Workaround PA does not see HDMI

On my Lenovo desktop PC, the monitor is connected via a HDMI cable, and "aplay -l" lists HDMI as one of the possible outputs. However, pavucontrol only lists "Speakers", "Headphones" and "Line Out".

I was reading online how to fix this, the Arch Wiki for example:

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/PulseAudio/Examples#HDMI_output_configuration

Pulseaudio is a layer of complexity on top of alsa, yet in some respects seems less capable, and we still have to go back to alsa utilities (aplay) to find out what is really going on.

I am working on /usr/sbin/mscw (Multiple Sound Card Wizard), continuing to evolve it to work properly with PA.

I have added code, so if "pactl list sinks" does not show the device that mscw has selected, such as HDMI output, then it forces the situation by writing to /etc/pulse/default.pa, for example appends this line (for my HDMI):

load-module module-alsa-sink device=hw:0,3

Then restarts the PA daemon. Then pavucontrol sees it. This technique is adapted from the Arch Wiki, thanks guys, as usual you have excellent documentation. In my case, it is not a separate card, same card, that PA does not see the HDMI output.

Just getting started on improving mscw...  

Tags: easy