this post was submitted on 11 Nov 2023
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Audio Hardware Question from a Linux newbie (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 11 months ago by ikapoz@sh.itjust.works to c/linux@lemmy.ml
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I’m a pretty new Linux user, started using a basic Mint installation on the old desktop I use as part of my stereo/tv setup. All in all couldnt be happier with how easy and flexible it’s been, but one little thing is bugging the crap out of me and I haven’t a clue how to fix.

This setup runs the computer audio through a mojo DAC over TOSLINK (eg optical audio) to an analog stereo amp. Getting it to work when I replaced Win 7 with Mint was plug and play - couldn’t have been easier. The super annoying thing is that it seems that now if the desktop is inactive for more than a few minutes the DAC powers down and needs to be turned on manually (fairly certain it’s when the OS goes to sleep but not sure). When I was running windows with same hardware it would not power down until I did it manually. With the wiring and furniture setup I have it’s kind of a PITA to reach back and turn the DAC on every time I want to use the computer.

I did some cursory internet searches on the issue without much luck. If one of you fine people can think of a solution, it even an avenue of investigation, I’d appreciate it. As I said, I’m new to Linux but not entirely tech illiterate so im willing to poke at it.

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[–] Cyberpro123@lemmy.world 9 points 11 months ago

I'm not sure how to stop the DAC from shutting down when Mint goes to sleep, but maybe you can avoid the problem by making Mint not go to sleep in the first place? There's an option for it in the System Settings program, in the "power management" menu (under the "Hardware" heading).

Try doing that and see if the problem keeps happening. If it keeps happening, the DAC shutting down was probably caused by something else.

[–] mvirts@lemmy.world 3 points 11 months ago

https://ubuntu-mate.community/t/how-to-enable-the-s-pdif-output-to-be-permanently-active/26220

Maybe this? I think spdif is a more relevant search term, toslink didn't seem to turn up much.

[–] just_another_person@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago

Disable auto-off power management features for the port you have the device plugged into. Try the 'Tunables' menu in the powertop utility if you want to temporarily test to see if it works. Easiest thing I can think of for a beginner.

[–] das_monk@lemm.ee 1 points 11 months ago

I think it might have to do with the lock screen. Try locking the screen while audio is playing and see what happens. If that is the case I think there might be a workaround that involves reverting to the old lock screen or something. Hope this helps..

[–] knobbysideup@lemm.ee 1 points 11 months ago

See if there's a way to disable power save for your audio driver module.

I had to do this for Intel for example

#/etc/modprobe.d/audio_disable_powersave.conf
 options snd_hda_intel power_save=0
[–] Stillhart@lemm.ee 1 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Step one is probably figuring out why the Mojo is turning off. If it's the USB power going to sleep, the answer could be as simple as running the power USB cable directly to an outlet instead of the computer (which is often better for audio quality anyways). Otherwise, I'd look into the spdif link that the other person posted.