Solved Asus Xonar Sound card...

I have two sound cards in this computer: one is a Realtek device on the motherboard. This has never worked right since I built this box. The sound levels are low, and one side of the stereo output is missing. Therefore, I bought and installed an Asus Xonar card, which, in Win10, works fine.

Doing cat /dev/sndstat, I get this:
Code:
Installed devices:
pcm0: <NVIDIA (0x0080) (HDMI/DP 8ch)> (play)
pcm1: <NVIDIA (0x0080) (HDMI/DP 8ch)> (play)
pcm2: <NVIDIA (0x0080) (HDMI/DP 8ch)> (play)
pcm3: <Realtek ALC889A (Rear Analog 7.1/2.0)> (play/rec)
pcm4: <Realtek ALC889A (Front Analog)> (play/rec)
pcm5: <Realtek ALC889A (Rear Digital)> (play/rec) default
pcm6: <USB audio> (rec)
No devices installed from userspace.
From that, it seems to me that my Xonar card is not being seen, or, possibly, it is being interpreted by the system as an NVIDIA device.

BUT, when, in Firefox, I go to https://sundaybaroque.org/listen/, then check the audio mixer, I find that /dev/dsp5 is showing sound activity, yet nothing is being output by the speakers.

I've already read, thoroughly, the Handbook on sound and audio, and have done sysctl hw.snd.default_unit=[I]n[/I] , setting it to 5, still no joy.

Might anyone have a clue?

Ken Gordon

P.S. I forgot to mention that sound works when I plug the speakers into the on-board Realtek jack.
 
Running: pciconf -lv, I get this:
Code:
hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'C-Media Electronics Inc'
    device     = 'CMI8788 [Oxygen HD Audio]'
    class      = multimedia
    subclass   = audio
ath0@pci0:7:1:0:        class=0x020000 card=0x3a131186 chip=0x0013168c rev=0x01
So, my Asus Xonar audio card is a CMI8788 card. Innersting, to be sure.

Ken Gordon
 
Oops. Started on the wrong line: Here is the correct output from pciconf -lv
Code:
none1@pci0:7:0:0:       class=0x040100 card=0x84671043 chip=0x878813f6 rev=0x00 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'C-Media Electronics Inc'
    device     = 'CMI8788 [Oxygen HD Audio]'
    class      = multimedia
    subclass   = audio
So far, I've studied everything I can find concerning sound and FreeBSD, but nothing addresses my issue directly. I MAY have to install OSS.

Well, if I do that, I'll do it later.

Ken Gordon
 
I THINK I may have found a clue: when opening the PulseAudio Volume Control, sliding down to /dev/dsp5 (where I "see" audio being output), and then activating the Lock Channels Together feature, I see that it is reporting the audio is being directed to the front audio connectors, and not the rear ones.

Now to see if I can find a way to re-direct the audio output to the rear connectors. If i can do that, I think my problem is solved.

Ken Gordon
 
Nope. Oh, well. I'll just use the Realtek device when I am using FreeBSD on this computer. That one works.

Thanks,

Ken Gordon
 
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