Steam Link Mutes my PC

[Haris1977]

Sometimes when i use steam link to connect to my PC, it mutes my pc audio device and i have to troubleshoot my audio settings (troubleshoot audio playback) to make it work again as it finds my audio playback off.

Is this a known bug?

I 'm on latest public fw in both sl and steam

[Xjph]

It's the intended behavior when the Link is currently streaming, as the expectation is that you're using your TV/home theatre for the sound via the Link. If it's staying muted after you disconnect the Link, then that's a problem and shouldn't happen.

You shouldn't have to run the troubleshooter though, just click the volume control and un-mute.

[Haris1977]

Well thanks @Vithigar. Strange thing is that my sound card is NOT MUTED. It seems that everything is ok, it SEEMS to play sounds (i can see the green gauge moving near my speaker playback device) but i can NOT hear sound. Only when i use troubleshooting i get the sound back...

I ve been using steam link in a different way lately. I put my pc to sleep (i ve created a bat file with rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,SetSuspendState 0,1,0 inside for that) and when i want to use steam link i wake my pc up from link's RGUI and i auto boot into my desktop (rather than Big Picture).

Then to exit from Desktop Mode, i double click my bat file and 20 sec's later the steam link goes into GUI again. From then i can close my sl.

I think this is smth that steam link doesnt like..:(

[Xjph]

Ah, yeah. Forcing the connection closed from the PC end, which is what that batch file will do, is going to cause unexpected behavior like this, because the In-Home Streaming won't get the chance to do its usual shutdown process, part of which is restoring the local audio.

Also, the green gauge in your playback devices list will still move, even with a muted device: http://i.imgur.com/Z4uYa3w.png

[Olverine]

What kind of controller do you use? Sometimes when I use an Xbox controller, it tries to play sound through the headset jack on the controller instead of through the speakers on the tv.

[Haris1977]

I see. So what is the proper way to get out of the DM (desktop mode)? I have to go to the taskbar's notification area, and right click steam in BPM. That is a waste of time..:( That's why i thought this bat file was easier

@Parabol i do not use a controller (at this time) as i dont play games. I only use a wireless usb keyboard with mouse touchpad

[Haris1977]

Well..My pc's sound keeps on muting all the time when i exit from steam link. I do not use any batch file anymore, only the proper way to shutdown in-home streaming process.

I 'm on latest public f/w in both steam link and steam.

My streaming_log.txt (on pc side) file is this for anyone interested:

http://pastebin.com/s8gNX7UQ

Any idea what is happening?

[Xjph]

Your log seems to be terminating abruptly, like it's still not stopping the streaming session properly. The last lines of my log are:

[2017-01-07 22:17:22] Stopping current audio recording
[2017-01-07 22:17:22] CDesktopCaptureDWM: desktop duplication enabled
[2017-01-07 22:17:22] >>> Switching video stream from GameOverlay_MovieStream_8864 to Desktop_MovieStream
[2017-01-07 22:17:22] >>> Capture method set to Desktop Placeholder + libyuv + libx264 high (4 threads)
[2017-01-07 22:17:39] Audio mix: start=767959668087, returned=138248067
[2017-01-07 22:18:18] Changing record audio process: stopped
[2017-01-07 22:18:18] Stopped recording session
[2017-01-07 22:18:18] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Whereas yours seems to just end mid capture.

[Haris1977]

Hm..So? What can i do? Is it steam's problem? Or steam link's?

[Tzilla03]

Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > under sound Manage Audio Devices > change default device to your preferred speakers

[_I_]

this thread is old
there is a new option

steam -> settings -> streaming -> [advanced host options]
tick 'play audio on host'

win 7 and 10 have different methods of capturing audio
7 grabs it from windows audio mapping service
win10 creates a streaming audio device to grab