11.3m7 - No sound from VIA VT1708S audio chipset

[paspro]

My PC has the ASUS P7H55-M SI motherboard with the audio chipset VIA VT1708S. Under openSUSE 11.3 Milestone 7 (64-bit) I have no sound although the audio chipset seems to be properly recognised and supported by the OS.

I used the alsamixer application and I set the volume for all channels, including PCM to their maximum value but still I get no sound. When the OS boots I hear a “click” sound coming from the audio chipset when it is initialised by the kernel but then the sound stops and I hear nothing.

Note that I do not have this problem with Ubuntu 10.04 and openSUSE 11.2 but I have the same issue with Fedora 13. My guess is that Fedora 13 and openSUSE 11.3m7, having newer kernel/alsa software versions, exhibit this problem due to some bug introduced to the code.

Here is some extra information:

aplay -l

**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 1: Intel [HDA Intel], device 0: VT1708S Analog [VT1708S Analog]
Subdevices: 2/2
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
Subdevice #1: subdevice #1
card 1: Intel [HDA Intel], device 1: VT1708S Digital [VT1708S Digital]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

cat /proc/asound/cards

0 [Q9000 ]: USB-Audio - QuickCam Pro 9000
Logitech, Inc. QuickCam Pro 9000 at usb-0000:00:1d.0-1.6, high speed
1 [Intel ]: HDA-Intel - HDA Intel
HDA Intel at 0xf3ff8000 irq 34

head -n 3 /proc/asound/card1/codec#0

Codec: VIA VT1708S
Address: 0
Function Id: 0x1

amixer

Simple mixer control ‘Master’,0
Capabilities: pvolume pswitch pswitch-joined penum
Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
Limits: Playback 0 - 65536
Mono:
Front Left: Playback 98304 [150%] [on]
Front Right: Playback 98304 [150%] [on]
Simple mixer control ‘Capture’,0
Capabilities: cvolume cswitch cswitch-joined penum
Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
Limits: Capture 0 - 65536
Front Left: Capture 10093 [15%] [on]
Front Right: Capture 10093 [15%] [on]

Any ideas?

[oldcpu]

@paspro

My PC has the ASUS P7H55-M SI motherboard with the audio chipset VIA VT1708S. Under openSUSE 11.3 Milestone 7 (64-bit) I have no sound although the audio chipset seems to be properly recognised and supported by the OS.

I used the alsamixer application and I set the volume for all channels, including PCM to their maximum value but still I get no sound. When the OS boots I hear a “click” sound coming from the audio chipset when it is initialised by the kernel but then the sound stops and I hear nothing.

Note that I do not have this problem with Ubuntu 10.04 and openSUSE 11.2 but I have the same issue with Fedora 13. My guess is that Fedora 13 and openSUSE 11.3m7, having newer kernel/alsa software versions, exhibit this problem due to some bug introduced to the code.

Can you run (with your PC connected to the Internet) the diagnostic script:

/usr/sbin/alsa-info.sh 

and select the share/upload option, post here the website/URL address it gives you for the script output.

If you can’t find that, then run:

/usr/sbin/alsa-info.sh --no-upload

and open the file /tmp/alsa-info.txt and copy the file and paste the contents on New - Pastie and press paste on that site, and post here the website/URL address where the pasted contents end up after pressing paste.

I need that to make any sort of assessment.

[oldcpu]

@oldcpu

Can you run (with your PC connected to the Internet) the diagnostic script:

/usr/sbin/alsa-info.sh 

In addition to the diagnostic script output, after a fresh reboot can you provide the contents of your dmesg ? (put it on a pastebin site) … ie … as a regular user

dmesg > dmesg-output.txt

and open dmesg-output.txt and copy the output to New - Pastie and press paste, and post here the output URL/website address.

[paspro]

The following is the output from the alsa-info.sh command:

Alsa-Info Output - Google Docs

and the output of the dmesg command can be seen here:

Dmesg - Google Docs

[oldcpu]

@paspro

and the output of the dmesg command can be seen here:

Dmesg - Google Docs

I looked at the dmesg:

   30.496205] USB Video Class driver (v0.1.0)
   30.615363] usbcore: registered new interface driver snd-usb-audio
   31.093720]   alloc irq_desc for 22 on node -1
   31.093722]   alloc kstat_irqs on node -1


   31.093728] HDA Intel 0000:00:1b.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 22 (level, low) -> IRQ 22
   31.094631]   alloc irq_desc for 34 on node -1
   31.094632]   alloc kstat_irqs on node -1
   31.094639] HDA Intel 0000:00:1b.0: irq 34 for MSI/MSI-X
   31.094660] HDA Intel 0000:00:1b.0: setting latency timer to 64
   32.213528] ALSA hda_codec.c:4358: autoconfig: line_outs=1 (0x1c/0x0/0x0/0x0/0x0)
   32.213531] ALSA hda_codec.c:4362:    speaker_outs=0 (0x0/0x0/0x0/0x0/0x0)
   32.213534] ALSA hda_codec.c:4366:    hp_outs=1 (0x1d/0x0/0x0/0x0/0x0)
   32.213536] ALSA hda_codec.c:4367:    mono: mono_out=0x0
   32.213537] ALSA hda_codec.c:4370:    dig-out=0x20/0x0
   32.213539] ALSA hda_codec.c:4378:    inputs: mic=0x1a, fmic=0x1e, line=0x1b, fline=0x0, cd=0x0, aux=0x0

Nothing unusual there, although I do note your USB sound device (mic on a webcam ? ) is being loaded first.

@paspro

The following is the output from the alsa-info.sh command:

Alsa-Info Output - Google Docs

When I look at the script, I see the same, your webcam is the first audio device:

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

 0 [Q9000          ]: USB-Audio - QuickCam Pro 9000
                      Logitech, Inc. QuickCam Pro 9000 at usb-0000:00:1d.0-1.6, high speed
 1 [Intel          ]: HDA-Intel - HDA Intel
                      HDA Intel at 0xf3ff8000 irq 34

Note the desktop will typically use the 1st audio device by default, which is in this case the QuickCam Pro. Needless to say, the QuickCam Pro does not play great sound. rotfl!

I also note this in your mixer settings:
!!-------Mixer controls for card 1 [Intel]

Card hw:1 ‘Intel’/‘HDA Intel at 0xf3ff8000 irq 34’
Mixer name : ‘VIA VT1708S’
Components : ‘HDA:11060397,10438415,00100000’
Controls : 27
Simple ctrls : 16
Simple mixer control ‘Master Front’,0
Capabilities: pvolume pswitch penum
Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
Limits: Playback 0 - 31
Mono:
Front Left: Playback 0 [0%] -34.50dB] [on]
Front Right: Playback 0 [0%] -34.50dB] [on]
The master front volume control is muted, which could guarantee no sound.

I assume you can not remove your webcam because it is integrated.

Why don’t you go to YaST > Hardware > Sound and under “other” change the order of your sound devices? After doing that, also ensure that order of sound devices in your desktop setup is the same.

And finally, IMHO you should move up the volume levels in your PCs “master front volume”.

Also, what are you using for a speaker test? Have you also plugged head sets in for a separate test? Have you also tested (from a terminal) with root permissions?

[oldcpu]

@oldcpu

…
Nothing unusual there, although I do note your USB sound device (mic on a webcam ? ) is being loaded first.

…
Note the desktop will typically use the 1st audio device by default, which is in this case the QuickCam Pro. Needless to say, the QuickCam Pro does not play great sound. rotfl!
…
Why don’t you go to YaST > Hardware > Sound and under “other” change the order of your sound devices? After doing that, also ensure that order of sound devices in your desktop setup is the same.

I note you have encountered similar problem with fedora-13: F13 - No sound from VIA VTS1708S sound card - FedoraForum.org and in Fedora-13 from what I see the order of audio devices is also reversed. In the case of Fedora-13 it appears you did not have the audio levels muted.

That order of audio devices enough to cause a problem if your desktop/applications look at the wrong device, and IMHO it is important you sort that.

[paspro]

Thank you for your advice. Following your e-mail, I disconnected my USB web camera and rebooted the computer. Then, I launched the alsamixer application and set all audio channels to their maximum level. I still have no sound from either the speakers (left, right) or through the headphones.

For this configuration, the results of the alsa-info.sh command can be seen in the following file:

Alsa-info (no web camera) - Google Docs

while the output of the dmesg command can be seen in the following file:

Dmesg (no web camera) - Google Docs

With the web camera removed I tried the Fedora 13 distro again and the results were exactly the same to 11.3m7.

Still, openSUSE 11.2, Fedora 12 and Ubuntu 10.04 do not have this issue and they all give me clear and loud audio.

[oldcpu]

@paspro

Thank you for your advice. Following your e-mail, I disconnected my USB web camera and rebooted the computer. Then, I launched the alsamixer application and set all audio channels to their maximum level. I still have no sound from either the speakers (left, right) or through the headphones.

For this configuration, the results of the alsa-info.sh command can be seen in the following file:

Alsa-info (no web camera) - Google Docs

while the output of the dmesg command can be seen in the following file:

Dmesg (no web camera) - Google Docs

With the web camera removed I tried the Fedora 13 distro again and the results were exactly the same to 11.3m7.

Still, openSUSE 11.2, Fedora 12 and Ubuntu 10.04 do not have this issue and they all give me clear and loud audio.

OK, thanks. This time around there is nothing glaringly obvious (like last time).

Please, what are you using for a speaker test for sound?

If no sound in any application, then try each of the following in a terminal, first as a regular user and then with root permissions. Try with and without headsets:

• first:

 speaker-test -Dplug:front -c2 -l5 -twav

• second, try again:

speaker-test -c2 -l5 -twav

• third:

speaker-test -c2 -D hw:0,0 -t wav -l3

• fourth, this next command has a volume meter at the bottom of its output with a changing number of #'s and %'s to show volume levels so run this command and tell me if the number of #'s and %'s are changing:

aplay -vv /usr/share/sounds/alsa/Front_*

• fifth: and also:

aplay -vv /usr/share/sounds/alsa/test.wav

Do any of those give an indication of sound ?

Also, what happens if you disable pulse audio and then test? i.e. you could open up a Terminal session and enter su - and then the password.

At the terminal prompt enter this command (with root permissions).

setup-pulseaudio --disable

restart and test.

If that does not work, then you MUST enable it again with (with root permissions):

setup-pulseaudio --enable

Whether any of the above works, or does not work, PLEASE write a bug report on openSUSE-11.3 M7 as this should work automatically. There is guidance for writing bug reports here: Submitting Bug Reports - openSUSE Please write the bug report against component “sound” in openSUSE-11.3 M7. Please include ALL salient information in the bug report, as the SuSE-GmbH sound packager, who is also an alsa sound driver developer, will refuse to read a forum thread. Any forum thread. Please attach to the bug report the /tmp/alsa-info.txt file from running:

/usr/sbin/alsa-info.sh --no-upload

… the advantage of raising the bug report is if the alsa developer (also a SuSE-GmbH sound packagers) fixes the bug, he will also send it upstream so that ALL linux distributions will benefit from the fix. Both Fedora and SuSE have an excellent reputation for this (sending fixes upstream). The most popular Linux distribution has a poor reputation in this regard.

[paspro]

I tried all the commands in the previous e-mail and I heard no sound from the audio card. The aplay commands displayed a fluctuating level meter at the bottom but still no sound.

I also disabled/enabled PulseAudio with no success. The only sound I heard from the audio card was during initialisation of the sound system when I changed a setting e.g. disable/enable PulseAudio. In those instances I heard a simple “click” sound from the audio card and then silence.

I am going to submit a bug report as you suggested.
Thank you for the help!

[paspro]

I did a test with the newly released 11.3 RC1 (64-bit) version in order to see if the problem with my sound card has been resolved or not. Unfortunately, I still get no sound. As a matter of fact, with this version when I run alsamixer the volume bar for the headphones is grayed out so the situation is worse!

Also, I had a look at Ubuntu 10.04 which works without problems on my PC and I noticed that it uses the same alsa software version as 11.3 RC1 i.e. 1.0.22. So, what makes the difference and Ubuntu 10.04 produces sound and openSUSE 11.3 RC1 does not ?

BTW, I tried SLED 11 SP1 and it works great without any audio (or other) problems. The same goes to openSUSE 11.2 but I cannot use this version because there seems to be a problem with the RealTek ethernet driver and my network speed is very slow.

[oldcpu]

@paspro

Also, I had a look at Ubuntu 10.04 which works without problems on my PC and I noticed that it uses the same alsa software version as 11.3 RC1 i.e. 1.0.22. So, what makes the difference and Ubuntu 10.04 produces sound and openSUSE 11.3 RC1 does not ?

Two possibilities:

1. a recent kernel update caused a problem and Ubuntu have fix that they have not passed upstream (or they sent the fix to Debian who are slow in passing it upstream). Its very common that Ubuntu produced fixes are incredibly slow in making their way upstream (in comparison to Fedora and SuSE who are good in passing fixes upstream);
   *]or your CD/DVD is bad. Did you compare the md5sum of the downloaded iso file (after you downloaded it) to the md5sum posted on the openSUSE web site? Did you burn to a +R or -R (not an RW) at the slowest speed your burner allows

[paspro]

The CD I burned is fine, I checked the MD5 sum.

[oldcpu]

@paspro

I did a test with the newly released 11.3 RC1 (64-bit) version in order to see if the problem with my sound card has been resolved or not. Unfortunately, I still get no sound. As a matter of fact, with this version when I run alsamixer the volume bar for the headphones is grayed out so the situation is worse!

I recommend you write a bug a report on this. There is guidance here: Submitting Bug Reports - openSUSE with further guidance for sound bug reports here: Bugs:sound - openSUSE. You can use your openSUSE forum user name and password to login to bugzilla. Note the SuSE-GmbH packager will NOT read a forum thread (they will refuse to) so please ensure all salient information is in the bug report. Please also attach the file /tmp/alsa-info.txt to the bug report. You can get that file by running:

/usr/sbin/alsa-info.sh --no-upload

The advantage of writing a bug report is this is brought to the attention of the SuSE-GmbH packager who is also one of the main alsa (sound driver) developers. When they produce a fix, they WILL send it upstream quickly so that all Linux distributions will benefit.

[paspro]

I have submitted a bug report since 11.3 Milestone 7.

[user]

paspro,
>
> I have submitted a bug report since 11.3 Milestone 7.
>

Hi,

Did you find a fix for this? I installed OpenSuSE 11.3RC2 on a system
with this chipset (motherboard is an Asus P5QL/EPU) and I have the same
problem.

Thanks,

Doug

[paspro]

@Doug B

paspro,
>
> I have submitted a bug report since 11.3 Milestone 7.
>

Hi,

Did you find a fix for this? I installed OpenSuSE 11.3RC2 on a system
with this chipset (motherboard is an Asus P5QL/EPU) and I have the same
problem.

Thanks,

Doug

I have not found any solution to this problem yet. I intend to try the 11.3 live CD-ROM when it is released but I am not optimistic. I also tried Fedora 13 with all the latest updates since its release and the problem remains. At this moment only Ubuntu 10.04 is able to recognise this audio chipset and I have no idea what causes this problem. Unfortunately, my bug report to the openSUSE bugzilla system since 11.3m7 regarding this issue has not been processed yet.

[user]

paspro,
>
> I have not found any solution to this problem yet. I intend to try the
> 11.3 live CD-ROM when it is released but I am not optimistic. I also
> tried Fedora 13 with all the latest updates since its release and the
> problem remains. At this moment only Ubuntu 10.04 is able to recognise
> this audio chipset and I have no idea what causes this problem.
> Unfortunately, my bug report to the openSUSE bugzilla system since
> 11.3m7 regarding this issue has not been processed yet.
>

Now that you mention it, I don’t think I had sound either when I was
running CentOS /RHEL 5 on this box. If I can’t get it working on
OpenSuSE 11.3 sometime in the next few days, I may have to switch to
Ubuntu, which works flawlessly on my laptop.

Thanks

[oldcpu]

@paspro

I have not found any solution to this problem yet. I intend to try the 11.3 live CD-ROM when it is released but I am not optimistic. I also tried Fedora 13 with all the latest updates since its release and the problem remains. At this moment only Ubuntu 10.04 is able to recognise this audio chipset and I have no idea what causes this problem. Unfortunately, my bug report to the openSUSE bugzilla system since 11.3m7 regarding this issue has not been processed yet.

As soon as you try a more recent version of openSUSE (ie GM instead of m7) you can indicate that on the bug report.

[paspro]

I just tried the official release 11.3 64-bit Live GNOME edition and the audio problem remains the same. Still no sound.

Too bad…

[paspro]

I modified my bug report to reflect this fact:
https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=614062