Problem with multiple applications using one audio output

Question

Hey there, I'm having issues setting up my 5.1 headset seen here (http://www.sharkoon.com/?q=en/content/x-tatic-digital) to work with multiple applications.
Right now I have audio streaming from a flash video, when I try run "$ speaker-test -c 6" I get the following error:
speaker-test 1.0.25
Playback device is default
Stream parameters are 48000Hz, S16_LE, 6 channels
Using 16 octaves of pink noise
ALSA lib pcm_dmix.c:1018:(snd_pcm_dmix_open) unable to open slave
Playback open error: -16,Device or resource busy
If I try open another application which uses this device, the first application has its sound cut off.
2 more things to note:
- My preference for setup would be audio output through S/PDIF and input through USB, with the USB output disabled (To not waste system resources).
- I unmuted all channels in ALSA, however when I ran the test only 2 channels seemed to be working (Front L&R), it may have been defaulting to the USB connection, in which case, that explains only 2 channels being in use, is there a method of setting the S/PDIF as default system wide?
Thanks in advance for any help given!

Answer 1

brebs wrote:It's put the comments on multiple lines - fix that.
Woops, I guess my paste messed up, new .asoundrc: http://pastie.org/3706033
I can run both at the same time, however I cannot hear any audio. Do I somehow have to change the default device, if so how can I do that?
Edit:
Restarted system now I get:
speaker-test 1.0.25
Playback device is default
Stream parameters are 48000Hz, S16_LE, 2 channels
Using 16 octaves of pink noise
Rate set to 48000Hz (requested 48000Hz)
Buffer size range from 2048 to 8192
Period size range from 1024 to 1024
Using max buffer size 8192
Periods = 4
was set period_size = 1024
was set buffer_size = 8192
0 - Front Left
Segmentation fault
(That's with both commands)
EDIT 2:
Interesting, apparently 2 audio streams are working, however the console thing still doesn't work..?
EDIT 3:
Didn't last long, now flash crashes and html 5 doesn't work -.-
EDIT 4:
Flash only works when other audio is active, however it has constant popping sound. I went through the system logs to get the errors of when flash crashes, it's audio crashing it, here's the error:
Apr  1 02:04:15 localhost kernel: [ 7057.499787] AudioThread[6227]: segfault at 7f2e2f7a8008 ip 00007f2e413a2786 sp 00007f2e33614ae8 error 7 in libasound.so.2.0.0[7f2e4131e000+eb000]
Last edited by B3NW (2012-04-01 01:11:04)