I want to know what is the easiest and simplest method for downloading and installing packages and updates in OpenSUSE for a newbie to follow who is uninitiated into linux system. The procedure through YaST2 appears to be slow with frequent time-outs in spite of fast broad band speed.
I first installed Ubuntu which did not have much of GUI and where I could not enable sound in speakers on my Note Book (Acer on 64 bit Vista). I then installed Mandriva which looked good, but I could not succeed in enabling internet connection in spite of twice installing the OS along side Vista in the same HDD. Now I have OpenSUSE installed from ISO CD download v.11.1 and this gives internet connection OK and I am happy with its GUI. But I am still unable to make the speakers work for mp3 files.
Shall be obliged if anyone can help and guide me in basics and fundamentals. Any link to an appropriate ebook will be welcome. Thanks in advance.
On 03/19/2009 kidambi502002 wrote:
> The procedure through YaST2 appears to be slow with frequent
> time-outs in spite of fast broad band speed.
You cannot really blame Yast for network problems.
-
the repos you use probably rely on the mirror process behind “download.opensuse.org”. Find a fast and reliable mirror close to you (http://mirrors.opensuse.org/list/all.html) and use the URLs on this server for the repos.
-
use “sudo zypper up” on the command line rather than Yast
HTH
Uwe
thanks for the advice. shall try to follow it to the best of my ability and solve the issue.
Do speakers work for any other sound?
If speakers do, then this is likely a codec problem. If one uses amarok, it is easy to solve by replacing the Novell/SuSE-GmbH packaged version of amarok and libxine1 with the Packman packaged version of amarok, libxine1, and also amarok-xine, amarok-packman, xine-ui. Installing those will pick up some other applications as dependencies.
My recommendation is to setup your repositories as per the guidance provided here in post#5: openSUSE Forums - View Single Post - NEWBIES - Suse-11.1 Pre-installation – PLEASE READ
Note - ONLY setup for OSS, Non-OSS, Update and Packman.
Once those are setup, you can go to YaST (fix your network problems 1st !!! ) > Software > Software management and change “filter” to “search” and search for and install the applications I mentioned.
Note you can tell packman packaged versions of applications by the “pm” in the version number.
thanks for your reply and a possible solution. However, the speakers are dead and do not give out any sound, even the system sounds are absent. Amarok first indicated that it cannot play mp3.
I shall try out your instructions given above and post my reply.
If you have no speaker sound at all, then the first thing to do is establish basic sound.
To test your sound I recommend you try each of these sound tests (as both a regular user, and with root permissions) to see if one might work:
speaker-test -Dplug:front -c2 -l5 -twav
Note Linux is case sensitive, and “D” is not the same as “d”. To stop the above test, while the konsole/xterm has the mouse focus, press <CTRL><C> on the keyboard. Note you should check your mixer settings (kmix if using KDE, and alsamixer if using Gnome) to ensure that PCM and Master Volume are set around 95%. Note the test for surround sound is different. After you have confirmed basic sound you can move those down to a lower level to remove distortion.
If that test yields errors, try instead this more simple test: speaker-test -c2 -l5 -twavTry as both a regular user and with root permissions. Ideally, you should hear (in one of those two tests, and not necessary both) a lady’s voice saying ‘FRONT RIGHT’,‘FRONT LEFT’ five times.
If no sound there, you could try working your way thru the openSUSE audio troubleshooting guide:
SDB:AudioTroubleshooting - openSUSE
If you have no success with the audio troubleshooting guide, then I will need more information if I am to make a recommendation … So can you provide more very detailed information so a good recommendation can be given? In the case of openSUSE-11.1, you can do that, with your PC connected to the internet, by opening a gnome-terminal or a kde konsole and type “su” (no quotes and enter root password to get root permissions) and then type with root permissions twice:/usr/sbin/alsa-info.shthe first time it will update the diagnostic script, and the second time that will run the diagnostic script and post the output to a web site on the Internet. It will give you the URL of the web site. Please post that URL here. Just the URL.
Also, please to provide additional information, copy and paste the following commands one line at a time into a gnome-terminal or a konsole and post here the output: rpm -qa | grep alsa
rpm -qa | grep pulse
rpm -q libasound2
uname -a
cat /etc/modprobe.d/sound
thanks for your trouble and time. shall try what best I could. I may reiterate that I am a complete newbie and would take time to study and absorb before I proceed further.
To oldcpu: Sir,
I am giving the link you required below:
http://www.alsa-project.org/db/?f=a0bef3b75be01831aa385764ffba5ccbe40ccba3
I have run all the commands as advised by you and the outputs as I got on the KDE console are available on a doc file which I have uploaded to my site and the link for which is given below:
http://www.websiteforallhere.com/Speakers/speakertest.doc
I am not sure if I have done things correctly as advised by you and this is the first time I am going into a forum in a big way with my troubleshooting. Hope you would not mind my ignorance and lack of understanding technical things make me a laughing stock. Thanks again.
Ok, well done!! Thanks. I see your PC has a Realtek ALC889 hardware codec, and than you are running a 64-bit openSUSE-11.1 with the latest 2.6.27.19-3.2-default kernel. I also note you have the rpms that come with the basic openSUSE-11.1 install:
alsa-1.0.18-8.9
alsa-utils-1.0.18-6.4
alsa-plugins-1.0.18-6.13
alsa-oss-32bit-1.0.17-1.37
alsa-firmware-1.0.17-1.51
alsa-plugins-pulse-1.0.18-6.13
alsa-oss-1.0.17-1.43
libasound2-1.0.18-8.9
Your /etc/modprobe.d/sound file also looks nominally ok:
options snd slots=snd-hda-intel
# u1Nb.BjpJDwyEAZA:82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller
alias snd-card-0 snd-hda-intel
I checked your mixer settings from the diagnostic script output, and that appears fine.
What I suggest we do is to try solve this by a “two step” approach. First, lets update your alsa sound driver to the lastest alsa version, and second, if that is insufficient, we will try some custom configurations in your /etc/modprobe.d/sound file.
To update your alsa sound driver (my reference is here: Alsa-update - openSUSE ) open a terminal or a konsole, and type “su” (no quotes - enter root password when prompted) to get root permissions, and then with your PC connected to the internet, copy and paste the following six zypper commands one at a time into the konsole/terminal and execute them one at a time in sequence, in that konsole/terminal:
zypper ar http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/multimedia:/audio/openSUSE_11.1/ multimedia
zypper install alsa alsa-oss alsa-oss-32bit alsa-plugins alsa-plugins-pulse alsa-utils alsa-tools alsa-firmware libasound2
zypper rr multimedia
zypper ar http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/multimedia:/audio:/KMP/openSUSE_11.1_Update/ multimedia
zypper install alsa-driver-kmp-default
zypper rr multimedia
Then restart your PC (to unload the old driver/kernel module and load the new), and test your sound with the speaker-test that I provided in the previous test (try both tests, as a regular user and as root).
If that does not work, please then post here, and I’ll provide you the information needed to do a series of trial and error edits on your /etc/modprobe.d/sound file, in order to figure out which one (if any) is needed to get your sound functioning.
For general reading material on the zypper command we are using (and you do NOT need to read this now) there is a link here: Zypper/Usage/11.1 - openSUSE Note that link can also be found by reading the openSUSE concepts page I linked in a previous post.
Thanks sir, for the time and trouble. It is heartening to find that every other person is trying to help. It is a great feeling. shall try all that you have advised and shall get back ASAP.
Sir,
I have run all the six commands on the Konsole and after this, I ran the first four commands as advised by you and found them producing no sounds whatsoever.
I shall follow your instructions if they are not too technical for me. Shall await your further advices.
Will installing the DVD (4.33GB) of openSUSE over the present installed one, solve the problem? I had downloaded the DVD (installation medium) (x86-64: Most new computers with e.g. AMD®: Opteron™, Turion™ 64, Athlon™ 64, or Intel®: Core™2, Pentium® 4 6xx, Pentium® D CPUs).
If you say so, I shall do this and see.
OK, before we proceed to the next step, I would like to do a quality check on what you have done thus far …
So please, to allow me to check your PC’s configuration, can you once again provide more very detailed information ? In the case of openSUSE-11.1, you can do that, with your PC connected to the internet, by opening a gnome-terminal or a kde konsole and type “su” (no quotes and enter root password to get root permissions) and then type with root permissions:/usr/sbin/alsa-info.shthat will run the diagnostic script. Please post the output to a web site on the Internet. It will give you the URL of the web site. Please post that URL here. Just the URL.
Also, please to provide additional information, copy and paste the following commands one line at a time into a gnome-terminal or a konsole and post here the output: rpm -qa | grep alsa
rpm -qa | grep pulse
rpm -q libasound2
uname -a
cat /etc/modprobe.d/sound
Sir,
I am giving below the link provided by the first command and below that the outputs to the four commands that were run on the Konsole independently.
http://www.alsa-project.org/db/?f=5cd0e4db0aeaa1352952a3f2e69005b58c58077f
kidambi@linux-yf9i:~> rpm -qa | grep alsa
alsa-1.0.18-8.9
alsa-utils-1.0.18-6.4
alsa-plugins-1.0.18-6.13
alsa-oss-32bit-1.0.17-1.37
alsa-firmware-1.0.17-1.51
alsa-plugins-pulse-1.0.18-6.13
alsa-oss-1.0.17-1.43
alsa-driver-kmp-default-1.0.19.20090321_2.6.27.19_3.2-1.1
kidambi@linux-yf9i:~> rpm -qa | grep pulse
pulseaudio-utils-0.9.12-9.5
pulseaudio-esound-compat-0.9.12-9.5
pulseaudio-module-x11-0.9.12-9.5
libpulse0-32bit-0.9.12-9.6
libpulse0-0.9.12-9.5
pulseaudio-0.9.12-9.5
pulseaudio-module-lirc-0.9.12-9.5
libpulse-browse0-0.9.12-9.5
libpulse-mainloop-glib0-0.9.12-9.5
alsa-plugins-pulse-1.0.18-6.13
pulseaudio-module-bluetooth-0.9.12-9.5
libpulsecore4-0.9.12-9.5
pulseaudio-module-zeroconf-0.9.12-9.5
libxine1-pulse-1.1.16.2-0.pm.2
pulseaudio-module-jack-0.9.12-9.5
kidambi@linux-yf9i:~> rpm -q libasound2
libasound2-1.0.18-8.9
kidambi@linux-yf9i:~> uname -a
Linux linux-yf9i 2.6.27.19-3.2-default #1 SMP 2009-02-25 15:40:44 +0100 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
kidambi@linux-yf9i:~> cat /etc/modprobe.d/sound
options snd slots=snd-hda-intel
u1Nb.BjpJDwyEAZA:82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller
alias snd-card-0 snd-hda-intel
kidambi@linux-yf9i:~>
Hope this is of help to you in resolving the issue.
BTW, can I install the DVD suse over the present install?
Can you give some more links where I can get all the commands essential for day-to-day maintenance. regards.
Ok, thanks. So I see the update FAILED!
You only succeeded with part of the update.
The first 3 zypper commands did NOT work for some reason. … I can tell by this:
kidambi@linux-yf9i:~> rpm -qa | grep alsa
alsa-1.0.18-8.9
alsa-utils-1.0.18-6.4
alsa-plugins-1.0.18-6.13
alsa-oss-32bit-1.0.17-1.37
alsa-firmware-1.0.17-1.51
alsa-plugins-pulse-1.0.18-6.13
alsa-oss-1.0.17-1.43
alsa-driver-kmp-default-1.0.19.20090321_2.6.27.19_3.2-1.1
You should have “git” versions foor alsa, alsa-plugins, alsa-oss, …etc … and you do not. Did you really copy and paste what I gave you, or did you try to read the Link instead?
You need to try that again. So, to update your alsa sound driver open a terminal or a konsole, and type “su” (no quotes - enter root password when prompted) to get root permissions, and then with your PC connected to the internet, copy and paste the following six zypper commands one at a time into the konsole/terminal and execute them one at a time in sequence, in that konsole/terminal:
zypper ar http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/multimedia:/audio/openSUSE_11.1/ multimedia
zypper install alsa alsa-oss alsa-oss-32bit alsa-plugins alsa-plugins-pulse alsa-utils alsa-tools alsa-firmware libasound2
zypper rr multimedia
zypper ar http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/multimedia:/audio:/KMP/openSUSE_11.1_Update/ multimedia
zypper install alsa-driver-kmp-default
zypper rr multimedia
Then restart your PC (to unload the old driver/kernel module and load the new), and test your sound with the speaker-test that I provided in the previous test (try both tests, as a regular user and as root).
The remainder does not matter, as this MUST be fixed first.
Sir,
I have done all the six commands. I saw each of the commands being completed and the command prompt returning for the next command. Twice it did not complete one command, but it started automatically after time out and completed it. I rebooted the pc as instructed and ran the two commands once as root and the other as a user, but there was no sound but I could see the “front left and front right” five times or so being run on the Konsole.
I have therefore run the next command and I am posting below the link:
http://www.alsa-project.org/db/?f=3750780cdf95bcff0d83f8035f1eba786ec97b70
NOw it is upto you to decide the next what. regards.
That script looks better, as it now reads like you were successfull installing 1.0.19 (while the previous script indicated 1.0.18). Have you rebooted since this last successful install ? (reboot is necessary to unload the old driver versions and reload the new).
So I can do a “quality check” , can you please provide the output of:
rpm -qa | grep alsa
Assuming that is ok, and that you do not have sound, then what I normally recommend users do next is iteratively try a series of edits to their /etc/modprobe.d/sound file, to see if you can get one of them to work. This is possibly necessary because it appears the ‘autoprobe’ to configure their alsa driver upon boot, is not working properly, so by applying the custom model in your /etc/modprobe.d/sound file, we are forcing a setting.
When I look in the HD-Audio-Models.txt file, I see no mention of the ALC889. I note from searching the alsa web site, a comment that the “ALC889A is recognized ALC885/ALC882 but it’s actually closer to ALC888/ALC883” but you have an ALC889 and not an ALC889A.
What you could do, is try the settings for the ALC888/883 one at a time, and if those do not work,then try the settings for the ALC885/ALC882 one at a time.
These settings that can be tested (one at a time, until one works) is here from the HD-Audio-Models.txt file:
ALC883/888
==========
3stack-dig 3-jack with SPDIF I/O
6stack-dig 6-jack digital with SPDIF I/O
3stack-6ch 3-jack 6-channel
3stack-6ch-dig 3-jack 6-channel with SPDIF I/O
6stack-dig-demo 6-jack digital for Intel demo board
acer Acer laptops (Travelmate 3012WTMi, Aspire 5600, etc)
acer-aspire Acer Aspire 9810
acer-aspire-4930g Acer Aspire 4930G
medion Medion Laptops
medion-md2 Medion MD2
targa-dig Targa/MSI
targa-2ch-dig Targs/MSI with 2-channel
laptop-eapd 3-jack with SPDIF I/O and EAPD (Clevo M540JE, M550JE)
lenovo-101e Lenovo 101E
lenovo-nb0763 Lenovo NB0763
lenovo-ms7195-dig Lenovo MS7195
lenovo-sky Lenovo Sky
haier-w66 Haier W66
3stack-hp HP machines with 3stack (Lucknow, Samba boards)
6stack-dell Dell machines with 6stack (Inspiron 530)
mitac Mitac 8252D
clevo-m720 Clevo M720 laptop series
fujitsu-pi2515 Fujitsu AMILO Pi2515
fujitsu-xa3530 Fujitsu AMILO XA3530
3stack-6ch-intel Intel DG33* boards
auto auto-config reading BIOS (default)
and here:
ALC882/885
==========
3stack-dig 3-jack with SPDIF I/O
6stack-dig 6-jack digital with SPDIF I/O
arima Arima W820Di1
targa Targa T8, MSI-1049 T8
asus-a7j ASUS A7J
asus-a7m ASUS A7M
macpro MacPro support
mbp3 Macbook Pro rev3
imac24 iMac 24'' with jack detection
w2jc ASUS W2JC
auto auto-config reading BIOS (default)
so to try one of the items from the ALC883/888 list (say “3stack-dig” ), you would change the contents of your /etc/modprobe.d/sound file to:
options snd-hda-intel model=3stack-dig
options snd slots=snd-hda-intel
# u1Nb.BjpJDwyEAZA:82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller
alias snd-card-0 snd-hda-intel
then restart the alsa sound driver by typing **su -c ‘rcalsasound restart’**and enter root password when prompted for a password, and then restart one’s mixer, and test the sound using the sound tests I recommended. Try as both a regular user, and with root permissions.
If that fails, then replace “3stack-dig” with the next item in the list “6stack-dig” and try again … ie restart the alsa sound driver by typing **su -c ‘rcalsasound restart’**and enter root password when prompted for a password, and then restart one’s mixer, and test the sound using the sound tests I recommended. Try as both a regular user, and with root permissions. …
… and work you way through both lists that way. Its a lot of work, but hopefully one of those will work.
Please also do the common sense physical connector check (ie ensure speakers are properly plugged in, cables going to the correct connection, etc… ).
Sir,
I am giving the output below as desired for your quality check.
kidambi@linux-yf9i:~> rpm -qa | grep alsa
alsa-utils-1.0.19.git20090319-1.1
alsa-firmware-1.0.19.git20090317-1.1
alsa-oss-1.0.17.git20080715-2.23
alsa-plugins-pulse-1.0.19.git20090303-1.8
alsa-plugins-1.0.19.git20090303-1.8
alsa-1.0.19.git20090304-2.1
alsa-oss-32bit-1.0.17.git20080715-2.23
alsa-driver-kmp-default-1.0.19.20090321_2.6.27.19_3.2-1.1
alsa-tools-1.0.19.git20090320-1.1
kidambi@linux-yf9i:~>
I did reboot the pc. There is mention of 32bit in the above output. Is it OK – my pc Notebook is 64 bit system and I downloaded and installed AMD64 suse I think.
there is no loose wires, etc. because it is a Notebook and not a desktop.
In the meantime, I am trying to study what you have advised me to do.
regards.
As a reminder, to test your sound I recommend you try each of these sound tests (as both a regular user, and with root permissions) to see if one might work:
speaker-test -Dplug:front -c2 -l5 -twav
Note Linux is case sensitive, and “D” is not the same as “d”. To stop the above test, while the konsole/xterm has the mouse focus, press <CTRL><C> on the keyboard. Note you should check your mixer settings (kmix if using KDE, and alsamixer if using Gnome) to ensure that PCM and Master Volume are set around 95%. Note the test for surround sound is different. After you have confirmed basic sound you can move those down to a lower level to remove distortion.
If that test yields errors, try instead this more simple test: speaker-test -c2 -l5 -twavTry as both a regular user and with root permissions. Ideally, you should hear (in one of those two tests, and not necessary both) a lady’s voice saying ‘FRONT RIGHT’,‘FRONT LEFT’ five times.
Note its quite common only one of those two tests will work. You only need one of those two to function to firm that you have basic sound functioning.
OK, that looks good. Good luck with the test.
When testing, you could also try with your headphones plugged in, and also with your headphones removed.