Alsa, Kernel-2.6.14 and udev

miLosh · n00b Joined: 05 Dec 2005 Posts: 4

hello,

i've searched the forum for this and also went to the IRC, apparently im the only one with this particular problem: i did a "emerge -u world" at sunday and also a kernel update to 2.6.14-r2, following an etc-update. most things work again except for sound - i do not have alsa sound. it seems that udev is not creating any devices in /dev for alsa (normally /dev/snd/* i believ).

my versions:
sys-apps/baselayout-1.11.13-r1
gentoo-sources-2.6.14-r2
hotplug-20040923-r1
udev-070-r1

kernel config:
CONFIG_SND_INTEL8X0=y
CONFIG_SND_INTEL8X0M=y
CONFIG_SND_AC97_CODEC=y
CONFIG_SND_AC97_BUS=y
CONFIG_SND=y
CONFIG_SND_TIMER=y
CONFIG_SND_PCM=y
CONFIG_SND_RAWMIDI=y
CONFIG_SND_SEQUENCER=y
CONFIG_SND_OSSEMUL=y
CONFIG_SND_MIXER_OSS=y
CONFIG_SND_PCM_OSS=y
CONFIG_SND_SEQUENCER_OSS=y
CONFIG_SND_GENERIC_DRIVER=y
CONFIG_SOUND=y
# CONFIG_SOUND_PRIME is not set

output from alsamixer:
alsamixer: function snd_ctl_open failed for default: No such device

output from alsasound start:
orbit init.d # ./alsasound start
* Loading ALSA modules ... [ ok ]
* Restoring Mixer Levels ...
/usr/sbin/alsactl: load_state:1250: Cannot find soundcard '0'...
* Errors while restoring defaults, ignoring
/usr/sbin/alsactl: load_state:1250: Cannot find soundcard '1'...
* Errors while restoring defaults, ignoring
/usr/sbin/alsactl: load_state:1250: Cannot find soundcard '2'...
* Errors while restoring defaults, ignoring [ ok ]

does anyone have a clue why it doesnt work out of a sudden? it worked perfectly before the world update and kernel 2.6.12-r9, also with udev. what am i missing...?

Headrush · Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2005 9:15 pm Post subject:

Have you rebooted. The first boot of 2.6.14 caused some ALSA errors that disappeared after a second reboot.

FishB8 · l33t Joined: 17 Mar 2003 Posts: 820

The problem may be strictly a udev problem. Try running "udevstart" and see if the dev nodes show up.

I've noticed this happening with udev on systems where udev has more than one udev rules file located in /etc/udev/rules.d/

Reading more than one udev rules file seems to cause problems with creating the nodes. I have no way to be absolutely sure that this is the source of the problem though. For now it is just a "suspicion".
_________________
"...as we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours, and this we should do freely and generously." -Benjamin Franklin

miLosh · n00b Joined: 05 Dec 2005 Posts: 4

i've rebooted the system about 20 times now, with various kernel settings, building alsa as a module and so on. nothing works. having only one rules file does not help either. this is really driving me crazy - i'll try now the ~x86 release of udev, as suggested on another website for a similar problem.

miLosh · n00b Joined: 05 Dec 2005 Posts: 4

well that was a bad idea... after emerging the ~x86 udev i've got lots of errors, hence i emerge the x86 udev and baselayout again. no errors on boot now, but in addition to having no sound, i also do not have Xorg now - no nvidia device.

thats just unbelievable, what did the devs change that nothing works as it was supposed to be? i'm starting to wish devfs back....

FishB8 · l33t Joined: 17 Mar 2003 Posts: 820

is the nvidia /dev node present? If not, try running udevstart, and then seeing if X11 will start. (udevstart basically refresheds the nodes in /dev. this often fixes the problem with the device not being available)
_________________
"...as we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours, and this we should do freely and generously." -Benjamin Franklin

miLosh · n00b Joined: 05 Dec 2005 Posts: 4

nope, the nvidia device is now missing in /dev. though it's strange, for the module is loaded as i see with lsmod. so i have a loaded module but no device belonging to it, X is still not starting.

im at the end of my knowledge, it seems as if udev is not creating any devices dynamically. right now i have only the devices in /dev which are in the baselayout dev tarball. i tried udevstart but with no luck, i fear that something major is missing or misconfigured, but i dont know what that might be. any pointers?

[EDIT]: i just stumbled over a post speaking about upgrading gcc from 3.3 to 3.4. well, that could actually be the cause of my problems - before the emerge -u world i was using 3.3 (or older, not sure rightnow) and the emerge did upgrade gcc. could that be? anyways, im going to rebuild my whole sys, think thats the savest way.

wizard69 · Apprentice Joined: 22 Sep 2003 Posts: 178 Location: Berlin

have you checked the udev setup http://webpages.charter.net/decibelshelp/LinuxHelp_UDEVPrimer.html#Problems

i am having the same problems with my sound card as you are with no solution up till now

dekon · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 21 Aug 2005 Posts: 80

calr0x · Apprentice Joined: 16 Aug 2004 Posts: 244

I JUST upgraded to udev-077-r1 yesterday the 7th and when I woke today and booted I realized I too had no sound. Running "udevstart" also fixed the problem for me as well. So it appears SOMETHING is new w/ this upgrade. I'll look around a bit and see what I find..

udev-077-r1 is the version I am currently running. I had version udev-073 beforehand. So try running "udevstart" and if that works, maybe downgrade to a previous udev by:

emerge -pv =sys-fs/udev-073

calr0x · Apprentice Joined: 16 Aug 2004 Posts: 244

I would add that the key to this is those people that had it working fine til just a few days ago... As opposed to people who are getting their sound working for the first time...

GNUtoo · Veteran Joined: 05 May 2005 Posts: 1919

my sound cardS are located in
/dev/sound
and not
/dev/snd(that contain also sound related things)

the /dev/dsp and /dev/dsp2 are linked to /dev/sound/dsp and /dev/sound/dsp2

pigats · n00b Joined: 29 Nov 2005 Posts: 6 Location: Italy

I'm having troubles with udev, too, after adding an udev rule to change the mode of /dev/sd*. I've deleted the rule, but now I can't start alsasound and I've not sd* nodes in /dev. Using udevstart worked for a while, but now it isn't creating nodes.
My configuration is:
gentoo sources 2.6.14-r4
udev-073 (I tried to downgrade to 072, but didn't work)
baselayout-1.12.0-pre11-r3
alsa-driver-1.0.10

::pigats

GNUtoo · Veteran Joined: 05 May 2005 Posts: 1919

me too
the sequencer is /dev/dsp
and my card is /dev/dsp2
so xine and a lot of program use /dev/dsp or the first card (i made a /dev/dsp simplin but it has not worked...)

GNUtoo · Veteran Joined: 05 May 2005 Posts: 1919

i'll ask in the kernel section

cyberjun · Apprentice Joined: 06 Nov 2005 Posts: 293

Friends,
My observations on this:

1. udev-077-r1 + baselayout-1.11.13 doesn't start udevd on boot. So sound as well as wireless breaks. I would say everything in general which depends on dynamic udev breaks. However once you start udevd manually in daemon mode or otherwise, things start working again.

2. udev-073 + baselayout 1.11.13 work properly.

3. udev-077-r1 + baselayout -1.12.0_pre11-r3 although start udevd on boot, wireless interface fails again although at a different stage. The net.lo script fails to correctly configure wireless. It is somehow oblivious to the settings in /etc/conf.d/net.eth1 (eth1 is my wireless interface).

I now see that udev-077-r2 has come out so maybe you can try it. I can live with udev-073 and baselayout-1.11.13. However, I don't like the thought of not having the lastest versions :mrgreen:

:p

Please let me know if you make any progress on this. I will also post in case I find a solution. By the way I am using kernel 2.6.14 and I have a strong feeling that the kernel doesn't have anything to do with this mess.

cheers,
--cyberjun

calr0x · Apprentice Joined: 16 Aug 2004 Posts: 244

Downgraded to 73 and its operating as before, perfectly.

I noticed, which caused me to finally downgrade, that although alsa was working fine (/dev/sound/* was present) /dev/dsp was not. OSS module was loaded fine yet it wasn't there.

Reboot in 73 and OSS functions as well.

cyberjun · Apprentice Joined: 06 Nov 2005 Posts: 293

calr0x..which baselayout version are you using? If all is well and you feel like breaking it, I suggest you try the latest baselayout version

with latest udev.

Otherwise.....

--cyberjun

calr0x · Apprentice Joined: 16 Aug 2004 Posts: 244

baselayout-1.11.13-r1

Ya I think I'll stay safe hehe...

pigats · n00b Joined: 29 Nov 2005 Posts: 6 Location: Italy

tried udev-077-r2, the latest baselayout, gentoo sources 2.6.14-r4, but it is still not working. But now, at least, If I run udevd and udevstart when the system has booted I can start alsasound... but I have an error message during boot about udevd not starting and I'm still not able to see /dev/sd* nodes.
I tried to edit /etc/conf.d/rc and set udev to use a tarball of the /dev nodes (as was said in another thread of this forum), but without changes on my system's behaviour. Hope in a fast fix.

bianco · n00b Joined: 21 Jun 2005 Posts: 54

Thank you boyZ!!!

sir_tez · n00b Joined: 26 Mar 2003 Posts: 69

So now that we know what fixes the problem, what can be done to automate this properly? Or will there be an -r3 that fixes this?

pigats · n00b Joined: 29 Nov 2005 Posts: 6 Location: Italy

after a whole day trying, I could get alsa working at least. /dev/sd* nodes are not automatically created as before, but it's a beginning. So, my working configuration is baselayout-1.11.14, udev-072, gentoo-sources-2.6.14-r4. Hope it can be useful to you, till a better fix will be found. I notice that the latest hotplug version is not supporting its init script any more: I don't know if it's related with this bug and how, but I emerged coldplug and added it to the default runlevel.

pigats · n00b Joined: 29 Nov 2005 Posts: 6 Location: Italy

CyD · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 23 Jul 2004 Posts: 117

i downgraded to latest stable udev (070-r1) just now, which resolved the problem. udev-077-r3 wanted an unstable baselayout. i'm wondering how i went to unstable udev in the first place; perhaps it was the hal/dbus i've been messing around with, trying to get kde mediamanager functioning properly!

EDIT: ok, so hal-0.5.5.1 depends on >=sys-fs/udev-071, which is unstable. that's where i got it at least