[Bug 26483] Ubuntu5.10 not configured for Alsa device:surround51; Alsa-esd incompatibilities.

[Manuel Iglesias Alonso]

Public bug report changed:
https://launchpad.net/malone/bugs/26483

Comment:
Thank you Oliver Klee and Sebastien Bacher.
Please excuse me. Not receiving any feedback I had forgotten all about this bug report.

Bugzilla forced me to guess a related package and I chose -wrongly it seems- 'gstreamer0.8-esd'.
Originally I posted it in Ubuntu Bugzilla. Which Bugzilla is this, Debian?

As I could not get 5.1 sound going with Ubuntu5.10, I decided to compile kernel and alsa packages. In my 'long list of commands' (nice indentations spoiled by too long lines) I tried to show how several applications, using alsa drivers, behave with and without the esd daemon running. Here is a summary: {
((esd OR (NOT esd)) AND AlsaSurround51Device)
  All applications cause alsa to fill .xsession-errors with:
    'ALSA lib pcm_dmix.c:819:(snd_pcm_dmix_open) unable to open slave'
  xine # 'xine --verbose --audio-driver alsa';SpeakerArrangement:Surround5.1
    Error message window: 'The audio device is unavailable.......'
    StdError error messages (--verbose): 
      'audio_alsa_out: snd_pcm_open() of plug:surround51:0 failed ......'
      'audio_alsa_out: >>> check if another program already uses PCM <<<'
    After several Play/ErrorMessage:
      All kinds of files and DVDs (Multichannel AC3) play Ok.

(esd AND AlsaDefaultDevice AND LaunchedFromGnomeTerminal)
  All applications work Ok.

(esd AND AlsaDefaultDevice AND LaunchedFromGnomePanel)
  audacity
    Error message window: 'There was an error initializing the audio .......'

(esd AND AlsaSurround51Device AND LaunchedFromGnomePanel)
  Same as ((esd OR (NOT esd)) AND AlsaSurround51Device) above and:
  audacity
    Error message window: 'There was an error initializing the audio .......'
  xmms
    Error message window: 'Couldn't open audio. Please check ....'
    After several Play/ErrorMessage:
      5.1ChannelFile.wav, 2ChannelFile.wav: Sound Ok.

((NOT esd) AND (LaunchedFromGnomeTerminal OR LaunchedFromGnomePanel))
  audacity Ok.
  xmms Ok.
}

Later I realized the reason 5.1 sound did not work correctly with Ubuntu5.10 was the Alsa mixer configuration file: {
At boot, if file /var/lib/alsa/asound.state does not exist, file
/etc/asound.state is overwritten with default values (No surround sound!).
Alsa package is not responsible for this (Ubuntu5.10 or Kernel2.6.12??).
}

Now I am using Ubuntu5.10 distribution packages for both kernel and Alsa
(linux-image-686-smp 2.6.12.16.1, alsa-base 1.0.9b-4). The situation is
as above except that applications using AlsaSurround51Device don't cause
alsa to output error messages to .xsession-errors.

I think the problem with 'xine' is related to [ 1226595 ] libxine fails to switch from alsa 2.0 to alsa 5.1:
  https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=109655&aid=1226595&group_id=9655

I hope I have clarified this bug report somewhat.

Best regards,
Manolo.