Re: [LAU] Focusrite Scarlett 8i6 recognised, inputs work, but no output - Mint 18

thanks Yann, didn't know about qasmixer that's quite handy
:)

So the problem is solved, but nonetheless remains an awkward one.

The short solution for the archive is:

In Mint 17 and Mint 18, or the related Ubuntu distro, open alsamixer or
qasmixer and make sure **both** faders "Master" and "Master 1 (Monitor)"
are UNMUTED (keyshortcut M).

The tricky part is that in Mint 17 and KxStudio 14.04 the soundcard works
even if "Master 1 (Monitor)" is MUTED.

If you unmute it and then mute it again.... no sound any more.

So, it seems a bug to me. Not a bad one, but a really confusing one. I will
email the alsa list see if they're interested.

Thanks for the help Alessio and Yann!
cheers,
M

p.s. Alessio, in Mint 18 the Scarlett8i6 works also without jack, finally!
Once fixed the mute.
And the volume is at the right level from the start, as opposed to Ubuntu
14 and Mint 17 where it is at half level on startup.

--
Marco Donnarumma, Ph.D
*Performing bodies, sound and machines**Universität der Künste Berlin*
http://marcodonnarumma.com
4w33534643646
--
On Wed, Aug 10, 2016 at 2:06 PM, <ycollette.nospam@email-addr-hidden> wrote:
> With my Scarlett 18i8, I also found that an internal parameter was set to
> off:
>
> amixer list all the parameters of the soundcard (the scarlett was the
> second one):
>
> $ amixer --card 2 contents | more
> numid=5,iface=MIXER,name='Master 1 (Monitor) Playback Switch'
>   ; type=BOOLEAN,access=rw------,values=2
>   : values=off,off
> numid=6,iface=MIXER,name='Master 1 (Monitor) Playback Volume'
>   ; type=INTEGER,access=rw---R--,values=2,min=0,max=134,step=1
>   : values=128,128
>   | dBscale-min=-1
> ...
>
>
> Here, I saws:
>
> "Playback Switch" ... values=off,off.
>
>
> Via another amixer command, I set the parameter to on, and the sound was
> back ...
>
> $ amixer --card 2 cset numid=5 1
> numid=5,iface=MIXER,name='Master 1 (Monitor) Playback Switch'
>   ; type=BOOLEAN,access=rw------,values=2
>   : values=on,on
>
>
> ----- Mail original -----
> De: "Marco Donnarumma" <lists@email-addr-hidden>
> À: "alessio degani" <alessio.degani@email-addr-hidden>
> Cc: "linux-audio-user" <linux-audio-user@email-addr-hidden>
> Envoyé: Mardi 9 Août 2016 20:46:02
> Objet: Re: [LAU] Focusrite Scarlett 8i6 recognised, inputs work, but no
> output - Mint 18
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Hi Alessio,
>
> thanks for the tip. I had already made sure volumes are up in the
> alsamixer,
> just doubled checked now and can't see anything wrong.
>
>
> jack doesn't give me any error.
>
>
> Interesting that you have it working on Ubuntu 14.10, 'cause that distro
> release is the same behind Mint 17 (well, Ubuntu 14.04), where my 8i6 works
> out of the box.
>
> I wonder if something got broken amidst the improvements to the new
> releases of Ubuntu 16 and the related Mint 18.
>
> I'm now downloading KXStudio iso to try it out. This is based on Ubuntu
> 14.04, so let's see.
> I'll post an update.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> thanks!
>
> M
>
>
>
>
>
> On 09/08/2016 17:48, Marco Donnarumma wrote:
> Hi Marco,
> I've 8i6 and I use it with Ubuntu 14.10.
> Sometimes I've experienced a similar issue (I don't know if it is your
> case or not). I've checked all the volumes with alsa mixer, and I've
> found that sometimes some buses (which are used for monitor out or main
> out) are low in volume or even mute or misrouted (i.e. not "connected"
> to monitor out).
>
> Unfortunately, the alsa mixer interface are not the best way to change
> those parameters, because the 8i6 has so many channel and buses that
> alsa mixer becomes confusing to use!
>
> Cheers
> > Dear all,
> >
> > I have been using my Focusrite Scarlett 8i6 for a couple of years
> > without issues on a Linux Mint 17 laptop. I can use the sound card
> > only via Qjackctl (no ALSA out of the box).
> >
> > Now, I have a new computer (shuttle xpc slim) on which I installed
> > Linux Mint 18.
> > The sound card is recognised by both Jack and cat /proc/asound/cards.
> > It even correctly appears in the system sound preferences, which did
> > not happen in Mint 17.
> >
> > However, while the inputs work, there's no output. I've tested with a
> > bunch of audio software, such as Pd, Ardour, Hydrogen, etc..
> >
> > Interestingly, if, immediately after testing with Mint 18, I plug the
> > sound card back to my Mint 17 laptop, at first, the sound card does
> > not produce output. I have to power off the sound card and re-plug it,
> > then it works.
> >
> >
> > I would need this to work only with Jack, I'm not looking for an ALSA
> fix.
> >
> > I know in the past three years there has been a few ALSA patches to
> > make this range of Focusrite work, and I think most of those patches
> > are now in the mainline kernel. Although I'm not familiar with this.
> >
> > Does anything I could try come to mind?
> >
> > [SYSTEM INFO]
> > Mint 18
> > kernel: 4.4.0-31-lowlatency
> > alsa-base 1.0.25
> > libasound, etc.. 1.1.0
> >
> >
> > thanks in advance!
> > best wishes,
> >
> > --
> > Marco Donnarumma, Ph.D
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Linux-audio-user mailing list
> Linux-audio-user@email-addr-hidden
> http://lists.linuxaudio.org/listinfo/linux-audio-user
>

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Received on Wed Aug 10 20:15:01 2016