[MPlayer-users] newer mplayers don't seem to show if audio track is 2 or 5.1 channels

[Marc MERLIN]

Howdy,

I used to be able to use mplayer to see if a file was AC3 encoded, but more importantly
how many channels are in the audio.

I don't know when, but this broke in the last year or so.

I can get mplayer -v to show me it's AC3 sound, but not show me it's 5.1 
anymore.

Is there a way to do this with newer mplayers?

At least those 2 mplayers cannot show 5.1 anymore:
MPlayer 1.1-4.7 (C) 2000-2012 MPlayer Team
MPlayer svn r34540 (Debian), built with gcc-4.7 (C) 2000-2012 MPlayer Team

I haven't gone back in history to see when this last worked, but it doesn't
matter as much as how do I make it work again?

Thanks,
Marc

gandalfthegreat:$ mplayer  -v -frames 0 -vo null -ao null The\ Number\ 23\ -\ 1280x720\ -\ AC3\ 5.1.mkv 2>&1 | egrep -i '(ac3|dts)'
Adding file Performance - 1280x720 - AC3 5.1.mkv
CommandLine: '-v' '-frames' '0' '-vo' 'null' '-ao' 'null' 'Performance - 1280x720 - AC3 5.1.mkv'
get_path('Performance - 1280x720 - AC3 5.1.mkv.conf') -> '/home/merlin/.mplayer/Performance - 1280x720 - AC3 5.1.mkv.conf'
Playing Performance - 1280x720 - AC3 5.1.mkv.
STREAM: [file] Performance - 1280x720 - AC3 5.1.mkv
[lavf] stream 1: audio (ac3), -aid 0, -alang eng
INFO: libavcodec "ac3" init OK!
Selected audio codec: [ffac3] afm: ffmpeg (FFmpeg AC-3)

gandalfthegreat:$ mplayer -ac hwac3 -v -frames 0 -vo null -ao null The\ Number\ 23\ -\ 1280x720\ -\ AC3\ 5.1.mkv 2>&1 | egrep -i '(ac3|dts)'
Adding file Performance - 1280x720 - AC3 5.1.mkv
CommandLine: '-ac' 'hwac3' '-v' '-frames' '0' '-vo' 'null' '-ao' 'null' 'Performance - 1280x720 - AC3 5.1.mkv'
get_path('Performance - 1280x720 - AC3 5.1.mkv.conf') -> '/home/merlin/.mplayer/Performance - 1280x720 - AC3 5.1.mkv.conf'
Playing Performance - 1280x720 - AC3 5.1.mkv.
STREAM: [file] Performance - 1280x720 - AC3 5.1.mkv
[lavf] stream 1: audio (ac3), -aid 0, -alang eng
Forced audio codec: hwac3
Opening audio decoder: [hwac3] AC3/DTS pass-through S/PDIF
hwac3: switched to AC3, 384000 bps, 48000 Hz
ac3dts: AC3 len=1536  flags=0x0  48000 Hz 384000 bit/s
AUDIO: 48000 Hz, 2 ch, ac3be, 384.0 kbit/25.00% (ratio: 48000->192000)
Selected audio codec: [hwac3] afm: hwac3 (AC3 through S/PDIF)
Building audio filter chain for 48000Hz/2ch/ac3be -> 0Hz/0ch/??...
[dummy] Was reinitialized: 48000Hz/2ch/ac3be
[dummy] Was reinitialized: 48000Hz/2ch/ac3be
AO: [null] 48000Hz 2ch ac3be (2 bytes per sample)
Building audio filter chain for 48000Hz/2ch/ac3be -> 48000Hz/2ch/ac3be...
[dummy] Was reinitialized: 48000Hz/2ch/ac3be
[dummy] Was reinitialized: 48000Hz/2ch/ac3be
Uninit audio: hwac3

-- 
"A mouse is a device used to point at the xterm you want to type in" - A.S.R.
Microsoft is to operating systems ....
                                      .... what McDonalds is to gourmet cooking
Home page: http://marc.merlins.org/