[pulseaudio-discuss] Problems with pulseaudio / asla on PS3

Kevin Gilbert kevin952 at tpg.com.au
Wed Aug 27 04:32:51 PDT 2008


On Wed, 27 Aug 2008, Lennart Poettering opined:
<snip>
> PA tries to open audio device via a lot of different device strings,
> but apparently it may not be opened via any of them. Could you check
> if you can open the device with aplay? (i.e. "aplay -f CD -D hw:0 <
> /dev/urandom" or something similar?)
>
> Maybe you have a permission problem?

Permissions with what? Can't be /dev/dsp as I have tried running pulseaudio 
after a "chmod 0666 /dev/dsp".

> Please check with strace what actually happens.
>
> Lennart

pulseaudio log same as before but just in case it isn't:

=== begin ===
pulseaudio -vvvv --system
I: core-util.c: Successfully gained nice level -11.
I: main.c: Found user 'pulse' (UID 497) and group 'pulse' (GID 496).
I: main.c: Successfully dropped root privileges.                    
W: main.c: setrlimit(RLIMIT_NICE, (31, 31)) failed: Operation not permitted
W: main.c: setrlimit(RLIMIT_RTPRIO, (9, 9)) failed: Operation not permitted
I: main.c: This is PulseAudio 0.9.10                                       
I: main.c: Page size is 4096 bytes                                         
I: main.c: Fresh high-resolution timers available! Bon appetit!            
I: module-hal-detect.c: Trying capability alsa                             
D: module-hal-detect.c: Not loaded device 
/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/computer_alsa_timer
D: module-hal-detect.c: Not loaded device 
/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/computer_alsa_sequencer
D: module-hal-detect.c: Loading module-alsa-sink with arguments 'device_id=0 
sink_name=alsa_output.ps3_system_bus_ioc0_02_alsa_playback_0'
D: alsa-util.c: Trying front:0...                                                                                                         
ALSA lib conf.c:3952:(snd_config_expand) Unknown parameters 0                                                                             
ALSA lib pcm.c:2144:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM front:0                                                                           
I: alsa-util.c: Couldn't open PCM device front:0: Invalid argument                                                                        
D: alsa-util.c: Trying surround40:0...                                                                                                    
ALSA lib conf.c:3952:(snd_config_expand) Unknown parameters 0                                                                             
ALSA lib pcm.c:2144:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM surround40:0                                                                      
I: alsa-util.c: Couldn't open PCM device surround40:0: Invalid argument                                                                   
D: alsa-util.c: Trying surround41:0...                                                                                                    
ALSA lib conf.c:3952:(snd_config_expand) Unknown parameters 0                                                                             
ALSA lib pcm.c:2144:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM surround41:0
I: alsa-util.c: Couldn't open PCM device surround41:0: Invalid argument
D: alsa-util.c: Trying surround50:0...
ALSA lib conf.c:3952:(snd_config_expand) Unknown parameters 0
ALSA lib pcm.c:2144:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM surround50:0
I: alsa-util.c: Couldn't open PCM device surround50:0: Invalid argument
D: alsa-util.c: Trying surround51:0...
ALSA lib conf.c:3952:(snd_config_expand) Unknown parameters 0
ALSA lib pcm.c:2144:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM surround51:0
I: alsa-util.c: Couldn't open PCM device surround51:0: Invalid argument
D: alsa-util.c: Trying surround71:0...
ALSA lib conf.c:3952:(snd_config_expand) Unknown parameters 0
ALSA lib pcm.c:2144:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM surround71:0
I: alsa-util.c: Couldn't open PCM device surround71:0: Invalid argument
D: alsa-util.c: Trying hw:0 as last resort...
ALSA lib pcm_hw.c:1240:(_snd_pcm_hw_open) Invalid value for card
E: alsa-util.c: Error opening PCM device hw:0: No such file or directory
E: module.c: Failed to load  module "module-alsa-sink" (argument: "device_id=0 
sink_name=alsa_output.ps3_system_bus_ioc0_02_alsa_playback_0"): initialization 
failed.
D: module-hal-detect.c: Not loaded device 
/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/ps3_system_bus_ioc0_02_alsa_playback_0
D: module-hal-detect.c: Not loaded device 
/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/ps3_system_bus_ioc0_02_alsa_control__1
I: module-hal-detect.c: Loaded 0 modules.
I: module.c: Loaded "module-hal-detect" (index: #0; argument: "").
I: module.c: Loaded "module-esound-protocol-unix" (index: #1; argument: "").
I: protocol-native.c: Allowing access to group 'pulse-access'.
I: protocol-native.c: loading cookie from disk.
I: module.c: Loaded "module-native-protocol-unix" (index: #2; argument: "").
I: module-volume-restore.c: starting with empty ruleset.
I: module.c: Loaded "module-volume-restore" (index: #3; argument: "").
D: module-default-device-restore.c: No previous default sink setting, 
ignoring.
D: module-default-device-restore.c: No previous default source setting, 
ignoring.
I: module.c: Loaded "module-default-device-restore" (index: #4; argument: "").
I: module.c: Loaded "module-rescue-streams" (index: #5; argument: "").
D: cli-command.c: Checking for existance of 
'/usr/lib/pulse-0.9/modules//module-gconf.so': success
I: module.c: Loaded "module-gconf" (index: #6; argument: "").
I: main.c: Daemon startup complete.
D: module-hal-detect.c: dbus: interface=org.freedesktop.DBus, 
path=/org/freedesktop/DBus, member=NameAcquired
=== end ===

aplay stuff as follows:

=== begin ===
# aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: PS3 [PS3], device 0: SPDIF [SPDIF]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
# aplay -L
null
    Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)
pulse
    PulseAudio Sound Server
default
    Default
# aplay -f CD -D hw:0 -vvv < /dev/urandom
Playing raw data 'stdin' : Signed 16 bit Little Endian, Rate 44100 Hz, Stereo
aplay: set_params:913: Access type not available
=== end ===

I'm not sure what all that means but doesn't the fact the pulseaudio cannot 
load the ALSA module mean that there will be no sound generated via ALSA?

What does the log entry:

E: alsa-util.c: Error opening PCM device hw:0: No such file or directory

really mean? Just what is says? IE, the device "hw:0" really does not exist? 
Given that I'm running pulseaudio on a PS3, is the device called something 
else on that hardware platform? Where would I check?

Where does pulseaudio get the device string:

device_id=0 sink_name=alsa_output.ps3_system_bus_ioc0_02_alsa_playback_0

from? Should "hw:0" be that string? If so, how do I tell pulseaudio?

Sorry to be a pest but I know absolutely nothing about the pulseaudio / ALSA 
sound software.

Again, thanks in advance for any help you can give.

Cheers,
Kevin
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