Mailing List Archive

Connection Setup (cords)
Hello,

I think I'm a little confused as to how I should connect all the cables.

I have a satelitte receiver with RCA and SVIDEO.

My sound card is a Cirrus Logic CS4281

My video card is an ATI Radeon 8500LE

My capture card is an ATI TV Wonder with a breakout box and coax connectors (breakout box has svideo, and RCA cables)

Right now I have my Satelitte sound running RCA to my Breakout box.

I also have the SVIDEO from the Satelitte running to the breakabout box.

I have the video going from my video card via a VGA converter box.

Then I have from my line out on my sound card running to my sound receiver.

I'm able to hear a .wav file play.
I get video using xawtv; however trying to run aplay /dev/dsp I get no sound.

I've ran the ALSA and the mixer setup.

When I run the RCA cable from the Satelitte to my MIC on my soundcard I can hear the sound fine, but I'm assuming it's just passing through, and not actually playing off xawtv.

Anyone know if I have the cables setup correctly? If so, why can't I hear any sound when running aplay /dev/dsp

Any hints?

Thanks,
Brad
Re: Connection Setup (cords) [ In reply to ]
Brad Atkins wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I think I'm a little confused as to how I should connect all the cables.
>
> I have a satelitte receiver with RCA and SVIDEO.
>
> My sound card is a Cirrus Logic CS4281
>
> My video card is an ATI Radeon 8500LE
>
> My capture card is an ATI TV Wonder with a breakout box and coax
> connectors (breakout box has svideo, and RCA cables)
>
> Right now I have my Satelitte sound running RCA to my Breakout box.
>
> I also have the SVIDEO from the Satelitte running to the breakabout box.
>
> I have the video going from my video card via a VGA converter box.
>
> Then I have from my line out on my sound card running to my sound receiver.
>
> I'm able to hear a .wav file play.
> I get video using xawtv; however trying to run aplay /dev/dsp I get no
> sound.
>
> I've ran the ALSA and the mixer setup.
>
> When I run the RCA cable from the Satelitte to my MIC on my soundcard I
> can hear the sound fine, but I'm assuming it's just passing through, and
> not actually playing off xawtv.
>
> Anyone know if I have the cables setup correctly? If so, why can't I
> hear any sound when running aplay /dev/dsp

Your cabling looks to be correct. If you connect the audio
to the breakout box, you also need the patch cable from the
capture card "out" to an input for the sound card. I'll
assume line-in for now.

First, verify that the audio signal is going through line-in.
Unmute and turn up the volume for line-in in alsamixer. Run
xawtv to make sure that you hear the patched through sound.

Once that works then you need to make line-in the capture
source. In alsamixer mute line-in with "m" and mark it for
capture with spacebar and turn up the volume for the "Capture"
mixer. Try the xawtv & aplay /dev/dsp again. If it still
doesn't work, check if there are mixers for Wav Capture,
AC97 Capture, and see if turning those up helps. If you
are using digital out from the sound card to the receiver,
try connecting speakers to the speaker out jack (I once
had a problem with routing from some inputs to the digital
out).


If you are going to be switching between video from the
satellite and coax cable, connecting the audio to the
breakout box is the way to go so that the tuner card can
switch audio sources for you (works for me but mdz had some
trouble with this. See the thread from earlier this week).
However, if you are only using the satellite feed, you can
plug the audio directly into line-in of the sound card
without routing it through the tuner card first.

-- bjm
Re:Connection Setup (cords) [ In reply to ]
Hey,

I tried that and got sound from the line in. Then i mute it (and turn everything else up) and run aplay /dev/dsp and I don't hear anything.

I have a cable running from my capture card to my sound card Line In. I set Line In as the capture source too.

This card is full duplex capable (it states that in /var/log/message).

Any other ideas as to what is up with the sound?

Thanks,
Brad

Brad Atkins wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I think I'm a little confused as to how I should connect all the cables.
>
> I have a satelitte receiver with RCA and SVIDEO.
>
> My sound card is a Cirrus Logic CS4281
>
> My video card is an ATI Radeon 8500LE
>
> My capture card is an ATI TV Wonder with a breakout box and coax
> connectors (breakout box has svideo, and RCA cables)
>
> Right now I have my Satelitte sound running RCA to my Breakout box.
>
> I also have the SVIDEO from the Satelitte running to the breakabout box.
>
> I have the video going from my video card via a VGA converter box.
>
> Then I have from my line out on my sound card running to my sound receiver.
>
> I'm able to hear a .wav file play.
> I get video using xawtv; however trying to run aplay /dev/dsp I get no
> sound.
>
> I've ran the ALSA and the mixer setup.
>
> When I run the RCA cable from the Satelitte to my MIC on my soundcard I
> can hear the sound fine, but I'm assuming it's just passing through, and
> not actually playing off xawtv.
>
> Anyone know if I have the cables setup correctly? If so, why can't I
> hear any sound when running aplay /dev/dsp

Your cabling looks to be correct. If you connect the audio
to the breakout box, you also need the patch cable from the
capture card "out" to an input for the sound card. I'll
assume line-in for now.

First, verify that the audio signal is going through line-in.
Unmute and turn up the volume for line-in in alsamixer. Run
xawtv to make sure that you hear the patched through sound.

Once that works then you need to make line-in the capture
source. In alsamixer mute line-in with "m" and mark it for
capture with spacebar and turn up the volume for the "Capture"
mixer. Try the xawtv & aplay /dev/dsp again. If it still
doesn't work, check if there are mixers for Wav Capture,
AC97 Capture, and see if turning those up helps. If you
are using digital out from the sound card to the receiver,
try connecting speakers to the speaker out jack (I once
had a problem with routing from some inputs to the digital
out).


If you are going to be switching between video from the
satellite and coax cable, connecting the audio to the
breakout box is the way to go so that the tuner card can
switch audio sources for you (works for me but mdz had some
trouble with this. See the thread from earlier this week).
However, if you are only using the satellite feed, you can
plug the audio directly into line-in of the sound card
without routing it through the tuner card first.

-- bjm




_______________________________________________
mythtv-users mailing list
mythtv-users@snowman.net
http://lists.snowman.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
Re: Re:Connection Setup (cords) [ In reply to ]
Brad Atkins wrote:
> Hey,
>
> I tried that and got sound from the line in. Then i mute it (and turn
> everything else up) and run aplay /dev/dsp and I don't hear anything.
>
> I have a cable running from my capture card to my sound card Line In. I
> set Line In as the capture source too.
>
> This card is full duplex capable (it states that in /var/log/message).
>
> Any other ideas as to what is up with the sound?

The fact that you got sound from the line in narrows the
problem. So either it isn't getting recorded or played
back correctly.

For record, either there is a mixer that affects the capture
gain that needs to ge unmuted and turned up or there is a
driver or hardware problem. Try "record" which is one of the
executables with xawtv. You should see the right/left levels
move if capture is setup and working correctly.

For playback it may be that /dev/dsp is not the correct
device. Try /dev/dsp0, dsp1, dsp2, dsp3. When you use aplay
on a device file where there really is a device you will see:

Playing raw data '/dev/dspN' : Unsigned 8 bit, Rate 8000 Hz, Mono
xrun!!!...

Another problem would be if PCM was muted or not turned up
but you mentioned playing other wav files so I doubt that
would be the problem.

-- bjm
Re: Re:Connection Setup (cords) [ In reply to ]
Did you remember to select line in for recording in alsamixer?

-Sam

On Fri, 2003-04-18 at 16:31, Bruce Markey wrote:
> Brad Atkins wrote:
> > Hey,
> >
> > I tried that and got sound from the line in. Then i mute it (and turn
> > everything else up) and run aplay /dev/dsp and I don't hear anything.
> >
> > I have a cable running from my capture card to my sound card Line In. I
> > set Line In as the capture source too.
> >
> > This card is full duplex capable (it states that in /var/log/message).
> >
> > Any other ideas as to what is up with the sound?
>
> The fact that you got sound from the line in narrows the
> problem. So either it isn't getting recorded or played
> back correctly.
>
> For record, either there is a mixer that affects the capture
> gain that needs to ge unmuted and turned up or there is a
> driver or hardware problem. Try "record" which is one of the
> executables with xawtv. You should see the right/left levels
> move if capture is setup and working correctly.
>
> For playback it may be that /dev/dsp is not the correct
> device. Try /dev/dsp0, dsp1, dsp2, dsp3. When you use aplay
> on a device file where there really is a device you will see:
>
> Playing raw data '/dev/dspN' : Unsigned 8 bit, Rate 8000 Hz, Mono
> xrun!!!...
>
> Another problem would be if PCM was muted or not turned up
> but you mentioned playing other wav files so I doubt that
> would be the problem.
>
> -- bjm
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users@snowman.net
> http://lists.snowman.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
Re: Re:Connection Setup (cords) [ In reply to ]
When using the 'record' program, I can see right/left levels moving (not a
whole lot though)

It generates a wav file (which I've uploaded to
http://www.youreshop.com/record001.wav) and it sounds pretty empty to me.

I have my Line In set as capture and muted. All the volumes on everything is
100% (just for testing)

Playing raw data '/dev/dsp' : Unsigned 8 bit, Rate 8000 Hz, Mono
xrun!!!...

Playing raw data '/dev/dsp0' : Unsigned 8 bit, Rate 8000 Hz, Mono
xrun!!!...

When I do it for dsp1 I get an error

What's interesting, and I'm not sure if this is by design or not, but...

I'm able to play a wav file using aplay, but when I try to play the same wav
file from KDE I don't get any sound? Does this give us any hints?

You can view my modules.conf at http://www.youreshop.com/modules.conf

Thanks for your continued help!

Brad

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bruce Markey" <bjm@lvcm.com>
To: "Discussion about mythtv" <mythtv-users@snowman.net>
Sent: Friday, April 18, 2003 4:31 PM
Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] Re:Connection Setup (cords)


> Brad Atkins wrote:
> > Hey,
> >
> > I tried that and got sound from the line in. Then i mute it (and turn
> > everything else up) and run aplay /dev/dsp and I don't hear anything.
> >
> > I have a cable running from my capture card to my sound card Line In. I
> > set Line In as the capture source too.
> >
> > This card is full duplex capable (it states that in /var/log/message).
> >
> > Any other ideas as to what is up with the sound?
>
> The fact that you got sound from the line in narrows the
> problem. So either it isn't getting recorded or played
> back correctly.
>
> For record, either there is a mixer that affects the capture
> gain that needs to ge unmuted and turned up or there is a
> driver or hardware problem. Try "record" which is one of the
> executables with xawtv. You should see the right/left levels
> move if capture is setup and working correctly.
>
> For playback it may be that /dev/dsp is not the correct
> device. Try /dev/dsp0, dsp1, dsp2, dsp3. When you use aplay
> on a device file where there really is a device you will see:
>
> Playing raw data '/dev/dspN' : Unsigned 8 bit, Rate 8000 Hz, Mono
> xrun!!!...
>
> Another problem would be if PCM was muted or not turned up
> but you mentioned playing other wav files so I doubt that
> would be the problem.
>
> -- bjm
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users@snowman.net
> http://lists.snowman.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>
Re: Re:Connection Setup (cords) [ In reply to ]
When using the 'record' program, I can see right/left levels moving (not a
whole lot though)

It generates a wav file (which I've uploaded to
http://www.youreshop.com/record001.wav) and it sounds pretty empty to me.

I have my Line In set as capture and muted. All the volumes on everything is
100% (just for testing)

Playing raw data '/dev/dsp' : Unsigned 8 bit, Rate 8000 Hz, Mono
xrun!!!...

Playing raw data '/dev/dsp0' : Unsigned 8 bit, Rate 8000 Hz, Mono
xrun!!!...

When I do it for dsp1 I get an error

What's interesting, and I'm not sure if this is by design or not, but...

I'm able to play a wav file using aplay, but when I try to play the same wav
file from KDE I don't get any sound? Does this give us any hints?

You can view my modules.conf at http://www.youreshop.com/modules.conf

Thanks for your continued help!

Brad

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bruce Markey" <bjm@lvcm.com>
To: "Discussion about mythtv" <mythtv-users@snowman.net>
Sent: Friday, April 18, 2003 4:31 PM
Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] Re:Connection Setup (cords)


> Brad Atkins wrote:
> > Hey,
> >
> > I tried that and got sound from the line in. Then i mute it (and turn
> > everything else up) and run aplay /dev/dsp and I don't hear anything.
> >
> > I have a cable running from my capture card to my sound card Line In. I
> > set Line In as the capture source too.
> >
> > This card is full duplex capable (it states that in /var/log/message).
> >
> > Any other ideas as to what is up with the sound?
>
> The fact that you got sound from the line in narrows the
> problem. So either it isn't getting recorded or played
> back correctly.
>
> For record, either there is a mixer that affects the capture
> gain that needs to ge unmuted and turned up or there is a
> driver or hardware problem. Try "record" which is one of the
> executables with xawtv. You should see the right/left levels
> move if capture is setup and working correctly.
>
> For playback it may be that /dev/dsp is not the correct
> device. Try /dev/dsp0, dsp1, dsp2, dsp3. When you use aplay
> on a device file where there really is a device you will see:
>
> Playing raw data '/dev/dspN' : Unsigned 8 bit, Rate 8000 Hz, Mono
> xrun!!!...
>
> Another problem would be if PCM was muted or not turned up
> but you mentioned playing other wav files so I doubt that
> would be the problem.
>
> -- bjm
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users@snowman.net
> http://lists.snowman.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>
Re: Re:Connection Setup (cords) [ In reply to ]
Yes, I've hit the spacebar on the Line in inside alsamixer and CAPTUR
appears at the top in red.

Thanks!
Brad

----- Original Message -----
From: "Sam Steele" <chip@c99.org>
To: "Discussion about mythtv" <mythtv-users@snowman.net>
Sent: Friday, April 18, 2003 4:42 PM
Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] Re:Connection Setup (cords)


> Did you remember to select line in for recording in alsamixer?
>
> -Sam
>
> On Fri, 2003-04-18 at 16:31, Bruce Markey wrote:
> > Brad Atkins wrote:
> > > Hey,
> > >
> > > I tried that and got sound from the line in. Then i mute it (and turn
> > > everything else up) and run aplay /dev/dsp and I don't hear anything.
> > >
> > > I have a cable running from my capture card to my sound card Line In.
I
> > > set Line In as the capture source too.
> > >
> > > This card is full duplex capable (it states that in /var/log/message).
> > >
> > > Any other ideas as to what is up with the sound?
> >
> > The fact that you got sound from the line in narrows the
> > problem. So either it isn't getting recorded or played
> > back correctly.
> >
> > For record, either there is a mixer that affects the capture
> > gain that needs to ge unmuted and turned up or there is a
> > driver or hardware problem. Try "record" which is one of the
> > executables with xawtv. You should see the right/left levels
> > move if capture is setup and working correctly.
> >
> > For playback it may be that /dev/dsp is not the correct
> > device. Try /dev/dsp0, dsp1, dsp2, dsp3. When you use aplay
> > on a device file where there really is a device you will see:
> >
> > Playing raw data '/dev/dspN' : Unsigned 8 bit, Rate 8000 Hz, Mono
> > xrun!!!...
> >
> > Another problem would be if PCM was muted or not turned up
> > but you mentioned playing other wav files so I doubt that
> > would be the problem.
> >
> > -- bjm
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > mythtv-users mailing list
> > mythtv-users@snowman.net
> > http://lists.snowman.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users@snowman.net
> http://lists.snowman.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>
Re:Re:Connection Setup (cords) [ In reply to ]
Just as a note, when I go into alsamixer, it does show the correct sound card (the Cirrus Logic and not the onboard)

Thanks,
Brad
Re: Re:Connection Setup (cords) [ In reply to ]
Brad Atkins wrote:
> When using the 'record' program, I can see right/left levels moving (not a
> whole lot though)

Ya, just line noise. So the rest doesn't seem to mater.
You get the analog sound from line-in when unmuted. You've
set line in to be the capture device but record only shows
line noise. So that narrows it to something like:

1) there is something that controls the capture gain that
isn't set but you turned up (and unmuted?) everything else.

2) a driver problem

3) a hardware problem

At this point, you may want to borrow another soundcard to
see if it works with a different driver/hardware combination.

-- bjm
Re:Re:Connection Setup (cords) [ In reply to ]
>1) there is something that controls the capture gain that
>isn't set but you turned up (and unmuted?) everything else.

Right, everything is un-muted and cranked to 100%

>At this point, you may want to borrow another soundcard to
>see if it works with a different driver/hardware combination.

I tried a Sound Blaster Live Platinum card I have, and I still get the same situation.

There must be something I'm doing wrong.

Is there anything else I should do, or just go out and buy a regular PVR?

Thanks,
Brad
Re:Re:Connection Setup (cords) [ In reply to ]
Is there a specific driver that I might need to install for the ATI TV wonder to work with the audio?

I've installed the ALSA drivers for my sound card already.

Could it be the onboard sound card messing everything up? I can't disable it from the BIOS for some reason, is there a way I can make sure Linux doesn't see it?

Thanks
Brad
Re:Re:Connection Setup (cords) [ In reply to ]
Well it looks as though I've made some progress.

I had to make some changes to my /etc/modules.conf to take note of the onboard sound.

I've setup the alsamixer using the command lines given in the manual.

$ amixer set Master,0 100%,100% unmute
$ amixer set Line,0 75%,75% mute captur
$ amixer set Capture,0 100%,100% mute captur
$ su
# alsactl store
# exit


I have Line set as CAPTUR and 100%.
What's odd is that I have another source called Capture that is set at 100% and also at CAPTUR.

When I run xawtv I get the sound.
When I run aplay /dev/dsp I get the sound, but now it's much louder.
When I mute xawtv, and run aplay /dev/dsp I get just noise.

Seems as though we are getting VERY close :) Just missing one last thing I think?

When I run mythtv -> Watch TV I can hear the sound, but twice (one is behind the other about 2 seconds), and I get no video.

Go Myth GO!
Brad
Re: Re:Re:Connection Setup (cords) [ In reply to ]
And also, now when I run the record program (with xawtv running and sound un-muted) the left/right are moving.

But as soon as I mute xawtv, the left/right move very little (ie line noise).
----- Original Message -----
From: Brad Atkins
To: Discussion about mythtv
Sent: Saturday, April 19, 2003 5:18 PM
Subject: [mythtv-users] Re:Re:Connection Setup (cords)


Well it looks as though I've made some progress.

I had to make some changes to my /etc/modules.conf to take note of the onboard sound.

I've setup the alsamixer using the command lines given in the manual.

$ amixer set Master,0 100%,100% unmute
$ amixer set Line,0 75%,75% mute captur
$ amixer set Capture,0 100%,100% mute captur
$ su
# alsactl store
# exit


I have Line set as CAPTUR and 100%.
What's odd is that I have another source called Capture that is set at 100% and also at CAPTUR.

When I run xawtv I get the sound.
When I run aplay /dev/dsp I get the sound, but now it's much louder.
When I mute xawtv, and run aplay /dev/dsp I get just noise.

Seems as though we are getting VERY close :) Just missing one last thing I think?

When I run mythtv -> Watch TV I can hear the sound, but twice (one is behind the other about 2 seconds), and I get no video.

Go Myth GO!
Brad


------------------------------------------------------------------------------


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Re: Re:Re:Connection Setup (cords) [ In reply to ]
Brad Atkins wrote:
> Well it looks as though I've made some progress.
>
> I had to make some changes to my /etc/modules.conf to take note of the
> onboard sound.
>
> I've setup the alsamixer using the command lines given in the manual.
>
> $ amixer set Master,0 100%,100% unmute
> $ amixer set Line,0 75%,75% mute captur
> $ amixer set Capture,0 100%,100% mute captur
> $ su
> # alsactl store
> # exit
>
> I have Line set as CAPTUR and 100%.
> What's odd is that I have another source called Capture that is set at
> 100% and also at CAPTUR.

That's not odd at all but the way it should be. This is used
to set the volume for recording and the line-in volume should
ignored when recording. All the mesages to this point have
been consistant with the Capture level not being set.

> When I run xawtv I get the sound.
> When I run aplay /dev/dsp I get the sound, but now it's much louder.
[consistant with the Capture volume 100%...]
> When I mute xawtv, and run aplay /dev/dsp I get just noise.

Not sure what a mute button for xawtv would do. Instead, try
starting xawtv and in another shell, run alsamixer. Unmute
line-in to verify you get sound. Mute line-in, and run aplay
in another shell. If you hear sound and the Capture slider in
alsamixer affects the volume, you're good to go.

-- bjm
Re: Re:Re:Connection Setup (cords) [ In reply to ]
> >
> > I have Line set as CAPTUR and 100%.
> > What's odd is that I have another source called Capture that is set at
> > 100% and also at CAPTUR.
>
> That's not odd at all but the way it should be. This is used
> to set the volume for recording and the line-in volume should
> ignored when recording. All the mesages to this point have
> been consistant with the Capture level not being set.
>
> > When I run xawtv I get the sound.
> > When I run aplay /dev/dsp I get the sound, but now it's much louder.
> [consistant with the Capture volume 100%...]
> > When I mute xawtv, and run aplay /dev/dsp I get just noise.
>
> Not sure what a mute button for xawtv would do. Instead, try
> starting xawtv and in another shell, run alsamixer. Unmute
> line-in to verify you get sound.

Yes, I get sound with line-in unmuted.

> Mute line-in, and run aplay
> in another shell. If you hear sound and the Capture slider in
> alsamixer affects the volume, you're good to go.

Yes, the capture slider does affect the volume.

So assuming I'm good to go, I run

/usr/local/bin/mythbackend --logfile /home/brad/myth.log -d

Then I run

/usr/local/bin/mythfrontend

And the myth screen comes up. I select TV, then Watch TV and the sound comes
on, but the video doesn't change (it stays on that same MythTV screen.)
Also I hear the sound twice, one is about 2 seconds behind the other. Line
In is muted (and the volume is at 0%) and Capture is at 100%. The master
volume is at 100%.

>
> -- bjm
>
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users@snowman.net
> http://lists.snowman.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>