No sound from AV-files with AC3 audio

[fred44nl]

I am running the latest version of VLC on Debian 9.6
there are several audio formats for AV-files, such as AC3, AAC, E-AC-3, etc.
most of them play well with the latest version of VLC, but AC3 with the codec-ID A_AC3 do not have sound.

should I use another start-option ??
if so, which one ??

[Rémi Denis-Courmont]

Hard to say without logs. Make sure you did not mistakenly enable S/PDIF passthrough.

[fred44nl]

S/PDIF passthrough is not enabled.
pls note that the only audio that is not working is AC-3, several other specs. are fine.
started VLC with

Code: Select all

env QT_AUTO_SCREEN_SCALE_FACTOR=0 vlc -v /home/fred44nl/Video/vlcplay.m3u

with this result:

VLC media player 3.0.4 Vetinari (revision 3.0.4-0-gf615db6332)
[0000562cb4cb5420] [http] lua interface: Lua HTTP interface
[0000562cb4bd41a0] main libvlc: Vlc draait met de standaardinterface. Gebruik 'cvlc' om vlc zonder interface te gebruiken.
[00007f8374000980] main input error: unsafe option "recursive" has been ignored for security reasons
[00007f83400009e0] main input error: unsafe option "recursive" has been ignored for security reasons
[0000562cb4c95870] main audio output error: too low audio sample frequency (0)
[00007f8338130e20] main decoder error: failed to create audio output
[00007f833815d480] avcodec decoder warning: refusing to decode non validated subtitle codec
[00007f8318009980] vaapi_filters filter warning: Using SW chroma filter for 1920x1088 VAOP -> I420
[00007f8318001060] main vout display warning: VoutDisplayEvent 'pictures invalid'
[00007f8318001060] main vout display warning: VoutDisplayEvent 'pictures invalid'
[00007f8318001060] main vout display warning: VoutDisplayEvent 'pictures invalid'
[00007f8318007b90] main filter error: Failed to create video converter
[00007f8318029080] vaapi_filters filter warning: Using SW chroma filter for 1920x1088 VAOP -> I420
[00007f83380820d0] avcodec decoder warning: plane 0 not aligned: disabling direct rendering
[0000562cb4c95870] pulse audio output warning: starting late (-22393 us)
[00007f8318007b90] main vout display warning: VoutDisplayEvent 'pictures invalid'
[00007f8318007b90] main vout display warning: VoutDisplayEvent 'pictures invalid'
[00007f8318007b90] main vout display warning: VoutDisplayEvent 'pictures invalid'

[Rémi Denis-Courmont]

That is symptomatic of incorrectly enabled S/PDIF pass-through. Needs verbose logs to confirm.

[fred44nl]

I went to Menu - Tools and selected "all"
there is only only entry with S/DIF and it is not checked.

next I did:

Code: Select all

fred44nl@Debian:~$ cat .config/vlc/vlcrc | grep pass

which gave 2 lines with passthrough:

# Enable Audio passthrough (boolean)
#sout-chromecast-audio-passthrough=0

in the menu I found Messages and selected debug 2, which gives:

main debug: VLC media player - 3.0.4 Vetinari
main debug: Copyright © 1996-2018 the VideoLAN team
main debug: revision 3.0.4-0-gf615db6332
main debug: configured with ./configure '--build=x86_64-linux-gnu' '--prefix=/usr' '--includedir=${prefix}/include' '--mandir=${prefix}/share/man' '--infodir=${prefix}/share/info' '--sysconfdir=/etc' '--localstatedir=/var' '--disable-silent-rules' '--libdir=${prefix}/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu' '--libexecdir=${prefix}/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu' '--disable-maintainer-mode' '--disable-dependency-tracking' '--config-cache' '--disable-update-check' '--enable-fast-install' '--docdir=/usr/share/doc/vlc' '--with-binary-version=3.0.4-1~obs' '--enable-a52' '--enable-aa' '--enable-aribsub' '--enable-bluray' '--enable-avahi' '--enable-caca' '--enable-chromaprint' '--enable-chromecast' '--enable-dbus' '--enable-dca' '--enable-dvbpsi' '--enable-dvdnav' '--enable-faad' '--enable-flac' '--enable-fluidsynth' '--enable-freetype' '--enable-fribidi' '--enable-gles2' '--enable-gnutls' '--enable-harfbuzz' '--enable-jack' '--enable-kate' '--enable-libass' '--enable-libmpeg2' '--enable-libxml2' '--enable-lirc' '--enable-live555' '--enable-mad' '--enable-matroska' '--enable-mod' '--enable-mpc' '--enable-mpg123' '--enable-mtp' '--enable-ncurses' '--enable-notify' '--enable-ogg' '--enable-opus' '--enable-pulse' '--enable-qt' '--enable-realrtsp' '--enable-samplerate' '--enable-sdl-image' '--enable-sftp' '--enable-shine' '--enable-shout' '--enable-skins2' '--enable-sndio' '--enable-soxr' '--enable-spatialaudio' '--enable-speex' '--enable-svg' '--enable-svgdec' '--enable-taglib' '--enable-theora' '--enable-twolame' '--enable-upnp' '--enable-vdpau' '--enable-vnc' '--enable-vorbis' '--enable-x264' '--enable-x265' '--enable-zvbi' '--with-kde-solid=/usr/share/solid/actions/' '--disable-d3d11va' '--disable-decklink' '--disable-directx' '--disable-dsm' '--disable-dxva2' '--disable-fdkaac' '--disable-fluidlite' '--disable-freerdp' '--disable-goom' '--disable-gst-decode' '--disable-libtar' '--disable-macosx' '--disable-macosx-avfoundation' '--disable-macosx-qtkit' '--disable-mfx' '--disable-opencv' '--disable-projectm' '--disable-schroedinger' '--disable-sparkle' '--disable-srt' '--disable-telx' '--disable-vpx' '--disable-vsxu' '--disable-wasapi' '--enable-alsa' '--enable-dc1394' '--enable-dv1394' '--enable-libplacebo' '--enable-linsys' '--enable-nfs' '--enable-omxil' '--enable-udev' '--enable-v4l2' '--enable-wayland' '--enable-libva' '--enable-vcd' '--enable-smbclient' '--disable-oss' '--enable-crystalhd' '--enable-mmx' '--enable-sse' '--disable-neon' '--disable-altivec' 'build_alias=x86_64-linux-gnu' 'CFLAGS=-g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/usr/src/packages/BUILD=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security ' 'LDFLAGS=-Wl,-z,relro -Wl,-z,now -Wl,--as-needed' 'CPPFLAGS=-Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2' 'CXXFLAGS=-g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/usr/src/packages/BUILD=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security ' 'OBJCFLAGS=-g -O2 -fdebug-prefix-map=/usr/src/packages/BUILD=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security'

I also started VLC with the option --verbose 2 which gives a lot of information, which I placed in https://pastebin.com/ZidRiPSZ

[Rémi Denis-Courmont]

And S/PDIF passthrough is enabled as I suspected.

[fred44nl]

And S/PDIF passthrough is enabled as I suspected.

well, ok, but how do I disable this ??

[Rémi Denis-Courmont]

In whatever you use to configure PulseAudio.

[fred44nl]

that wasn't easy
there is nothing in pavucontrol relating to passthrough.
so, I went through the available documentation and made changes to the settings.
and now it works
thank you.

there are some complaints, like

VLC media player 3.0.4 Vetinari (revision 3.0.4-0-gf615db6332)
[00005607a89ce350] [http] lua interface: Lua HTTP interface
[00005607a88ed1a0] main libvlc: Vlc draait met de standaardinterface. Gebruik 'cvlc' om vlc zonder interface te gebruiken.
[00007f52ec000980] main input error: unsafe option "recursive" has been ignored for security reasons
[00007f52bc0009e0] main input error: unsafe option "recursive" has been ignored for security reasons
[00005607a89ae7a0] main audio output error: too low audio sample frequency (0)
[00007f52ed8f7320] main decoder error: failed to create audio output
[00005607a89ae7a0] vlcpulse audio output error: digital pass-through stream connection failure: Niet ondersteund
[00005607a89ae7a0] main audio output error: module not functional
[00007f52ed8f7320] main decoder error: failed to create audio output
[00007f529800e1e0] main filter error: Failed to create video converter

not sure if this matters