ALSA installed: no errors, but no sound

Message

Siege_72 · Post by **Siege_72** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 1:39 am

I've tried both methods recommended by the ALSA Guide, but have the same results either way: I can't get any sound. There are no error messages, and the modules load properly (for the kernel-drivers). The kicker is that I can use alsamixer to increase the sound levels, and actually go from silence to having loud static coming out of the speakers. ALSA's volume control seems to be working working, but there are no sounds.

Some of the steps I've taken include:

* Making all users part of the Audio group
* Running alsaconf, alsamixer, and aplay from a terminal (as root) with no GUI running. There are no errors, just no sound. Alsaconf can find the sound card (ens1371), and alsamixer can raise and lower the level of static, but aplay gives no output.
* Re-emerging alsaconf and alsa-tools every time I recompile the kernel options. (I re-emerge before rebooting, and then after when the sound doesn't work).
* Hotplug and coldplug are not running
* 'cat /dev/urandom > /dev/dsp' doesn't produce any sounds
* alsasound is started at the "boot" runlevel. (I don't know if 'boot' or 'default' makes a difference)

I've tried searching the forums, and nothing is directly relevant to my situation (I've tried some of the suggestions, just in case). Also, CD playback isn't affected in analog mode, so I know the speakers are hooked up properly.

ALSA worked prior to the 2.6.12 kernels, but I also switched from devfs to udev at that point. So far I've had no luck with Gentoo sources 2.6.12-r4, 2.6.12-r6, 2.6.12-r9, and 2.6.12-r10 (what I'm currently running). Right this moment, "Sound card support" is compiled into the kernel, but everything ALSA is set as modules. "Open Sound System (DEPRECATED)" is not selected.

Here's my system info:
/etc/modules.d/alsa

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# Alsa 0.9.X kernel modules' configuration file.
# $Header: /var/cvsroot/gentoo-x86/media-sound/alsa-utils/files/alsa-modules.conf-rc,v 1.4 2004/11/16 01:31:22 eradicator Exp $

# ALSA portion
# OSS/Free portion

##
## IMPORTANT:
## You need to customise this section for your specific sound card(s)
## and then run `update-modules' command.
## Read alsa-driver's INSTALL file in /usr/share/doc for more info.
##
##  ALSA portion
## alias snd-card-0 snd-interwave
## alias snd-card-1 snd-ens1371
##  OSS/Free portion
## alias sound-slot-0 snd-card-0
## alias sound-slot-1 snd-card-1
##

# OSS/Free portion - card #1
##  OSS/Free portion - card #2
## alias sound-service-1-0 snd-mixer-oss
## alias sound-service-1-3 snd-pcm-oss
## alias sound-service-1-12 snd-pcm-oss

alias /dev/mixer snd-mixer-oss
alias /dev/dsp snd-pcm-oss
alias /dev/midi snd-seq-oss

# Set this to the correct number of cards.

# --- BEGIN: Generated by ALSACONF, do not edit. ---
# --- ALSACONF version 1.0.9a ---
alias snd-card-0 snd-ens1371
alias sound-slot-0 snd-ens1371
# --- END: Generated by ALSACONF, do not edit. ---

/dev

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# ls -la /dev/sound/
total 0
drw-rw-rw-   2 root root     160 Sep  1 14:32 .
drwxr-xr-x  12 root root   13260 Sep  1 14:43 ..
crw-rw-rw-   1 root audio 14, 12 Sep  1 14:32 adsp
crw-rw-rw-   1 root audio 14,  4 Sep  1 14:32 audio
crw-rw-rw-   1 root audio 14,  3 Sep  1 14:32 dsp
crw-rw-rw-   1 root audio 14,  0 Sep  1 14:32 mixer
crw-rw-rw-   1 root audio 14,  1 Sep  1 14:31 sequencer
crw-rw-rw-   1 root audio 14,  8 Sep  1 14:31 sequencer2

# ls -la /dev/snd
total 0
drw-rw-rw-   2 root root      180 Sep  1 14:31 .
drwxr-xr-x  12 root root    13260 Sep  1 14:43 ..
crw-rw-rw-   1 root audio 116,  0 Sep  1 14:31 controlC0
crw-rw-rw-   1 root audio 116,  8 Sep  1 14:31 midiC0D0
crw-rw-rw-   1 root audio 116, 24 Sep  1 14:31 pcmC0D0c
crw-rw-rw-   1 root audio 116, 16 Sep  1 14:31 pcmC0D0p
crw-rw-rw-   1 root audio 116, 17 Sep  1 14:31 pcmC0D1p
crw-rw-rw-   1 root audio 116,  1 Sep  1 14:31 seq
crw-rw-rw-   1 root audio 116, 33 Sep  1 14:31 timer

# ls -la /dev | grep -E "(dsp|mixer|midi|seq)"
lrwxrwxrwx   1 root root       10 Sep  1 14:32 adsp -> sound/adsp
crw-rw----   1 root audio 14,   9 Sep  1 14:31 dmmidi
lrwxrwxrwx   1 root root        9 Sep  1 14:32 dsp -> sound/dsp
crw-rw----   1 root audio 14,   2 Sep  1 14:31 midi
lrwxrwxrwx   1 root root       11 Sep  1 14:32 mixer -> sound/mixer
lrwxrwxrwx   1 root root       15 Sep  1 14:31 sequencer -> sound/sequencer
lrwxrwxrwx   1 root root       16 Sep  1 14:31 sequencer2 -> sound/sequencer2

/proc/asound:

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# ls -la
total 1
dr-xr-xr-x   5 root root 0 Sep  1 21:24 .
dr-xr-xr-x  96 root root 0 Sep  1 14:23 ..
lrwxrwxrwx   1 root root 5 Sep  1 21:25 AudioPCI -> card0
dr-xr-xr-x   6 root root 0 Sep  1 21:25 card0
-r--r--r--   1 root root 0 Sep  1 21:25 cards
-r--r--r--   1 root root 0 Sep  1 21:25 devices
-r--r--r--   1 root root 0 Sep  1 21:25 modules
dr-xr-xr-x   2 root root 0 Sep  1 21:25 oss
-r--r--r--   1 root root 0 Sep  1 21:25 pcm
dr-xr-xr-x   2 root root 0 Sep  1 21:25 seq
-r--r--r--   1 root root 0 Sep  1 21:25 timers
-r--r--r--   1 root root 0 Sep  1 21:25 version

# cat cards
0 [AudioPCI       ]: ENS1371 - Ensoniq AudioPCI
                     Ensoniq AudioPCI ENS1371 at 0xc800, irq 9
# cat version
Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version 1.0.9rc2  (Thu Mar 24 10:33:39 2005 UTC).

# ls AudioPCI/
audiopci  codec97#0  id  midi0  oss_mixer  pcm0c  pcm0p  pcm1p

I've tried other forums, and am completely stumped. If I need to provide more information, let me know.

All help is appreciated!!

freelight · Post by **freelight** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 1:45 am

This is probably a silly question, but did you unmute the sound in alsamixer, or did you just raise the bars? You have to hit M to unmute.

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Unmuted:
__
| |
| |
|#|
|#|
|#|
|#|
----
|00|
----

Muted:
__
| |
| |
|#|
|#|
|#|
|#|
----
|MM|
----

Siege_72 · Post by **Siege_72** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 1:49 am

freelight wrote:This is probably a silly question, but did you unmute the sound in alsamixer, or did you just raise the bars? You have to hit M to unmute.

Master, Master Mono, and PCM are unmuted, and at pretty close to 100. The Microphone is the only thing that is muted at this point.

renrutal · Post by **renrutal** » Sun Sep 04, 2005 7:49 pm

I have the same problem here, it seems that udev doesn't load the the things at boot properly.

Usually I solve it with my little script, but I have to do i everytime I boot the system[/code]:

fixsound.sh

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sudo /etc/init.d/alsasound restart
amixer set Master 50% unmute
amixer set PCM 50% unmute

Siege_72 · Post by **Siege_72** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 2:32 am

renrutal wrote:I have the same problem here, it seems that udev doesn't load the the things at boot properly.

Usually I solve it with my little script, but I have to do i everytime I boot the system[/code]:

fixsound.sh
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sudo /etc/init.d/alsasound restart
amixer set Master 50% unmute
amixer set PCM 50% unmute

That didn't seem to help. I even tried increasing the percentages, and only had my speakers go from silence to static. aplay was still silent, and even cat /dev/random > /dev/dsp didn't do anything.

L124RD · Post by **L124RD** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 4:14 am

Just wanted to say I'm having the same problem. I have tried following all 3 paths in the gentoo ALSA guide (compiled as modules, compiled in, and alsa-driver) and none of those options have created an enviornment in which ALSA works. I am using a IBM Thinkpad T43p 2668-RU3.

kim_asplund · Post by **kim_asplund** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 7:55 am

I have had the same problem... it did not change sound when i used the mixer etc...

Try this.

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# amixer set Master,0 100%,100% unmute
# amixer set PCM,0 100%,100% unmute
# amixer set Line,0 75%,75% mute captur
# amixer set Capture,0 100%,100% captur
# su
# alsactl store
# exit

worked for me...

L124RD · Post by **L124RD** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 2:58 pm

Looks like everything executed without error (posting just in case I'm silly and overlooked something super duper important)

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adamsj8@adamsj8T43p ~ $ amixer set Master,0 100%,100% unmute
Simple mixer control 'Master',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pswitch
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 31
  Front Left: Playback 31 [100%] [on]
  Front Right: Playback 31 [100%] [on]
adamsj8@adamsj8T43p ~ $ amixer set PCM,0 100%,100% unmute
Simple mixer control 'PCM',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pswitch
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 31
  Front Left: Playback 31 [100%] [on]
  Front Right: Playback 31 [100%] [on]
adamsj8@adamsj8T43p ~ $ amixer set Line,0 75%,75% mute captur
Simple mixer control 'Line',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pswitch cswitch cswitch-joined cswitch-exclusive
  Capture exclusive group: 0
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 31
  Front Left: Playback 23 [74%] [off] Capture [on]
  Front Right: Playback 23 [74%] [off] Capture [on]
adamsj8@adamsj8T43p ~ $ amixer set Capture,0 100%,100% captur
Simple mixer control 'Capture',0
  Capabilities: cvolume cswitch
  Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Capture 0 - 15
  Front Left: Capture 15 [100%] [on]
  Front Right: Capture 15 [100%] [on]
adamsj8@adamsj8T43p ~ $ sudo /usr/sbin/alsactl store
adamsj8@adamsj8T43p ~ $

Sound did not work after that, also did the same thing with the su instead of sudo, and I tried restarting alsasound.

Siege_72 · Post by **Siege_72** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 3:33 pm

kim_asplund wrote:I have had the same problem... it did not change sound when i used the mixer etc...

Try this. *snip*

Raising the mixer levels that way gave me static from my speakers, but sounds still aren't playing.

One thing I did remember is that I'm running the Hardware Abstraction Layer, which does use Hotplug. But I'm not sure if that makes a difference.

kim_asplund · Post by **kim_asplund** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 3:37 pm

Are you guys using a spdif connection or normal speakers?

L124RD · Post by **L124RD** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 3:49 pm

I've tried using both the headphone jack and the main speakers in my laptop. Both speaker sets work flawlessly under windows. I am not getting the static that Siege_72 is o_O

Siege_72 · Post by **Siege_72** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 3:51 pm

kim_asplund wrote:Are you guys using a spdif connection or normal speakers?

I'm using normal speakers. I haven't changed my sound setup for a couple of years... everything was fine until I upgraded to the 2.6.12-r* and from devfs to udev. My DVD-ROM is hooked into the sound card's analog channel, and I not only get sound, but I can adjust the volume through KMix and alsamixer.

Siege_72 · Post by **Siege_72** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 3:59 pm

L124RD wrote:I've tried using both the headphone jack and the main speakers in my laptop. Both speaker sets work flawlessly under windows. I am not getting the static that Siege_72 is o_O

The static is just an artifact from having my speakers set high, and cranking the mixer from zero to 100%. But I know that something is working, at least. At least I can still play regular CDs.

monicajae · Post by **monicajae** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 1:35 am

I'm having the same problem. I'm using the 2.6.13-rc2-mm2 kernel.

XMMS runs fine, the configure opt for the alsa output plugin is correct, i can't find the issue either, or at least a solution. the equalizer bars move, the speakers are hooked up correctly, to my knowledge, and my sound card is unmuted. All permissions are ok and i am part of the audio group.

BLAH!!!!

Siege_72 · Post by **Siege_72** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 3:33 pm

monicajae wrote:I'm having the same problem. I'm using the 2.6.13-rc2-mm2 kernel.

XMMS runs fine, the configure opt for the alsa output plugin is correct, i can't find the issue either, or at least a solution. the equalizer bars move, the speakers are hooked up correctly, to my knowledge, and my sound card is unmuted. All permissions are ok and i am part of the audio group.

Will CDs play using the analog output?

Qylvaran · Post by **Qylvaran** » Thu Sep 22, 2005 7:43 am

The switch you may be looking for (in alsamixer or Volume Control (Gnome)) is External Amplifier. If it is checked, laptop speakers won't work, since they don't have an external amplifier. Note that for the Volume Control app, you need to select the checkbox as being displayed by going to preferences.

To reiterate, External Amplifier should be set to OFF. Hope this helps, eh?

Siege_72 · Post by **Siege_72** » Thu Sep 22, 2005 1:02 pm

I used alsactl store to create the asound.state file so I could look at the values. One thing I noticed:

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        control.33 {
                comment.access 'read write'
                comment.type BOOLEAN
                comment.count 1
                iface MIXER
                name 'IEC958 Playback Switch'
                value false
        }
        control.34 {
                comment.access 'read write'
                comment.type IEC958
                comment.count 1
                iface PCM
                name 'IEC958 Playback Default'
                value '00820002000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
0000000000000000000000000000'
        }
        control.35 {
                comment.access read
                comment.type IEC958
                comment.count 1
                iface PCM
                name 'IEC958 Playback Mask'
                value ffffffff000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
000000000000000000
        }
        control.36 {
                comment.access 'read write'
                comment.type IEC958
                comment.count 1
                iface PCM
                name 'IEC958 Playback PCM Stream'
                value '00820002000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
0000000000000000000'
        }

(I put in newlines to keep the long "value" from borking the window size)

Is that normal? I'm using standard speaker outputs... Heck, I'm not even sure what normal IEC958 values are.

Kuli · Post by **Kuli** » Thu Sep 22, 2005 1:32 pm

I never had the need to post a "me too" request to a forum before, but now I have to.

I have a USB sound card (Creative Audigy 2 NX). Modules load fine, mixer is working, everything is perfect - except that there is no sound.

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cp /dev/urandom /dev/dsp

doesn't work (i.e. there is no error, it is "working", but I can't hear anything). However, the "mute" flash on the sound card went off, so the mixer seemed to activate the sound card.

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amixer

says every channel had 80 % volume and is unmuted.

The card has worked with Windows before.

I'm using 2.6.12-r10 kernel and udev. Maybe that's the problem?

-Kuli

EzInKy · Post by **EzInKy** » Thu Sep 22, 2005 1:39 pm

I found with my Audigy I had to mute my digital/analog output jack in alsamixer to get sound to play a couple of years ago.

Kuli · Post by **Kuli** » Thu Sep 22, 2005 2:47 pm

That doesn't work either.

I figured out that there's not even no sound, but /dev/dsp doesn't accept anything. For example,

echo "Hallo " >> /dev/dsp

doesn't go through - I have to abort it with CTRL-C.

And Mplayer stops after a few milliseconds.

Any ideas?

-Kuli

Cornfed · Post by **Cornfed** » Thu Sep 22, 2005 7:16 pm

I probably had an entirely different problem. I updated my kernel (now 2.6.13) and my sound works again. I don't know if it was the kernel update or maybe just rebooting that fixed it for me.

Siege_72 · Post by **Siege_72** » Fri Sep 23, 2005 2:55 am

Cornfed wrote:I probably had an entirely different problem. I updated my kernel (now 2.6.13) and my sound works again. I don't know if it was the kernel update or maybe just rebooting that fixed it for me.

I upgraded to 2.6.13-r2 and still don't have anything.

erikm · Post by **erikm** » Fri Sep 23, 2005 3:19 am

On my latest Gentoo box I built I had to unmute the Headphones channel... ?

Splink · Post by **Splink** » Fri Sep 23, 2005 2:58 pm

check /etc/conf.d/alsa..

the alias in there should point to your /dev/dsp etc

Siege_72 · Post by **Siege_72** » Fri Sep 23, 2005 3:24 pm

Splink wrote:check /etc/conf.d/alsa..

the alias in there should point to your /dev/dsp etc

Hmmm... *checks* I don't have an "alsa" file in /etc/conf.d -- just the alsasound config file. Should I create a link to /dev/dsp?