alsamixer: cannot open mixer: No such file or directory

Message

acidunit · Post by **acidunit** » Sat Jul 14, 2018 11:07 pm

ls /dev | grep mixer returns nothing. ls /dev/snd/control* returns nothing. cat /proc/asound/cards returns "--- no soundcards ---". My user is a part of the audio group. It doesn't work as root.

I've been trying to fix this for over an hour now, can anyone help?

krinn · Post by **krinn** » Sat Jul 14, 2018 11:37 pm

fixing sound is generally easy, but do takes times as we will drive you and wait for your answers. This to say, because it really sucks to not have sound, you may wish ask help in irc, you'll get a more living question/answer and quicker solve.

in case you could wait, here's the things to check.

infos from dmesg

Code: Select all

dmesg | grep "snd\|sound" -i

identify the card module (if your kernel cannot output this, use a livecd), should be snd_hda_intel, but you might have other too.

Code: Select all

lspci -k | grep Audio -A4

identify the card codec

Code: Select all

head -1 /proc/asound/card*/codec*

verify kernel (because nearly everyone own a card that use SND_HDA), correct answer is mostly everything set as module or buildin

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grep SND_HDA /usr/src/linux/.config

please make sure the right kernel parameters are set, lacking them is the logical result of your "no soundcards"

acidunit · Post by **acidunit** » Sun Jul 15, 2018 12:18 am

krinn wrote:fixing sound is generally easy, but do takes times as we will drive you and wait for your answers. This to say, because it really sucks to not have sound, you may wish ask help in irc, you'll get a more living question/answer and quicker solve.

in case you could wait, here's the things to check.

infos from dmesg
Code: Select all
dmesg | grep "snd\|sound" -i
identify the card module (if your kernel cannot output this, use a livecd), should be snd_hda_intel, but you might have other too.
Code: Select all
lspci -k | grep Audio -A4
identify the card codec
Code: Select all
head -1 /proc/asound/card*/codec*
verify kernel (because nearly everyone own a card that use SND_HDA), correct answer is mostly everything set as module or buildin
Code: Select all
grep SND_HDA /usr/src/linux/.config
please make sure the right kernel parameters are set, lacking them is the logical result of your "no soundcards"

"dmesg | grep "snd\|sound" -i" returns "No soundcards found" after the ALSA driver initializes.

"lspci -k | grep Audio -A4" returns a valid audio device.

"head -1 /proc/asound/card*/codec*" returns "cannot open '/proc/asound/card*/codec*' for reading: No such file or directory"

"grep SND_HDA /usr/src/linux/.config" retrns CONFIG_SND_HDA=y.

I'm not sure how to check the kernel parameters, as the Archwiki guide does not work for me on all installations of GRUB I have used

Jaglover · Post by **Jaglover** » Sun Jul 15, 2018 12:32 am

You need correct driver enabled in kernel, then the device nodes will appear in /dev/.
My conf as an example, I have Realtek sound chip and also I want HDMI sound.

Code: Select all

CONFIG_SND_HDA=y
CONFIG_SND_HDA_INTEL=y
# CONFIG_SND_HDA_HWDEP is not set
# CONFIG_SND_HDA_RECONFIG is not set
# CONFIG_SND_HDA_INPUT_BEEP is not set
# CONFIG_SND_HDA_PATCH_LOADER is not set
CONFIG_SND_HDA_CODEC_REALTEK=y
# CONFIG_SND_HDA_CODEC_ANALOG is not set
# CONFIG_SND_HDA_CODEC_SIGMATEL is not set
# CONFIG_SND_HDA_CODEC_VIA is not set
CONFIG_SND_HDA_CODEC_HDMI=y
# CONFIG_SND_HDA_CODEC_CIRRUS is not set
# CONFIG_SND_HDA_CODEC_CONEXANT is not set
# CONFIG_SND_HDA_CODEC_CA0110 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_HDA_CODEC_CA0132 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_HDA_CODEC_CMEDIA is not set
# CONFIG_SND_HDA_CODEC_SI3054 is not set
CONFIG_SND_HDA_GENERIC=y
CONFIG_SND_HDA_POWER_SAVE_DEFAULT=0
CONFIG_SND_HDA_CORE=y
CONFIG_SND_HDA_I915=y
CONFIG_SND_HDA_PREALLOC_SIZE=512

acidunit · Post by **acidunit** » Sun Jul 15, 2018 12:44 am

Jaglover wrote:You need correct driver enabled in kernel, then the device nodes will appear in /dev/.
My conf as an example, I have Realtek sound chip and also I want HDMI sound.

Code: Select all

CONFIG_SND_HDA=y
CONFIG_SND_HDA_INTEL=y
# CONFIG_SND_HDA_HWDEP is not set
# CONFIG_SND_HDA_RECONFIG is not set
# CONFIG_SND_HDA_INPUT_BEEP is not set
# CONFIG_SND_HDA_PATCH_LOADER is not set
CONFIG_SND_HDA_CODEC_REALTEK=y
# CONFIG_SND_HDA_CODEC_ANALOG is not set
# CONFIG_SND_HDA_CODEC_SIGMATEL is not set
# CONFIG_SND_HDA_CODEC_VIA is not set
CONFIG_SND_HDA_CODEC_HDMI=y
# CONFIG_SND_HDA_CODEC_CIRRUS is not set
# CONFIG_SND_HDA_CODEC_CONEXANT is not set
# CONFIG_SND_HDA_CODEC_CA0110 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_HDA_CODEC_CA0132 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_HDA_CODEC_CMEDIA is not set
# CONFIG_SND_HDA_CODEC_SI3054 is not set
CONFIG_SND_HDA_GENERIC=y
CONFIG_SND_HDA_POWER_SAVE_DEFAULT=0
CONFIG_SND_HDA_CORE=y
CONFIG_SND_HDA_I915=y
CONFIG_SND_HDA_PREALLOC_SIZE=512

How do I enable HDMI in the menuconfig? What options are it under?

ali3nx · Post by **ali3nx** » Sun Jul 15, 2018 12:53 am

Here's four screenshots displaying the proper and correctly configured modular menuconfig setup for alsa. adjust your HD audio chipset driver as required. HDMI/Displayport support is also enabled.

Also note the pre-allocated HD audio buffer size is configured as recommended to 2 MB

https://i.imgur.com/9A3KECC.png
https://i.imgur.com/e6gO2Tw.png
https://i.imgur.com/9H9TocU.png
https://i.imgur.com/xZV7q5r.png

It's important and beneficial with alsa to use a modular kernel config as more often than not if you compile the entire alsa subsystem into the kernel binary alsa will not function properly.

acidunit · Post by **acidunit** » Sun Jul 15, 2018 1:12 am

ali3nx wrote:Here's four screenshots displaying the proper and correctly configured modular menuconfig setup for alsa. adjust your HD audio chipset driver as required. HDMI/Displayport support is also enabled.

Also note the pre-allocated HD audio buffer size is configured as recommended to 2 MB

https://i.imgur.com/9A3KECC.png
https://i.imgur.com/e6gO2Tw.png
https://i.imgur.com/9H9TocU.png
https://i.imgur.com/xZV7q5r.png

It's important and beneficial with alsa to use a modular kernel config as more often than not if you compile the entire alsa subsystem into the kernel binary alsa will not function properly.

Thanks, I'll try this now and see if it works.

acidunit · Post by **acidunit** » Sun Jul 15, 2018 1:18 am

ali3nx wrote:Here's four screenshots displaying the proper and correctly configured modular menuconfig setup for alsa. adjust your HD audio chipset driver as required. HDMI/Displayport support is also enabled.

Also note the pre-allocated HD audio buffer size is configured as recommended to 2 MB

https://i.imgur.com/9A3KECC.png
https://i.imgur.com/e6gO2Tw.png
https://i.imgur.com/9H9TocU.png
https://i.imgur.com/xZV7q5r.png

It's important and beneficial with alsa to use a modular kernel config as more often than not if you compile the entire alsa subsystem into the kernel binary alsa will not function properly.

It worked! Thank you, you absolute genius!

ali3nx · Post by **ali3nx** » Sun Jul 15, 2018 1:44 am

acidunit wrote:
ali3nx wrote:Here's four screenshots displaying the proper and correctly configured modular menuconfig setup for alsa. adjust your HD audio chipset driver as required. HDMI/Displayport support is also enabled.

Also note the pre-allocated HD audio buffer size is configured as recommended to 2 MB

https://i.imgur.com/9A3KECC.png
https://i.imgur.com/e6gO2Tw.png
https://i.imgur.com/9H9TocU.png
https://i.imgur.com/xZV7q5r.png

It's important and beneficial with alsa to use a modular kernel config as more often than not if you compile the entire alsa subsystem into the kernel binary alsa will not function properly.
It worked! Thank you, you absolute genius!

Your welcome