LEDBlinky Audio Animations Problem with Jukebox

[markronz]

OK, I have been a long time user of the LED Blinky software, but I recently decided to try out the trial of 4.0 because I wanted to use the Audio Animations software for my jukebox program.

I followed the instructions here, so that LEDBlinky would only use Audio Animations with my jukebox:
http://www.dndw.com/ledblinky/Support.htm#Jukebox


So everything is set up correctly from that point of view.  Sadly, my buttons don't flash at all.

On the Audio Animations tab of LEDBlinky, I only have one device listed for the Audio Device.  It's SigmaTel Audio.  So I select that.  For the input, it lists Line In, Rear Mic, and Microphone.   I select Line In. 

I am running TinyXP, just using the onboard audio card for my motherboard.

The only thing I looked at was in Windows, under the Sounds and Audio Devices section of the control panel.  I made sure the SigmaTel Audio was selected for the 'Sound Playback' and the 'Sound Recording' options.   I went into the volume controls for each of these.  I turned them up, and made sure none of them were muted.

I looked at the Device Manager, under 'Sound, video, and game controllers' and there doesn't appear to be any problems there, and there is a SigmaTel device listed.

So I am stumped now.  Does Arzoo, or anyone have any tips for me on what I should try to get this to work?  The rest of LEDBlinky is still working.  The controls all light up correctly for my other emulators, the jukebox audio animations part just doesn't work.

Can someone give me some tips as to what I should check now to get this to work?   

[markronz]

Here is my Debug.zip file if that helps with this particular problem...

[arzoo]

Here is my Debug.zip file if that helps with this particular problem...

Is the audio sync working in the config app and just not with blinky or is it not working at all? If it's not working at all, try this - using notepad, edit the settings.ini file in the ledblinky folder. Change the value for AudioInput from -1 to 0. Let me know if that solves the problem.

[markronz]

Hey Arzoo.    It's not working at all.  In the config app, the black screen, where I imagine the audio activity would display, is just plain black. 

I looked at the settings.ini file in the LEDBlinky folder.  The AudioInput is already set to zero, not -1.  Here are my AudioAnimation settings from the settings.ini file:

[AudioAnimation]
AudioDevice=-1
AudioInput=0
SampleRate=30
AmplitudeMultiplier=0
AutoAmpMultTargetAvgLow=8
AutoAmpMultTargetAvgHigh=14
AutoAmpMultUpdateRate=2000
AAMode=1
AAGamePlayLWAFile=
AAGamePauseLWAFile=
AAFEActiveLWAFile=
AAFEScreenSaverLWAFile=<Random>
AACabAttractLWAFile=
TriggerMode=2
TriggerThreshold=25
TriggerFrequency=1
TriggerDeadZone=5
ControlFrequencyList=P1B1|1,P1B4|2,P1B2|3,P1B5|4,TRACKBALL|5,P1B3|6,P1B6|7,P2COIN|8,P2START|9,P2B3|10,P2B2|11,P2B6|12,P2B5|13,P2B1|14,P2B4|15,COINDOOR|16,RESET|17,EXIT|18,P1COIN|19,P1START|20,CONFIG|21,PAUSE|22
ControlThresholdList=P1B1|22,P1B4|21,P1B2|20,P1B5|19,TRACKBALL|18,P1B3|17,P1B6|16,P2COIN|15,P2START|14,P2B3|13,P2B2|12,P2B6|11,P2B5|10,P2B1|9,P2B4|8,COINDOOR|7,RESET|6,EXIT|5,P1COIN|4,P1START|3,CONFIG|2,PAUSE|1
LockTriggerFrequency=0
LockTriggerThreshold=1
Decay=4
SpectrumMode=2
SpectrumColor1=clRed
SpectrumColor2=clRed
SpectrumColor3=clRed
SpectrumColor4=clRed
SpectrumSingleAmpRange=1

Let me know what else I can try!  Thank you!

[arzoo]

My bad - meant to tell you to try setting the AudioDevice  to 0.

[markronz]

No problem.  Just tried that out and I didn't help.  Theres also still no motion in the black window on the audio animation tab.

[arzoo]

I don't have any experience with TinyXP so I don't know if that's the issue. Is the audio working with other apps (or even windows sounds)? Can you plug in a microphone and use the windows recording app to see if that's working? I know with Vista there can be an issue with disabled recording devices but I've never had that problem with XP.

As an FYI, here's the fix for Vista:

Right click the volume icon in the system tray and select “Recording Device”. Or you can open the “Sounds” dialog from the control panel. On the Sound “Recording” tab, right click on any blank area and select “Show Disabled Devices”. This should then add a device that may be called “Stereo Mix” or “What You Hear”.  Right click the new device and select “Enable”.

[markronz]

The sound was working just fine everywhere but with the Audio Animations.   So then I started playing around with the drivers, and some where along the way, I screwed them up, and no matter what I did I couldn't get them back installed.  So I've been caught in Sound Card Driver hell for the past 4 hours.   I sort of wanted to cry at some point in there.   What I ended up having to do was get a different sound card.  I finally caved in just to see if I could get this solved.   I got a Sound Blaster X-FI USB Sound Card.   The sound is now working again across the board.

So now I am trying to get this working again.  I went into the Configure LEDBlinky tool again, and to the Audio Animations tab.  I now have a "SB X-Fi Go! Pro What U Hear" Tab.  I selected this, but the window is still black, with no motion, despite there being music playing on the computer.

Anything at all I can try here?  I'm at my witts end here.   I bought a new sound card, so I'd have a fresh start, and it didn't help.

[arzoo]

I'm pretty sure the issue is with XP and not your sound hardware. On my XP box, in the blinky audio config there are three options for the Audio Input; Line Volume, Mic Volume, and Stereo Mix. The blinky code gets these options from Windows. Stereo Mix is the one you need to select - but you don't have that option.

Let's try a few things;
From Control Panel, select "Sounds and Audio Devices". Click the "Audio" tab and then the "Volume" button under "Sound Recording". That should open the "Recording Control" window with all the balance and volume sliders for recording inputs.
- First, make sure "Recording" is not muted.
- Next, do you see controls for "Stereo Mix"? If not, select the "Options - Properties" menu. This should list all possible recording input devices.
- If you see "Stereo Mix" listed, check it!
- If not, try searching google for "Stereo Mix" and "SigmaTel" - I found a number of hits on that subject with instructions on how to get it enabled.

Hope this helps.

[markronz]

Yeah, I googled Sigmatel and Stereo Mix a while back.  That's how my audio driver hell started.     But after following a lot of the information online, I was unable to correct that issue.   Several others could not either.  So that is why I really gave up with the onboard sound on my mobo.   I've disabled it, and it's out of the picture.  No more Sigmatel.

So thats why I bought the new sound card.   The Sound Blaster X-fi Go! Pro.   This sound card said it had the option to record what it hears.   So the "What U Hear" thing is supposed to be the same as "Stereo Mix".   See here:
http://support.creative.com/kb/ShowArticle.aspx?sid=87127

So now with the new sound card, my sound works everywhere.   In addition to that, I have my recorder settings all set to the What U Hear thing.   When I use the Windows Sound Recorder thing, and try to record audio, it DOES successfully record whatever is playing or going on at the time.  In the LEDBlinky Config tool, I have the new Sound Card selected, and the What U Hear input selected as well.   So I'm not sure.  It seems like, now, all the Windows stuff seems to be working.  Just the LEDBlinky software is what isn't working still.  The screen is just still all black.

Let me know if you have any other suggestions for me!

[arzoo]

When you click the Test button on the Config Audio tab - do you get a message after a few seconds (in the black analyzer box) that says "No Audio Detected"?

[markronz]

Ah yes, I am a bit retarded after all. I got it working!  Very sorry but since I got the new sound card, I forgot to choose an animation there.  Once I did that and hit Test it worked!   The sigmatel wouldn't have worked because of the Stero Mix thing.  Glad I bought the new sound card.  Well worth it this time!

This software is amazing!    

I will be sending you the donation to get the real deal now that it's working because it's awesome!

Now to find/make more animations, and find a good jukebox for a mouse!


Thanks SO MUCH for helping me fix this Arzoo!!

[markronz]

Money Sent!  Thanks again!

[arzoo]

Glad you got it working and didn't waste $ on the new sound card!

[arzoo]

On a side note - you might want to disable the Debug Log option. I noticed that your debug file is rather large and this could eventually degrade performance.