Sound missing on Linux client

[kbranch]

Streaming was working beautifully for me up until about two days ago (2/11), when the sound stopped working while streaming to my Linux desktop. Audio still works normally everywhere else on the Linux PC.

PCs involved:
1. Windows 7 desktop, GeForce GTX 460, integrated Realtek audio set to output through plain analog stereo, gigabit wired ethernet
2. Gentoo Linux desktop (kernel 3.10.7, binary nVidia drivers, pulseaudio), GeForce GTX 660 Ti, integrated Intel audio also using analog stereo, gigabit wired ethernet
3. Windows 8.1 Asus T100 tablet with an Atom Z3740, 802.11N with good signal

Everything works fine when I stream from the Win 7 desktop to the tablet. Streaming from either Windows machine to the Linux desktop is always missing the audio, regardless of game. I've tried the obligatory reboots as well as a completely fresh install of Steam on the Linux PC with no change.

streaming_log.txt excerpt from a Windows->Windows stream where sound works: http://kbranch.us/public/steam/streaming_log-works.txt
streaming_log.txt excerpt from a Windows->Linux stream where sound does not work: http://kbranch.us/public/steam/streaming_log-no-sound.txt
The relevant sections of StreamAudioTrace.txt are simply empty when sound is not working: http://kbranch.us/public/steam/StreamAudioTrace.txt

[GeeEl]

Sound is working okay for me on Debian Jessie (20140214 steam client, Tomb Raider, Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] SBx00 Azalia (Intel HDA))

I can't say if it was working on this one when you were having the sound trouble (I'd stolen the monitor to have side by side view streaming Win7 -> SteamOS), but worth checking to see if you're going again.

[kbranch]

Today's update hasn't changed anything, unfortunately.

I should have nightly backups of the Linux machine, maybe I'll try an older beta. I don't have backups of the Windows machine, though, so it may not be conclusive.

[blaklabz]

Ahaaa... I'm also having an audio issue while streaming. (Win7->SteamOS(1.0-alchemist)) My problem is that the audio works fine when the games are played locally. But when I stream, then the sound becomes riddled with static. When I installed Win7 on the SteamOS machine, using the same exact hardware. Streaming works fine Win7->Win7.

[Oija Beard]

I confirm I also have no sound while streaming to a Linux client

[kbranch]

Interesting, I was starting to think I was alone and that it was some kind of weird configuration on my end. Can you post some hardware/software details?

Today's update hasn't changed anything. I had apparently excluded the Steam directory from my nightly backups since I didn't see any reason to back up stuff I could just download again, so I wasn't able to test older betas. It does look like you can stream with both instances of Steam in offline mode, so you should be able to keep it from updating immediately. Anybody know of a way to download older versions?

Since the OP, I've upgraded every package on my system, including the kernel (3.10.25 now). I tried streaming through Wine, but it crashed before doing anything useful. I also tried unmuting sound on the Windows host - it plays locally at the Windows PC, but still nothing on the Linux side.

[Herpiderpy]

There are settings both in the "normal" steam client and big picture mode. I get working sound in some (havnt tested that many games) with alsa selected in steam, and direct output to spdif digital in big picture mode.

[kbranch]

I fixed my problem. After all my fiddling, it turns out I somehow missed a simple error on the command line:

ALSA lib conf.c:3314:(snd_config_hooks_call) Cannot open shared library /usr/lib64/alsa-lib/libasound_module_conf_pulse.so

A quick search brought me here[forums.gentoo.org].

Long story short, my system was just broken (on Gentoo? Never.). Sound works beautifully again, just in time to waste my weekend away.