I installed Gentoo clean on my system, except my /home but I deleted all hidden folders that might have an impact on sound (.mplayer .pulse* .config .esd_auth and more) and with a fresh user adduser mistertest -m -G audio,video,users the result is the same, no sound when I play a file in mplayer.Its a Z68 Chipset and I am using the Intel IGP H2000 inside my CPU, so this should not be an issue of the spdif connector on my mainboard and I think i have installed all the correct modules in the kernel. I have no aditional hardware to check if my sound is working at all (no headset or external speakers), but I suppose the problem is either some bad config or the internal spdif (if there is such).dronemother ~ # lsmod | grep sndsnd_hda_codec_hdmi     22705  1snd_hda_codec_realtek   190506  1snd_hda_intel          21727  3snd_hda_codec          63422  3 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intelsnd_hwdep               5726  1 snd_hda_codecsnd_pcm                69969  3 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codecsnd_timer              17697  1 snd_pcmsnd                    53814  13 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hwdep,snd_pcm,snd_    timersoundcore               5009  1 sndsnd_page_alloc          6641  2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcmdronemother ~ # lspci -v# cut other stuff away here    00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 05)        Subsystem: ASRock Incorporation Device 1892        Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 46        Memory at fe600000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]        Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 2        Capabilities: [60] MSI: Enable+ Count=1/1 Maskable- 64bit+        Capabilities: [70] Express Root Complex Integrated Endpoint, MSI 00        Capabilities: [100] Virtual Channel        Capabilities: [130] Root Complex Link        Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel        Kernel modules: snd-hda-intelI have pulseaudio, alsa-plugins, mplayer, mixer and pavucontrol installed. I get no errors when playing a file in mplayer just no sound.So how can I examine where exactly my problem is located?Edit: I just booted the PC from a Ubuntu Live USB stick, sound did not work, too. (took a bit longer, cannot restart the server every day, some people rely on its services.)
How to check why sound over HDMI doesn't work
audio;gentoo;alsa
After asking this questions multiple times on gentoo IRC and finally the forums, I was pushed in the right direction and able to solve the problem.~ $ aplay -l**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: ALC892 Analog [ALC892 Analog]  Subdevices: 1/1  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 1: ALC892 Digital [ALC892 Digital]  Subdevices: 1/1  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]  Subdevices: 1/1  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 7: HDMI 1 [HDMI 1]  Subdevices: 1/1  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0As stated in line2 these are all the available playback devices. I configured my /etc/asound.conf accordingly. (can be done in ~/.asoundrc per user, too)~ $ cat /etc/asound.confpcm.analog {        type hw        card 0        device 0 }pcm.digital {        type hw        card 0        device 1 }pcm.hdmi0 {        type hw        card 0        device 3 }pcm.hdmi1 {        type hw        card 0        device 7 }In each entry the part after the dot is a local alias free to chose. Other applications can use this to identify the device. Using aplay -D plug:hdmi1 ~/soundfile.wav finally played a sound (actually you should play a wav file cause aplay cannot decode mp3 or likewise).So I appended these few lines to my /etc/asound.confpcm.!default {        type  plug        slave.pcm hdmi1}And now everything works like a charm.