[Solved] No audio output with Focusrite Scarlett

[Patrick Kox]

I've done a clean install of Debian and for some reason am unable to get output from my Focusrite 18i8 interface.

Mixbus does record audio though it and it's shows that it's outputting audio, but there is nothing though the Monitor output nor the 2 headphone sockets.

I exported the recording to wave and it plays fine, BUT not through in Scarlett.

the system has 3 audio devices
- Build-in
- HDMI from the Videocard
- Focusrite Interface.

so I've disabled the Build-in in the BIOS settings and blacklisted the HDMI one so there is only 1 device but still nothing

I've also removed pulse audio since some people claim that can cause problems but that doesn't work.

The only audio output I got was through the HDMI when playing the exported audio file before I blacklisted it.

So, does anybody know how I can fix this ?

I'm only using the system for Mixbus, so if all fails I could re-install Debian but without knowing the problem I guess that would only work if it's a configuration problem that cannot be found

[Frank]

I've done a clean install of Debian and for some reason am unable to get output from my Focusrite 18i8 interface.

Mixbus does record audio though it and it's shows that it's outputting audio, but there is nothing though the Monitor output nor the 2 headphone sockets.

I exported the recording to wave and it plays fine, BUT not through in Scarlett.

the system has 3 audio devices
- Build-in
- HDMI from the Videocard
- Focusrite Interface.

so I've disabled the Build-in in the BIOS settings and blacklisted the HDMI one so there is only 1 device but still nothing

I've also removed pulse audio since some people claim that can cause problems but that doesn't work.

The only audio output I got was through the HDMI when playing the exported audio file before I blacklisted it.

So, does anybody know how I can fix this ?

I'm only using the system for Mixbus, so if all fails I could re-install Debian but without knowing the problem I guess that would only work if it's a configuration problem that cannot be found

Maybe it is a goof idea to start with AVlinux on a stick : Run live without install : than you can debug the hardware : AVlinux is Debian based with KXstudio extensions.

If you like it you can install it: or just learn from the settings: It has Mixbus 3.22 installed.

regards

[kkrekula]

Maybe this Interface needs the monitoring to be configures using the Focusrite Mix utility? It
is only available on Windows and Mac though...

/Kenneth

[Patrick Kox]

Maybe this Interface needs the monitoring to be configures using the Focusrite Mix utility? It
is only available on Windows and Mac though...

/Kenneth

Maybe,
The 2i2 I had before this one worked fine, but that one doesn't need the MixControl software on Windows/Mac.

I'm downloading AVLinux so I'll try that first and if all else fails I guess I can whitelist the HDMI audio and connect my monitors to that for now.
Until I can find a permanent solution.

[sonik]

Do you use alsa or jack?

[Patrick Kox]

Do you use alsa or jack?

jack, but I also tried Alsa (Alsa allows to set a device for Input and another for output) and none worked.

[sonik]

Did you try to change the output channels on the master section?

[Patrick Kox]

Did you try to change the output channels on the master section?

Are those the settings in the "Audio Connections Manager" ?

I also did a clean install (net install) of Debian (for some reason AVLinux doesn't boot on that system, I don't know why but some distro's or Live CD/DVD's just don't boot).

Since that install when I select Alsa instead of Jack I cannot set an input device, only output (nvidia HD) but Jack with Alsa selected does allow me to set the scarlett18i8

[x42]

To track issues like this down, the first step is to make sure the device is used (by jack or Mixbus directly).

Code:

cd /tmp && wget http://jackaudio.org/downloads/adevices.sh && bash ./adevices.sh

will list all audio-devices and what application is using them and with what settings.

2nd step is to follow the signal path. In case of the Scalett devices that's not trivial since it has an extensive internal hardware mixer-matrix. While it fully supported on GNU/Linux the presentation of the 140+ settings as separate controls is not great if you dig with `alsamixer` (or alsamixergui). There's https://github.com/fulup-bzh/AlsaJsonMixer

[Patrick Kox]

To track issues like this down, the first step is to make sure the device is used (by jack or Mixbus directly).

Code:

cd /tmp && wget http://jackaudio.org/downloads/adevices.sh && bash ./adevices.sh

will list all audio-devices and what application is using them and with what settings.

2nd step is to follow the signal path. In case of the Scalett devices that's not trivial since it has an extensive internal hardware mixer-matrix. While it fully supported on GNU/Linux the presentation of the 140+ settings as separate controls is not great if you dig with `alsamixer` (or alsamixergui). There's https://github.com/fulup-bzh/AlsaJsonMixer

This is the output of adevices.sh (when Mixbus 32C is running (else card 1 is also "closed" but I guess thats normal).

========================================
Part I: ALSA
Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version k4.0.5-custom-rt4by-patrick-kox.

Card 0 (NVidia):
* Playback Device 3 (HDMI 0):
- Subdevice 0 (hw:NVidia,3,0):
closed

* Playback Device 7 (HDMI 0):
- Subdevice 0 (hw:NVidia,7,0):
closed

* Playback Device 8 (HDMI 0):
- Subdevice 0 (hw:NVidia,8,0):
closed

* Playback Device 9 (HDMI 0):
- Subdevice 0 (hw:NVidia,9,0):
closed

Card 1 (USB):
* Playback Device 0 (USB Audio):
- Subdevice 0 (hw:USB,0,0):
used by: jackd (PID 3158)
access: MMAP_INTERLEAVED
format: S32_LE
subformat: STD
channels: 8
rate: 48000 (48000/1)
period_size: 64
buffer_size: 192

* Recording Device 0 (USB Audio):
- Subdevice 0 (hw:USB,0,0):
used by: jackd (PID 3158)
access: MMAP_INTERLEAVED
format: S32_LE
subformat: STD
channels: 18
rate: 48000 (48000/1)
period_size: 64
buffer_size: 192

========================================
Part II: jack processes
3158 ? SLsl 0:02 /usr/bin/jackd -T -ndefault -t 200 -p 2048 -R -T -d alsa -n 3 -r 48000 -p 64 -d hw:USB,0

I'm using a self-made custom RT Kernel (as you can see in the output), but I also tried with the 4.0 kernel from Ubuntu Studio, just to see if it was the kernel but the Ubuntu kernel also didn't work.

and here is the entire output when I start Mixbus from the CLI

patrick@Harrison-32C:~$ Mixbus32C3
bind txt domain [gtk2_ardour3] to /this/cannot/exist
Mixbus32C3.3.188 (built using 3.3-188-g58172a2 and GCC version 4.4.7)
ardour: [INFO]: Your system is configured to limit Mixbus32C to only 65536 open files
ardour: [INFO]: Loading system configuration file /opt/Mixbus32C-3.3.188/etc/system_config
Loading user configuration file /home/patrick/.config/mixbus3/config
CPU vendor: GenuineIntel
ardour: [INFO]: AVX-capable processor
ardour: [INFO]: CPU brand: Intel® Core™ i5-2310 CPU @ 2.90GHz
ardour: [INFO]: Using SSE optimized routines
ardour: [INFO]: Loading default ui configuration file /opt/Mixbus32C-3.3.188/etc/default_ui_config
ardour: [INFO]: Loading user ui configuration file /home/patrick/.config/mixbus3/ui_config
ardour: [INFO]: Loading color file /opt/Mixbus32C-3.3.188/etc/dark-mb32c.colors
ardour: [INFO]: Loading ui configuration file /opt/Mixbus32C-3.3.188/etc/clearlooks.rc
ardour: [INFO]: Loading ui configuration file /opt/Mixbus32C-3.3.188/etc/clearlooks.rc
EngineControl:et_state
Cannot connect to server socket err = Bestand of map bestaat niet
Cannot connect to server request channel
jack server is not running or cannot be started
Cannot connect to server socket err = Bestand of map bestaat niet
Cannot connect to server request channel
jack server is not running or cannot be started
Cannot connect to server socket err = Bestand of map bestaat niet
Cannot connect to server request channel
jack server is not running or cannot be started
Cannot connect to server socket err = Bestand of map bestaat niet
Cannot connect to server request channel
jack server is not running or cannot be started
Found nothing along /home/patrick/.config/mixbus3/templates:/opt/Mixbus32C-3.3.188/share/templates
run dialog
Announcement is:
Cannot connect to server socket err = Bestand of map bestaat niet
Cannot connect to server request channel
jack server is not running or cannot be started
Cannot connect to server socket err = Bestand of map bestaat niet
Cannot connect to server request channel
jack server is not running or cannot be started
Cannot connect to server socket err = Bestand of map bestaat niet
Cannot connect to server request channel
jack server is not running or cannot be started
JACK command line will be: /usr/bin/jackd -t 200 -p 2048 -R -T -d alsa -n 3 -r 48000 -p 64 -d hw:USB,0
Cannot connect to server socket err = Bestand of map bestaat niet
Cannot connect to server request channel
jackdmp 1.9.10
Copyright 2001-2005 Paul Davis and others.
Copyright 2004-2014 Grame.
jackdmp comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY
This is free software, and you are welcome to redistribute it
under certain conditions; see the file COPYING for details
no message buffer overruns
no message buffer overruns
no message buffer overruns
JACK server starting in realtime mode with priority 10
self-connect-mode is "Don't restrict self connect requests"
audio_reservation_init
Acquire audio card Audio1
creating alsa driver ... hw:USB,0|hw:USB,0|64|3|48000|0|0|nomon|swmeter|-|32bit
configuring for 48000Hz, period = 64 frames (1.3 ms), buffer = 3 periods
ALSA: final selected sample format for capture: 32bit integer little-endian
ALSA: use 3 periods for capture
ALSA: final selected sample format for playback: 32bit integer little-endian
ALSA: use 3 periods for playback
lilv_world_add_plugin(): error: Duplicate plugin <https://community.ardour.org/node/7596>
lilv_world_add_plugin(): error: ... found in file:///opt/Mixbus32C-3.3.188/lib/LV2/reasonablesynth.lv2/
lilv_world_add_plugin(): error: ... and file:///usr/lib/lv2/reasonablesynth.lv2/
Scanning folders for bundled LV2s: /opt/Mixbus32C-3.3.188/lib/LV2
lilv_world_add_plugin(): error: Duplicate plugin <https://community.ardour.org/node/7596>
lilv_world_add_plugin(): error: ... found in file:///opt/Mixbus32C-3.3.188/lib/LV2/reasonablesynth.lv2/
lilv_world_add_plugin(): error: ... and file:///usr/lib/lv2/reasonablesynth.lv2/
instantiatePlugin sample rate 48000
instantiatePlugin sample rate 48000
Set cursor set to default
JackTemporaryException : now quits...
Jack main caught signal 2
Released audio card Audio1
audio_reservation_finish
JACK command line will be: /usr/bin/jackd -t 200 -p 2048 -R -T -d alsa -n 3 -r 48000 -p 64 -d hw:USB,0
jackdmp 1.9.10
Copyright 2001-2005 Paul Davis and others.
Copyright 2004-2014 Grame.
jackdmp comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY
This is free software, and you are welcome to redistribute it
under certain conditions; see the file COPYING for details
no message buffer overruns
no message buffer overruns
no message buffer overruns
JACK server starting in realtime mode with priority 10
self-connect-mode is "Don't restrict self connect requests"
audio_reservation_init
Acquire audio card Audio1
creating alsa driver ... hw:USB,0|hw:USB,0|64|3|48000|0|0|nomon|swmeter|-|32bit
configuring for 48000Hz, period = 64 frames (1.3 ms), buffer = 3 periods
ALSA: final selected sample format for capture: 32bit integer little-endian
ALSA: use 3 periods for capture
ALSA: final selected sample format for playback: 32bit integer little-endian
ALSA: use 3 periods for playback
Set buffering params to 262144|131072|10|10
Set buffering params to 262144|131072|10|10
Skip explicit buffer seconds, preset in use
Skip explicit buffer seconds, preset in use
JackGraphManager::Connect already connected port_src = 1 port_dst = 41
JackGraphManager::Connect already connected port_src = 2 port_dst = 43
JackGraphManager::Connect already connected port_src = 29 port_dst = 19
JackGraphManager::Connect already connected port_src = 30 port_dst = 20
JackGraphManager::Connect already connected port_src = 1 port_dst = 27
JackGraphManager::Connect already connected port_src = 73 port_dst = 19
JackGraphManager::Connect already connected port_src = 74 port_dst = 20
JackGraphManager::Connect already connected port_src = 6 port_dst = 45
JackGraphManager::Connect already connected port_src = 6 port_dst = 47
JackGraphManager::Connect already connected port_src = 75 port_dst = 19
JackGraphManager::Connect already connected port_src = 76 port_dst = 20
Mixbus: Screen height is 1080; Font scale is 1; User-scale is 1; Suggested scale: 1.05469

That AlsaJsonMixer looks promising, I'll give it a look.

I did found some basic settings in alsamixer for the Scarlett but changing those settings did work.