David, Try the following. Use `aplay -l` to find the hardware ID which you want to use, e.g. in my case I want to use card number 2: ``` card 2: prime [Dr.DAC prime], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio] Subdevices: 1/1 Subdevice #0: subdevice #0 ``` Then run `alsamixer -c 2` (2 is the card number), and make sure it is not muted, and the volume is not at zero. Then try `mplayer -ao alsa:device=hw=2` (again, 2 is the card number). This should help with any of the potential issues with mplayer trying to use wrong hardware to play audio, or the sound card being muted. On Sunday, June 30th, 2024 at 22:34, David C. Rankin <drankinatty@gmail.com> wrote:
Is there a config somewhere where I can tell it to start mplayer the same from ssh as it does when started from the desktop?
What probably happens (and this is just a guess here, since there are many different ways to set it up in Arch) when you run via X desktop is that systemd launches a sound server (pipewire or pulseaudio), which chooses the hardware and remembers its volume level for you. `mplayer` then probably connects to it, instead of using ALSA directly (although I cannot be sure without seeing mplayer output). If you want to have the same set up, you'll need to either start the sound server manually, or start it as a system service instead of a user service. However, this all should not be needed if my instructions above work for you. Hope this helps. If it doesn't, please include mplayer output (both when it works, and when it doesn't work). Best regards, -- Edward