desktop-packages team mailing list archive

[David Chatterton <dmchatterton@xxxxxxxxxx>]

This is a further report on the behaviour of the sound system.

I did not experence any crackling today so am unable to report on its
occurrence.

I played a video using the Videos app and ontained good quality sound.

Plugging a pair of good quality headphones allowed me to listen for any
instances of poor quality. None were heard.

I note that a pair o fheadphones appears to override any signal being
sent to the Speakers (as one would normally expect for electrical
switching of the output via the headphone socket) as noted in comment
#12. However, I also note that the system retains separate volume
controls for speakers and headphones. Thus, if the speakers are set to a
louder volume than the headphones, highlighting the Speakers menu item
in the Sound panel will increase the volume of the sound in the
headphones.

When I plugged an HDMI monitor into the DisplayPort socket, the video
display system recognised the monitor and extended the display to it. I
was thus able to move the Videos window into the monitor's area and get
the window to appear in full screen as it does on the laptop's screen.
However, the sound remained playing through the headphones. There was no
HDMI/Display Port menu item in the Sound panel.

Using the workaround as in the initial bug description, I opened the VLC
app, selected the HDMI under Audio > Devices and, as soon as a video
file was opened, the HDMI menu item appeared. I closed the VLC app and
highlighted the HDMI menu item which caused the sound to play out of the
minotor's speakers.

Unplugging the monitor from the Display Port caused the display to
revert to the laptop's display and the sound  menu item caused the sound
to be directedto revert to the headphones that remained plugged in.
However, reconnecting the HDMI monitor brought up the HDMI sound output
option in the Sound panel. Highlighting of the HDMI caused the sound to
be redirected to the monitor's speakers once again.

Just for good measure, I switched on a previously paired set of
Bluetooth headph ones. Their menu item appeared in the Sound panel and
the sound was able to be directed to them as one might expect.

What I regard as part of this bug report is therefore the failure of the
sound system to recognise the availability of the HDMI / Display Port
sound option without having to kick it into action using the VLC app.

Other outputs such as the headphone and Bluetooth headphones seem to
achieve this but not the connection to the Display Port unless
previously "primed" by VLC.

-- 
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Packages, which is subscribed to alsa-driver in Ubuntu.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1402666

Title:
  [XPS13 9333, Intel Haswell HDMI, Digital Out, HDMI] Playback problem

Status in alsa-driver package in Ubuntu:
  Incomplete

Bug description:
  If an HDMI monitor is plugged into the video out and the Videos app is
  started, the Systems Settings > Sound > Output shows only the
  Speakers, Built-in Audio in the Play sound through listing. The HDMI
  option is not presented.

  The workaround is to open the VLC app which lists the Built-in Stereo (HDMI) option under its Audio > Audio Devices menu.
   
  When a video is started in VLC, having selected the HDMI option, the sound plays through the monitor speakers. The HDMI / Display Port , Built-in Audio item then appears in the Play sound through window, even though the selection highlight remains on Speakers. The sound output can be switched between either output by highlighting the chosen option.

  If VLC is closed and Videos is restarted, the sound now plays through
  the previously selected HDMI item and can be switched between the
  monitor and the laptop's speakers.

  What I regard as a bug is the failure of the HDMI option to appear in
  the Play sound through listing as soon as an HDMI monitor is plugged
  into the Display Port output. Obviously, VLC has the means to add this
  item but the Videos app does not seem to be able to do this by itself.

  In contrast, as soon as a previously paired set of Bluetooth headphone
  are turned on, the Headset does appear as a menu item in the listing.
  I would reasonably expect the plugging in of an HDMI monitor into the
  Display Port to automatically add this item as well as its affects on
  the Screen Display pane of Systems Settings.

  Note: the laptop is running Ubuntu 14.10 and the Linux kernel has
  recently been upgraded to v3.18 (Vivid).

  ProblemType: Bug
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.10
  Package: alsa-base 1.0.25+dfsg-0ubuntu4
  Uname: Linux 3.18.0-031800-generic x86_64
  ApportVersion: 2.14.7-0ubuntu8
  Architecture: amd64
  AudioDevicesInUse:
   USER        PID ACCESS COMMAND
   /dev/snd/pcmC1D0c:   david      2242 F...m pulseaudio
   /dev/snd/controlC1:  david      2242 F.... pulseaudio
   /dev/snd/controlC0:  david      2242 F.... pulseaudio
  CurrentDesktop: Unity
  Date: Mon Dec 15 13:13:47 2014
  InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-12-11 (3 days ago)
  InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Release amd64 (20140722.2)
  PackageArchitecture: all
  ProcEnviron:
   LANGUAGE=en_GB:en
   PATH=(custom, no user)
   XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
   LANG=en_GB.UTF-8
   SHELL=/bin/bash
  SourcePackage: alsa-driver
  Symptom: audio
  Symptom_AlsaPlaybackTest: ALSA playback test through plughw:HDMI failed
  Symptom_Card: Built-in Audio - HDA Intel HDMI
  Symptom_Jack: Digital Out, HDMI
  Symptom_Type: None of the above
  Title: [XPS13 9333, Intel Haswell HDMI, Digital Out, HDMI] Playback problem
  UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to utopic on 2014-12-11 (3 days ago)
  dmi.bios.date: 09/11/2014
  dmi.bios.vendor: Dell Inc.
  dmi.bios.version: A05
  dmi.board.name: 0D13CR
  dmi.board.vendor: Dell Inc.
  dmi.board.version: A00
  dmi.chassis.type: 8
  dmi.chassis.vendor: Dell Inc.
  dmi.chassis.version: 0.1
  dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnDellInc.:bvrA05:bd09/11/2014:svnDellInc.:pnXPS139333:pvr:rvnDellInc.:rn0D13CR:rvrA00:cvnDellInc.:ct8:cvr0.1:
  dmi.product.name: XPS13 9333
  dmi.sys.vendor: Dell Inc.

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