Please provide output of pulseaudio -vvvvv when the detection of the profiles fail.

Created attachment 356026 [details]
pulseaudio-aureon-log.txt

with kernel-2.6.31-0.118.rc5.fc12.i686

Smells as if your alsa-lib userspace wouldn't match the kernel

Upgraded alsa-lib, and it doesn't fix it.

Hmm, does "aplay -D plug:surround51:0 -f CD < /dev/urandom" work?

used :1, otherwise it would have played on the internal card, and it works fine:

$ aplay -D plug:surround51:1 -f CD < /dev/urandom
Playing raw data 'stdin' : Signed 16 bit Little Endian, Rate 44100 Hz, Stereo
(white noise on all 5 speakers)

Tested with:
alsa-lib-1.0.20-2.fc12.i686
kernel-2.6.31-0.125.rc5.git2.fc12.i686
pulseaudio-0.9.16-5.test4.fc12.i686

Basten, which udev version is this? We need udev-145-3 at least.

next version in rawhide will make that dep on udev-145-3 explicit.

So you say you have alsa, udev and the kernel fully upgraded?

Will assign to alsa-lib then, since on your machine opening surround51:xxx for the card results in a device that doesn't accept 6ch, which makes no sense.

The interesting log output is this:

D: alsa-util.c: Trying surround51:0 with SND_PCM_NO_AUTO_FORMAT ...
D: alsa-util.c: Managed to open surround51:0
D: alsa-util.c: snd_pcm_hw_params_set_channels(6) failed: Invalid argument

Opening surround51:0 must result in a snd_pcm_t that accepts 6 channels. If it doesn't the mapping is broken in ALSA.

Now on my main desktop:

alsa-lib-1.0.21-1.fc12.i686
pulseaudio-0.9.16-13.test7.fc12.x86_64
udev-145-7.fc12.x86_64
kernel 2.6.31-0.204.rc9.fc12.x86_64

pacmd output:
   index: 0
	name: <alsa_card.usb-0ccd_USB_Audio-00>
	driver: <module-alsa-card.c>
	owner module: 4
	properties:
		alsa.card = "2"
		alsa.card_name = "Aureon5.1MkII"
		alsa.long_card_name = "TerraTec Aureon5.1MkII at usb-0000:00:1d.7-1.3, full speed"
		alsa.driver_name = "snd_usb_audio"
		device.bus_path = "pci-0000:00:1d.7-usb-0:1.3:1.0"
		sysfs.path = "/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.7/usb1/1-1/1-1.3/1-1.3:1.0/sound/card2"
		udev.id = "usb-0ccd_USB_Audio-00"
		device.bus = "usb"
		device.vendor.id = "0ccd"
		device.vendor.name = "TerraTec Electronic GmbH"
		device.product.id = "0028"
		device.product.name = "Aureon 5.1 MkII"
		device.serial = "0ccd_USB_Audio"
		device.string = "2"
		device.description = "Aureon 5.1 MkII"
		module-udev-detect.discovered = "1"
		device.icon_name = "audio-card-usb"
	profiles:
		output:analog-stereo: Analog Stereo Output (priority 6000)
		output:analog-stereo+input:analog-stereo: Analog Stereo Duplex (priority 6060)
		input:analog-stereo: Analog Stereo Input (priority 60)
		off: Off (priority 0)
	active profile: <output:analog-stereo+input:analog-stereo>
	sinks:
		alsa_output.usb-0ccd_USB_Audio-00.analog-stereo/#0: Aureon 5.1 MkII Analog Stereo
	sources:
		alsa_output.usb-0ccd_USB_Audio-00.analog-stereo.monitor/#0: Monitor of Aureon 5.1 MkII Analog Stereo
		alsa_input.usb-0ccd_USB_Audio-00.analog-stereo/#1: Aureon 5.1 MkII Analog Stereo

Still no 5.1

$ cat /proc/asound/cards 
 0 [Q9000          ]: USB-Audio - QuickCam Pro 9000
                      Logitech, Inc. QuickCam Pro 9000 at usb-0000:00:1d.7-2, high speed
 1 [ICH7           ]: ICH4 - Intel ICH7
                      Intel ICH7 with AD1981B at irq 23
 2 [Aureon51MkII   ]: USB-Audio - Aureon5.1MkII
                      TerraTec Aureon5.1MkII at usb-0000:00:1d.7-1.3, full speed

$ aplay -D plug:surround51:2 -f CD < /dev/urandom
ALSA lib conf.c:4626:(snd_config_expand) Expand error (walk): File exists
ALSA lib confmisc.c:1286:(snd_func_refer) Unable to find definition 'cards.USB-Audio.pcm.surround51.0:CARD=2'
ALSA lib conf.c:4153:(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_refer returned error: No such file or directory
ALSA lib conf.c:4632:(snd_config_expand) Evaluate error: No such file or directory
ALSA lib pcm.c:2211:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM surround51:2
aplay: main:608: audio open error: No such file or directory

(In reply to comment #10)
> Now on my main desktop:
> 
> alsa-lib-1.0.21-1.fc12.i686

...

> ALSA lib pcm.c:2211:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM surround51:2
> aplay: main:608: audio open error: No such file or directory  

This bug is fixed in alsa-lib-1.0.21-3.fc12 package.

Update alsa-lib, but it still doesn't list 5.1 as an option (at least it has 5.0 and 4.1 outputs):
    index: 0
	name: <alsa_card.usb-0ccd_USB_Audio-00>
	driver: <module-alsa-card.c>
	owner module: 4
	properties:
		alsa.card = "2"
		alsa.card_name = "Aureon5.1MkII"
		alsa.long_card_name = "TerraTec Aureon5.1MkII at usb-0000:00:1d.7-1.3, full speed"
		alsa.driver_name = "snd_usb_audio"
		device.bus_path = "pci-0000:00:1d.7-usb-0:1.3:1.0"
		sysfs.path = "/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.7/usb1/1-1/1-1.3/1-1.3:1.0/sound/card2"
		udev.id = "usb-0ccd_USB_Audio-00"
		device.bus = "usb"
		device.vendor.id = "0ccd"
		device.vendor.name = "TerraTec Electronic GmbH"
		device.product.id = "0028"
		device.product.name = "Aureon 5.1 MkII"
		device.serial = "0ccd_USB_Audio"
		device.string = "2"
		device.description = "Aureon 5.1 MkII"
		module-udev-detect.discovered = "1"
		device.icon_name = "audio-card-usb"
	profiles:
		output:analog-stereo: Analog Stereo Output (priority 6000)
		output:analog-stereo+input:analog-stereo: Analog Stereo Duplex (priority 6060)
		output:analog-stereo+input:iec958-stereo: Analog Stereo Output + Digital Stereo (IEC958) Input (priority 6055)
		output:analog-surround-41: Analog Surround 4.1 Output (priority 800)
		output:analog-surround-41+input:analog-stereo: Analog Surround 4.1 Output + Analog Stereo Input (priority 860)
		output:analog-surround-41+input:iec958-stereo: Analog Surround 4.1 Output + Digital Stereo (IEC958) Input (priority 855)
		output:analog-surround-50: Analog Surround 5.0 Output (priority 700)
		output:analog-surround-50+input:analog-stereo: Analog Surround 5.0 Output + Analog Stereo Input (priority 760)
		output:analog-surround-50+input:iec958-stereo: Analog Surround 5.0 Output + Digital Stereo (IEC958) Input (priority 755)
		output:analog-surround-51: Analog Surround 5.1 Output (priority 800)
		output:analog-surround-51+input:analog-stereo: Analog Surround 5.1 Output + Analog Stereo Input (priority 860)
		output:analog-surround-51+input:iec958-stereo: Analog Surround 5.1 Output + Digital Stereo (IEC958) Input (priority 855)
		output:iec958-stereo: Digital Stereo Duplex (IEC958) (priority 5500)
		output:iec958-stereo+input:analog-stereo: Digital Stereo (IEC958) Output + Analog Stereo Input (priority 5560)
		output:iec958-stereo+input:iec958-stereo: Digital Stereo (IEC958) Output + Digital Stereo (IEC958) Input (priority 5555)
		input:analog-stereo: Analog Stereo Input (priority 60)
		input:iec958-stereo: Digital Stereo (IEC958) Input (priority 55)
		off: Off (priority 0)
	active profile: <output:analog-surround-50+input:iec958-stereo>
	sinks:
		alsa_output.usb-0ccd_USB_Audio-00.analog-surround-50/#0: Aureon 5.1 MkII Analog Surround 5.0
	sources:
		alsa_output.usb-0ccd_USB_Audio-00.analog-surround-50.monitor/#0: Monitor of Aureon 5.1 MkII Analog Surround 5.0
		alsa_input.usb-0ccd_USB_Audio-00.iec958-stereo/#3: Aureon 5.1 MkII Digital Stereo (IEC958)

This works:
$ aplay -D plug:surround51:2 -f CD < /dev/urandom

(In reply to comment #12)
> Update alsa-lib, but it still doesn't list 5.1 as an option (at least it has
> 5.0 and 4.1 outputs):

It does! 

>   output:analog-surround-51: Analog Surround 5.1 Output (priority 800)
>   output:analog-surround-51+input:analog-stereo: Analog Surround 5.1 Output +
> Analog Stereo Input (priority 860)
>   output:analog-surround-51+input:iec958-stereo: Analog Surround 5.1 Output +
> Digital Stereo (IEC958) Input (priority 855)

These are the 5.1 profiles. You get 5.1 out, 5.1 out plus 2.0 in, and 5.1 out plus spdif in. Looks complete to me.

Duh, yes. I guess I was using a broken tool to see if it was available...

pavucontrol didn't list the 5.1 output, but gnome-volume-control did. Selecting 5.1 in gnome-volume-control and launching pavucontrol gets me an empty drop-down entry.

pavucontrol-0.9.8-1.fc11.x86_64

pavucontrol-0.9.9-0.test1.fc12.1 fixed this, so closing.

I can reproduce this *sometimes* with:
rpm -qa | grep -i -e pulse -e alsa :
alsa-lib-1.0.21-3.fc12.x86_64
xine-lib-pulseaudio-1.1.16.3-4.fc12.x86_64
pulseaudio-module-x11-0.9.19-1.fc12.x86_64
alsa-plugins-pulseaudio-1.0.21-2.fc12.i686
pulseaudio-libs-0.9.19-1.fc12.x86_64
pulseaudio-libs-glib2-0.9.19-1.fc12.x86_64
pulseaudio-0.9.19-1.fc12.x86_64
alsa-utils-1.0.21-2.fc12.x86_64
alsa-lib-1.0.21-3.fc12.i686
pulseaudio-utils-0.9.19-1.fc12.x86_64
pulseaudio-module-bluetooth-0.9.19-1.fc12.x86_64
kde-settings-pulseaudio-4.3-10.1.noarch
alsa-plugins-pulseaudio-1.0.21-2.fc12.x86_64
pulseaudio-libs-0.9.19-1.fc12.i686

sometimes all profiles are listed, but sometimes only stereo is listed

Created attachment 364421 [details]
pulseaudio -vvvvv

Created attachment 364422 [details]
gnome-volume-control screenshot

Created attachment 364424 [details]
pavucontrol screenshot

the log in comment #16 is from situation when this happend:
(pulseaudio -k)
pulseaudio -vvvvv 2>&1 | tee pulse.log
plug in usb sound card
start pavucontrol

The interesting lines are this ones:

D: alsa-mixer.c: Looking at profile output:analog-surround-51
D: alsa-mixer.c: Checking for playback on Analog Surround 5.1 (analog-surround-51)
D: alsa-util.c: Trying surround51:1 with SND_PCM_NO_AUTO_FORMAT ...
I: (alsa-lib)confmisc.c: Unable to find definition 'cards.USB-Audio.pcm.surround51.0:CARD=1'
I: (alsa-lib)conf.c: function snd_func_refer returned error: No such file or directory
I: (alsa-lib)conf.c: Evaluate error: No such file or directory
I: (alsa-lib)pcm.c: Unknown PCM surround51:1
I: alsa-util.c: Error opening PCM device surround51:1: No such file or directory

So the problem seems to be that the alsa config is incomplete?

Raassigning to alsa-libs.

Could you attach output from 'alsa-info.sh --no-upload' when things does not work?

Created attachment 364631 [details]
output of alsa-info

This bug was discussed at the blocker review meeting today. We felt it wasn't severe enough to be worth holding up the release for, hence dropping it to F12Target. If it's not fixed by release time it will be documented in Common Bugs. Bastien, if you really feel it should be a blocker please add it back to the list and we'll ask you into the next review meeting to discuss it.

-- 
Fedora Bugzappers volunteer triage team
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/BugZappers

It's working fine now. If people still see this bug, please file a separate one.