Re: [Xen-users] Audio PCI passthrough issues in a Linux domU

[Arjen <arjenvanweelden@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hello Andrew,

Thank you for your answer. That sounds very similar to how I solved my 
VGA passthrough: I bought a HD7750 because I couldn't get my GTX550 to 
work. Because of the closed binary drivers, I didn't see another option.
I would like to use 5.1 and SP/DIF output, and I do have a PCIe x4 empty 
at the moment. A Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio might do the trick. 
Creative does not seem to support Linux but if I read you right, it 
works well with Linux?
There is still the option of emulating a soundcard via Xen, but I find 
it hard to find any documentation on the requirements of the dom0. I 
suppose it need alsa installed? It is possible to emulate a 5.1 
soundcard? Could you point me to more documentation?
Regarding your remark about PCI being hit or miss: How can I check 
whether the onboard device is a PCI (or behind a PCIe-PCI bridge)?
I'm sorry to bother you will all those questions. It's just that I still 
feel very close to getting this onboard audio to work as it already 
outputs recognizable sound, besides the buffer underrun issues.
Thanks for pointing out SB X-Fi as good last resort.

On 11-05-13 09:47, Andrew Bobulsky wrote:
> Hello Arjen,
>
> On Sat, May 11, 2013 at 2:32 AM, Arjen <arjenvanweelden@xxxxxxxxx
> <mailto:arjenvanweelden@xxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
>
>     <snip>
>
>     I'm looking for suggestions on how to proceed. What logs should I
>     inspect, what settings need checking? Might it be better to use Qemu
>     sound emulation? Should I try XCP instead of my current dom0? Can
>     someone point me towards more documentation about audio passthrough?
>
>
> I've often noticed that onboard audio devices tend to be hung off of a
> PCI bus instead of a PCIe bus.  Sometimes they use a PCIe-PCI bridge,
> but either way, passing things hanging off of PCI has been a hit or miss
> affair every time I've tried, and it's never really been stable.
>
> You said you've passed USB ports properly, and when faced with a similar
> problem, I solved it with one of these:
> http://www.amazon.com/Turtle-Beach-Advantage-Headset-Adapter/dp/B0036VO4XO
>
> USB audio works really, really well, and even the super cheap adapters
> are quite functional... though I've seen their mic inputs susceptible to
> interference.  Nonetheless, if you don't want to "tech" your way out of
> the problem and really love cheap solutions, you should be able to find
> adapters of varying quality for about $3 or so, up to $80-ish.  After
> $20 or so, you're probably paying for more audio
> outputs/mixers/brand-name or something---the Sound Blaster X-Fi is a
> good example there; I've got one and it works great in Debian Linux with
> ALSA, ports and hookups all over the thing, too! :)
>
> Cheers,
> Andrew Bobulsky
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