Can't get ALSA to output sound through Sound Blaster AE-7

Message

rphii · Post by **rphii** » Sat Jan 08, 2022 11:12 am

I followed the steps in the ALSA gentoo wiki. However, when I run

speaker-test

I can't hear anything.

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$ lspci | grep -i audio
1c:00.1 Audio device: NVIDIA Corporation TU106 High Definition Audio Controller (rev a1)
1e:00.0 Audio device: Creative Labs Device 0010 (rev 01)
20:00.3 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-0fh) HD Audio Controller

Above, my device should be the 2nd one, since I want the sound to work on my Creative Sound Blaster AE-7 (analog headphones).

Then, in my kernel I made sure that the following points are enabled:

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Device Drivers --->
    <*> Sound card support
        <*> Advanced Linux Sound Architecture --->
            [*] PCI sound devices  --->
                <*> Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi
                <*> (Creative) Ensoniq AudioPCI 1370
                <*> (Creative) Ensoniq AudioPCI 1371/1373
            [*] USB sound devices  --->
                <*> USB Audio/MIDI driver
            HD Audio --->
                <*> Build Realtek HD-audio codec support
                <*> Build Creative CA0110-IBG codec support
                <*> Build Creative CA0132 codec support
                <*> Build Silicon Labs 3054 HD-modem codec support

I have "alsa" in my global USE and made a deep changed use emerge.

Below is the .asoundrc file I made

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[~/.asoundrc]
defaults.pcm.card 1
defaults.ctl.card 1
defaults.pcm.device 0

Based on the output of

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$ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 3: Generic Digital [Generic Digital]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: Creative [HDA Creative], device 0: CA0132 Analog [CA0132 Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: Creative [HDA Creative], device 1: CA0132 Digital [CA0132 Digital]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 2: Generic [HD-Audio Generic], device 0: ALC1220 Analog [ALC1220 Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 2: Generic [HD-Audio Generic], device 1: ALC1220 Digital [ALC1220 Digital]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

and

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$ aplay -L
null
    Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)
hdmi:CARD=NVidia,DEV=0
    HDA NVidia, Generic Digital
    HDMI Audio Output
default:CARD=Creative
    HDA Creative, CA0132 Analog
    Default Audio Device
sysdefault:CARD=Creative
    HDA Creative, CA0132 Analog
    Default Audio Device
front:CARD=Creative,DEV=0
    HDA Creative, CA0132 Analog
    Front output / input
surround21:CARD=Creative,DEV=0
    HDA Creative, CA0132 Analog
    2.1 Surround output to Front and Subwoofer speakers
surround40:CARD=Creative,DEV=0
    HDA Creative, CA0132 Analog
    4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=Creative,DEV=0
    HDA Creative, CA0132 Analog
    4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=Creative,DEV=0
    HDA Creative, CA0132 Analog
    5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=Creative,DEV=0
    HDA Creative, CA0132 Analog
    5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71:CARD=Creative,DEV=0
    HDA Creative, CA0132 Analog
    7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
iec958:CARD=Creative,DEV=0
    HDA Creative, CA0132 Digital
    IEC958 (S/PDIF) Digital Audio Output
default:CARD=Generic
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC1220 Analog
    Default Audio Device
sysdefault:CARD=Generic
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC1220 Analog
    Default Audio Device
front:CARD=Generic,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC1220 Analog
    Front output / input
surround21:CARD=Generic,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC1220 Analog
    2.1 Surround output to Front and Subwoofer speakers
surround40:CARD=Generic,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC1220 Analog
    4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=Generic,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC1220 Analog
    4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=Generic,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC1220 Analog
    5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=Generic,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC1220 Analog
    5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71:CARD=Generic,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC1220 Analog
    7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
iec958:CARD=Generic,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC1220 Digital
    IEC958 (S/PDIF) Digital Audio Output

I am in the audio group and alsa as a service is enabled, as the wiki said.
Alsamixer looks very promising (when I had some kernel options missing, it didn't look as promising as now), I configured it the way it should play sound on the headphones... But I can't hear anything with

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speaker-test

Thanks in advance for anything I am still missing!

Post by **NeddySeagoon** » Sat Jan 08, 2022 12:00 pm

rphii,

Welcome to gentoo.

Restart the alsasound service, then put the content of /var/lib/alsa/asound.state onto a pastebin please.

rphii · Post by **rphii** » Sat Jan 08, 2022 12:15 pm

Hi and thanks

Here is the pastebin: https://pastebin.com/0BzUhrGu

Post by **NeddySeagoon** » Sat Jan 08, 2022 12:30 pm

rphii,

A few things ...

Mute all the controls with IEC958 in their names. Most sound cards can output to IEC958 (digital) or analogue, which is what you want but not both at the same time.
When IEC958 is enabled, analogue is silent.
That's a showstopper fix that first.

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	control.36 {
		iface MIXER
		name 'Output Select'
		value Headphone
		comment {
			access 'read write'
			type ENUMERATED
			count 1
			item.0 Speakers
			item.1 Headphone

Don't count on cards being wired like that. 'Output Select' is set to headphone. Try Speakers too.

Do you know the impeadance of your headphones?

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	control.44 {
		iface MIXER
		name 'AE-5: Headphone Gain'
		value 'High (150-600  Ohms)'
		comment {
			access 'read write'
			type ENUMERATED
			count 1
			item.0 'Low (16-31  Ohms)'
			item.1 'Medium (32-149  Ohms)'
			item.2 'High (150-600  Ohms)'

Don't fiddle with that with your headphones over your ears. When it works, that control will vary the sound level from very quiet to very painful.

rphii · Post by **rphii** » Sat Jan 08, 2022 12:59 pm

Neddy,

I went ahead and muted all the controls with IEC958 in their name, and restarted the service just to be sure.

Don't count on cards being wired like that. 'Output Select' is set to headphone. Try Speakers too.

I assumed that it should be set to headphones... Coming from windows, there was a similar setting and it wouldn't output sound to the headphones if it wasn't set to that- anyways, I tested (both), setting it to Headphone and Speaker, without success.

Do you know the impeadance of your headphones?

Yes it is, around 500 Ohms.

Since I still can't hear anything from speaker-test I went ahead and rebooted, just in case that fixes anything, and it didn't.

Could there be something missing in the kernel settings?

Jaglover · Post by **Jaglover** » Sat Jan 08, 2022 1:09 pm

rphii,

my personal approach to a problem like this is booting with some good liveCD, Ubuntu, Mint and see how it sets up the sound. Indeed, they use PulseAudio, but there is ALSA working underneath. But first I'd use some audio application which lets easily choose output, like VLC, to find out which output is working - if any.

rphii · Post by **rphii** » Sat Jan 08, 2022 3:10 pm

Jaglover,

my personal approach to a problem like this is booting with some good liveCD, Ubuntu, Mint and see how it sets up the sound. Indeed, they use PulseAudio, but there is ALSA working underneath. But first I'd use some audio application which lets easily choose output, like VLC, to find out which output is working - if any.

Thanks for that input. I did what you suggested (using VLC to test it) and I do hear audio, but only when I select NVidia (my monitor audio)...

Jaglover · Post by **Jaglover** » Sat Jan 08, 2022 4:21 pm

Then some liveCD, and check what modules are loaded for sound. And codecs:

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grep -i codec /proc/asound/*/codec*

rphii · Post by **rphii** » Sat Jan 08, 2022 4:48 pm

Jaglover,

thanks for sticking with me.

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$ grep -i codec /proc/asound/*/codec*
/proc/asound/card0/codec#0:Codec: Nvidia Generic
/proc/asound/card1/codec#1:Codec: Creative Sound Blaster AE-7
/proc/asound/card2/codec#0:Codec: Realtek ALC1220
/proc/asound/Creative/codec#1:Codec: Creative Sound Blaster AE-7
/proc/asound/Generic/codec#0:Codec: Realtek ALC1220
/proc/asound/NVidia/codec#0:Codec: Nvidia Generic

Then some liveCD

I assume I'd try to get sound working over there? And when it does, would I compare /var/lib/alsa/asound.state with the one in Gentoo? (does that even exist over there... The thing is, I have to admit that I'm not very familiar with how other Linux distros work/how much they share in common, since I'm basically coming straight from windows... Then again, I want to thank you guys for trying to guide me)

Jaglover · Post by **Jaglover** » Sat Jan 08, 2022 5:47 pm

Well, if you have a liveCD with working audio then comparing with your loaded codecs would tell us whether your kernel is configured correctly. Once it is confirmed and there is still no sound then I'd say something is off with your mixer settings. BTW, alsamixer often does not fit the terminal window, use arrow right to see all sliders.

I'm not very familiar with how other Linux distros work/how much they share in common,

Everything is same at the kernel level. Some system tools are different in systemd installations.

rphii · Post by **rphii** » Sun Jan 09, 2022 4:13 pm

So I found another post here: https://forum.manjaro.org/t/problem-wit ... vice/50907

I did the exact same thing as the OP in the link above did. Install Manjaro kde and check that the kernel version is above 5.10.

Then I ran pavucontrol and in the configuration I selected “Analog Stereo Duplex (not available)” from the HDA Creative dropdown. (As the OP suggested)

And finally, in the Manjaro sound settings I disabled all sound devices except for the Creative one.

After that, my audio on Manjaro was working perfectly (the OP in the post above had some other issue I didn't have, I assume because I muted all other devices).

In Manjaro, those are the codecs.

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$ grep -i codec /proc/asound/*/codec*
/proc/asound/card0/codec#0:Codec: Nvidia GPU 93 HDMI/DP
/proc/asound/card1/codec#1:Codec: Creative Sound Blaster AE-7
/proc/asound/card2/codec#0:Codec: Realtek ALC1220
/proc/asound/Creative/codec#1:Codec: Creative Sound Blaster AE-7
/proc/asound/Generic/codec#0:Codec: Realtek ALC1220
/proc/asound/NVidia/codec#0:Codec: Nvidia GPU 93 HDMI/DP

Now on to some fun stuff.

In Gentoo I installed the pavucontrol package and in the configuration I selected “Analog Stereo Duplex (not available)” from the HDA Creative dropdown.

Then I tried to hear some audio in VLC. Pavucontrol still being open, I can see that there is definitely some audio. But I can't hear it through my headphones.

Jaglover · Post by **Jaglover** » Sun Jan 09, 2022 8:01 pm

rphii,

there is more than one way to set up sound in Linux.

#1 Soundcard - ALSA - user
The oldest way is to use ALSA and its tools. Die-hard purists still use this way. Setting up sophisticated configurations by hand can be cumbersome.

#2 Soundcard - ALSA - PulseAudio - user
This, most used way nowadays by mainstream distros, is to use PulseAudio (PA). In this case user interacts with PA and PA configures ALSA without user needing to know anything about manual configuration.

There are more ways for special needs, but we are not talking about those here.

Pavucontrol belongs to PA and won't do anything useful in plain ALSA systems. You have to make up your mind which method you will use. There are Gentoo Wiki pages, also Arch Linux has very good Wiki. When studying Arch Wiki keep in mind Arch is systemd based, while Gentoo gives you choice whether to use OpenRC or systemd.

rphii · Post by **rphii** » Tue Jun 07, 2022 11:15 am

Jaglover,

I installed pulseaudio. But I get the following:

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~ $ pulseaudio
E: [pulseaudio] pid.c: Daemon already running.
E: [pulseaudio] main.c: pa_pid_file_create() failed.

I followed the wiki here https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/PulseAudio.

To fix this I tried:

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~ $ pulseaudio --kill
~ $ pulseaudio --start

Which did not help... I also found this here https://askubuntu.com/questions/1155038 ... ate-failed, followed what they did but did not help as well.