Surround Optical out in Lion 10.7 is broken

[scordinskyc]

Yes, the surround is configured correctly via Audio MIDI setup. Double checked. Dumped the VLC preferences and started it again to be sure. It is a Griffin FireWave. As soon as I boot into my 10.6.8 partition, it works just fine (all channels playing correctly) with VLC playing mpeg2ts from a cable box, mkv with a dts track, everything, as do QT7 and QTX. Boot into Lion, QT works correctly, but VLC, even the nightly or your build linked to earlier, fail to play the channels correctly. Weird.

-Haggador

[ajmas]

@scordinskyc: would you be able to ask about this issue in the appropriate Apple developer forums, possibly with Felix, to see if you can get an answer from Apple developers - I believe there is one for developers under NDA?

[rodrigopolo]

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

I have the same issue with OS X Lion GM, Digital Optical Audio doesn't work with VLC but it worked with XBMC...

I have an MP4 file with H.264 video, 5.1 AC3 audio...
I use Logitech Z-5500 Digital 5.1 Speakers connected trough an "optical mini-toslink to toslink" cable and it works great with XBMC but it doesn't work with VLC

[Gave Gast]

Hi guys,

I dont know if this is the same problem, but also for me VLC 1.1.11 under Snow Leopard 10.6.8 running on my Mac Mini did not give me DTS or AC3 playback via my optical output, i got only PCM. I went back to VLC 1.1.10.1 and that fixed the problem for me, i verified twice, so maybe you can try this?

Some further information, with VLC 1.1.11 i loose the "Built-in Output (Encoded Output)" option under "Audio Device" in the VLC "Audio" menu.

[AMaench]

Just tried the latest "luggage" build and still broken.

[miguy2k]

Hi there,

I'm on Snow Leopard 10.6.8, no Lion here, and I have the exact same problem as Gave Gast described. After the VLC 1.1.11 update, VLC plays back PCM and doesn't take over the S/PDIF output to send the encoded bitstream, even if configured to do so. Under Audio > Output Device, there's no more "Built-In Digital Output (Encoded Output)" entry. Note to ppl: You have to have a file playing for the "Output Device" menu to become available...

On VLC 1.1.10.1, the encoded output worked, but once VLC took over the bitstream and stopped playing back, the OS wasn't able to take it back: My Yamaha Decoder was reporting no bitstream at all, neither encoded nor PCM. I always had to put the Mac to sleep and wake it back up for MacOS to output it's PCM stream to the decoder again... VERY annoying. I fear it's a combinatory problem between the APIs VLC uses and the OS not being very good at optical digital audio out...

Best regards,
Mike

[sunchase]

I have exactly the same issues. The problem did occur since I installed OS X 10.7, but I do not have these problems in combination with Plex.

[teekay]

I'm on Snow Leopard 10.6.8, no Lion here, and I have the exact same problem as Gave Gast described. After the VLC 1.1.11 update, VLC plays back PCM and doesn't take over the S/PDIF output to send the encoded bitstream, even if configured to do so. Under Audio > Output Device, there's no more "Built-In Digital Output (Encoded Output)" entry. Note to ppl: You have to have a file playing for the "Output Device" menu to become available...

On VLC 1.1.10.1, the encoded output worked, but once VLC took over the bitstream and stopped playing back, the OS wasn't able to take it back: My Yamaha Decoder was reporting no bitstream at all, neither encoded nor PCM. I always had to put the Mac to sleep and wake it back up for MacOS to output it's PCM stream to the decoder again... VERY annoying. I fear it's a combinatory problem between the APIs VLC uses and the OS not being very good at optical digital audio out...

I had the same problem with the latest VLC 1.1.11 update, (Encoded Output) missing. Lucky for me that I kept a backup of the past several VLC releases. I tried rolling back to 1.1.10.1 and the (Encoded Output) is back, decoder detects the output fine now.

[Bullzie]

I am having the same issue with Lion (RTM) and 1.1.11. I'm not looking to point fingers as to who is at fault but VLC is what *makes* my MacMini HTPC the gem that it is so I just want to see things fixed. I can get regular output fine but when I switch to Encoded Output I loose all sound and I am not able to switch back to 'regular' output.

Bullzie

[cjlhParadox]

Very new to all this, but I dont see how its a lion/os problem. Apple's own dvd player app (idvd i think?) outputs audio, dts for example, from dvds perfectly. I hear too that plex and another media centre style prog mentioned on here that i forget the name of also work to output encoded audio with mkv's and so on.
So i think the problem is not the OS but is with the api used by mplayer and vlc.

I read the problem at https://discussions.apple.com/thread/31 ... 0&tstart=0 and it doesn't sound like what we are experiencing. If you go back to page one on there, the prob is that after playing audio via optical the guys z5500 speakers wont output anything anymore - something i found a simple on/off of the logitechs sorts out but only as a kinda last resort thing. That thread is *mostly" about one app not releasing audio back to be output by other progs/system after its done with it. Our prob here is specifically the failure to output encoded audio. As a btw, how is it that the new vlc release 1.11 does away with the encoded output option completely even on snow leopard? I had to roll back to 1.10.1 to get my audio back to normal again. very odd.

Hope it gets solved

[kby1337]

Not sure if anyone solved this yet but this works for me:

1. Double click the movie you wanna play. It opens in VLC but with no sound.
2. Press stop
3. Press play and it now plays with sound.

Tried it on DTS and AC3 files, seems to be working. Superstrange but easy enough

Hope it helps, cheers!

[DigitallyCrazy]

Same problem, VLC 1.1.11, undid/redid config multiple times in App/Utilities/(Midi app). I'm unsure how to diagnose the exact problem: I don't have a 5.1-channel test file for Quicktime or VLC. I have Bose speakers capable of 5.1 over USB (Bose speakers have internal soundcard), and VLC seems to play the voice channel of AC3 in my left front channel instead of the center channel. Effects seem to play fine, but that just may be a lack of strong surround/stereo. BTW, same problem in Boxee. Fine in XBMC, but that's because it downmixes to stereo in analog, it doesn't seem to support 5.1 at all.

Specs:

MacBook Pro
- 17 inch, early 2009
- 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

OSX Lion (10.7, Build 11A511)

VLC 1.1.11

Bose Speakers
- 5.1 Capable over USB
- Configured in App/Utilities/(Midi app)

[MasteRehm]

Not sure if anyone solved this yet but this works for me:

1. Double click the movie you wanna play. It opens in VLC but with no sound.
2. Press stop
3. Press play and it now plays with sound.

Tried it on DTS and AC3 files, seems to be working. Superstrange but easy enough

Hope it helps, cheers!

If you stop and start, VLC doesn't use the optical out again. It falls back to PCM.

[MasteRehm]

...had to roll back to 1.10.1 to get my audio back to normal again...

Did you delete the preferences, too? If I use any earlier version of VLC, the problem persists. But I only switched the program itself (overwrite in application folder).

[seqiro]

Yup, same problem here.

With 1.1.11 on Snow Leopard, I lost the option for encoded output for my M-Audio Transit, so I rolled back to 1.1.10.1 which cured it. Now that I have updated to Lion, I cannot get any optical output to work at all.

[MasteRehm]

Did anyone tried this?
https://discussions.apple.com/message/15594598#15594598

Suposedly works:
https://discussions.apple.com/message/15688387#15688387


Ahh, and did anyone check the last nightly build? Maybe the problem is fixed? Felix Paul Kuehne?

[leogaravaglia]

Hi all,
I`ve just tried following the steps above with no successful result. I don´t really know if I mess it up with the "Audio Midi" setup or if it is simply now working, but codified audio on my system is still not working. (Lion).
Looking forward to a solution, let me know if there is any other test we can make.
Regards

[chelgrian]

I think there are multiple different bugs here. Neither VLC nor Mplayer can successfully bitstream AC3 via the the optical output on

MacBook Pro 2,2 / OS X 10.6.8 / VLC 1.1.11
MacBook Pro 8,2 / OS X 10.7.0 / VLC 1.1.11

PCM works on both of them.

However XBMC 10.1 successfully manages to bitstream AC3 under both configurations.

[gutozz]

Hey all,

I have the same problem here, though I've noticed something nobody mentioned here yet:
When I start playback of a DD or DTS file on VLC, the selected audio output device (at System Pref. > Audio) automatically changes from the Digital device (in my case DENON-AVAMP) to the integrated internal loudspeakers (in my MBP). This only happens when I have SPDIF output set on VLD preferences. When I don't select SPDIF output, this doesn't happen, though the audio going to my Denon is only 2ch PCM.
This thing happened once in a previous version of VLC and/or Snow Leopard and somehow I found a workaround that I don't really remember. Unfortunately I have the problem back again after I updated both VLC to 1.1.11 and OSX to Lion.

I've already tried without success:
- Downgrade VLC to 1.11.9 (deleting Prefs before)
- Deleting VLC, Audio and MIDI preferences and restarting
- Forcing back the selection of the output to DENON at Audio Pref pane, though things get even more screwed up...

Any suggestions????

[rogkm]

OSX Lion
VLC 1.1.11

I used to play DTS files without any problem using Snow Leopard and older VLC. Now I updated everything and whenever i click on AUDIO -> AUDIO DEVICE -> HDMI (ENCODED) I get no sound at all...


Are we getting a fix for it? I love VLC... and I love OSX LION...


Thx.

[sijk]

Here is my similar encoded digital audio (5.1) problems. I have tried both optical out and hdmi audio, I'm using Early 2011 MBP.

OS X Snow Leopard & VLC 1.1.10: 5.1 audio works (but changing back to PCM does mute the sound until reboot or sleep)
OS X Snow Leopard & VLC 1.1.11: 5.1 audio does not work

OS X Lion & VLC or Apple DVD Player: 5.1 audio does not work.

I assume that there is multiple bugs both in VLC and in OS X. What a mess, hopefully someone has a clue how to fix these. I understand the problems with VLC because the audio APIs may have changes without notice but Apple should do better.

[MasteRehm]

See also: https://discussions.apple.com/message/15739668#15739668

[sijk]

See also: https://discussions.apple.com/message/15739668#15739668

I have Early 2011 MacBook Pro, so I tried AppleHDA.kext version 2.0.2 from "Mac OS X v10.6.7 Update for early 2011 MacBook Pro" http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1368. Apparently it wasn't compatible with Lion because I lost all sounds i.e. no audio devices were found.

Does someone have working 5.1 audio output with Lion? Which model of Mac you have? And which version of VLC?

[chelgrian]

There is no current version of VLC which works. Trying to use kexts from earlier versions of OS X with Lion *will* break your system be patient and wait for the problem to be investigated and fixed.

In the mean time use XBMC until VLC is fixed.

[sijk]

In the mean time use XBMC until VLC is fixed.

Funny that XBMC works but even Apple's DVD Player doesn't.