User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.8.1.14) Gecko/20080418 Ubuntu/7.10 (gutsy) Firefox/2.0.0.14 Build Identifier: When I set the number of channels used by the audio device in xfce4-mixer application, it (sometimes) doesn't really set (or display) the number of audio channels actually in use. (checked using alsa-mixer command-line tool in package alsa-utils) Reproducible: Always Steps to Reproduce: 1. Start alsa-mixer in a terminal window (need to have alsa-utils package installed) 2. Check the number of channels actually used 3. Close alsa-mixer (by pressing Escape) 4. Start xfce4-mixer 5. Set the number of channels to 2 6. Restart alsa-mixer 7. Observe the resultant number of channels used Also, setting the number of channels via alsa-mixer doesn't change what xfce4-mixer displays: 1. Start xfce4-mixer 2. Observe the number of channels used 3. close all instances of xfce4-mixer 4. Start alsa-mixer in a terminal window 5. Set the number of channels used to something other than what xfce4-mixer displayed (doesn't really matter what) 6. Exit alsa-mixer (with the Escape key) 7. Restart the xfce4-mixer and note that the number of channels does not match what you just set them to in alsa-mixer Actual Results: For the first case, the number of channels is not actually set by xfce4-mixer. For the second case, the number of channels is not actually read by xfce4-mixer. (whether alsa-mixer actually set the number of channels properly was easily tested on my system due to the second pair of output channels getting mapped to the line-in jack on my soundcard and therefore not hearing anything when playing music into it) Expected Results: The number of channels should be changed and read accurately by xfce4-mixer. Systems tested on: Ubuntu with Xfce4 installed after initial setup, versions Gusty Gibbon and Feisty Fawn (7.04 and 6.10), both give the same results. Also, my soundcard uses the line-in jack for the second pair of channels, so when I plugged an MP3 player into it and played music (even with the line-in volume at 100%), no sound came out when the number of channels was set to anything but 2. Package versions: alsa-base: 1.0.14-1ubuntu2 xfce4-mixer: 1:4.4.1-3ubuntu1 xfce4-mixer-alsa: 1:4.4.1-3ubuntu1
I recently discovered a peculiar workaround for this bug: Put the plugin on a vertical panel, not a horizontal one. Strangely enough, this has worked for me for the past week. (previously I'd been trying to use it on horizontal panels without success) I hope this helps resolve the issue.
Oops. I think I fixed it (handling of ALSA select choice fields) now, maybe it works now (in 4.4 branch).