When setting up a new Arch Linux system, you might encounter issues getting audio output through HDMI, especially when using a monitor with built-in speakers. This article will introduce my experience of configuring my system to output audio via HDMI.

Prerequisites

• An Arch Linux system with administrative privileges.
• A monitor with built-in speakers connected via HDMI.
• Basic knowledge of the command line.

Step 1: Install Necessary Packages

First, ensure you have the required audio utilities installed.

Install alsa-utils

The alsa-utils package provides essential tools for managing ALSA (Advanced Linux Sound Architecture).

sudo pacman -S alsa-utils

Step 2: Identify Your Audio Devices

Before configuring audio output, identify your system’s audio devices.

List Audio Playback Devices

Use the aplay command to list all playback devices:

aplay -l

Sample Output

**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: HDMI [HDA Intel HDMI], device 7: HDMI 1 [LG ULTRAFINE]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: ALC269VC Analog [ALC269VC Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

Interpretation:

• Card 0: HDMI audio device (your monitor).
• Card 1: Internal audio device (motherboard’s sound card).

Step 3: Install and Configure PulseAudio

PulseAudio is a powerful sound server that can manage audio devices more effectively than ALSA alone.

Install PulseAudio and Related Packages

sudo pacman -S pulseaudio pulseaudio-alsa

Start PulseAudio

Start the PulseAudio service:

pulseaudio --start

Note: If you receive a command not found error, ensure that the installation was successful.

Step 4: Set HDMI as the Default Audio Output

To ensure audio outputs through HDMI by default, configure PulseAudio accordingly.

Create Configuration Directory

If the directory doesn’t exist, create it:

mkdir -p ~/.config/pulse

Create or Edit client.conf

nvim ~/.config/pulse/client.conf    # The editor I use is neovim

Add the Following Configuration

autospawn = yes

Identify the HDMI Sink Name

List all available sinks to find the HDMI output’s sink name:

pactl list sinks short

Sample Output

0   alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1f.3.hdmi-stereo-extra1   module-alsa-card.c  s16le 2ch 44100Hz   RUNNING
1   alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1b.0.analog-stereo        module-alsa-card.c  s16le 2ch 44100Hz   SUSPENDED

Identify the sink corresponding to your HDMI output (usually containing hdmi in the name).

Update client.conf with Default Sink

Add or modify the default-sink line in client.conf:

autospawn = yes
default-sink = alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1f.3.hdmi-stereo-extra1

Replace alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1f.3.hdmi-stereo-extra1 with the sink name identified in the previous step.

Restart PulseAudio

Apply the changes by restarting PulseAudio:

pulseaudio -k
pulseaudio --start

Step 5: Use pavucontrol to Manage Audio Devices

pavucontrol (PulseAudio Volume Control) provides a user-friendly graphical interface to manage audio devices.

Install pavucontrol

sudo pacman -S pavucontrol

Launch pavucontrol

pavucontrol

Configure Output Device

1. Navigate to the Output Devices tab.
2. Find your HDMI device (e.g., HDMI / DisplayPort or the name of your monitor).
3. Set it as the default output device by using the webpage.

Note

If you encounter the message Establishing connection to PulseAudio. Please wait..., it indicates that pavucontrol cannot connect to the PulseAudio server. Ensure that PulseAudio is running correctly (see the following for troubleshooting).

Step 6: Troubleshooting Common Issues

Issue: pulseaudio Command Not Found

Symptom: Running pulseaudio --check or pulseaudio --start results in command not found.

Solution:

• Ensure pulseaudio is installed:

  sudo pacman -S pulseaudio pulseaudio-alsa
  

• Verify installation:

  which pulseaudio
  

  This should output the path to the pulseaudio binary, such as /usr/bin/pulseaudio.

Issue: pavucontrol Cannot Connect to PulseAudio

Symptom: pavucontrol displays Establishing connection to PulseAudio. Please wait... indefinitely.

Solution:

1. Check if PulseAudio is Running:

   pulseaudio --check
   

   If no output is returned, PulseAudio is running.

2. Start PulseAudio Manually:

   pulseaudio --start
   

3. Restart PulseAudio:

   pulseaudio -k
   pulseaudio --start
   

4. Check for Errors:

   View PulseAudio logs for any errors:

   journalctl --user -xe | grep pulseaudio
   

Issue: No Sound Output After Configuration

Symptom: After setting HDMI as the default output, there’s still no sound.

Solution:

1. Check Volume Levels:

   Ensure that the output is not muted and the volume is turned up.

   alsamixer
   

   Use the arrow keys to adjust volume and M to toggle mute.

2. Test Audio Playback:

   Use speaker-test to test audio output:

   speaker-test -D hw:0,7 -c 2 -t wav
   

   Replace hw:0,7 with your HDMI card and device numbers from the aplay -l output.

3. Ensure Correct Sink Is Set:

   Verify the default sink in PulseAudio:

   pactl info | grep "Default Sink"
   

   It should match your HDMI sink name.

References

• Advanced Linux Sound Architecture
• PulseAudio
• PulseAudio Volume Control 6.1
• Linux Audio Explained (ALSA vs PulseAudio vs JACK vs Pipewire Explained)