reforger-surround

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

The goal is narrow: create a virtual 5.1 output device, make it the launch-time default, then let Arma Reforger decide whether to create a surround stream. Carla, QPWGraph, EQ, convolution, and long-term routing are intentionally manual follow-up steps.

Requirements

• PipeWire with PulseAudio compatibility
• pactl
• Arma Reforger running through Steam/Proton or another Linux audio path that appears in PipeWire/Pulse

Install

Run directly from the repo:

./reforger-surround --help

Or place it somewhere on your PATH:

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

Basic Test Workflow

Create the 5.1 sink and make it the temporary default:

reforger-surround up

Launch Arma Reforger manually while Reforger Surround 5.1 is the selected/default output device.

After Arma has created its audio stream, restore your normal default device:

reforger-surround restore

Check whether Arma negotiated surround:

reforger-surround check

Clean up the temporary sink:

reforger-surround down

Commands

reforger-surround create   # create the 5.1 sink without changing defaults
reforger-surround up       # create the sink, save current default, make 5.1 default
reforger-surround restore  # restore the saved previous default, keep 5.1 sink alive
reforger-surround down     # restore previous default and unload the 5.1 sink
reforger-surround status   # show sink/default/game stream state
reforger-surround check    # report whether Arma is 2ch or 6ch

Configuration

Defaults are intentionally generic:

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

Override them per command if needed:

REFORGER_SURROUND_APP_NAME="ArmaReforgerSteam.exe" reforger-surround check

Expected Results

Good result:

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

Stereo-only result:

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

If Arma creates a stereo-only stream, restart the game with the 5.1 sink selected/default before launch. Moving an already-created stereo stream usually does not make the game renegotiate surround.

Notes

• up temporarily routes normal system audio to the 5.1 sink until restore is run.
• restore does not unload the 5.1 sink; it only gives normal system audio back to the previous default.
• down unloads the temporary sink created by this tool.
• LFE may be silent in Arma Reforger even when the stream is 6ch.