Bug 362476

I tried with VLC-Backend : it's not better !

Created attachment 99438 [details]
works just fine

you might want to make sure you are using phonon 4.9. I am reasonably certain the relevant code hasn't changed in years though.

Created attachment 99447 [details]
Not working

Comment on attachment 99447 [details]
Not working

AS you can see, I can add the same screeshot.... Yes we have a device listed : Default . But it's not really a device ! When selected, I still have no sound.

And even if I had sound, the list is not correct as I have 2 soundcards. And one of them has a lot of inputs and outputs. In the past, when pulseaudio was disabled, phonon  listed a big list of devices... and not just this default device which is nothing interesting and usable.

I'm using the ubuntu repository version of phonon : 4.8.3

No, it's not working fine, and the bug is still active !

I do have exactly the same problem and confirm the basic findings of mathojojo. 

I am using Opensuse Leap 42.1 - fully updated. I have deactivated Pulseaudio (because it still is a mess for many multichannel cards). 

I use various .asoundrc-files for different purposes - they contain definitions of virtual PCM devices - which by the "hint"-directive should be displayed aside the hardware devices in KDE's  phonon overview/setup dialog:  

Using KDE's "systemsettings -> multimedia" you should get a full overview over all available sound devices - which in my case are quite many. But I just get one lonely entry: "Default" (with a small icon indicating an Alsa device). 

Actually, with KDE 4 all my devices were/are fully displayed. The most confusing thing is: 

Both the present VLC and Amarok versions under Opensuse Leap do deliver a complete list of all available Alsa sound devices (real and virtual)! See the attachment for Amarok. There is a ALSA  device ALSADEF listed which was defined as a plug-device in the .asoundrc.  

However, KDE's systemsettings leads to the almost empty list => So KDE 5 (at least in Opensuse Leap) in fact obstructs the opportunity for the user to select and test both defined HW sound devices and virtual Alsa PCM plug devices. Just, as mathojojo has described it ... 

In may opinion this is a major bug - KDE's Phonon GUI interface should support and display all Alsa devices. With Pulseaudio (PA) active or not ! 
With Pulseaudio (PA) activated  I - in complete agreement with mathojojo  - at least see most of the HW devices - but not with PA deactivated. 

So, there is something wrong - and our findings somehow indicate that the present KDE/systemsettings/Phonon GUI-interface relies on some parts of PA being active.

As I find the bug for a different distribution than  mathojojo I think that this bug is distribution independent. 

And it leads to a major problem for users which want to work with pure Alsa. 
       
Dear KDE developers: Please be aware of the fact that there are still users which for good reasons do not use Pulseaudio. 

I want to kindly ask you to investigate this problem a bit deeper. Believe me : This bug has been around for almost a year now. From my side I shall deliver all data required to find the origin of this strange behavior of KDE's  user interface to Phonon - when PA is deactivated. 

Please tell us, what information you need.

Created attachment 101642 [details]
Amarok under Opensuse Leap 42.1 displays all available Alsa devices

See the list of all available HW sound devices and one defined virtual Alsa PCM device of type "plug" defined in the .asoundrc.

Created attachment 101643 [details]
KDE's systemsettings/multimedia shows only one device

KDE's systemsettings (KCM) interface for Phonon displays just one device under KDE 5.

(In reply to Harald Sitter from comment #2)
> Created attachment 99438 [details]
> works just fine
> 
> you might want to make sure you are using phonon 4.9. I am reasonably
> certain the relevant code hasn't changed in years though.

I had a look at this attachment. In my opinion the hampered and reduced list there just proves what mathojojo and I claim - the phonon GUI works wrongly.

Thank you for reporting this bug in KDE software. As it has been a while since this issue was reported, can we please ask you to see if you can reproduce the issue with a recent software version?

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Dear Bug Submitter,

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This bug has been in NEEDSINFO status with no change for at least
30 days. The bug is now closed as RESOLVED > WORKSFORME
due to lack of needed information.

For more information about our bug triaging procedures please read the
wiki located here:
https://community.kde.org/Guidelines_and_HOWTOs/Bug_triaging

Thank you for helping us make KDE software even better for everyone!