Sound Static

[Air-Wolf]

Hey Folks,

I'm trying to figure out what in the world is going on with my sound in OpenSuSE. I put in a brand new Audigy chipset soundcard and finally got some sound to come out of the speakers. I used the guide here:
SDB:AudioTroubleshooting - openSUSE
to fix the permissions on my sound and am able to get sound-test to play sounds as well as connect to the sound device in my vmware and play sounds.

That being said, I have terrible sound quality coming out. There is a lot of static sound like white noise and the volume of the actual sound played is very low compared to the noise. The sounds also distort somewhat.

I have tried the pulse audio change in the tutorial above also and have been searching around google. The only problem that I saw similar was a person who fixed the problem by updating KDE. I don't have KDE, I'm using Afterstep.

Please, can someone give me some direction?

Thanks!

[oldcpu]

Originally Posted by Air-Wolf

That being said, I have terrible sound quality coming out. There is a lot of static sound like white noise and the volume of the actual sound played is very low compared to the noise. The sounds also distort somewhat.

I have tried the pulse audio change in the tutorial above also and have been searching around google. The only problem that I saw similar was a person who fixed the problem by updating KDE. I don't have KDE, I'm using Afterstep.

Sometimes driving a speaker into distortion by having volume settings too high can cause noise. Another problem of noise can be electrical interference from equipment too close to one's PC. Another problem can be having the speaker wiring setup wrong.

Before I offer advice as to any software/configuration related aspects (and there may be nothing wrong there) can you please provide more detail on your setup by running twice in a terminal with your PC connected to the Internet:

/usr/sbin/alsa-info.sh

the first time run that with root permissions and select YES to the question do you wish to update? You need root permissions so the update to /usr/sbin directory can take place. The second time run it as a regular user, and select the SHARE/UPLOAD option. When the diagnostic script is complete, it will upload diagnostic information to the alsa web site and it will give you a URL. Please post that URL here. Just the URL.

Then please also run the following in a terminal (and post here the output):

rpm -qa '*alsa*'
rpm -qa '*pulse*'
rpm -q libasound2
uname -a
cat /etc/modprobe.d/sound

[Air-Wolf]

Hi, here is the info you requested:

http://www.alsa-project.org/db/?f=8c...4fcfa6699d036e

rpm -qa '*alsa*'
alsa-plugins-pulse-1.0.18-6.12
alsa-tools-gui-1.0.18-1.13
alsa-tools-1.0.18-1.13
alsa-oss-1.0.17-1.37
alsamixergui-0.9.0rc1-584.132
alsa-utils-1.0.18-6.4
alsa-plugins-1.0.18-6.12
alsa-firmware-1.0.17-1.42
alsa-1.0.18-8.12.1

rpm -qa '*pulse*'
alsa-plugins-pulse-1.0.18-6.12
pulseaudio-lang-0.9.14-2.2.1
libpulse0-0.9.14-2.2.1
pulseaudio-0.9.14-2.2.1
pulseaudio-esound-compat-0.9.14-2.2.1

rpm -q libasound2
libasound2-1.0.18-8.12.1

uname -a
Linux SkiFree 2.6.27.37-0.1-pae #1 SMP 2009-10-15 14:56:58 +0200 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux

cat /etc/modprobe.d/sound

options snd slots=snd-ca0106
# Ikk3.teMz8X_yOZ9:SB0310 Audigy LS
alias snd-card-0 snd-ca0106



Additional information: I ran online updates last night and got all recommended packages. Today I ran and added an ALSA update and a Pulse Audio update. Now I do not get distorted sound, I only get static. I have gone back to the mixers, but I can't get any distorted sound back. Nothing is recognizable as tone, just static comes across the speakers.

I am able to "play test sound" in yast now, but it's just static. Previously, nothing would play in yast, though speaker-test and other sounds were working (distorted and static, but making sound).

Thanks for any help!

[oldcpu]

Originally Posted by Air-Wolf

Hey Folks,

I'm trying to figure out what in the world is going on with my sound in OpenSuSE. I put in a brand new Audigy chipset soundcard and finally got some sound to come out of the speakers. I used the guide here:
SDB:AudioTroubleshooting - openSUSE
to fix the permissions on my sound and am able to get sound-test to play sounds as well as connect to the sound device in my vmware and play sounds.

OK, I note two sound cards ... An HDA Intel ALC662 (possibly your motherboard sound) and a CA0106, which presumeably is your audigy:

!!Soundcards recognised by ALSA
!!-----------------------------

 0 [CA0106         ]: CA0106 - CA0106
                      AudigyLS [Unknown] at 0xec00 irq 23
 1 [Intel          ]: HDA-Intel - HDA Intel
                      HDA Intel at 0xfe7f8000 irq 22

I note you have volume set at maximum for card#1, which is your ALC662 (motherboard I guess) but it is muted:

!!-------Mixer controls for card 1 [Intel]
Card hw:1 'Intel'/'HDA Intel at 0xfe7f8000 irq 22'
Mixer name : 'Realtek ALC662 rev1'
Simple mixer control 'Master',0
Mono: Playback 64 [100%] [0.00dB] [off]

I could not see anything obvious wrong with the CA0106 mixer, but I confess I do not have such a device, so I may have missed something.

I note you have digital audio (IEC958) mixer OFF. Should it be ON (I do not know, I am just asking) ?

!!-------Mixer controls for card 0 [CA0106]
Card hw:0 'CA0106'/'AudigyLS [Unknown] at 0xec00 irq 23'
Simple mixer control 'IEC958',0
Mono: Playback [off]
Simple mixer control 'Analog Source',0
Capabilities: cenum
Items: 'Phone' 'Mic' 'Line in' 'Aux'
Item0: 'Phone'
Simple mixer control 'Digital Source',0
Items: 'IEC958 out' 'i2s mixer out' 'IEC958 in' 'i2s in' 'AC97 in' 'SRC out'
Item0: 'SRC out'

I also note you have "phone" and "SRC out" selected in two places. Are those the correct settings?

Finally, I did a search on the alsa web site for the CA0106 and obtained this:
Search results CA0106 - AlsaProject
You PC has 1.0.17 / 1.0.18 of alsa. You could try updating to 1.0.21 of alsa. There is guidance here for that: Alsa-update - openSUSE Be certain to reboot after updating.

[Air-Wolf]

Hi - yes, you see the right card. The other card is on-board and I could not get any sound to play on it at all. I bought a cheap soundblaster chipped card to try.

I don't know if those mixer settings are "correct", I only know they are how I can make some sound come from my speakers. If I unmute the IEC958 all sound stops. It was this way before my update and now, so I think it must be muted for my sound to work, but I don't know 100%. I am using only the analog output on the card.

As far as phone and SRC, I have tried all available settings and combinations with those two with no difference in sound.

I will read the links you posted. Thank you.

[oldcpu]

Originally Posted by Air-Wolf

Hi - yes, you see the right card. The other card is on-board and I could not get any sound to play

I'm pretty certain we can get sound out of both devices. It just might take some determination and some tuning.

[Air-Wolf]

Hi - I used the second link to update my ALSA drivers. Since I have updated, I have some poor quality sound now. If I run the "test sound" in yast, it is only static until the last second or two. Then it plays the end of the test sound, but still not clearly.

If I use something like YouTube, I get distorted audio and sometimes just static.

I am going home for the weekend, but will be back and working on the problem Monday morning. I welcome any further suggestions.

Thanks!

[oldcpu]

Originally Posted by Air-Wolf

Hi - I used the second link to update my ALSA drivers. Since I have updated, I have some poor quality sound now. If I run the "test sound" in yast, it is only static until the last second or two. Then it plays the end of the test sound, but still not clearly.

If I use something like YouTube, I get distorted audio and sometimes just static.

I am going home for the weekend, but will be back and working on the problem Monday morning. I welcome any further suggestions.

Thanks!

I need to check the quality of the output. Which means please run again:

/usr/sbin/alsa-info.sh

and post here the output URL.

And please provide output of:

rpm -qa '*alsa*'
rpm -q libasound2

Do you have sound working under any other operating system ? (such as windows) so that we can confirm you have the wiring correct.

[Air-Wolf]

Hi, I am back in the office. Thanks for your reply, here is the information you requested:

http://www.alsa-project.org/db/?f=8d...06ca7a092338bd

SkiFree:~> rpm -qa '*alsa*'
alsa-plugins-pulse-1.0.18-6.12
alsa-tools-gui-1.0.18-1.13
alsa-tools-1.0.18-1.13
alsa-oss-1.0.17-1.37
alsamixergui-0.9.0rc1-584.132
alsa-utils-1.0.18-6.4
alsa-plugins-1.0.18-6.12
alsa-firmware-1.0.17-1.42
alsa-docs-1.0.18-8.12.1
alsa-1.0.18-8.12.1
alsa-driver-kmp-pae-1.0.21.20091105_2.6.27.37_0.1-2.1
SkiFree:~> rpm -q libasound2
libasound2-1.0.18-8.12.1

I do not have another operating system on this workstation, but I have the speakers working on my other workstation. I have tried the speakers in each jack on the sound card, just in case, but they seem to be hooked up correctly. I will try to find a boot CD that I can test sound on this workstation with.

[oldcpu]

Originally Posted by Air-Wolf

Hi, I am back in the office. Thanks for your reply, here is the information you requested:

http://www.alsa-project.org/db/?f=8d...06ca7a092338bd

SkiFree:~> rpm -qa '*alsa*'
alsa-plugins-pulse-1.0.18-6.12
alsa-tools-gui-1.0.18-1.13
alsa-tools-1.0.18-1.13
alsa-oss-1.0.17-1.37
alsamixergui-0.9.0rc1-584.132
alsa-utils-1.0.18-6.4
alsa-plugins-1.0.18-6.12
alsa-firmware-1.0.17-1.42
alsa-docs-1.0.18-8.12.1
alsa-1.0.18-8.12.1
alsa-driver-kmp-pae-1.0.21.20091105_2.6.27.37_0.1-2.1
SkiFree:~> rpm -q libasound2
libasound2-1.0.18-8.12.1

Ok, thanks. Clearly, the update FAILED for all of the applications, but one. For some reason, zypper refused to update to the new versions, but instead assumed the version of the alsa applications on OSS or on Update were more current, which is NOT the case. I can NOT explain why that happened.

So instead, I recommend you download the needed rpm files from the multimedia server, and install them with the rpm command. You can do this by going here: Index of /repositories/multimedia:/libs/openSUSE_11.1/i586 and download

• alsa-1.0.21-51.1.i586.rpm
• alsa-docs-1.0.21-51.1.i586.rpm
• alsa-oss-1.0.17-27.4.i586.rpm
• alsa-plugins-1.0.21-19.5.i586.rpm
• alsa-plugins-pulse-1.0.21-19.5.i586.rpm
• alsa-tools-1.0.21-6.4.i586.rpm
• alsa-tools-gui-1.0.21-6.4.i586.rpm
• alsa-utils-1.0.21-15.4.i586.rpm
• libasound2-1.0.21-51.1.i586.rpm

and go here: Index of /repositories/multimedia:/libs/openSUSE_11.1/noarch and download

• alsa-firmware-1.0.20-5.1.noarch.rpm

and save to the same directory as the above rpms.

and then in a terminal navigate to the directory where the rpms are saved, and with root/admin permissions install them with:

rpm -Uvh alsa-1.0.21-51.1.i586.rpm alsa-docs-1.0.21-51.1.i586.rpm alsa-oss-1.0.17-27.4.i586.rpm alsa-plugins-1.0.21-19.5.i586.rpm alsa-plugins-pulse-1.0.21-19.5.i586.rpm alsa-tools-1.0.21-6.4.i586.rpm alsa-tools-gui-1.0.21-6.4.i586.rpm  alsa-utils-1.0.21-15.4.i586.rpm libasound2-1.0.21-51.1.i586.rpm alsa-firmware-1.0.20-5.1.noarch.rpm

and then run

SuSEconfig
ldconfig

and then restart your PC and test your audio.

Note if you wait too long (ie a day or two) those version numbers may be out of date and you will have to change the command to reflect the rpms you actually downloaded, so please do this reasonably soon.

Originally Posted by Air-Wolf

I do not have another operating system on this workstation, but I have the speakers working on my other workstation. I have tried the speakers in each jack on the sound card, just in case, but they seem to be hooked up correctly. I will try to find a boot CD that I can test sound on this workstation with.

Yes, please find a liveCD, and boot to it and test. I recommend you try the Sidux live CD: sidux.com :: debian based live cd development as my experience is Sidux, which uses a cutting edge unstable branch of Debian (sid) has the best hardware detection in Linux.