[PLUG] Kubuntu 8.04 sound

Denis Heidtmann denish at dslnorthwest.net
Thu Jun 26 17:41:58 UTC 2008


Matt McKenzie wrote:
> On Thu, Jun 26, 2008 at 1:17 AM, Denis Heidtmann <denish at dslnorthwest.net>
> wrote:
> 
>> Denis Heidtmann wrote:
>>> Denis Heidtmann wrote:
>>>> Well, about help on sound? Amarok reports "xine was unable to initialize
>> any
>>>> drivers". I have ALSA listed as the Audio Device.
>>
>> Apparently the info I reported in my previous message was of no value.
>>
>> The present situation is that I installed Audacity and was able to get it
>> functioning in both playing and recording modes.  Wonderful.  But the
>> Amarok
>> message reported above still persists.  A web search turned up the idea
>> that it
>> is a rights issue.  If I launch Amarok as su, the message does not appear.
>> BUT--it still does not produce sound.  It appears to play songs, but
>> silently.
>> And visiting sites such as YouTube produces no sound either.
>>
>> What additional information would be helpful in getting these silent
>> players
>> their voice?
>>
> 
> This is a sort of shot in the dark, but it sounds like Amarok and Xine and
> flash plugin might not have all the needed codecs to play restricted format
> files.
> You didn't mention if you are playing MP3 or OGG or ?  If it is MP3, the
> default programs that come with Ubuntu/Kubuntu are neutered and can't play
> them.
> There is also the issue of different flash plugins available (gnash,
> svf-plugin I think, and then adobe flash non-free).
> Check the Ubuntu forums on where to go to get the restricted format codecs
> and players (Audacity for ex. has a separate .deb installer for MP3 and
> other plugins, audacity-plugins-nonfree or similar), mainly you have to
> enable the universe and multiverse repositories.
> 
> Before this post I was going to ask if you tried a different program, and it
> looks like Audacity works, so it isn't a hardware issue.  So it is either a
> configuration issue or a restricted format codecs issue probably.
> 
> 
>> -Denis

Interesting idea.  And it could be a contributor to the problems.  But could it 
explain the absence of system sounds?  They wouldn't be so silly as to make them 
proprietary...

What kind of configuration issue could it be?  How might I investigate it?

thanks,

-Denis




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