No. /dev/dsp is the sound device for OSS.
ALSA has its devices in /dev/snd/.
So it should rather be “lsof /dev/snd/*”.
Normally it should be no problem for more than one application to use ALSA devices at the same time though (the dmix plugin is enabled by default).
But if an application uses the device via OSS, it blocks all others, so it still might be worth to check whether one is using /dev/dsp as well.
@OP:
Are you sure that PulseAudio is not running?
This takes exclusive control over the sound devices, so all other programs using ALSA will not work.
Better check in with “ps aux|grep pulse” or in the system monitor.
OTOH:
So playback does actually work, doesn’t it?
You have a problem with recording, right?
Regarding speaker-test, have you tried it without any parameters?
The speakers are working fine. Both aplay and speaker-test produce sound. What I have is no microphone response; i.e., no sound is getting into the system.
Specifically, I’m using Mumble. It was working fine on Monday, but yesterday participants in a Mumble session were unable to hear me. Both the Mumble Audio Wizard and the Configuration dialog show no microphone response.
**#lsof /dev/snd/***
lsof: WARNING: can't stat() fuse.gvfsd-fuse file system /run/user/1000/gvfs
Output information may be incomplete.
lsof: WARNING: can't stat() fuse.gvfsd-fuse file system /var/run/user/1000/gvfs
Output information may be incomplete.
COMMAND PID USER FD TYPE DEVICE SIZE/OFF NODE NAME
kmix 2742 leslie 10u CHR 116,6 0t0 7801 /dev/snd/controlC0
kmix 2742 leslie 11u CHR 116,9 0t0 7807 /dev/snd/controlC1
mumble 3112 leslie mem CHR 116,3 7798 /dev/snd/pcmC0D0p
mumble 3112 leslie mem CHR 116,4 7799 /dev/snd/pcmC0D0c
mumble 3112 leslie 21r CHR 116,33 0t0 8855 /dev/snd/timer
mumble 3112 leslie 22u CHR 116,4 0t0 7799 /dev/snd/pcmC0D0c
mumble 3112 leslie 23u CHR 116,6 0t0 7801 /dev/snd/controlC0
mumble 3112 leslie 24r CHR 116,33 0t0 8855 /dev/snd/timer
mumble 3112 leslie 25u CHR 116,3 0t0 7798 /dev/snd/pcmC0D0p
mumble 3112 leslie 26u CHR 116,6 0t0 7801 /dev/snd/controlC0
Normally it should be no problem for more than one application to use ALSA devices at the same time though (the dmix plugin is enabled by default).
But if an application uses the device via OSS, it blocks all others, so it still might be worth to check whether one is using /dev/dsp as well.
@OP:
Are you sure that PulseAudio is not running?
[/quote]
Yes; that was the first thing I checked.
This takes exclusive control over the sound devices, so all other programs using ALSA will not work.
Better check in with “ps aux|grep pulse” or in the system monitor.
OTOH:
So playback does actually work, doesn’t it?
You have a problem with recording, right?
Correct.
Regarding speaker-test, have you tried it without any parameters?
For a while I thought the problem might be merely something gone wrong with Mumble, but then I noticed that if I close the laptop I get faint feedback sounds between the built-in microphone and the built-in speakers; so I tried recording some audio with arecord, and get this output:
We have a lot of cooks here. Tell me to stop contributing if I am not helpful.
I misread your message . I thought you had no sound.
wrt your mic, you may have your mic muted. Note this:
**Simple mixer control 'Mic Boost',0**
Capabilities: volume
Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
Limits: 0 - 3
Front Left: 0 **0%**] [0.00dB]
Front Right: 0 **0%**] [0.00dB]
**Simple mixer control 'Capture',0**
Capabilities: cvolume cswitch
Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
Limits: Capture 0 - 46
Front Left: Capture 32 [70%] [15.00dB] [on]
Front Right: Capture 32 [70%] [15.00dB] [on]
**Simple mixer control 'Auto-Mute Mode',0**
Capabilities: enum
Items: 'Disabled' 'Enabled'
Item0: 'Disabled'
**Simple mixer control 'Digital',0**
Capabilities: cvolume
Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
Limits: Capture 0 - 120
Front Left: **Capture** 0 **0%**] -30.00dB]
Front Right:** Capture** 0 **0%**] -30.00dB]
**Simple mixer control 'Internal Mic Boost',0**
Capabilities: volume
Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
Limits: 0 - 3
Front Left: 0 **0%**] [0.00dB]
Front Right: 0 **0%**] [0.00dB]
On some computers, the mic will not record with boost levels at 0%. Your PC has both the internal mic set to 0% boost and the mixer control boost set to 0%.
In addition the digital control capture is set to 0% capture. If this is an internal mic in a laptop that prevents capture.
wrt testing, FIX your mixer settings. Then try this command in a terminal as a regular user, and also if that fails with root permissions:
Okay, it turns out the problem was that** KMix set the Input Digital slider to 0**. I’ll have to remember this in future; it has happened several times now, for no apparent reason.
I can’t find any information on the purposes of the Output PCM slider, the Input Digital slider, and the Switch IEC598. Can anyone enlighten me?
Typically PCM is associated with your output volume control for sound files (where PCM is for “Pulse Code Modulation”.).
Input Digital mic control is for a digital mic - typically that is applicable for laptops with an integrated webcam, and that controls the laptop microphone which is usually associated with the integrated webcam and is usually digital.
IEC958 is a standard for digital audio transfer published by the IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission). wrt IEC 958 and alsa, possibly an explanation here may help: http://www.alsa-project.org/~tiwai/writing-an-alsa-driver/ch10s03.html . A lot of this is hardware dependent and varies from PC to PC.