Hello All,
I’m having trouble getting my sound card to work (it has worked in the past, but I had to re-install the OS recently and now, the sound doesn’t work).
I get no sound from the card at all in YaST, let alone any of the mixers, etc.
I get to the part that deals with getting the CODEC name:
linux4:/home/tomas # head -n 1 /proc/asound/card0/codec*
Codec: VIA VT1708S
But then I am asked to open** /usr/src/KERNEL_VERSION/Documentation/sound/alsa/ALSA-Configuration.txt** and find my codec. But, alas, my CODEC isn’t listed there.
How do I get an ALSA-Configuration.txt which includes this CODEC? I am confused by this since the sound card has worked previously and I assume the CODEC was listed in this file previously.
Or should I be looking for some other cause of my problems?
Again, this WAS working previously, and has only stopped working when I had to re-install the OS.
More info: this is the sound card that is on my motherboard.
It will show you how to configure and test your sound.
If those first steps fail, move on to running this diagnostic script (now part of ALSA package)
The diagnostic script is the one created by user wishie from IRC #alsa. For users with 1.0.17 of alsa or newer, it is included with alsa. To run, copy and past the line below with root permissions:
/usr/sbin/alsa-info.sh
Often the first time you run this script, it will note there is an update available, and ask if you wish to update. Select YES. If you are running this in a terminal/konsole with root permissions, the script will update. Then run the script a second time. When it is complete, it will pass you a URL. Take a look at the contents of the URL, as it passes to you useful information. Also keep a record of the URL provided by the script as it can come in useful for passing to others who are trying to assist you (on one of the forums, or on an IRC channel). Then go to the next step of this guide.
You may have to update your alsa to a cutting edge version and accept sound will be broken everytime there is a kernel update (and be forced to update your alsa again on such occasions).
Follow the guide CAREFULLY when updating as ~50% of users fail to correctly follow the guide. Perhaps the guide can be better written, but it is not, so please exercise caution.
I’m currently on vacation in a different continent with little to no internet access for over a week more.
The content of the link you posted is virtually identical to the content of the link that I posted. So, in a sense, I HAVE worked through the steps given there. No luck.
Lee is the sound guru, so I’ll await his advice here, but it looks like the driver is ok. In the meantime, assuming you followed the advice given in the guides, what was the result of the sound tests?
I only have minutes before I need to pack up my laptop and head to the airport for my next flight. I’ll be on the road for the rest of this week.
The first thing that struck me about that script output is you have two output devices. Its very easy to inadvertently have sound (pulse audio) setup to be sending the audio to the device that you are not using.
You could focus your efforts on that as an assumption/speculation as to the difficulty cause.
One way to approach ‘fixing’ that (if the cause - and that is speculative) is to install the application pulse audio volume control (pavucontrol) and then run pavucontrol at the same time as you are trying to play sound via some application. Ensure you have the pavucontrol ‘configuration’ tab set to the appropriate device selection, ensure you have the ‘output devices’ tab set with SHOW to all ‘output devices’ and ensure you have the ‘playback tab’ set with SHOW to ‘all streams’ and the appropriate stream selected/tuned.
… Edit - still there were alsa updates as part of 11.4 and there were kernel updates as part of 11.4 and its possible one of those broke your audio and hence the suggestion to apply a cutting edge version of alsa may be the only solution …
For both of these tests, there was no sound generated at all.
Since, yesterday, I have gone to Best Buy and bought a cheap SB / Audigy compatible sound card (in case there was a problem with the motherboard sound system). Some troubles there as well (only static comes out of the speakers, but at least that’s farther than I got yesterday!). So, I think something went wrong when I had to re-install the sound system recently.
In the meantime, I’m going to work through my ALSA problems on my static-only sound card and see if I can get that one working.
The first thing that struck me about that script output is you have two output devices. Its very easy to inadvertently have sound (pulse audio) setup to be sending the audio to the device that you are not using.
Yes, I noticed that too - and pulse is active, so there is a good chance that is the culprit (re required configuration)
Those sound tests won’t necessarily work until you configure pulse (if active).
!!Sound Servers on this system
!!----------------------------
Pulseaudio:
Installed - Yes (/usr/bin/pulseaudio)
Running - Yes
ESound Daemon:
Installed - Yes (/usr/bin/esd)
Running - No
!!Soundcards recognised by ALSA
!!-----------------------------
0 [SB ]: HDA-Intel - HDA ATI SB
HDA ATI SB at 0xfcff4000 irq 16
1 [NVidia ]: HDA-Intel - HDA NVidia
HDA NVidia at 0xfea7c000 irq 19
!!PCI Soundcards installed in the system
!!--------------------------------------
00:14.2 Audio device: ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 Azalia (Intel HDA)
01:00.1 Audio device: nVidia Corporation High Definition Audio Controller (rev a1)
OK. This helped!!
I have since added a SB compatible card to the system (the previous device was on the motherboard).
The OS recognizes all three cards (the MB sound card, the NVidia sound system, and the new physical sound card).
pavucontrol showed me that when the speaker-test was run, the NVidia card was trying to play the sound.
I wasn’t sure how to configure PulseAudio, but I re-orderd the sound devices in Yast->Sound so that the SB card was the first device and now PAVUCONTROL shows that the speaker-test is going to the physical card.
But… now all I get is static. Only static. (When the sound was going to the devices on the motherboard, no sound was being generated to the speakers; my original problem).
In Yast->Sound when I play a test sound, I get static but I think I hear a faint sound in the background and at the very end of the test the background music sound is almost audible. So it’s like the sound is playing, but there is a lot of static over the top.
I found a thread with almost identical symptoms but the resolution was not provided.
pavucontrol showed me that when the speaker-test was run, the NVidia card was trying to play the sound.
I wasn’t sure how to configure PulseAudio, but I re-orderd the sound devices in Yast->Sound so that the SB card was the first device and now PAVUCONTROL shows that the speaker-test is going to the physical card.
Did you use pavucontrol to select the appropriate card as described by oldcpu?
One way to approach ‘fixing’ that (if the cause - and that is speculative) is to install the application pulse audio volume control (pavucontrol) and then run pavucontrol at the same time as you are trying to play sound via some application. Ensure you have the pavucontrol ‘configuration’ tab set to the appropriate device selection, ensure you have the ‘output devices’ tab set with SHOW to all ‘output devices’ and ensure you have the ‘playback tab’ set with SHOW to ‘all streams’ and the appropriate stream selected/tuned.
I note that you had this prior
!!Soundcards recognised by ALSA
!!-----------------------------
0 [SB ]: HDA-Intel - HDA ATI SB
HDA ATI SB at 0xfcff4000 irq 16
1 [NVidia ]: HDA-Intel - HDA NVidia
HDA NVidia at 0xfea7c000 irq 19
!!PCI Soundcards installed in the system
!!--------------------------------------
00:14.2 Audio device: ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 Azalia (Intel HDA)
01:00.1 Audio device: nVidia Corporation High Definition Audio Controller (rev a1)
Now, it looks like
!!Soundcards recognised by ALSA
!!-----------------------------
0 [CA0106 ]: CA0106 - CA0106
AudigyLS [Unknown] at 0xec00 irq 21
1 [SB ]: HDA-Intel - HDA ATI SB
HDA ATI SB at 0xfcff4000 irq 16
2 [NVidia ]: HDA-Intel - HDA NVidia
HDA NVidia at 0xfea7c000 irq 19
!!PCI Soundcards installed in the system
!!--------------------------------------
00:14.2 Audio device: ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 Azalia (Intel HDA)
01:00.1 Audio device: nVidia Corporation High Definition Audio Controller (rev a1)
03:06.0 Multimedia audio controller: Creative Labs CA0106 Soundblaster
I’m wondering if the static is coming from the ‘ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 Azalia (Intel HDA)’ device unintentionally. You might want to mute it.
On systems where there are several sound cards available, pulseaudio seems to choose arbitrary sound card (not default ALSA sound card).
Now, post #3 (Andreas Berger’s advice) is essentially what oldcpu oulined previously.
Ubuntu ships with pulseaudio and at the same time does not offer any (gui, at least) configuration tool to choose your sound card. This affects any user who has more than one sound device.
The easiest solution at the moment seems to be the following:
-install pavucontrol
-go to the “Output Devices” Tab in pavucontrol, click on the arrow next to your preferred card and check “Default”
-if you still cannot hear your stream, go to “Playback” Tab, click on the arrow next to your stream and “Move Stream…” to your preferred output device
So the current situation requires everyone with more than one soundcard to research and install extra packages.
Since Pulseaudio has become default, i guess the solution would be something like integrating or linking “gnome-sound-properties” and “pavucontrol” in a way that naive users (like me) can deal with
In a thread on another forum, I read that the cheap SB compatible card that I bought only works in dual boot systems after the system has booted into windows (something about an Amp needing to be initialized properly; and that Windows drivers initialize this card properly, but not linux as of yet).
So, I took out the card and rebooted the system and still no sound. Then on accident I plugged in the speakers into the “Rear Speaker Out” port and voila, there was sound. There was also sound at “Center Subwoofer” port and the “Side Speaker Out” port.
The only port with no sound is the “Line Out” port (which is the one that SHOULD have sound).
So for the meantime, the speakers are plugged into one of the other ports and are producing sounds. I’m done here. (Just wish I know why it works the way it does!)
Thanks for all your help!! Sorry for all the trouble!
So, I took out the card and rebooted the system and still no sound. Then on accident I plugged in the speakers into the “Rear Speaker Out” port and voila, there was sound. There was also sound at “Center Subwoofer” port and the “Side Speaker Out” port.
Well done, with getting a usable result.
PulseAudio adds to the complexity of configuring sound, so this may help others searching for help with PulseAudio.
