Date: Mon, 06 Oct 2008 11:48:38 +0200 From: "Alexander Leidinger" <Alexander@Leidinger.net> To: bsd@fluffles.net Cc: Alexander Motin <mav@freebsd.org>, freebsd-current@freebsd.org, Joel Dahl <joel@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: regression in HDA functionality Message-ID: <20081006114838.75492pa2uian85wk@webmail.leidinger.net> In-Reply-To: <48E9AB21.1010203@fluffles.net> References: <1222892584.00020319.1222880402@10.7.7.3> <48E54290.5010600@FreeBSD.org> <48E54B75.3010307@FreeBSD.org> <200810030945.00843.doconnor@gsoft.com.au> <48E9AB21.1010203@fluffles.net>
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Quoting fluffles.net <bsd@fluffles.net> (from Mon, 06 Oct 2008 =20 08:07:29 +0200): > Daniel O'Connor wrote: >> It seems that a lot of new systems now have multiple sound outputs >> (because they use HDA) so there needs to be some way to elect a default >> sound output (override by sysctl of course :) >> >> eg selecting the HDMI output is pointless if there is no HDMI link >> active (can you detect HDMI status?) >> > > Hi all, > I'm not a dev, but may have an idea. > > As i understand, the problem is that with the new patch, more devices > are detected which changes the numbering of the pcm devices, thus > out-of-the-box sound output does not (always) work. > > Maybe a solution would be to *always* register pcm0, so it becomes the > default device. This device is not a real device but rather a virtual We have /dev/dsp, which points by default to the first registered soundcard. > device like a wrapper/link to one of the other "real" pcm devices > starting with pcm1. An algoritm could select which device pcm0 points > to, and be changeable in sysctl, defaulting to "auto" or something. The The default I wrote above, can be changed with a sysctl. You specify =20 the device number (0 for pcm0, 1 for pcm1, ...). So except for one =20 part (auto), we already have what you suggest. The difficult part is the "auto". What's the right thing to choose? =20 Think a little bit about it, what's right for one person is wrong for =20 another one. A person which has everything connected digitally wants =20 the digital by default for sure, but a person which has analog and =20 digital connected, can not get a mind reading machine to see a =20 sensible default. And what about those which have the soundcard =20 connected to an amplifier, and the graphic card also offers the HDMI =20 sound channel to the screen? Does this person want the sound only via =20 the amplifier, or does he want it via the build-in speakers of the =20 screen (he may want the normal stuff routed to the screen, but at some =20 point turn on the amplifier and use it instead)? > auto setting could even be extended to change default device if > situation changes, like a new USB Audio device is plugged in or the > headphones-output is used. It might be hard to correctly predict the > desired behavior for everyone, but getting default audio output (front > speakers; stereo) to work out-of-the-box would be great. So everytime I connect an USB Audio device it means I want to switch =20 to it? Maybe it's a headset and I only want to make phone calls with =20 it (by telling the phone application to use specific devices), but for =20 the rest I want to use the already existing sound output. Bye, Alexander. --=20 Save the bales! http://www.Leidinger.net Alexander @ Leidinger.net: PGP ID =3D B0063FE7 http://www.FreeBSD.org netchild @ FreeBSD.org : PGP ID =3D 72077137
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