0 ISA bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8233A ISA Bridge 00:11.1 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C586A/B/VT82C686/A/B/VT823x/A/C PIPC Bus Master IDE (rev 06) 00:11.2 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 23) 00:11.3 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 23) 00:11.5 Multimedia audio controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8233/A/8235/8237 AC97 Audio Controller (rev 40) 01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Matrox Graphics, Inc. MGA G550 AGP (rev 01) lsmod shows: Module Size Used by ipt_LOG 5632 3 xt_limit 2432 3 nfsd 196752 9 exportfs 4992 1 nfsd edd 8516 0 w83627hf 23056 0 hwmon_vid 2432 1 w83627hf hwmon 2964 1 w83627hf snd_pcm_oss 42752 0 snd_mixer_oss 16512 1 snd_pcm_oss snd_seq_midi 8960 0 snd_emu10k1_synth 7296 0 eeprom 6800 0 snd_emux_synth 31872 1 snd_emu10k1_synth i2c_isa 4608 1 w83627hf snd_seq_virmidi 6400 1 snd_emux_synth snd_seq_midi_event 6400 2 snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_virmidi snd_seq_midi_emul 6016 1 snd_emux_synth snd_seq 47216 5 snd_seq_midi,snd_emux_synth,snd_seq_virmidi,snd_seq_midi_event,snd_seq_midi_emul nfs 187116 3 lockd 60008 3 nfsd,nfs nfs_acl 3584 2 nfsd,nfs sunrpc 130620 11 nfsd,nfs,lockd,nfs_acl af_packet 19336 2 button 6672 0 battery 9476 1 ac 4996 0 ipt_REJECT 5120 3 xt_state 2048 2 iptable_mangle 2688 0 iptable_nat 7684 0 ip_nat 15660 1 iptable_nat iptable_filter 2816 1 ip6table_mangle 2304 0 ip6table_filter 2688 0 ip_conntrack 47916 3 xt_state,iptable_nat,ip_nat nfnetlink 6168 2 ip_nat,ip_conntrack ip_tables 11080 3 iptable_mangle,iptable_nat,iptable_filter ip6_tables 12360 2 ip6table_mangle,ip6table_filter x_tables 11908 7 ipt_LOG,xt_limit,ipt_REJECT,xt_state,iptable_nat,ip_tables,ip6_tables apparmor 47004 0 aamatch_pcre 13440 1 apparmor nls_iso8859_1 4096 1 nls_cp437 5760 1 vfat 11648 1 fat 46620 1 vfat loop 14728 0 dm_mod 52328 0 emu10k1_gp 3584 0 snd_emu10k1 104196 1 snd_emu10k1_synth snd_util_mem 4736 2 snd_emux_synth,snd_emu10k1 snd_hwdep 8836 2 snd_emux_synth,snd_emu10k1 via_agp 9472 1 agpgart 28976 1 via_agp 8139cp 19584 0 i2c_viapro 7956 0 i2c_core 19728 4 w83627hf,eeprom,i2c_isa,i2c_viapro hdlc 23168 0 lapb 12416 1 hdlc syncppp 14012 1 hdlc snd_via82xx 25880 0 snd_ac97_codec 82848 2 snd_emu10k1,snd_via82xx snd_ac97_bus 2176 1 snd_ac97_codec snd_pcm 80136 4 snd_pcm_oss,snd_emu10k1,snd_via82xx,snd_ac97_codec snd_timer 20868 3 snd_seq,snd_emu10k1,snd_pcm snd_page_alloc 9608 3 snd_emu10k1,snd_via82xx,snd_pcm snd_mpu401_uart 6912 1 snd_via82xx snd_rawmidi 23552 4 snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_virmidi,snd_emu10k1,snd_mpu401_uart r8169 25864 0 snd_seq_device 7948 6 snd_seq_midi,snd_emu10k1_synth,snd_emux_synth,snd_seq,snd_emu10k1,snd_rawmidi 8139too 23808 0 via_ircc 18708 0 shpchp 39488 0 pci_hotplug 24372 1 shpchp mii 5120 2 8139cp,8139too irda 104376 1 via_ircc crc_ccitt 2176 1 irda uhci_hcd 27280 0 usbcore 109700 2 uhci_hcd snd 51076 18 snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_emu10k1_synth,snd_emux_synth,snd_seq_virmidi,snd_seq_midi_emul,snd_seq,snd_emu10k1,snd_util_mem,snd_hwdep,snd_via82xx,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm,snd_timer,snd_mpu401_uart,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq_device soundcore 8672 1 snd ns558 4612 0 ide_cd 35488 0 gameport 13960 5 emu10k1_gp,snd_via82xx,ns558 cdrom 32416 1 ide_cd parport_pc 34916 1 lp 10948 0 parport 32200 2 parport_pc,lp ext3 117384 6 jbd 55072 1 ext3 fan 4612 1 thermal 13448 1 processor 22592 1 thermal via82cxxx 8196 0 [permanent] hpt366 16768 0 [permanent] ide_disk 15104 10 ide_core 116540 4 ide_cd,via82cxxx,hpt366,ide_disk Bye, Jürgen - -- BR Technologies GmbH & Co.KG Im Bahlbrink 11-13, D-30827 Garbsen, Germany Tel : +49-5131-4404-20 - Fax: +49-5131-4404-56 e-Mail: mell@br-tech.de - Internet: www.br-tech.de -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.2 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQFEXY7aB4NmPJNW5OERArGaAJ9g7MI4fgkTCYjl0/aPL9yn2D7PKQCgiyT/ 07PfzVIPnjSWFwJZ6A/fqm0= =GFjv -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
On Sunday 07 May 2006 02:08, Jürgen Mell wrote:
Hi Carl,
this does not seem to be hardware or configuration problem.
Hi Jürgen I think you may be right. Of course, it's nice to know what hardware we're discussing and which modules are being loaded.
Both sound cards get configurued by YaST and in kmix I can even select the card for which I can modify settings (volume etc.). But this seems to be the only program where I can select which card to use.
Can you clarify this behavior? Are you able to independently adjust volumes of the cards? IOW, if card 0 is driving "front" speakers and card 1 is driving "rear" speakers, can you adjust front volume, switch card 'focus' in kmix then set rear volume? Is each adjustment independent of the other and do they "stick" as you switch 'focus' between cards?
Each other program just outputs its sound on the card which is configured as snd0 by YaST.
One idea: Instead of kmix, try alsamixer. If you invoke it from a shell ("alsamixergui") it'd be interesting to see what messages it spits out. It might also allow independent & simultaneous control of the cards. regards, Carl
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On Sunday 07 May 2006 16:10, Carl Hartung wrote:
On Sunday 07 May 2006 02:08, Jürgen Mell wrote:
Hi Carl,
this does not seem to be hardware or configuration problem.
Hi Jürgen
I think you may be right. Of course, it's nice to know what hardware we're discussing and which modules are being loaded.
Both sound cards get configurued by YaST and in kmix I can even select the card for which I can modify settings (volume etc.). But this seems to be the only program where I can select which card to use.
Can you clarify this behavior? Are you able to independently adjust volumes of the cards? IOW, if card 0 is driving "front" speakers and card 1 is driving "rear" speakers, can you adjust front volume, switch card 'focus' in kmix then set rear volume? Is each adjustment independent of the other and do they "stick" as you switch 'focus' between cards?
Yes, I can idependently set volumes for both cards and the values 'survive' a reboot of the system.
Each other program just outputs its sound on the card which is configured as snd0 by YaST.
One idea: Instead of kmix, try alsamixer. If you invoke it from a shell ("alsamixergui") it'd be interesting to see what messages it spits out. It might also allow independent & simultaneous control of the cards.
It does. If I call alsamixer without parameters it allows to change parameters of sound card 0. If I call it with '-c 1' I can change the parameters of the other card. Meanwhile I succeeded in telling xmms to use the second card. This works when using the 'alsa' output driver and setting the output device to /dev/dsp1. xine does not work with this setting. I could not find any place where to change arts' output device setting. Somehow most programs seem to support only one (the standard) output device for audio. A program like 'tail -f /dev/dsp >/dev/dsp1' would be nice to have - but I don't think there is any such thing - sigh. Bye, Jürgen - -- BR Technologies GmbH & Co.KG Im Bahlbrink 11-13, D-30827 Garbsen, Germany Tel : +49-5131-4404-20 - Fax: +49-5131-4404-56 e-Mail: mell@br-tech.de - Internet: www.br-tech.de -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.2 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQFEXi+EB4NmPJNW5OERAsNHAKCFJUTuVBIbVOGeHnmwXt73qLKuxQCgnWlM QSxAMYv7WGqcGEWRZ7uWh5Y= =peBj -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
On Sunday 07 May 2006 13:33, Jürgen Mell wrote:
Meanwhile I succeeded in telling xmms to use the second card. This works when using the 'alsa' output driver and setting the output device to /dev/dsp1. xine does not work with this setting. I could not find any place where to change arts' output device setting. Somehow most programs seem to support only one (the standard) output device for audio.
You've verified that both cards are working, so I guess the next question is what is your goal? What configuration are you hoping to achieve? Not too long ago someone commented here on SLE that he uses the first card for multimedia and the second for (I assume concurrent and uninterrupted) dedicated VOIP with voicemail. Are you looking at a similar arrangement? Carl
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On Sunday 07 May 2006 21:36, Carl Hartung wrote:
On Sunday 07 May 2006 13:33, Jürgen Mell wrote:
Meanwhile I succeeded in telling xmms to use the second card. This works when using the 'alsa' output driver and setting the output device to /dev/dsp1. xine does not work with this setting. I could not find any place where to change arts' output device setting. Somehow most programs seem to support only one (the standard) output device for audio.
You've verified that both cards are working, so I guess the next question is what is your goal? What configuration are you hoping to achieve? Not too long ago someone commented here on SLE that he uses the first card for multimedia and the second for (I assume concurrent and uninterrupted) dedicated VOIP with voicemail. Are you looking at a similar arrangement?
No, I was looking for a simple way to switch sound output (if possible for all or at least most programs) between the two cards. Or better even, play sound on both cards simultaneously. Bye, Jürgen - -- BR Technologies GmbH & Co.KG Im Bahlbrink 11-13, D-30827 Garbsen, Germany Tel : +49-5131-4404-20 - Fax: +49-5131-4404-56 e-Mail: mell@br-tech.de - Internet: www.br-tech.de -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.2 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQFEXtXfB4NmPJNW5OERAtl9AJ40xGGTnGbGzI48YKWP2b09luRQ7wCeJlDh vXy5kKVeh9ST9MlvbEq6+R8= =Acw/ -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
On 5/8/06, Jürgen Mell wrote:
No, I was looking for a simple way to switch sound output (if possible for all or at least most programs) between the two cards. Or better even, play sound on both cards simultaneously.
Bye, Jürgen
KDE Control center -> Sound&Multimedia -> Sound System -> Hardware -> Sound device. This should work for all KDE applications. -- -- Svetoslav Milenov (Sunny) Windows is a 32-bit extension to a 16-bit graphical shell for an 8-bit operating system originally coded for a 4-bit microprocessor by a 2-bit company that can't stand 1 bit of competition.
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On Monday 08 May 2006 16:38, Sunny wrote:
On 5/8/06, Jürgen Mell wrote:
No, I was looking for a simple way to switch sound output (if possible for all or at least most programs) between the two cards. Or better even, play sound on both cards simultaneously.
Bye, Jürgen
KDE Control center -> Sound&Multimedia -> Sound System -> Hardware -> Sound device.
This should work for all KDE applications.
Hi Sunny, yes, theoretically this should work. Practically it does not at all :-( If I select ALSA sound output and /dev/dsp1 there is no sound at all, although xmms can play through the second device. Bye, Jürgen - -- BR Technologies GmbH & Co.KG Im Bahlbrink 11-13, D-30827 Garbsen, Germany Tel : +49-5131-4404-20 - Fax: +49-5131-4404-56 e-Mail: mell@br-tech.de - Internet: www.br-tech.de -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.2 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQFEX4E2B4NmPJNW5OERAj4MAKCZOwb2cH5oVSQ+pt4NyodpQ3HmrwCcDbnP k7cAmb1bRdoOYVjmoevdX20= =ZNtN -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
On 5/8/06, Jürgen Mell wrote:
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1
On Monday 08 May 2006 16:38, Sunny wrote:
On 5/8/06, Jürgen Mell wrote:
No, I was looking for a simple way to switch sound output (if possible for all or at least most programs) between the two cards. Or better even, play sound on both cards simultaneously.
Bye, Jürgen
KDE Control center -> Sound&Multimedia -> Sound System -> Hardware -> Sound device.
This should work for all KDE applications.
Hi Sunny,
yes, theoretically this should work. Practically it does not at all :-( If I select ALSA sound output and /dev/dsp1 there is no sound at all, although xmms can play through the second device.
Bye, Jürgen
I did not see any info about your SuSE and KDE versions. Anyway, if it is 10.0 with the original KDE, you can file a bug at opensuse.org, that way any fix will propagate to 10.0 and 10.1. If you are using newer KDE than the one originally shipped, than you can try to post a bug for 10.1, or maybe on KDE bugzilla. -- -- Svetoslav Milenov (Sunny) Windows is a 32-bit extension to a 16-bit graphical shell for an 8-bit operating system originally coded for a 4-bit microprocessor by a 2-bit company that can't stand 1 bit of competition.
participants (3)
-
Carl Hartung -
Jürgen Mell -
Sunny