Audio driver problem with nForce 430 (AD1986A)

[Ka-Ka]

I have a Asus A8N-VM CSM board (with Nvidia nForce 430). According to the specs it have a "High Definition Audio, ADI AD1986A 5.1channel CODEC" device.

I have tried several ALSA drivers and the OSS driver supplied by Nvidia (media-sound/nforce-audio v1.0.0310) and havn't got it working

My question, have anyone else got it to work? What driver have you used?

[piranha2001]

I am using the hda_intel-Module from the kernel and I get a f**king beep on the one channel and sound on the other.
After some seconds or after adjusting the mixer this "mono"-sound stops.
I found a patch here:
http://www.ubuntu-forum.de/artikel/4610 ... 915GM.html
and applied it. Didn't help...
Anyone here who got sound on Asus A8N-VM CSM running?

[piranha2001]

Hopefully they will find a fix soon:

https://bugtrack.alsa-project.org/alsa- ... hp?id=1458



I read that there were people who got it running under different Linuxes, noone with Gentoo???



Thanks in advance,
Sebastian

[piranha2001]

*bump*

No one with a helping idea???

[piranha2001]

Hey Ka-Ka, do you still have the sound-problem?
For me it works now. I used a patch I found in the Nvidia-Linux-forum and reinstalled ALSA again.
http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthr ... sus+a8n-vm
Look at KenWoodland's posting for the patch.
I compiled Kernel just with Soundsupport, no Alsa, no OSS and emerged alsa-utils without alsa-driver-package. (Or unmerge alsa-driver, if you have it on your syste.)

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<*> Sound card support 
 Advanced Linux Sound Architecture  ---> 
             < > Advanced Linux Sound Architecture
Open Sound System  --->       
             < > Open Sound System (DEPRECATED)

I downloaded alsa-driver-1.0.10 directly from ALSA project-page, patched it and installed it with

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 ./configure && make && make install && ./snddevices

Then I found out, that the crackling in the sound can be eliminated by inserting a position-fix option into

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/etc/modules.d/alsa

Looks like this:

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# --- BEGIN: Generated by ALSACONF, do not edit. ---
# --- ALSACONF version 1.0.10 ---
alias snd-card-0 snd-hda-intel
alias sound-slot-0 snd-hda-intel
options snd-hda-intel position_fix=1
# --- END: Generated by ALSACONF, do not edit. ---

After that it worked.
If you still have problems: Post and ask. I'll do my very best!

[Ka-Ka]

Thanks piranha2001! I will try out your solution soon.

Happy new year!

[Ka-Ka]

The sound works for me too with the workaround.
Thanks again piranha2001!

[piranha2001]

You're welcome.

[ions]

Hey Ka-Ka, do you still have the sound-problem?
For me it works now. I used a patch I found in the Nvidia-Linux-forum and reinstalled ALSA again.
http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthr ... sus+a8n-vm
Look at KenWoodland's posting for the patch.
I compiled Kernel just with Soundsupport, no Alsa, no OSS and emerged alsa-utils without alsa-driver-package. (Or unmerge alsa-driver, if you have it on your syste.)

Code: Select all

<*> Sound card support 
 Advanced Linux Sound Architecture  ---> 
             < > Advanced Linux Sound Architecture
Open Sound System  --->       
             < > Open Sound System (DEPRECATED)

I downloaded alsa-driver-1.0.10 directly from ALSA project-page, patched it and installed it with

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 ./configure && make && make install && ./snddevices

I got to this point and got stuck. Not sure what to do next.

Load a module?

Which?

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 # ls modules/
snd-ac97-bus.ko       snd-au8830.ko         snd-es1938.ko          snd-maestro3.ko     snd-rme32.ko           snd-sonicvibes.ko
snd-ac97-codec.ko     snd-azt3328.ko        snd-es1968.ko          snd-mixart.ko       snd-rme96.ko           snd-timer.ko
snd-ad1889.ko         snd-bt87x.ko          snd-fm801.ko           snd-mixer-oss.ko    snd-rme9652.ko         snd-trident-synth.ko
snd-ainstr-fm.ko      snd-ca0106.ko         snd-hda-codec.ko       snd-mpu401-uart.ko  snd-sb-common.ko       snd-trident.ko
snd-ainstr-simple.ko  snd-cmipci.ko         snd-hda-intel.ko       snd-mpu401.ko       snd-seq-device.ko      snd-usb-audio.ko
snd-ak4114.ko         snd-cs4281.ko         snd-hdsp.ko            snd-mtpav.ko        snd-seq-dummy.ko       snd-usb-lib.ko
snd-ak4531-codec.ko   snd-cs46xx.ko         snd-hdspm.ko           snd-nm256.ko        snd-seq-instr.ko       snd-usb-usx2y.ko
snd-ak4xxx-adda.ko    snd-cs8427.ko         snd-hwdep.ko           snd-opl3-lib.ko     snd-seq-midi-emul.ko   snd-util-mem.ko
snd-ali5451.ko        snd-dummy.ko          snd-i2c.ko             snd-opl3-synth.ko   snd-seq-midi-event.ko  snd-via82xx-modem.ko
snd-aloop.ko          snd-emu10k1-synth.ko  snd-ice1712.ko         snd-page-alloc.ko   snd-seq-midi.ko        snd-via82xx.ko
snd-als4000.ko        snd-emu10k1.ko        snd-ice1724.ko         snd-pcm-oss.ko      snd-seq-oss.ko         snd-virmidi.ko
snd-atiixp-modem.ko   snd-emu10k1x.ko       snd-ice17xx-ak4xxx.ko  snd-pcm.ko          snd-seq-virmidi.ko     snd-vx-lib.ko
snd-atiixp.ko         snd-emux-synth.ko     snd-intel8x0.ko        snd-pcxhr.ko        snd-seq.ko             snd-vx222.ko
snd-au8810.ko         snd-ens1370.ko        snd-intel8x0m.ko       snd-pdplus.ko       snd-serial-u16550.ko   snd-ymfpci.ko
snd-au8820.ko         snd-ens1371.ko        snd-korg1212.ko        snd-rawmidi.ko      snd-serialmidi.ko      snd.ko

That is what I need to do next correct?

[Ka-Ka]

I don't really remember as it was a while ago since I installed it, but is'nt you suppose to run alsaconf to detect your card automatically?

Anyway the modules that you are intrested in if you have a A8N-VM CSM are snd-hda-codec.ko and snd-hda-intel.ko

[ions]

Yeah, after I posted that I had tried running alsaconf. I went through the menu and it listed the nvidia driver and it finished with this:

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Running modules-update...
 * Updating /etc/modules.conf ...                                         [ ok ] * Updating /etc/modprobe.conf ...                                        [ ok ]Loading driver...
 * Loading ALSA modules ...
 *   Loading: snd-card-0 ...                                              [ ok ] *   Loading: snd-seq-oss ...                                             [ ok ] *   Loading: snd-pcm-oss ...                                             [ ok ] * Restoring Mixer Levels ...
 * No mixer config in /etc/asound.state, you have to unmute your card!    [ ok ]Setting default volumes...
amixer: Mixer attach default error: No such device
Saving the mixer setup used for this in /etc/asound.state.
/usr/sbin/alsactl: save_state:1163: No soundcards found...



===============================================================================

 Now ALSA is ready to use.
 For adjustment of volumes, use your favorite mixer.

 Have a lot of fun!

So I run alsamixer to unmute this beast:

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# alsamixer

alsamixer: function snd_ctl_open failed for default: No such device

[Ka-Ka]

I saw that there are new version of the alsa-driver. Have anyone tested it? Do it solve our problem. It would be good to get a less hacky fix for the problem.

media-sound/alsa-headers-1.0.11_rc2
media-sound/alsa-driver-1.0.11_rc2

The releasenotes for the changes between 1.0.10 and 1.0.11_rc2 can be found here:
http://www.alsa-project.org/changes/v1- ... -11rc1.txt
http://www.alsa-project.org/changes/v1- ... -11rc2.txt

I found at least one line in the releasenotes that might indicate that our bug is fixed.

- Summary: hda-codec - Fix surrounds on 3stack mode of AD1988
Fixed the swapped surround/CLFE on 3stack mode of AD1988.

Have anyone tested the alsa-driver-1.0.11_rc2?

[ions]

Oops forgot to mention my board: Gigabyte K8N51GMF-9. Same chipset so it would be the same module correct?

[ions]

I'm trying it now Ka-Ka.

[ions]

Not good for me:

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Running modules-update...
Loading driver...
 * Loading ALSA modules ...
 *   Loading: snd-card-0 ...                                                                                         [ ok ] *   Loading: snd-seq-oss ...
FATAL: Error inserting snd_seq_oss (/lib/modules/2.6.14-gentoo-r5/kernel/sound/acore/seq/oss/snd-seq-oss.ko): Unknown symbol in module, or unknown parameter (see dmesg)                                                                        [ !! ] *   Loading: snd-pcm-oss ...
WARNING: Error inserting snd_mixer_oss (/lib/modules/2.6.14-gentoo-r5/kernel/sound/acore/oss/snd-mixer-oss.ko): Unknown symbol in module, or unknown parameter (see dmesg)
FATAL: Error inserting snd_pcm_oss (/lib/modules/2.6.14-gentoo-r5/kernel/sound/acore/oss/snd-pcm-oss.ko): Unknown symbol in module, or unknown parameter (see dmesg)                                                                            [ !! ] *   Loading: snd-mixer-oss ...
FATAL: Error inserting snd_mixer_oss (/lib/modules/2.6.14-gentoo-r5/kernel/sound/acore/oss/snd-mixer-oss.ko): Unknown symbol in module, or unknown parameter (see dmesg)                                                                        [ ok ] * Restoring Mixer Levels ...
 * No mixer config in /etc/asound.state, you have to unmute your card!                                               [ ok ]Setting default volumes...
amixer: Mixer attach default error: No such device
Saving the mixer setup used for this in /etc/asound.state.
/usr/sbin/alsactl: save_state:1163: No soundcards found...














===============================================================================

 Now ALSA is ready to use.
 For adjustment of volumes, use your favorite mixer.

 Have a lot of fun!

[ions]

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# cat /proc/asound/cards
 0 [NVidia         ]: HDA-Intel - HDA NVidia
                      HDA NVidia at 0xf5100000 irq 201

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# alsamixer

alsamixer: function snd_ctl_open failed for default: No such device

[piranha2001]

Hello ions!

Oops forgot to mention my board: Gigabyte K8N51GMF-9. Same chipset so it would be the same module correct?

Sorry, but I think you did all the efforts for nothing! The special thing about sound with the Asus-Board is, that Asus plugged a non Nvidia-Soundchip on it! I think your board uses the standard Nvidia-Chip, so you also need the drivers from Nvidia. They should work...
I can't help you with the normal Nvidia-Nforce-drivers but if they install as easy as the graphics driver it shouldn't be such a huge problem.

Greets,
Sebastian

[ions]

Apparently I am not alone: http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthr ... post788831

Appears Udev is involved.

[anz]

thanks alot for your postings!
My system crashed after updating to alsa-driver-1.0.10 during booting with an error message about:
module snd_mpu401 not found segmentation fault
pump - the system freezes ...

I removed alsasound from the rc-update (rc-update -d alsasound deault) - system freezes.

I removed coldplug (which I reemerged) from the rc-update (rc-update -d coldplug default) - the system boots correctly. After that, a
/etc/init.d/alsasound start
works without problems.

I think, coldplug recognizes a "mpu device" and tries to start the mpu-401 module - and than it bangs.

I downgraded to alsa-driver-1.0.10-rc3 - and everything works well again (with coldplug AND alsasound in the rc.update as default).

I use kernel: 2.6.14-gentoo-r5
The mainboard is a ASUS A7N8X (nvidia nforce2 chipset)

[bus.dch]

Note that I am using the amd64 platform, so some of these requires ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="~amd64".
Also, s/pink/orange/. Can't tell in this light.

Using 1.0.10_rc3 I get sound with "clicks" at around 30Hz. (Sounds like the interrupt handler is broken. Is this the "crackling" that needs modprobe snd_hda_intel position_fix=1 ??) Also, running alsamixer while aplay is playing messes up the mixer settings, everything gets muted (though alsamixer doesn't think this is so). The way to fix it is:

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# modprobe -r snd_hda_intel; modprobe -r snd_seq
(then an lsmod shows all modules down to soundcore have been removed)
# modprobe snd_seq; modprobe snd_hda_intel
# alsamixer

Since that didn't save any of the mixer settings, you'll have to restore them all however you care to do that.

It seems (I haven't been thorough here) the only two channels that break the mixer settings are PCM and Front. I played with some others and it was OK.

Code: Select all

# equery l alsa*
[ Searching for package 'alsa*' in all categories among: ]
 * installed packages
[I--] [  ] media-libs/alsa-lib-1.0.10 (0)
[I--] [  ] media-sound/alsa-utils-1.0.10 (0.9)
[I--] [M ] media-sound/alsa-driver-1.0.10_rc3 (0)
[I--] [M ] media-sound/alsa-headers-1.0.10_rc3 (0)
# cat /proc/asound/cards
0 [NVidia         ]: HDA-Intel - HDA NVidia
                     HDA NVidia at 0xfebd8000 irq 233
# cat /proc/asound/devices
 17: [0- 1]: digital audio playback
 16: [0- 0]: digital audio playback
 24: [0- 0]: digital audio capture
  0: [0- 0]: ctl
  1:       : sequencer
 33:       : timer

Okay, now I know that I'm configured as 4.0, not 5.1. Don't know yet how to change that.

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# man speaker-test
# (from the man page) speaker-test -Dplug:surround51 -c6

speaker-test 0.0.8

Playback device is plug:surround51
Stream parameters are 48000Hz, S16_LE, 6 channels
Using 16 octaves of pink noise
Rate set to 48000Hz (requested 48000Hz)
Buffer size range from 22 to 5461
Period size range from 11 to 2730
Periods = 4
Buffer time size 24000
To choose buffer_size = 5460
To choose period_size = 1365
was set period_size = 1365
was set buffer_size = 5460
 0 - Front Left
Write error: -5,Input/output error
xrun_recovery failed: -5,Input/output error
Transfer failed: Operation not permitted

# speaker-test -Dplug:surround40 -c4

Front Left comes out as Front Right, Front Right comes out as Front Left (Front: blue plug). Same output (same reversed channels) for the sub+center plug (pink) with less volume (about 50% of front) and low frequencies are gone - it thinks these are the front channel. Rear Right comes out as Rear Left, Rear Left comes out as Rear Right (Rear: green plug). Rear volume is only about 50% of Front. Rear signal also doesn't have low frequencies. I imagine there are alsa config options to fix the speaker arrangement that I don't know about.

When I play a mono or stereo wav, it comes out all 6 channels (Front/blue, Rear/green, and Center+sub/pink). Well, actually only 4, since Front Left does not come out blue right, and Rear Left does not come out green right. So I checked cat /proc/asound/devices during playback (and plugged into pink) and it's the same as above. Don't know what's going on here; though unmuting "Stereo Downmix" in alsamixer makes sound come out the blue right channel. Don't know what audio channel that is from the input. Even more strange is that sometimes (about 10% of the time) the blue right channel has a really high tone on it, up around 15KHz, whether "Stereo Downmix" is on or not... really annoying... but pink (with the same audio except the low frequency end) doesn't have the tone. Don't have a mic, but recording what should be silence (with arecord) records crackling noise.

Okay, now:

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# emerge -p =alsa-driver-1.0.10

These are the packages that I would merge, in order:

Calculating dependencies ...done!
[ebuild     U ] media-sound/alsa-headers-1.0.10 [1.0.10_rc3]
[ebuild     U ] media-sound/alsa-driver-1.0.10 [1.0.10_rc3]

# emerge =alsa-driver-1.0.10
...
# reboot
...
# equery l alsa*
[ Searching for package 'alsa*' in all categories among: ]
 * installed packages
[I--] [  ] media-libs/alsa-lib-1.0.10 (0)
[I--] [  ] media-sound/alsa-utils-1.0.10 (0.9)
[I--] [  ] media-sound/alsa-headers-1.0.10 (0)
[I--] [  ] media-sound/alsa-driver-1.0.10 (0)

alsamixer during aplay has the same problem as above.

cat /proc/asound/cards /proc/asound/devices has same stuff, devices in different order.

Running speaker-test insists it's a 4.0 setup, with the same results as above.

When I play a mono or stereo wav, again, there's the clicking sound, and same results as above.

Okay, now:

Code: Select all

# ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="~amd64" emerge -p =alsa-driver-1.0.10-r1

These are the packages that I would merge, in order:

Calculating dependencies ...done!
[ebuild     U ] media-sound/alsa-driver-1.0.10-r1 [1.0.10]

# ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="~amd64" emerge =alsa-driver-1.0.10-r1
...
# reboot
...
# equery l alsa*
[ Searching for package 'alsa*' in all categories among: ]
 * installed packages
[I--] [  ] media-libs/alsa-lib-1.0.10 (0)
[I--] [  ] media-sound/alsa-utils-1.0.10 (0.9)
[I--] [  ] media-sound/alsa-headers-1.0.10 (0)
[I--] [M ] media-sound/alsa-driver-1.0.10-r1 (0)

alsamixer during aplay has the same problem as above.

cat /proc/asound/cards /proc/asound/devices has same stuff, devices in different order.

Running speaker-test insists it's a 4.0 setup, with the same results as above.

When I play a mono or stereo wav, again, there's the clicking sound, and same results as above.

Okay, one more time...

Code: Select all

# ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="~amd64" \
emerge -p =alsa-lib-1.0.11_rc2 =alsa-driver-1.0.11_rc2 =alsa-utils-1.0.11_rc2

These are the packages that I would merge, in order:

Calculating dependencies ...done!
[ebuild     U ] media-sound/alsa-headers-1.0.11_rc2 [1.0.10]
[ebuild     U ] media-libs/alsa-lib-1.0.11_rc2 [1.0.10]
[ebuild     U ] media-sound/alsa-driver-1.0.11_rc2 [1.0.10-r1]
[ebuild     U ] media-sound/alsa-utils-1.0.11_rc2 [1.0.10]

# ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="~amd64" \
emerge =alsa-lib-1.0.11_rc2 =alsa-driver-1.0.11_rc2 =alsa-utils-1.0.11_rc2
...
# reboot
...
# equery l alsa*
[ Searching for package 'alsa*' in all categories among: ]
 * installed packages
[I--] [M ] media-libs/alsa-lib-1.0.11_rc2 (0)
[I--] [M ] media-sound/alsa-driver-1.0.11_rc2 (0)
[I--] [M ] media-sound/alsa-utils-1.0.11_rc2 (0.9)
[I--] [M ] media-sound/alsa-headers-1.0.11_rc2 (0)

cat /proc/asound/cards /proc/asound/devices has same stuff, devices in different order.

alsamixer during aplay slightly different: now fiddling with Headphone also ends up nuking all mixer settings, along with PCM and Front.

Code: Select all

# speaker-test -Dplug:surround51 -c6

speaker-test 1.0.11rc2

Playback device is plug:surround51
Stream parameters are 48000Hz, S16_LE, 6 channels
Using 16 octaves of pink noise
Rate set to 48000Hz (requested 48000Hz)
Buffer size range from 22 to 5461
Period size range from 11 to 2730
Periods = 4
Buffer time size 24000
To choose buffer_size = 5460
To choose period_size = 1365
was set period_size = 1365
was set buffer_size = 5460
 0 - Front Left
Write error: -32,Broken pipe
Write error: -5,Input/output error
xrun_recovery failed: -5,Input/output error
Transfer failed: Operation not permitted

# speaker-test -Dplug:surround40 -c4

Same exact results as above: L/R are backward, Front output on blue, Front w/o low frequency
(and less volume) on pink, Rear w/o low frequency and less volume on green.

I'm getting the high-pitched tone on the Rear Right speaker this time. Same results as before everywhere else. Maybe that high-pitched sound is an alsa bug.

But the 30Hz clicking aka "crackling" that might be a position_fix=1 thing is now fixed. Great!

So I recommend you go with 1.0.11_rc2. I might even figure out how to get alsa to output the right stuff... 4.0 channel is better than nothing.

[bus.dch]

Hopefully they will find a fix soon:
https://bugtrack.alsa-project.org/alsa- ... hp?id=1458

And there are some related bugs:
https://bugtrack.alsa-project.org/alsa- ... hp?id=1678
https://bugtrack.alsa-project.org/alsa- ... hp?id=1415

[gerick]

This is supposed to be fixed with ALSA 1.0.11rc4, but I am not having much luck.

Is anybody using Alsa 1.0.11rc4 and SPDIF to a AV Receiver that has 5.1 (or 6 channel) audio working?

[OlegVekhov]

Installed lastest ALSA drivers 1.0.12rc1 and have the same annoying clicks on playback.

I have Amilo Pro v2045.

There are an article in WiKi, but it's very old... The annoying high freq sound was eleminated after upgrading to 2.6.17.6 kernel, but clicking continues with both kernel and latest alsa drivers.

position_fix option has no effect for me

[dch24]

I've read through the bugs on bugtrack.alsa-project.org. tiwai (I think he's a moderator there) refers the three bugs to #1596, but correctly detecting the model is not the problem, and so the bug is not resolved. I have an Asus A8N-VM-CSM, and although the high-pitched noise sometimes disappears, it's definitely still there (sometimes).

The problem right now is that although snd_hda_intel correctly detects nForce 430 chips (on the motherboard) as a model=3stack (turn on CONFIG_SND_DEBUG and CONFIG_SND_DEBUG_DETECT, then the dmesg log has "ALSA sound/pci/hda/hda_codec.c hda_codec: model '3stack' is selected for config 10de:cb84 (ASUS A8N-VM)") but it doesn't work as a 3stack. It doesn't work in 6-channel mode.

That's why some users have reported success by adding 'options snd-hda-intel model=laptop' to /etc/modules.d/alsa (or modprobe.conf). It forces the AD1986A (inside the nForce 430) to operate in 2 channel mode.

Allowing it to correctly detect model=3stack results in the right mixer channels showing up in alsamixer: front, surround, lfe, and center. And I can even set the values as long as no sound is playing. But when I play something (I'm using mplayer) if I touch the mixer, everything gets muted, and I have to do a /etc/init.d/alsasound restart (which unloads and reloads the modules). While playing sound files, I often get the high pitched tone.

The channels are not mapped correctly, either. I may not have set up alsa correctly, but of the three audio outputs on the 3stack, I think the microphone is still configured as a microphone. I know that the other two are configured for output, because when I connect speakers to them, I get sound out of front right, surround left, and surround right. (Note that front left is either a high pitched tone or mute).

I suspect the problem is that the snd_hda_intel module is making incorrect configuration choices for the AD1986A. I'm going to poke around a bit, and see if I can figure out what's wrong.

As bug #2889 suggests, be sure to update your BIOS to at least version 1007. But that doesn't resolve the problem.

[dch24]

It's apparently also possible to freeze the system while unloading snd_hda_intel. (That is, it deadlocks while unloading. The system continues to run.)