reforger-surround

Temporary PipeWire/PulseAudio 5.1 sink helper for testing Arma Reforger surround output on Linux.

It creates a virtual 5.1 output device, makes it the launch-time default, then exposes Reforger back to that device after normal system audio is restored.

Requirements

• PipeWire with PulseAudio compatibility
• pactl
• Arma Reforger running through Steam/Proton

Install

Run from the repo:

./reforger-surround --help

Or install locally:

install -Dm755 reforger-surround ~/.local/bin/reforger-surround

Workflow

reforger-surround up

Launch Arma Reforger while Reforger Surround 5.1 is the default output.

reforger-surround restore
reforger-surround check

If successful, clean up later with:

reforger-surround down

Commands

reforger-surround create   # create the 5.1 sink only
reforger-surround up       # create sink, save default, make 5.1 default
reforger-surround expose   # move running Reforger stream to the 5.1 sink
reforger-surround pin      # alias for expose
reforger-surround restore  # restore previous default, then expose Reforger
reforger-surround down     # restore default and unload the 5.1 sink
reforger-surround status   # show current state
reforger-surround check    # report whether Reforger is 2ch or 6ch

Configuration

REFORGER_SURROUND_SINK_NAME=reforger_surround_51
REFORGER_SURROUND_DESCRIPTION="Reforger Surround 5.1"
REFORGER_SURROUND_APP_NAME="Arma Reforger"

Example override:

REFORGER_SURROUND_APP_NAME="ArmaReforgerSteam.exe" reforger-surround check

Expected Result

Good:

Sample Specification: ... 6ch 48000Hz
Channel Map: front-left,front-right,front-center,lfe,rear-left,rear-right

Bad:

Sample Specification: ... 2ch 48000Hz
Channel Map: front-left,front-right

If Reforger negotiates stereo, restart the game with the 5.1 sink selected/default before launch.

Notes

• Prefer restore over manually changing your default output device.
• If you change default output manually, run reforger-surround expose afterward.
• restore keeps the 5.1 sink alive; down unloads it.
• LFE may be silent even when Reforger is outputting 6ch.