VLC problem with AC-3 sound in videos

VLC shows volume 0 when playing videos with AC-3 or E-AC-3 audio, and I cannot find a way to increase the volume.

ffplay and avidemux can play all the videos with AC-3 or E-AC-3 audio with working sound.

When I boot manjaro-kde-24.2.1-minimal-241216-linux612.iso VLC plays the videos with sound.

When I boot manjaro-kde-25.0-minimal-250305-linux612.iso VLC plays the videos with sound.

When I boot manjaro-kde-25.0-minimal-250318-linux612.iso VLC cannot play the sound on the same videos.

When I boot manjaro-kde-25.0-minimal-250324-linux612.iso VLC cannot play the sound on the same videos.

inxi --full --admin --filter --width
$ inxi --full --admin --filter --width
System:
  Kernel: 6.14.0-1-MANJARO arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 14.2.1
    clocksource: tsc avail: hpet,acpi_pm
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.14-x86_64
    root=UUID=c967ec04-7002-4176-a843-d0269a60e2e9 rw nowatchdog
    mitigations=off security=none udev.log_priority=3 noresume nohibernate
  Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 6.3.4 tk: Qt v: N/A info: frameworks v: 6.12.0
    wm: kwin_x11 with: krunner vt: 2 dm: SDDM Distro: Manjaro base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: ASUSTeK model: PRIME B450-PLUS v: Rev X.0x
    serial: <superuser required> part-nu: SKU uuid: <superuser required>
    BIOS: American Megatrends v: 4631 date: 01/14/2025
Battery:
  Device-1: hidpp_battery_0 model: Logitech M215 serial: <filter>
    charge: 55% (should be ignored) rechargeable: yes status: discharging
CPU:
  Info: model: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Zen 2 gen: 2
    level: v3 note: check built: 2020-22 process: TSMC n7 (7nm) family: 0x17 (23)
    model-id: 0x71 (113) stepping: 0 microcode: 0x8701035
  Topology: cpus: 1x dies: 1 clusters: 1 cores: 6 threads: 12 tpc: 2
    smt: enabled cache: L1: 384 KiB desc: d-6x32 KiB; i-6x32 KiB L2: 3 MiB
    desc: 6x512 KiB L3: 32 MiB desc: 2x16 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 1723 min/max: 550/4208 boost: enabled scaling:
    driver: amd-pstate-epp governor: powersave cores: 1: 1723 2: 1723 3: 1723
    4: 1723 5: 1723 6: 1723 7: 1723 8: 1723 9: 1723 10: 1723 11: 1723 12: 1723
    bogomips: 86398
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: ghostwrite status: Not affected
  Type: itlb_multihit status: Not affected
  Type: l1tf status: Not affected
  Type: mds status: Not affected
  Type: meltdown status: Not affected
  Type: mmio_stale_data status: Not affected
  Type: reg_file_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: retbleed status: Vulnerable
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow status: Vulnerable
  Type: spec_store_bypass status: Vulnerable
  Type: spectre_v1 status: Vulnerable: __user pointer sanitization and
    usercopy barriers only; no swapgs barriers
  Type: spectre_v2 status: Vulnerable; IBPB: disabled; STIBP: disabled;
    PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected; BHI: Not affected
  Type: srbds status: Not affected
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Ellesmere [Radeon RX
    470/480/570/570X/580/580X/590] vendor: Gigabyte driver: amdgpu v: kernel
    arch: GCN-4 code: Arctic Islands process: GF 14nm built: 2016-20 pcie:
    gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16 ports: active: DP-3,HDMI-A-1
    empty: DP-1,DP-2,DVI-D-1 bus-ID: 08:00.0 chip-ID: 1002:67df class-ID: 0300
    temp: 49.0 C
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.16 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.6
    compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X: loaded: modesetting alternate: fbdev,vesa
    dri: radeonsi gpu: amdgpu display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 3840x2160 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 1013x570mm (39.88x22.44")
    s-diag: 1162mm (45.76")
  Monitor-1: DP-3 model: Denon DENON-AVR serial: <filter> built: 2014 res:
    mode: 1920x1080 hz: 60 scale: 100% (1) dpi: 69 gamma: 1.2
    size: 708x398mm (27.87x15.67") diag: 918mm (36.1") ratio: 16:9 modes:
    max: 1920x1080 min: 640x480
  Monitor-2: HDMI-A-1 mapped: HDMI-1 pos: primary model: Philips FTV
    serial: <filter> built: 2017 res: mode: 3840x2160 hz: 60 scale: 100% (1)
    dpi: 68 gamma: 1.2 size: 1440x810mm (56.69x31.89") diag: 1652mm (65")
    ratio: 16:9 modes: max: 1920x1080 min: 640x480
  API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: amd radeonsi platforms: device: 0 drv: radeonsi
    device: 1 drv: swrast gbm: drv: kms_swrast surfaceless: drv: radeonsi x11:
    drv: radeonsi inactive: wayland
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: amd mesa v: 25.0.3-arch1.1
    glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: AMD Radeon RX 590 Series (radeonsi
    polaris10 ACO DRM 3.61 6.14.0-1-MANJARO) device-ID: 1002:67df
    memory: 7.81 GiB unified: no
  API: Vulkan v: 1.4.309 layers: 5 device: 0 type: discrete-gpu name: AMD
    Radeon RX 590 Series (RADV POLARIS10) driver: mesa radv v: 25.0.3-arch1.1
    device-ID: 1002:67df surfaces: xcb,xlib device: 1 type: cpu name: llvmpipe
    (LLVM 19.1.7 256 bits) driver: mesa llvmpipe v: 25.0.3-arch1.1 (LLVM
    19.1.7) device-ID: 10005:0000 surfaces: xcb,xlib
  Info: Tools: api: clinfo, eglinfo, glxinfo, vulkaninfo
    de: kscreen-console,kscreen-doctor wl: wayland-info
    x11: xdpyinfo, xprop, xrandr
Audio:
  Device-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Ellesmere HDMI Audio [Radeon RX
    470/480 / 570/580/590] vendor: Gigabyte driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
    pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 16 link-max: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s
    bus-ID: 08:00.1 chip-ID: 1002:aaf0 class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Starship/Matisse HD Audio
    vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s
    lanes: 16 bus-ID: 0a:00.4 chip-ID: 1022:1487 class-ID: 0403
  API: ALSA v: k6.14.0-1-MANJARO status: kernel-api with: aoss
    type: oss-emulator tools: alsactl,alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: JACK v: 1.9.22 status: off tools: N/A
  Server-2: PipeWire v: 1.4.1 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse
    status: active 2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin
    tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
    vendor: ASUSTeK RTL8111H driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s
    lanes: 1 port: f000 bus-ID: 03:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp3s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
  Info: services: NetworkManager, sshd, systemd-timesyncd
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 2.52 TiB used: 444.11 GiB (17.2%)
  SMART Message: Required tool smartctl not installed. Check --recommends
  ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Western Digital model: WD10EADS-00L5B1
    size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 3.0 Gb/s
    tech: N/A serial: <filter> fw-rev: 1A01 scheme: GPT
  ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: Western Digital model: WD10EADS-00L5B1
    size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 3.0 Gb/s
    tech: N/A serial: <filter> fw-rev: 1A01 scheme: MBR
  ID-3: /dev/sdc maj-min: 8:32 vendor: Micron model: MTFDDAK256MAY-1AH12ABHA
    size: 238.47 GiB block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
    tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: M5T4 scheme: MBR
  ID-4: /dev/sdd maj-min: 8:48 vendor: A-Data model: SU800NS38
    size: 476.94 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
    tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: 8B scheme: MBR
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 476.93 GiB size: 468.38 GiB (98.21%)
    used: 60.67 GiB (13.0%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sdd1 maj-min: 8:49
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 60 (default) cache-pressure: 100 (default) zswap: yes
    compressor: zstd max-pool: 20%
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 8.01 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2
    dev: /dev/dm-0 maj-min: 253:0 mapped: swap
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 52.4 C mobo: N/A gpu: amdgpu temp: 49.0 C
  Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A gpu: amdgpu fan: 769
Info:
  Memory: total: 16 GiB available: 15.53 GiB used: 2.64 GiB (17.0%)
  Processes: 379 Power: uptime: 7m states: freeze,mem suspend: deep
    avail: s2idle wakeups: 0 hibernate: disabled image: 6.17 GiB
    services: org_kde_powerdevil, power-profiles-daemon, upowerd Init: systemd
    v: 257 default: graphical tool: systemctl
  Packages: pm: pacman pkgs: 1169 libs: 281 tools: pamac Compilers:
    clang: 19.1.7 gcc: 14.2.1 Shell: Bash v: 5.2.37 running-in: konsole
    inxi: 3.3.38

Mod edit: I've move your post to a dedicated topic, as it doen't have anything to do with the update itself.

On my Intel Haswell laptop VLC can play all videos with sound.

Laptop inxi --full --admin --width
$ inxi --full --admin --width
System:
  Host: frElitebook Kernel: 6.14.0-1-MANJARO arch: x86_64 bits: 64
    compiler: gcc v: 14.2.1 clocksource: tsc avail: acpi_pm
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.14-x86_64
    root=UUID=72bec5a0-c67a-4776-b4af-bcb320e4fef8 rw nowatchdog
    mitigations=off security=none udev.log_priority=3 noresume nohibernate
  Desktop: N/A wm: kwin_x11 dm: SDDM Distro: Manjaro base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Hewlett-Packard product: HP EliteBook 820 G1
    v: A3009DD10203 serial: <superuser required> Chassis: type: 10
    serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: Hewlett-Packard model: 1991 v: KBC Version 15.59
    serial: <superuser required> part-nu: J2A91AV uuid: <superuser required>
    BIOS: Hewlett-Packard v: L71 Ver. 01.49 date: 02/24/2020
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 37.8 Wh (92.0%) condition: 41.1/41.1 Wh (100.0%)
    volts: 12.6 min: 11.2 model: Hewlett-Packard Primary type: Li-ion
    serial: 01780 2014/09/04 status: charging
CPU:
  Info: model: Intel Core i5-4210U bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Haswell
    gen: core 4 level: v3 note: check built: 2013-15 process: Intel 22nm
    family: 6 model-id: 0x45 (69) stepping: 1 microcode: 0x26
  Topology: cpus: 1x dies: 1 clusters: 2 cores: 2 threads: 4 tpc: 2
    smt: enabled cache: L1: 128 KiB desc: d-2x32 KiB; i-2x32 KiB L2: 512 KiB
    desc: 2x256 KiB L3: 3 MiB desc: 1x3 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 827 min/max: 800/2700 scaling: driver: intel_cpufreq
    governor: schedutil cores: 1: 827 2: 827 3: 827 4: 827 bogomips: 19156
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: ghostwrite status: Not affected
  Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: Vulnerable
  Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: vulnerable
  Type: mds status: Vulnerable; SMT vulnerable
  Type: meltdown status: Vulnerable
  Type: mmio_stale_data status: Unknown: No mitigations
  Type: reg_file_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: retbleed status: Not affected
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow status: Not affected
  Type: spec_store_bypass status: Vulnerable
  Type: spectre_v1 status: Vulnerable: __user pointer sanitization and
    usercopy barriers only; no swapgs barriers
  Type: spectre_v2 status: Vulnerable; IBPB: disabled; STIBP: disabled;
    PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected; BHI: Not affected
  Type: srbds status: Vulnerable
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel Haswell-ULT Integrated Graphics vendor: Hewlett-Packard
    driver: i915 v: kernel arch: Gen-7.5 process: Intel 22nm built: 2013 ports:
    active: eDP-1 empty: DP-1, DP-2, HDMI-A-1, HDMI-A-2 bus-ID: 00:02.0
    chip-ID: 8086:0a16 class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: Chicony HP HD Webcam driver: uvcvideo type: USB rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 2-7:5 chip-ID: 04f2:b3ed
    class-ID: 0e02 serial: 200901010001
  Display: unspecified server: X.Org v: 21.1.16 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.6
    compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X: loaded: modesetting alternate: fbdev,vesa
    dri: crocus gpu: i915 display-ID: localhost:10.0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 3840x2160 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 1013x570mm (39.88x22.44")
    s-diag: 1162mm (45.76") monitors: <missing: xrandr>
  Monitor-1: eDP-1 model: AU Optronics 0x206c built: 2012 res: 1366x768
    dpi: 125 gamma: 1.2 size: 277x156mm (10.91x6.14") diag: 318mm (12.5")
    ratio: 16:9 modes: 1366x768
  API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: intel crocus platforms: device: 0 drv: crocus
    device: 1 drv: swrast gbm: drv: crocus surfaceless: drv: crocus x11:
    drv: swrast inactive: wayland
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: mesa v: 25.0.3-arch1.1 glx-v: 1.4
    direct-render: yes renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 19.1.7 256 bits)
    device-ID: ffffffff:ffffffff memory: 14.7 GiB unified: yes
  API: Vulkan v: 1.4.309 layers: N/A device: 0 type: integrated-gpu
    name: Intel HD Graphics 4400 (HSW GT2) driver: mesa intel v: 25.0.3-arch1.1
    device-ID: 8086:0a16 surfaces: xcb,xlib
  Info: Tools: api: clinfo, eglinfo, glxinfo, vulkaninfo
    de: kscreen-console,kscreen-doctor wl: wayland-info x11: xdpyinfo,xprop
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Haswell-ULT HD Audio vendor: Hewlett-Packard
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:03.0 chip-ID: 8086:0a0c
    class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: Intel 8 Series HD Audio vendor: Hewlett-Packard
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1b.0 chip-ID: 8086:9c20
    class-ID: 0403
  API: ALSA v: k6.14.0-1-MANJARO status: kernel-api with: aoss
    type: oss-emulator tools: alsactl,alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: JACK v: 1.9.22 status: off tools: N/A
  Server-2: PipeWire v: 1.4.1 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse
    status: active 2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin
    tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Ethernet I218-LM vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: e1000e
    v: kernel port: 3080 bus-ID: 00:19.0 chip-ID: 8086:155a class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp0s25 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: 38:63:bb:bc:8d:ec
  Device-2: Broadcom BCM43228 802.11a/b/g/n driver: wl v: kernel
    modules: bcma pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 02:00.0
    chip-ID: 14e4:4359 class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlo1 state: dormant mac: 42:c6:94:92:48:f6
  Info: services: NetworkManager, sshd, systemd-timesyncd, wpa_supplicant
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Broadcom HP Portable Bumble Bee driver: btusb v: 0.8 type: USB
    rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 2-4:3 chip-ID: 0a5c:21f1
    class-ID: fe01 serial: 3010B3A6F493
  Report: btmgmt ID: hci0 rfk-id: 1 state: up address: 30:10:B3:A6:F4:93
    bt-v: 4.0 lmp-v: 6 status: discoverable: no pairing: no class-ID: 6c010c
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 3.87 TiB used: 3.58 TiB (92.5%)
  SMART Message: Required tool smartctl not installed. Check --recommends
  ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 840 EVO 250GB
    size: 232.89 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
    tech: SSD serial: S1DBNSAF859496D fw-rev: DB6Q scheme: MBR
  ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: Toshiba model: MQ04UBB400
    size: 3.64 TiB block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B type: USB rev: 3.0
    spd: 5 Gb/s lanes: 1 mode: 3.2 gen-1x1 tech: HDD rpm: 5400
    serial: 19GFT0HCT fw-rev: 5438 scheme: GPT
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 160 GiB size: 156.43 GiB (97.77%) used: 16.41 GiB (10.5%)
    fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2 maj-min: 8:2
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 60 (default) cache-pressure: 100 (default) zswap: yes
    compressor: zstd max-pool: 20%
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 8.88 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2
    dev: /dev/dm-0 maj-min: 253:0 mapped: swap
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 32.0 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A
Info:
  Memory: total: 16 GiB note: est. available: 15.05 GiB used: 1.14 GiB (7.6%)
  Processes: 191 Power: uptime: 5m states: freeze,mem suspend: deep
    avail: s2idle wakeups: 0 hibernate: disabled image: 6 GiB
    services: org_kde_powerdevil, power-profiles-daemon, upowerd Init: systemd
    v: 257 default: graphical tool: systemctl
  Packages: pm: pacman pkgs: 1093 libs: 266 tools: pamac Compilers:
    gcc: 14.2.1 Shell: Bash v: 5.2.37 running-in: sshd-session (SSH) inxi: 3.3.38

Quick tip:

Some of the inxi parameters you are using have been deprecated; for example -F, --full, which may disappear at any time without warning. See below for the preferred command to generate system information going forward;

Regards.


System Information

Output of this command (formatted according to forum requirements) may be useful for those wishing to help:

inxi --filter --verbosity=8

or the short form:

inxi -zv8

Ooops I used an old tutorial. Here is inxi from my main PC (not laptop)

inxi from PC having VLC problem
$ inxi -zv8
System:
  Kernel: 6.14.0-1-MANJARO arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 14.2.1
    clocksource: tsc avail: hpet,acpi_pm
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.14-x86_64
    root=UUID=c967ec04-7002-4176-a843-d0269a60e2e9 rw nowatchdog
    mitigations=off security=none udev.log_priority=3 noresume nohibernate
  Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 6.3.4 tk: Qt v: N/A info: frameworks v: 6.12.0
    wm: kwin_x11 with: krunner vt: 2 dm: SDDM Distro: Manjaro base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: ASUSTeK model: PRIME B450-PLUS v: Rev X.0x
    serial: <superuser required> part-nu: SKU uuid: <superuser required>
    BIOS: American Megatrends v: 4631 date: 01/14/2025
Battery:
  Device-1: hidpp_battery_0 model: Logitech M215 serial: <filter>
    charge: 55% (should be ignored) rechargeable: yes status: discharging
Memory:
  System RAM: total: 16 GiB available: 15.53 GiB used: 2.74 GiB (17.6%)
  Message: For most reliable report, use superuser + dmidecode.
  Array-1: capacity: 128 GiB slots: 4 modules: 1 EC: None
    max-module-size: 32 GiB note: est.
  Device-1: DIMM_A1 type: no module installed
  Device-2: DIMM_A2 type: DDR4 detail: synchronous unbuffered (unregistered)
    size: 16 GiB speed: 3000 MT/s volts: note: check curr: 1 min: 1 max: 1
    width (bits): data: 64 total: 64 manufacturer: G Skill Intl
    part-no: F4-3000C16-16GISB serial: N/A
  Device-3: DIMM_B1 type: no module installed
  Device-4: DIMM_B2 type: no module installed
PCI Slots:
  Permissions: Unable to run dmidecode. Root privileges required.
CPU:
  Info: model: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Zen 2 gen: 2
    level: v3 note: check built: 2020-22 process: TSMC n7 (7nm)
    family: 0x17 (23) model-id: 0x71 (113) stepping: 0 microcode: 0x8701035
  Topology: cpus: 1x dies: 1 clusters: 1 cores: 6 threads: 12 tpc: 2
    smt: enabled cache: L1: 384 KiB desc: d-6x32 KiB; i-6x32 KiB L2: 3 MiB
    desc: 6x512 KiB L3: 32 MiB desc: 2x16 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 1723 min/max: 550/4208 boost: enabled scaling:
    driver: amd-pstate-epp governor: powersave cores: 1: 1723 2: 1723 3: 1723
    4: 1723 5: 1723 6: 1723 7: 1723 8: 1723 9: 1723 10: 1723 11: 1723 12: 1723
    bogomips: 86405
  Flags: 3dnowprefetch abm adx aes aperfmperf apic arat avic avx avx2 bmi1
    bmi2 bpext cat_l3 cdp_l3 clflush clflushopt clwb clzero cmov cmp_legacy
    constant_tsc cpb cpuid cqm cqm_llc cqm_mbm_local cqm_mbm_total
    cqm_occup_llc cr8_legacy cx16 cx8 de decodeassists extapic extd_apicid
    f16c flushbyasid fma fpu fsgsbase fxsr fxsr_opt ht hw_pstate ibpb ibs
    irperf lahf_lm lbrv lm mba mca mce misalignsse mmx mmxext monitor movbe
    msr mtrr mwaitx nonstop_tsc nopl npt nrip_save nx osvw overflow_recov pae
    pat pausefilter pclmulqdq pdpe1gb perfctr_core perfctr_llc perfctr_nb
    pfthreshold pge pni popcnt pse pse36 rapl rdpid rdpru rdrand rdseed rdt_a
    rdtscp rep_good sep sev sev_es sha_ni skinit smap smca smep ssbd sse sse2
    sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 stibp succor svm svm_lock syscall tce topoext
    tsc tsc_scale umip v_spec_ctrl v_vmsave_vmload vgif vmcb_clean vme
    vmmcall wbnoinvd wdt x2apic xgetbv1 xsave xsavec xsaveerptr xsaveopt
    xtopology
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: ghostwrite status: Not affected
  Type: itlb_multihit status: Not affected
  Type: l1tf status: Not affected
  Type: mds status: Not affected
  Type: meltdown status: Not affected
  Type: mmio_stale_data status: Not affected
  Type: reg_file_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: retbleed status: Vulnerable
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow status: Vulnerable
  Type: spec_store_bypass status: Vulnerable
  Type: spectre_v1 status: Vulnerable: __user pointer sanitization and
    usercopy barriers only; no swapgs barriers
  Type: spectre_v2 status: Vulnerable; IBPB: disabled; STIBP: disabled;
    PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected; BHI: Not affected
  Type: srbds status: Not affected
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Ellesmere [Radeon RX
    470/480/570/570X/580/580X/590] vendor: Gigabyte driver: amdgpu v: kernel
    arch: GCN-4 code: Arctic Islands process: GF 14nm built: 2016-20 pcie:
    gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16 ports: active: DP-3,HDMI-A-1
    empty: DP-1,DP-2,DVI-D-1 bus-ID: 08:00.0 chip-ID: 1002:67df class-ID: 0300
    temp: 53.0 C
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.16 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.6
    compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X: loaded: modesetting alternate: fbdev,vesa
    dri: radeonsi gpu: amdgpu display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 3840x2160 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 1013x570mm (39.88x22.44")
    s-diag: 1162mm (45.76")
  Monitor-1: DP-3 model: Denon DENON-AVR serial: <filter> built: 2014 res:
    mode: 1920x1080 hz: 60 scale: 100% (1) dpi: 69 gamma: 1.2 chroma: red:
    x: 0.627 y: 0.341 green: x: 0.278 y: 0.596 blue: x: 0.153 y: 0.071 white:
    x: 0.282 y: 0.298 size: 708x398mm (27.87x15.67") diag: 918mm (36.1")
    ratio: 16:9 modes: 1920x1080, 2880x576, 2880x480, 1280x720, 1440x576,
    1440x480, 720x576, 720x480, 640x480
  Monitor-2: HDMI-A-1 mapped: HDMI-1 pos: primary model: Philips FTV
    serial: <filter> built: 2017 res: mode: 3840x2160 hz: 60 scale: 100% (1)
    dpi: 68 gamma: 1.2 chroma: red: x: 0.651 y: 0.333 green: x: 0.325 y: 0.588
    blue: x: 0.145 y: 0.051 white: x: 0.278 y: 0.290
    size: 1440x810mm (56.69x31.89") diag: 1652mm (65") ratio: 16:9
    modes: 1920x1080, 3840x2160, 1600x1200, 1680x1050, 1400x1050, 1280x1024,
    1440x900, 1280x960, 1280x800, 1280x720, 1024x768, 800x600, 720x576,
    720x480, 640x480
  EDID-Warnings: 1: parse_edid: unhandled CEA mode 97 2: parse_edid:
    unhandled CEA mode 96 3: parse_edid: unhandled CEA mode 95 4: parse_edid:
    unhandled CEA mode 94 5: parse_edid: unhandled CEA mode 93
  API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: amd radeonsi platforms: device: 0 drv: radeonsi
    device: 1 drv: swrast gbm: drv: kms_swrast surfaceless: drv: radeonsi x11:
    drv: radeonsi inactive: wayland
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: amd mesa v: 25.0.3-arch1.1
    glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: AMD Radeon RX 590 Series (radeonsi
    polaris10 ACO DRM 3.61 6.14.0-1-MANJARO) device-ID: 1002:67df
    memory: 7.81 GiB unified: no
  API: Vulkan v: 1.4.309 layers: 5 device: 0 type: discrete-gpu name: AMD
    Radeon RX 590 Series (RADV POLARIS10) driver: mesa radv v: 25.0.3-arch1.1
    device-ID: 1002:67df surfaces: xcb,xlib device: 1 type: cpu name: llvmpipe
    (LLVM 19.1.7 256 bits) driver: mesa llvmpipe v: 25.0.3-arch1.1 (LLVM
    19.1.7) device-ID: 10005:0000 surfaces: xcb,xlib
  Info: Tools: api: clinfo, eglinfo, glxinfo, vulkaninfo
    de: kscreen-console,kscreen-doctor wl: wayland-info
    x11: xdpyinfo, xprop, xrandr
Audio:
  Device-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Ellesmere HDMI Audio [Radeon RX
    470/480 / 570/580/590] vendor: Gigabyte driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
    pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 08:00.1 chip-ID: 1002:aaf0
    class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Starship/Matisse HD Audio
    vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s
    lanes: 16 bus-ID: 0a:00.4 chip-ID: 1022:1487 class-ID: 0403
  API: ALSA v: k6.14.0-1-MANJARO status: kernel-api with: aoss
    type: oss-emulator tools: alsactl,alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: JACK v: 1.9.22 status: off tools: N/A
  Server-2: PipeWire v: 1.4.1 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse
    status: active 2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin
    tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
    vendor: ASUSTeK RTL8111H driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: gen: 1
    speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: f000 bus-ID: 03:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8168
    class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp3s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
  IP v4: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global
    broadcast: <filter>
  Info: services: NetworkManager, sshd, systemd-timesyncd
  WAN IP: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Message: No bluetooth data found.
Logical:
  Message: No logical block device data found.
RAID:
  Message: No RAID data found.
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 2.52 TiB used: 439.2 GiB (17.0%)
  SMART Message: Required tool smartctl not installed. Check --recommends
  ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Western Digital model: WD10EADS-00L5B1
    size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 3.0 Gb/s
    tech: N/A serial: <filter> fw-rev: 1A01 scheme: GPT
  ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: Western Digital
    model: WD10EADS-00L5B1 size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B
    logical: 512 B speed: 3.0 Gb/s tech: N/A serial: <filter> fw-rev: 1A01
    scheme: MBR
  ID-3: /dev/sdc maj-min: 8:32 vendor: Micron model: MTFDDAK256MAY-1AH12ABHA
    size: 238.47 GiB block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
    tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: M5T4 scheme: MBR
  ID-4: /dev/sdd maj-min: 8:48 vendor: A-Data model: SU800NS38
    size: 476.94 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
    tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: 8B scheme: MBR
  Message: No optical or floppy data found.
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 476.93 GiB size: 468.38 GiB (98.21%)
    used: 54.03 GiB (11.5%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sdd1 maj-min: 8:49
    label: statroot uuid: c967ec04-7002-4176-a843-d0269a60e2e9
  ID-2: /data/ssd200 raw-size: 238.47 GiB size: 233.67 GiB (97.99%)
    used: 16.81 GiB (7.2%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sdc1 maj-min: 8:33 label: ssd200
    uuid: f94e8a24-3ec4-4edb-b49f-0d26ab9fef52
  ID-3: /data/swdisk raw-size: 923.5 GiB size: 907.93 GiB (98.31%)
    used: 367.98 GiB (40.5%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1 label: swdisk
    uuid: ed96f3d3-edea-43bc-8418-2223e4ec312d
  ID-4: /home/<filter>/cryptomount.fredox.vol raw-size: 600 MiB
    size: 573.7 MiB (95.62%) used: 399.3 MiB (69.6%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/dm-1
    maj-min: 253:1 mapped: loop0 label: N/A uuid: N/A
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 60 (default) cache-pressure: 100 (default) zswap: yes
    compressor: zstd max-pool: 20%
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 8.01 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%)
    priority: -2 dev: /dev/dm-0 maj-min: 253:0 mapped: swap label: swap
    uuid: 756ca993-483d-44d9-99bc-12f1a7942e8f
Unmounted:
  ID-1: /dev/sda2 maj-min: 8:2 size: 8.01 GiB fs: ext2 label: cryptswap
    uuid: 51aca7eb-b9ff-40c3-81eb-05ac432f2d87
  ID-2: /dev/sdb1 maj-min: 8:17 size: 931.51 GiB fs: ext4 label: hd1Tb
    uuid: a0f67169-c4c3-48e9-bafe-a73dc0983560
USB:
  Hub-1: 1-0:1 info: hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 10 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 chip-ID: 1d6b:0002
    class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 1-7:2 info: Jing-Mold Enterprise 2.4G Dongle
    type: keyboard,mouse,HID driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 3 rev: 2.0
    speed: 12 Mb/s (1.4 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 power: 100mA
    chip-ID: 05af:0906 class-ID: 0301
  Device-2: 1-9:3 info: NZXT Smart Device V2 type: HID
    driver: nzxt-smart2,usbhid interfaces: 1 rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s (1.4 MiB/s)
    lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 power: 100mA chip-ID: 1e71:2006 class-ID: 0300
    serial: <filter>
  Device-3: 1-10:4 info: Logitech Nano Receiver type: mouse,HID
    driver: logitech-djreceiver,usbhid interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0
    speed: 12 Mb/s (1.4 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 power: 98mA
    chip-ID: 046d:c52f class-ID: 0300
  Hub-2: 2-0:1 info: super-speed hub ports: 4 rev: 3.1
    speed: 10 Gb/s (1.16 GiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 3.2 gen-2x1 chip-ID: 1d6b:0003
    class-ID: 0900
  Hub-3: 3-0:1 info: hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 4 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 chip-ID: 1d6b:0002
    class-ID: 0900
  Hub-4: 3-1:2 info: Genesys Logic Hub ports: 4 rev: 2.1
    speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 power: 100mA
    chip-ID: 05e3:0610 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-5: 4-0:1 info: super-speed hub ports: 4 rev: 3.1
    speed: 10 Gb/s (1.16 GiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 3.2 gen-2x1 chip-ID: 1d6b:0003
    class-ID: 0900
  Hub-6: 4-1:2 info: Genesys Logic USB3.0 Hub ports: 4 rev: 3.0
    speed: 5 Gb/s (596.0 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 3.2 gen-1x1 chip-ID: 05e3:0617
    class-ID: 0900
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 59.1 C mobo: N/A gpu: amdgpu temp: 53.0 C
  Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A gpu: amdgpu fan: 777
Repos:
  Packages: pm: pacman pkgs: 1169 libs: 281 tools: pamac
  Active pacman repo servers in: /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
    1: https://mirrors.dotsrc.org/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
Processes:
  CPU top: 5 of 366
  1: cpu: 6.4% command: konsole pid: 57366 mem: 250.0 MiB (1.5%)
  2: cpu: 3.4% command: firefox pid: 56500 mem: 631.7 MiB (3.9%)
  3: cpu: 2.5% command: firefox pid: 55694 mem: 534.4 MiB (3.3%)
  4: cpu: 1.5% command: firefox pid: 56100 mem: 295.3 MiB (1.8%)
  5: cpu: 1.0% command: qbittorrent pid: 1974 mem: 815.9 MiB (5.1%)
  Memory top: 5 of 366
  1: mem: 815.9 MiB (5.1%) command: qbittorrent pid: 1974 cpu: 1.0%
  2: mem: 631.7 MiB (3.9%) command: firefox pid: 56500 cpu: 3.4%
  3: mem: 534.4 MiB (3.3%) command: firefox pid: 55694 cpu: 2.5%
  4: mem: 379.5 MiB (2.3%) command: plasmashell pid: 1041 cpu: 0.1%
  5: mem: 295.3 MiB (1.8%) command: firefox pid: 56100 cpu: 1.5%
Info:
  Processes: 366 Power: uptime: 8h 1m states: freeze,mem suspend: deep
    avail: s2idle wakeups: 0 hibernate: disabled image: 6.17 GiB
    services: org_kde_powerdevil, power-profiles-daemon, upowerd Init: systemd
    v: 257 default: graphical tool: systemctl
  Compilers: clang: 19.1.7 gcc: 14.2.1 Shell: Bash v: 5.2.37
    running-in: konsole inxi: 3.3.38

I tried downgrading to vlc-3.0.21-9-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst and libvlc-3.0.21-9-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst but that did not solve the problem, not even after a restart.

Those are the versions in manjaro-kde-24.2.1-minimal-241216-linux612.iso , and when I boot that as live ISO, my PC can play videos with AC-3 sound.

Is there something else I should try to downgrade?

$ ldd /usr/bin/vlc
        linux-vdso.so.1 (0x000078d39263b000)
        libvlc.so.5 => /usr/lib/libvlc.so.5 (0x000078d3925dd000)
        libc.so.6 => /usr/lib/libc.so.6 (0x000078d3923eb000)
        libvlccore.so.9 => /usr/lib/libvlccore.so.9 (0x000078d3922d9000)
        libgcc_s.so.1 => /usr/lib/libgcc_s.so.1 (0x000078d3922ab000)
        /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 => /usr/lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 (0x000078d39263d000)
        libm.so.6 => /usr/lib/libm.so.6 (0x000078d3921b3000)
        libdbus-1.so.3 => /usr/lib/libdbus-1.so.3 (0x000078d392160000)
        libsystemd.so.0 => /usr/lib/libsystemd.so.0 (0x000078d39203b000)
        libcap.so.2 => /usr/lib/libcap.so.2 (0x000078d39202f000)

You shouldn’t be downgrading individual packages at all. Arch Linux and Manjaro require the full system to be updated at the same time. When some packages are held back or downgraded, things can and will eventually break.

2 Likes

I adore MPV - on it’s own, or as a backend to PlexHTPC it never fails me with any kind of file I wish to see or hear played.

1 Like

Experiments with a video with AC-3 sound that plays in 5.1 surround channels one after the other, I have seen some weird behaviour.

mediainfo for Video file with 6 channels AC-3
Audio
ID                                       : 189 (0xBD)-128 (0x80)
Format                                   : AC-3
Format/Info                              : Audio Coding 3
Commercial name                          : Dolby Digital
Muxing mode                              : DVD-Video
Duration                                 : 8 s 448 ms
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 448 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 6 channels
Channel layout                           : L R C LFE Ls Rs
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate                               : 31.250 FPS (1536 SPF)
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Stream size                              : 462 KiB (19%)
Service kind                             : Complete Main
Dialog Normalization                     : -31 dB
cmixlev                                  : -4.5 dB
surmixlev                                : -6 dB
dialnorm_Average                         : -31 dB
dialnorm_Minimum                         : -31 dB
dialnorm_Maximum                         : -31 dB
Play with ffplay: sound in all 6 channels
$ ffplay AC3/mpgv_a52-speakertest.AC3_51.vob
Input #0, mpeg, from 'AC3/mpgv_a52-speakertest.AC3_51.vob':
  Duration: 00:00:08.48, start: 0.059233, bitrate: 2355 kb/s
  Stream #0:0[0x1bf]: Data: dvd_nav_packet
  Stream #0:1[0x1e0]: Video: mpeg2video (Main), yuv420p(tv, progressive), 720x480 [SAR 32:27 DAR 16:9], 29.97 fps, 59.94 tbr, 90k tbn
      Side data:
        cpb: bitrate max/min/avg: 8052000/0/0 buffer size: 1835008 vbv_delay: N/A
  Stream #0:2[0x80]: Audio: ac3, 48000 Hz, 5.1(side), fltp, 448 kb/s
  29.15 A-V:102481911520616.969 fd=   0 aq=    0KB vq=    0KB sq=    0B

$ wpctl status
PipeWire 'pipewire-0' [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, cookie:683472053]
 └─ Clients:
        32. WirePlumber                         [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:1075]
        33. pipewire                            [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:1077]
        45.                                     [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:9216]
        46. wpctl                               [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:10010]
        47. WirePlumber [export]                [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:1075]
        58. plasmashell                         [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:9216]
        59. ffplay                              [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:9918]
        60. libcanberra                         [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:9159]
        75.                                     [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:9159]
        77. libcanberra                         [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:9216]
        79. SDL Application                     [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:9918]
        86. xdg-desktop-portal                  [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:9125]

Audio
 β”œβ”€ Devices:
 β”‚      49. Starship/Matisse HD Audio Controller [alsa]
 β”‚      61. Ellesmere HDMI Audio [Radeon RX 470/480 / 570/580/590] [alsa]
 β”‚
 β”œβ”€ Sinks:
 β”‚  *   65. Ellesmere HDMI Audio [Radeon RX 470/480 / 570/580/590] Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI 3) [vol: 1.00]
 β”‚
 β”œβ”€ Sources:
 β”‚
 β”œβ”€ Filters:
 β”‚
 └─ Streams:
        73. SDL Application
             34. output_FL       > DENON-AVR:playback_FL        [active]
             70. output_FC       > DENON-AVR:playback_FC        [active]
             71. output_FR       > DENON-AVR:playback_FR        [active]
             78. output_RR       > DENON-AVR:playback_RR        [active]
             83. output_LFE      > DENON-AVR:playback_LFE       [active]
             84. output_RL       > DENON-AVR:playback_RL        [active]

Then I play with VLC with default config. There is no sound output.

VLC default config
$ vlc AC3/mpgv_a52-speakertest.AC3_51.vob
VLC media player 3.0.21 Vetinari (revision 3.0.21-0-gdd8bfdbabe8)
[00005e5168d555b0] main libvlc: Running vlc with the default interface. Use 'cvlc' to use vlc without interface.
[00005e5168e29ab0] main audio output error: too low audio sample frequency (0)
[0000721e70c590b0] main decoder error: failed to create audio output
[0000721e70c13560] avcodec decoder: Using Mesa Gallium driver 25.0.3-arch1.1 for AMD Radeon RX 590 Series (radeonsi, polaris10, ACO, DRM 3.61, 6.14.0-1-MANJARO) for hardware decoding

$ wpctl status
PipeWire 'pipewire-0' [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, cookie:683472053]
 └─ Clients:
        32. WirePlumber                         [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:1075]
        33. pipewire                            [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:1077]
        45.                                     [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:9216]
        47. WirePlumber [export]                [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:1075]
        58. plasmashell                         [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:9216]
        59. VLC media player (LibVLC 3.0.21)    [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:10232]
        60. libcanberra                         [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:9159]
        67. wpctl                               [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:10292]
        75.                                     [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:9159]
        77. libcanberra                         [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:9216]
        86. xdg-desktop-portal                  [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:9125]

Audio
 β”œβ”€ Devices:
 β”‚      49. Starship/Matisse HD Audio Controller [alsa]
 β”‚      61. Ellesmere HDMI Audio [Radeon RX 470/480 / 570/580/590] [alsa]
 β”‚
 β”œβ”€ Sinks:
 β”‚  *   65. Ellesmere HDMI Audio [Radeon RX 470/480 / 570/580/590] Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI 3) [vol: 1.00]
 β”‚
 β”œβ”€ Sources:
 β”‚
 β”œβ”€ Filters:
 β”‚
 └─ Streams:
        79. VLC media player (LibVLC 3.0.21)
             69. output_1        > DENON-AVR:playback_1 [active]

Now I configure VLC to use ALSA for audio. When I play the video the sound comes out in stereo.

VLC ALSA
$ grep -Ev '^[#[]|^[[:blank:]]*$' /home/freddy/.config/vlc/vlcrc
###
qt-privacy-ask=0
aout=alsa

$ vlc AC3/mpgv_a52-speakertest.AC3_51.vob
VLC media player 3.0.21 Vetinari (revision 3.0.21-0-gdd8bfdbabe8)
[00006246915de5b0] main libvlc: Running vlc with the default interface. Use 'cvlc' to use vlc without interface.
[00006246916b2ac0] main audio output error: too low audio sample frequency (0)
[00007cb29cc596f0] main decoder error: failed to create audio output
[00006246916b2ac0] main audio output error: Can't convert non linear input
[00007cb2801924f0] main audio filter error: cannot add user audio filter "scaletempo" (skipped)
[00006246916b2ac0] main audio output error: Can't convert non linear input
[00006246916b2ac0] main audio output error: cannot setup filtering pipeline
[00007cb29cc596f0] main decoder error: failed to create audio output
[00007cb29cc13560] avcodec decoder: Using Mesa Gallium driver 25.0.3-arch1.1 for AMD Radeon RX 590 Series (radeonsi, polaris10, ACO, DRM 3.61, 6.14.0-1-MANJARO) for hardware decoding

$ wpctl status
PipeWire 'pipewire-0' [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, cookie:683472053]
 └─ Clients:
        32. WirePlumber                         [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:1075]
        33. pipewire                            [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:1077]
        45.                                     [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:9216]
        47. WirePlumber [export]                [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:1075]
        58. plasmashell                         [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:9216]
        59. PipeWire ALSA [vlc]                 [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:10441]
        60. libcanberra                         [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:9159]
        62. wpctl                               [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:10507]
        75.                                     [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:9159]
        77. libcanberra                         [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:9216]
        86. xdg-desktop-portal                  [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:9125]

Audio
 β”œβ”€ Devices:
 β”‚      49. Starship/Matisse HD Audio Controller [alsa]
 β”‚      61. Ellesmere HDMI Audio [Radeon RX 470/480 / 570/580/590] [alsa]
 β”‚
 β”œβ”€ Sinks:
 β”‚  *   65. Ellesmere HDMI Audio [Radeon RX 470/480 / 570/580/590] Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI 3) [vol: 1.00]
 β”‚
 β”œβ”€ Sources:
 β”‚
 β”œβ”€ Filters:
 β”‚
 └─ Streams:
        79. PipeWire ALSA [vlc]
             48. output_FL       > DENON-AVR:playback_FL        [active]
             57. output_FR       > DENON-AVR:playback_FR        [active]

After playing with VLC ALSA output, stereo sound is not reset. Only logout and login resets sound to 5.1 surround.

ffplay after VLC ALSA
$ ffplay AC3/mpgv_a52-speakertest.AC3_51.vob
Input #0, mpeg, from 'AC3/mpgv_a52-speakertest.AC3_51.vob':
  Duration: 00:00:08.48, start: 0.059233, bitrate: 2355 kb/s
  Stream #0:0[0x1bf]: Data: dvd_nav_packet
  Stream #0:1[0x1e0]: Video: mpeg2video (Main), yuv420p(tv, progressive), 720x480 [SAR 32:27 DAR 16:9], 29.97 fps, 59.94 tbr, 90k tbn
      Side data:
        cpb: bitrate max/min/avg: 8052000/0/0 buffer size: 1835008 vbv_delay: N/A
  Stream #0:2[0x80]: Audio: ac3, 48000 Hz, 5.1(side), fltp, 448 kb/s
   6.96 A-V: -0.011 fd=   0 aq=   56KB vq=  152KB sq=    0B

$ wpctl status
PipeWire 'pipewire-0' [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, cookie:683472053]
 └─ Clients:
        32. WirePlumber                         [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:1075]
        33. pipewire                            [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:1077]
        45.                                     [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:9216]
        47. WirePlumber [export]                [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:1075]
        58. plasmashell                         [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:9216]
        59. ffplay                              [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:10550]
        60. libcanberra                         [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:9159]
        64. wpctl                               [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:10641]
        75.                                     [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:9159]
        77. libcanberra                         [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:9216]
        79. SDL Application                     [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:10550]
        86. xdg-desktop-portal                  [1.4.1, freddy@statPC, pid:9125]

Audio
 β”œβ”€ Devices:
 β”‚      49. Starship/Matisse HD Audio Controller [alsa]
 β”‚      61. Ellesmere HDMI Audio [Radeon RX 470/480 / 570/580/590] [alsa]
 β”‚
 β”œβ”€ Sinks:
 β”‚  *   65. Ellesmere HDMI Audio [Radeon RX 470/480 / 570/580/590] Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI 3) [vol: 1.00]
 β”‚
 β”œβ”€ Sources:
 β”‚
 β”œβ”€ Filters:
 β”‚
 └─ Streams:
        57. SDL Application
             35. output_FL       > DENON-AVR:playback_FL        [active]
             48. output_FR       > DENON-AVR:playback_FR        [active]

Work-around: configure VLC audio output module to ALSA audio output. VLC will play all audio in stereo, and I can accept that for most videos I watch - TV shows etc.

Audio can be reset with

alsactl init
systemctl --user restart  pipewire pipewire-pulse

To watch a movie with proper surround sound I will use ffplay.

Yes, MPV could also be a solution, but I am too lazy to learn new keyboard shortcuts, and I expect the VLC problem will be resolved in a later version.

Thank you all.

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