Soundblaster driver prob

Hi I’m using OpenSUSE 11.2 and am having problems with getting sound. The card is a Soundblaster XFi Xtreme Audio. YaST2 finds the card by name in the sound configuration. I’ve tried make under SU on their nix driver but got this error

make -C /lib/modules/2.6.31.5-0.1-desktop/build M=/home/andrew/XFiDrv
make[1]: Entering directory `/usr/src/linux-2.6.31.5-0.1-obj/x86_64/desktop'
make -C ../../../linux-2.6.31.5-0.1 O=/usr/src/linux-2.6.31.5-0.1-obj/x86_64/desktop/.
  CC [M]  /home/andrew/XFiDrv/xfi.o
/home/andrew/XFiDrv/xfi.c:14:26: error: sound/driver.h: No such file or directory
/home/andrew/XFiDrv/xfi.c: In function ‘ct_card_probe’:
/home/andrew/XFiDrv/xfi.c:55: error: implicit declaration of function ‘snd_card_new’
/home/andrew/XFiDrv/xfi.c:55: warning: assignment makes pointer from integer without a cast
make[4]: *** [/home/andrew/XFiDrv/xfi.o] Error 1
make[3]: *** [_module_/home/andrew/XFiDrv] Error 2
make[2]: *** [sub-make] Error 2
make[1]: *** [all] Error 2
make[1]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/linux-2.6.31.5-0.1-obj/x86_64/desktop'
make: *** [all] Error 2

I also tried moving the directory to the root of the drive to no avail

I do not know what that means, but I do not like the sound of it. Reads like a bad plan what ever it is. …

Note YaST is NOT compatible with X-Fi. Nor is alsaconf. So do NOT use either configure . That is IMPORANT.

Instead, try this: remove any /etc/modprobe.d/50-sound.conf file, reboot and test your audio. Be certain to check your mixer master volume and PCM volume. Do NOT configure in YAST.

If sound does not work, with your PC connected to the internet run this diagnostic script:

/usr/sbin/alsa-info.sh

and select the UPLOAD/SHARE option and that will post info to alsa web site, and give you a URL. Post the URL here. Just the URL.

also provide output of:

rpm -qa '*alsa*'
rpm -qa '*pulse*'
rpm -q libasound2
uname -a

Thanks for the quick response still having problems

http://www.alsa-project.org/db/?f=00f1e64f8afb45943809285360adeadbdd6c0606

linux-v8ql:/usr/sbin # rpm -qa '*alsa*'

alsa-plugins-32bit-1.0.21-3.3.x86_64
alsa-oss-1.0.17-25.2.x86_64
alsa-oss-32bit-1.0.17-25.2.x86_64
alsa-utils-1.0.21-3.1.x86_64
alsa-1.0.21-3.2.x86_64
alsa-plugins-1.0.21-3.3.x86_64

linux-v8ql:/usr/sbin # rpm -qa '*pulse*'
libpulse0-0.9.19-2.3.x86_64
libxine1-pulse-1.1.16.1-7.6.x86_64

linux-v8ql:/usr/sbin # rpm -q libasound2
libasound2-1.0.21-3.2.x86_64

linux-v8ql:/usr/sbin # uname -a
Linux linux-v8ql 2.6.31.5-0.1-desktop #1 SMP PREEMPT 2009-10-26 15:49:03 +0100 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Did you remove the /etc/modprobe.d/50-sound.conf like I recommended? reboot and test?

What are you using for a speaker test ?

Please try each of these speaker tests:

  • 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 ?

Try with and without headset. Also try as a regular user and in a terminal as a user with root permissions.

I deleted the config file rebooted and still no sound. No sound with all of those commands. The aplay -vv /usr/share/sounds/alsa/Front_* command does change in percent but no sound is output. Mixer volume is up all the way and volume knob is up.

I went back into YaST and it shows that the soundblaster card isn’t configured. I didn’t touch anything in there

Looks like I should have bought a different sound card lol

Is just the % changing? Or are you also ee the # move back and forth?

Do you have sound functioning on another OS ? With speakers plugged in correct output jacks ?

Try restarting alsa with root permissions:

rcalsasound restart

and run those tests again.

If all else fails we can try an alsa update.

the #'s move too

Do you have sound functioning on another OS ? With speakers plugged in correct output jacks ?

yea it works fine on Windows XP. But I’ve also tried Fedora and got no sound there too.

Try restarting alsa with root permissions:

rcalsasound restart

and run those tests again.

I did this and after it says it started up again I do a rcalsasound status and it says the driver isn’t loaded. I tried to start it again with rcalsasound start but the sound tests all result in the below.

aplay -vv /usr/share/sounds/alsa/test.wav
ALSA lib confmisc.c:768:(parse_card) cannot find card '0'
ALSA lib conf.c:4154:(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_card_driver returned error: No such file or directory
ALSA lib confmisc.c:392:(snd_func_concat) error evaluating strings
ALSA lib conf.c:4154:(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_concat returned error: No such file or directory
ALSA lib confmisc.c:1251:(snd_func_refer) error evaluating name
ALSA lib conf.c:4154:(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_refer returned error: No such file or directory
ALSA lib conf.c:4633:(snd_config_expand) Evaluate error: No such file or directory
ALSA lib pcm.c:2211:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM default
aplay: main:608: audio open error: No such file or directory

That suggests the alsa driver is working properly at that point in time.

I do know why you have no sound. I can not see anything obviously wrong in your mixer.

You could try install alsa-firmware. Maybe that is needed. Then restart and test.

If that does not work, then I suppose you could try to update to 1.0.22.1 of alsa, per the guidance here:
Alsa-update - openSUSE

ie update : alsa-plugins-32bit, alsa-oss, alsa-oss-32bit, alsa-utils, alsa, alsa-plugins (ensure you update and do not be fooled if yast says they are already installed when the updated versions are not already installed). If you update those do not also forget to keep reading that guide and update alsa-driver-kmp-desktop per your kernel version. Don’t forget to reboot after installation.