Issue with Soft Vol. and Pandora

[mwebster]

When I bought my VBA and configured it, I had the ability to use Pandora and control the software volume of its sound card zones while using Pandora. This broke in an upgrade. When soft Vol. is checked for the players and Pandora is played, I just hear loud static - not music. Some details in these posts:

http://vortexbox.org/threads/3907-mysqueezebox-com-and-pandora

http://vortexbox.org/threads/3756-Vortexbox-Soft-Volume-Checkbox

Does anyone know how to fix this issue?

[Macross]

Good luck... I have tried to resolve this issue as well.

[andrew]

Did you try using plughw instead of hw? This usually fixes this problem.

[Macross]

Did you try using plughw instead of hw? This usually fixes this problem.

Can you use plughw wile splitting the audio outputs as outlined in the posts above?

[mwebster]

Did you try using plughw instead of hw? This usually fixes this problem.

I haven't tried this and am not sure where/how to make this change. Do I do it from the web gui or from the vba command line and what commands would be necessary? I followed these instructions from you when I first configured my vba:
In order to get 4 channel sound working you need to do this from the VortexBox command line

cd /var/tmp
wget http://yum.vortexbox.org/fix/asound.conf
cp asound.conf /etc
reboot

Then you need to go into the VortexBox player GUI and create the 4 players

The first player has these setting

Name: Green
MAC: leave it blank
Audio Device: pcm.green
soft vol: checked

Then create 3 more players with the same settings for Pink, Gray, and Black. The audio device for each is pcm.color and the name is Color.

Thats it. Once you hit submit you should have your 4 players. You can connect your amp to the corresponding color connector on the back of the VortexBox.

[andrew]

You should be able to. Can you try it?

[mwebster]

You should be able to. Can you try it?

Could you please provide some detail about where and how to do this? I'm not sure of what to do to try plughw instead of hw?

[Ron Olsen]

1. Go to the VortexBox Player configuration page http://vortexbox/vortexbox-player.php

2. Enter "plughw" instead of "hw" in the Audio Device box (on my VBA, the entry is "plughw:1,0").

3. Click Submit.

[Macross]

plughw will only work with one interface.

[mwebster]

plughw will only work with one interface.

Yes. Those instructions don't make sense to me given my setup.

[Macross]

I have had the same issue here at home. I really wish that we could fix it.

[mwebster]

Andrew - I've attached a pic of my players tab. There is no "hw". Is there another way I can change things to get Pandora working again?

I'd love to have Pandora back and had even considered paying for the membership to get the higher quality audio.

[Macross]

To get pandora working you will need to install a software player called softsqueeze, register the player with your www.mysqueezebox.com account once, and then use the same login on the LMS server configuration page for the mysqueezebox.com account information. You then will have your pandora and other plugins that you installed available from the web interface.

[mwebster]

To get pandora working you will need to install a software player called softsqueeze, register the player with your www.mysqueezebox.com account once, and then use the same login on the LMS server configuration page for the mysqueezebox.com account information. You then will have your pandora and other plugins that you installed available from the web interface.

Sorry. My post was unclear. I have Pandora back thanks to your prior help, but the audio is nothing but static due to the software volume issue that I think you are aware of.

[Macross]

If you unclick the soft volume checkbox, the static will go away, but you will not have software volume control thru the LMS Web Application.

[mwebster]

If you unclick the soft volume checkbox, the static will go away, but you will not have software volume control thru the LMS Web Application.

That's a show stopper for me, unless you know of a work-around. I mainly use ipeng for control of my audio volume and don't have an easy method to directly control the volume of my amplifiers. I know that software volume is not ideal, but can't figure a straight-forward way to avoid it in my application that would be worth the trouble. I've got in-wall and less than audiophile stuff for all of my audio zones and just want to listen to music including Pandora anywhere in my home in a convenient way without a complicated setup that requires upkeep.

I had this until an update to the vortexbox somehow broke it.

[andrew]

You might want to consider getting some USB audio devices. They are inexpensive and always work.

[mwebster]

You might want to consider getting some USB audio devices. They are inexpensive and always work.

Two questions please:

Does this mean that the built in player that I'm using for four zones of audio on my vortexbox appliance that I bought from you won't be able to play Pandora like it used to for the foreseeable future? If it will be fixed, I can wait a few months.

If it won't be fixed, I think you are saying I could buy 4 usb audio devices and connect them to the 4 ports on the back of the vba and not use built-in sound outputs and Pandora will work through them. Is that correct?

[andrew]

You may be able to get them to work but you need some Linux knowledge to go into Linux and tweaks= a few different configs until it works the way you want. This also may stop working in the future. I recommended the USB audio devices becasue they "just work" and will always just "just work".

[Macross]

I was able to split the ouputs of the SGC vortexbox today using your modded asound.conf file. The one with the foxconn
AHD1-SK motherboard.

[mwebster]

I was able to split the ouputs of the SGC vortexbox today using your modded asound.conf file. The one with the foxconn
AHD1-SK motherboard.

Hi Macross - Could what you've done possibly help me solve my issue? If I could get my system working again, I'd try to never upgrade the firmware again.

[Macross]

I think that I have found a solution.

In andrews original asound.conf file the only soft volume output is on the slave.pcm "green" output. Rename your Vortexbox Players to green, orange, and black instead of pcm.green, pcm.orange, and pcm.black. You will need to clear out the MAC addresses before you hit the apply button on the Vortexbox Player configuration page. Do not check the soft volume configuration on the page. We are already making that adjustment in the asound.conf file.

If anyone else wants to know how to split the outputs on the rack mount or non rack mount sgc vortexbox please send me an email. I helped an RTI installer in Chicago fix his 1tb SGC Vortexbox with the
foxconn AHD1-SK motherboard for 3 separate stereo outputs today. The only modification that is needed is in the asound.conf file. The hw:0 needs to be changed to hw:1 for this motherboard, and the channels need to be changed to 6 instead of 8. I changed the names of the orange and black to blue and pink. I removed the grey section, and I added the slave.pcm "blue" and slave.pcm "pink" to the pcm.softvol section. When you make this modification to the asound.conf file, you will not have to select the software volume checkbox on the Vortexbox Player configuration page.

I have soft volume on the primary analog output, but not on the secondary or tertiary output. When I open up alsamixer, I am able to adjust the volume without any crackling or distortion, but via the LMS web interface, I get crackling and then static.

[mwebster]

Macross - In my case would I just rename my players green, pink, gray, and black in the audio device column after clearing out the MAC addresses and unchecking all of the soft vol checkboxes before hitting submit? Also, do I need to modify the asound.conf file somehow?

[vortexbox.localdomain ~]# aplay -L
null
Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)
default:CARD=Intel
HDA Intel, ALC888 Analog
Default Audio Device
sysdefault:CARD=Intel
HDA Intel, ALC888 Analog
Default Audio Device
front:CARD=Intel,DEV=0
HDA Intel, ALC888 Analog
Front speakers
surround40:CARD=Intel,DEV=0
HDA Intel, ALC888 Analog
4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=Intel,DEV=0
HDA Intel, ALC888 Analog
4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=Intel,DEV=0
HDA Intel, ALC888 Analog
5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=Intel,DEV=0
HDA Intel, ALC888 Analog
5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71:CARD=Intel,DEV=0
HDA Intel, ALC888 Analog
7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
[vortexbox.localdomain ~]#

[vortexbox.localdomain ~]# more /etc/asound.conf
#
# Place your global alsa-lib configuration here...
#

@hooks [
{
func load
files [
"/etc/alsa/pulse-default.conf"
]
errors false
}
]

pcm.dmixer {
type dmix
ipc_key 1099
ipc_perm 0660
slave {
pcm "hw:0"
rate 44100
channels 8
periods 128
period_time 0
period_size 1024
buffer_size 4096
}
}

pcm.softvol {
type softvol
slave.pcm "green"
}



pcm.green {
type route
slave.pcm dmixer
slave.channels 8
ttable.0.0 1
ttable.1.1 1
}

pcm.pink {
type route
slave.pcm dmixer
slave.channels 8
ttable.0.4 1
ttable.1.5 1
}

pcm.gray {
type route
slave.pcm dmixer
slave.channels 8
ttable.0.6 1
ttable.1.7 1
}

pcm.black {
type route
slave.pcm dmixer
slave.channels 8
ttable.0.2 1
ttable.1.3 1
}

[Macross]

Yes, If you read my post above, you need to remove the pcm. in front of your player descriptions in the vortexbox player configuration window, remove the

pcm.softvol {
type softvol
slave.pcm "green"
}

from your asound.conf
clear out the mac addresses from the Vortexbox Player configuration page before submitting the name changes and pressing apply.
You will need to reboot after changing the asound.conf file to make the changes apply.
After that you should check your alsamixer to make sure your ouputs are not muted.

[mwebster]

My player screen and asound.conf are attached. I first tried without soft vol checked and did not have volume control. Still getting static from Pandora whenever I check the soft volume box. That's what I'm trying to get to - Pandora with software volume.
[vortexbox.localdomain ~]# more /etc/asound.conf
#
# Place your global alsa-lib configuration here...
#

@hooks [
{
func load
files [
"/etc/alsa/pulse-default.conf"
]
errors false
}
]

pcm.dmixer {
type dmix
ipc_key 1099
ipc_perm 0660
slave {
pcm "hw:0"
rate 44100
channels 8
periods 128
period_time 0
period_size 1024
buffer_size 4096
}
}


pcm.green {
type route
slave.pcm dmixer
slave.channels 8
ttable.0.0 1
ttable.1.1 1
}

pcm.pink {
type route
slave.pcm dmixer
slave.channels 8
ttable.0.4 1
ttable.1.5 1
}

pcm.gray {
type route
slave.pcm dmixer
slave.channels 8
ttable.0.6 1
ttable.1.7 1
}

pcm.black {
type route
slave.pcm dmixer
slave.channels 8
ttable.0.2 1
ttable.1.3 1
}


[vortexbox.localdomain ~]#

[Macross]

You need to uncheck the soft volume box on all of the outputs on the vortexbox player configuration page and try each ouput individually using the LMS web interface. After you do that and let it apply. Go to the terminal and type in alsactl init to reset your soundcard to defaults.

[mwebster]

I tried this after unchecking the soft volume boxes as you said:

[vortexbox.localdomain ~]# alsactl init
Found hardware: "HDA-Intel" "Realtek ALC888" "HDA:10ec0888,14627418,00100001" "0
x1462" "0x7418"
Hardware is initialized using a generic method

Pandora operates, but I still cannot adjust the volume from the lms web interface. It's fixed to whatever the master volume is in alsamixer.

[Macross]

Which output are you trying to adjust? Green, Black, Orange, or Grey? Try one at a time. I have found that my green output will work properly with pandora, but the secondary, and tertiary ouputs will not. I am not a mpd guru, so its either an mpd issue or asound.conf, or alsa itself.

[mwebster]

I'm new to Linux and don't know what the hell I'm doing. I guess I should stop before I totally hose my setup. I've done some searching and found some links that are promising like:

http://mpd.wikia.com/wiki/Alsa

and

http://lievenmoors.github.com/alsa.html

but really need some detailed information. I've looked for a couple of hours but can't find an example describing what needs to be changed. I see references to this site:
http://alsa.opensrc.org/
but it's empty. Sucks cause Pandora was my best method for finding new music.

[mwebster]

Dangling 4 usb soundcards off my vba seemed less than ideal to me when I have the vba with the built in soundcard and 4 stereo zones. I have no idea why this all worked for me at some point or why it stopped. Through a bunch of trial and error I came up with this that seems to be working for me for Pandora with soft volume control for my vba. I have no idea if it will work for anyone else, but thought I'd post it just in case.

[vortexbox.localdomain ~]# more /etc/asound.conf
#
# Place your global alsa-lib configuration here...
#

@hooks [
{
func load
files [
"/etc/alsa/pulse-default.conf"
]
errors false
}
]
#added
pcm.dummy {
type plug;
slave.pcm dmixer;
}
#end of added

pcm.dmixer {
type dmix
ipc_key 1099
ipc_perm 0660
slave {
pcm "hw:0"
rate 44100
channels 8
periods 128
period_time 0
period_size 1024
buffer_size 4096
}
}
#added
ctl.dummy {
type dummy
}
#end of added

pcm.softvol {
type softvol
slave.pcm "green"
}



pcm.green {
type route
#slave.pcm dmixer
slave.pcm dummy
slave.channels 8
ttable.0.0 1
ttable.1.1 1
}

pcm.pink {
type route
#slave.pcm dmixer
slave.pcm dummy
slave.channels 8
ttable.0.4 1
ttable.1.5 1
}

pcm.gray {
type route
#slave.pcm dmixer
slave.pcm dummy
slave.channels 8
ttable.0.6 1
ttable.1.7 1
}

pcm.black {
type route
#slave.pcm dmixer
slave.pcm dummy
slave.channels 8
ttable.0.2 1
ttable.1.3 1
}

I'm not sure what the format of the paid Pandora service is and wonder if I might have avoided all of this by just paying for their service.

[Macross]

I will give your modded asound.conf a try on my test vortexbox. The format for the Paid pandora service is the same as the free, the only difference is there are no commercials or ads when you use the pandora web page player and no timeout.

[mwebster]

I will give your modded asound.conf a try on my test vortexbox. The format for the Paid pandora service is the same as the free, the only difference is there are no commercials or ads when you use the pandora web page player and no timeout.

The paid Pandora is advertised with higher quality audio. I assumed that meant a different bitrate that might possibly match up with the sound card (hw) and allow dmix to work without creating the dummy device. I had wanted to try it, but now I'm concerned I might screw something up and don't want to cover this ground again. Hope you have luck with your setup.

[Macross]

Your modded asound.conf file worked for me. The dmix sections that you added did the trick. All I had to do is match to my 5.1 analog audio output, so I removed the grey entry completely and changed the channels to 6 instead of 8. We are becoming masters of alsa.
Here is my modded asound.conf

#
# Place your global alsa-lib configuration here...
#


@hooks [
{
func load
files [
"/etc/alsa/pulse-default.conf"
]
errors false
}
]
#added
pcm.dummy {
type plug;
slave.pcm dmixer;
}
#end of added
pcm.dmixer {
type dmix
ipc_key 1099
ipc_perm 0660
slave {
pcm "hw:0"
rate 44100
channels 6
periods 128
period_time 0
period_size 1024
buffer_size 4096
}
}
#added
ctl.dummy {
type dummy
}
#end of added


pcm.softvol {
type softvol

slave.pcm "green"
}

pcm.green {

type route
#slave.pcm dmixer
slave.pcm dummy
slave.channels 6
ttable.0.0 1
ttable.1.1 1
}

pcm.orange {
type route
#slave.pcm dmixer
slave.pcm dummy
slave.channels 6
ttable.0.4 1
ttable.1.5 1
}


pcm.black {
type route
#slave.pcm dmixer
slave.pcm dummy
slave.channels 6
ttable.0.2 1
ttable.1.3 1
}

[andrew]

Wow good work guys. I leaned all I know about ALSA (not that much) by hacking as well. How did you figure out this combination? Also did anybody ever try just replacing pcm "hw:0" with pcm "plughw:0" as I suggested? This may do the same thing with less code.

Also can somebody verify that the volume on each channel can be changed separately? I know in my initial testing some configurations resulted only a master volume. So If you changed the volume on one channel it would change on all the others as well.

[Macross]

It works on my box here at home with the LMS web interface. I tried to change the pcm "hw:0" to use plughw but it did not work. With the asound.conf file above, I was able to check the soft volume on on all of my analog interfaces that I split on my soundcard.

[mwebster]

Wow good work guys. I leaned all I know about ALSA (not that much) by hacking as well. How did you figure out this combination? Also did anybody ever try just replacing pcm "hw:0" with pcm "plughw:0" as I suggested? This may do the same thing with less code.

Also can somebody verify that the volume on each channel can be changed separately? I know in my initial testing some configurations resulted only a master volume. So If you changed the volume on one channel it would change on all the others as well.

I read that dmixer will not operate on hw:0, then found a post where someone had to find a workaround for using the alsa equalizer with dmixer and I stuck some things together and got lucky.

I tried replacing hw with plughw and it does not work.

I have been able to independently change the volume for my players. If I find anything that doesn't work properly, I'll update this post.

[mwebster]

I'm concerned that I might not be getting stereo with this setup. Anyone know of an easy way to check this?

Edit-
Nevermind. Think I'm good.