Surround Optical out in Lion 10.7 is broken

[AMaench]

Well I installed the GM build of Lion 10.7 and I went to fire up an MKV file that I know has Dolby surround sound and it appears VLC is broken in that aspect since it will not push out any sound to my Logitech Z5500 speakers. I deleted preferences and the application and tried again and it was a no go.

Are people aware that this does not work and are we moving toward any solution? I even tried a nightly build to see if it would help and nothing so far.

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

Are you using SPDIF ?

[fkuehne]

That would be my suggestion as well. See "Use S/PDIF when available" in the Audio category of VLC's preferences.

[AMaench]

Yes i am using spdif out and Dolby set to auto. Trust me I know how to set this up I have been using that optical out for years and the setting never changed. It is broken and will not send audio properly

For reference I am using a 27" Imac with 12gb ram and the quad core i7 processor.

[iKitten]

I've just registered here just to say that I have exactly the same problem. VLC won't output DD or DTS optically to my reciever. However, Apple's DVD player app *does* output DD and DTS correctly through my optical cable. I've resorted to using Plex for the time being to play MKV files with DD and DTS streams as that seems to work (although Plex is a bit of a pain in the a** to use).

Anyway, my point is that this is real and needs to be addressed.

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

I've just registered here just to say that I have exactly the same problem. VLC won't output DD or DTS optically to my reciever. However, Apple's DVD player app *does* output DD and DTS correctly through my optical cable. I've resorted to using Plex for the time being to play MKV files with DD and DTS streams as that seems to work (although Plex is a bit of a pain in the a** to use).

Anyway, my point is that this is real and needs to be addressed.

On 10.7 or 10.6 ?

[iKitten]

I've just registered here just to say that I have exactly the same problem. VLC won't output DD or DTS optically to my reciever. However, Apple's DVD player app *does* output DD and DTS correctly through my optical cable. I've resorted to using Plex for the time being to play MKV files with DD and DTS streams as that seems to work (although Plex is a bit of a pain in the a** to use).

Anyway, my point is that this is real and needs to be addressed.

On 10.7 or 10.6 ?

10.7 Gold Master. Had the problem with the developer previews of 10.7 as well. Has worked fine for me for years with 10.5 and 10.6.

[fkuehne]

I've updated VLC's audio output module to the latest API in a special pre-release build, which is 64bit only, doesn't include any localization and requires Mac OS X 10.7 or later. It would be great if you had a look at it, as I don't have a digital receiver: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/14924522/vlc-1.1.11-git.dmg. Its md5 sum is 3c7a79f7b0e16b45535911cad39cd202, in case you want to verify it.

[iKitten]

I've updated VLC's audio output module to the latest API in a special pre-release build, which is 64bit only, doesn't include any localization and requires Mac OS X 10.7 or later. It would be great if you had a look at it, as I don't have a digital receiver: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/14924522/vlc-1.1.11-git.dmg. Its md5 sum is 3c7a79f7b0e16b45535911cad39cd202, in case you want to verify it.

Unfortunately this does not work for me. I deleted all preference files before moving your VLC app to the Applications folder, and I made sure to check the "Use S/PDIF when available" box, and the restart before playing any files. I'd be willing to try another copy if you think that it'll work.

[AMaench]

I've updated VLC's audio output module to the latest API in a special pre-release build, which is 64bit only, doesn't include any localization and requires Mac OS X 10.7 or later. It would be great if you had a look at it, as I don't have a digital receiver: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/14924522/vlc-1.1.11-git.dmg. Its md5 sum is 3c7a79f7b0e16b45535911cad39cd202, in case you want to verify it.

I tried this build still dead in the water.

[fkuehne]

Thanks for the feedback. I've traced back the issue to the use of a really old API (deprecated with the introduction of Mac OS X 10.5), which will need to be replaced. I'll post another build as soon as I have finished this transition. Compatibility with 10.5 and 10.6 will be retained of course.

[fkuehne]

Hello again,

I've just posted an updated build to the same location (http://dl.dropbox.com/u/14924522/vlc-1.1.11-git.dmg). New md5 is 99f5596da3ffa69e47307c8eb1e83e34.

All references to the pre-10.5 API were removed and replaced with modern stuff. Analog audio output works flawlessly, but due to the lack of a testing device, digital output is completely untested. In case that playback fails again for you guys, please post a copy of VLC's debug log (see Window -> Messages).

Thanks a lot for your help!

[iKitten]

Hello again,

I've just posted an updated build to the same location (http://dl.dropbox.com/u/14924522/vlc-1.1.11-git.dmg). New md5 is 99f5596da3ffa69e47307c8eb1e83e34.

All references to the pre-10.5 API were removed and replaced with modern stuff. Analog audio output works flawlessly, but due to the lack of a testing device, digital output is completely untested. In case that playback fails again for you guys, please post a copy of VLC's debug log (see Window -> Messages).

Thanks a lot for your help!

This does not work either.

However, unlike all other builds, when playing DD or DTS it outputs PCM stereo to my receiver when the "Use S/PDIF when available" is checked - other builds didn't output anything. I could post the full log from the "Messages" pane but it's very long. Should I post it?

[fkuehne]

Yes, that would be great.

You can also use http://pastebin.com/ btw. and put the link here.

[iKitten]

Yes, that would be great.

You can also use http://pastebin.com/ btw. and put the link here.

Here you go: http://pastebin.com/FApA7cN6

[AMaench]

Hello again,

I've just posted an updated build to the same location (http://dl.dropbox.com/u/14924522/vlc-1.1.11-git.dmg). New md5 is 99f5596da3ffa69e47307c8eb1e83e34.

All references to the pre-10.5 API were removed and replaced with modern stuff. Analog audio output works flawlessly, but due to the lack of a testing device, digital output is completely untested. In case that playback fails again for you guys, please post a copy of VLC's debug log (see Window -> Messages).

Thanks a lot for your help!

Tried this build and it did output sound with SPDIF checked and it set to Auto. The sound was just stereo so it appears we are just one step closer.

[carlylemiii]

Just want to point out that this issue is not restricted to VLC—doesn't work in MPlayerX either, so it is a Lion issue.

[fkuehne]

MPlayerX probably uses an API similar to the one we used to use, so it isn't unlikely that it encounters issues as well.

I hope to have access to a testing device later next week, so we'll probably have something working just in time for VLC 1.1.11.

Thanks for the log btw. This allowed me to verify my apprehension that the output device's feature detection is broken, so VLC doesn't get to know that the device actually supports optical audio output. That's why it falls back on analog stereo output.

[fkuehne]

Ehm, just to explain MPlayerX's failure:

* The S/PDIF part of the code is based on the auhal audio output
* module from VideoLAN:
* Copyright (c) 2006 Derk-Jan Hartman <hartman at videolan dot org>

(taken from libao2/ao_coreaudio.c within MPlayer's svn repository)

So, this is probably a code issue on our side and no generic Lion problem.

[BaranE]

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/31 ... 0&tstart=0

This is an OS problem. Not a VLC one.

[imacken]

I have the exact same problem. No DD5.1 passthrough to my receiver through VLC.
In fact, using the 1.1.11-git above, the Audio Device option is permanently greyed out!

[AMaench]

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/31 ... 0&tstart=0

This is an OS problem. Not a VLC one.

It is not an OS problem I had 10.6.8 before the GM build and it worked fine in VLC for all audio including DTS and dolby when going out optical.

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/31 ... 0&tstart=0

This is an OS problem. Not a VLC one.

It is not an OS problem I had 10.6.8 before the GM build and it worked fine in VLC for all audio including DTS and dolby when going out optical.

So, it _is_ an OS problem in X.7

[scordinskyc]

Just a note on my experience and the yet-to-be released OS (NDA people). I have a firewire soundcard that breaks out into analog L/R C+LFE+LS/RS (Griffin Firewave). Thus far, everything including 10.6.8 and all versions of VLC have worked just fine. Currently, though, with the new version of the OS, it seems like I almost have a rotation of the channels. Front channels become back and other oddities. Output through native apps (e.g. QT) work fine as does OS level DVD playback. If you wish me to put the debug information up, I'd be happy to do so, but it didn't look suspicious to me. There are no odd kernel messages or anything weird in syslog either.

-Haggador

[fkuehne]

Is your firewire sound card correctly configured in the "Audio MIDI Setup" utility? You can find it in /Applications/Utilities. If it is, could you share the exact device name please?