Borked my .asoundrc.asoundconf while trying to use an external DAC

Troglodyte · 2012-07-18 13:04:21

Hi,

In the process of trying to make ALSA use my external DAC as the default soundcard, I accidentally screwed up my .asoundrc.asoundconf file. To my embarassment I have to admit that I did not make a backup.

My .asoundrc.asoundconf now looks like this:

# ALSA library configuration file managed by asoundconf(1).
#
# MANUAL CHANGES TO THIS FILE WILL BE OVERWRITTEN!
#
# Manual changes to the ALSA library configuration should be implemented
# by editing the ~/.asoundrc file, not by editing this file.
defaults.pcm.card PCH
defaults.ctl.card PCH
defaults.pcm.device 1
defaults.pcm.subdevice -1
defaults.pcm.nonblock 1
defaults.pcm.compat 0
defaults.pcm.minperiodtime 5000
defaults.pcm.ipc_key 5678293
defaults.pcm.ipc_gid audio
defaults.pcm.ipc_perm 0660
defaults.pcm.dmix.max_periods 0
defaults.pcm.dmix.rate 48000
defaults.pcm.dmix.format "unchanged"
defaults.pcm.dmix.card defaults.pcm.card
defaults.pcm.dmix.device defaults.pcm.device
defaults.pcm.dsnoop.card defaults.pcm.card
defaults.pcm.dsnoop.device defaults.pcm.device
defaults.pcm.front.card defaults.pcm.card
defaults.pcm.front.device defaults.pcm.device
defaults.pcm.rear.card defaults.pcm.card
defaults.pcm.rear.device defaults.pcm.device
defaults.pcm.center_lfe.card defaults.pcm.card
defaults.pcm.center_lfe.device defaults.pcm.device
defaults.pcm.side.card defaults.pcm.card
defaults.pcm.side.device defaults.pcm.device
defaults.pcm.surround40.card defaults.pcm.card
defaults.pcm.surround40.device defaults.pcm.device
defaults.pcm.surround41.card defaults.pcm.card
defaults.pcm.surround41.device defaults.pcm.device
defaults.pcm.surround50.card defaults.pcm.card
defaults.pcm.surround50.device defaults.pcm.device
defaults.pcm.surround51.card defaults.pcm.card
defaults.pcm.surround51.device defaults.pcm.device
defaults.pcm.surround71.card defaults.pcm.card
defaults.pcm.surround71.device defaults.pcm.device
defaults.pcm.iec958.card defaults.pcm.card
defaults.pcm.iec958.device defaults.pcm.device
defaults.pcm.modem.card defaults.pcm.card
defaults.pcm.modem.device defaults.pcm.device
defaults.pcm.file_format "raw"
defaults.pcm.file_truncate true
defaults.rawmidi.card 0
defaults.rawmidi.device 0
defaults.rawmidi.subdevice -1
defaults.hwdep.card 0
defaults.hwdep.device 0
defaults.timer.class 2
defaults.timer.sclass 0
defaults.timer.card 0
defaults.timer.device 0
defaults.timer.subdevice 0
defaults.namehint.showall off
defaults.namehint.basic on
defaults.namehint.extended off

When I try to start alsamixer for example, I get this:

ALSA lib conf.c:1017:(parse_value) card is not a string
ALSA lib conf.c:1686:(snd_config_load1) /home/lukas/.asoundrc.asoundconf:8:0:Invalid argument
ALSA lib conf.c:3406:(config_file_open) /home/lukas/.asoundrc may be old or corrupted: consider to remove or fix it
*** glibc detected *** alsamixer: free(): invalid pointer: 0xb75c9490 ***
======= Backtrace: =========
/lib/libc.so.6(+0x72702)[0xb7411702]
/lib/libasound.so.2(snd_config_substitute+0x6d)[0xb75c3bad]
/lib/libasound.so.2(+0x256f8)[0xb75c56f8]
/lib/libasound.so.2(snd_config_update_r+0x229)[0xb75c6369]
/lib/libasound.so.2(snd_config_update+0x48)[0xb75c68f8]
/lib/libasound.so.2(snd_ctl_open+0x37)[0xb75d1977]
/lib/libasound.so.2(snd_hctl_open+0x32)[0xb75ce722]
/lib/libasound.so.2(snd_mixer_attach+0x32)[0xb75dc1e2]
/lib/libasound.so.2(snd_mixer_selem_register+0x9b)[0xb75dd75b]
alsamixer[0x804ffec]
alsamixer[0x804b183]
/lib/libc.so.6(__libc_start_main+0xf5)[0xb73b8605]
alsamixer[0x804b201]
======= Memory map: ========
08048000-08055000 r-xp 00000000 08:03 148665     /usr/bin/alsamixer
08055000-08056000 r--p 0000c000 08:03 148665     /usr/bin/alsamixer
08056000-08057000 rw-p 0000d000 08:03 148665     /usr/bin/alsamixer
08a14000-08a35000 rw-p 00000000 00:00 0          [heap]
b7198000-b71b4000 r-xp 00000000 08:03 131988     /usr/lib/libgcc_s.so.1
b71b4000-b71b5000 rw-p 0001b000 08:03 131988     /usr/lib/libgcc_s.so.1
b71ca000-b738f000 r--p 00000000 08:03 168587     /usr/lib/locale/locale-archive
b738f000-b7390000 rw-p 00000000 00:00 0 
b7390000-b7397000 r-xp 00000000 08:03 130552     /usr/lib/librt-2.16.so
b7397000-b7398000 r--p 00006000 08:03 130552     /usr/lib/librt-2.16.so
b7398000-b7399000 rw-p 00007000 08:03 130552     /usr/lib/librt-2.16.so
b7399000-b739a000 rw-p 00000000 00:00 0 
b739a000-b739d000 r-xp 00000000 08:03 130561     /usr/lib/libdl-2.16.so
b739d000-b739e000 r--p 00002000 08:03 130561     /usr/lib/libdl-2.16.so
b739e000-b739f000 rw-p 00003000 08:03 130561     /usr/lib/libdl-2.16.so
b739f000-b753e000 r-xp 00000000 08:03 130536     /usr/lib/libc-2.16.so
b753e000-b753f000 ---p 0019f000 08:03 130536     /usr/lib/libc-2.16.so
b753f000-b7541000 r--p 0019f000 08:03 130536     /usr/lib/libc-2.16.so
b7541000-b7542000 rw-p 001a1000 08:03 130536     /usr/lib/libc-2.16.so
b7542000-b7545000 rw-p 00000000 00:00 0 
b7545000-b755c000 r-xp 00000000 08:03 130544     /usr/lib/libpthread-2.16.so
b755c000-b755d000 r--p 00016000 08:03 130544     /usr/lib/libpthread-2.16.so
b755d000-b755e000 rw-p 00017000 08:03 130544     /usr/lib/libpthread-2.16.so
b755e000-b7560000 rw-p 00000000 00:00 0 
b7560000-b759e000 r-xp 00000000 08:03 130531     /usr/lib/libm-2.16.so
b759e000-b759f000 r--p 0003d000 08:03 130531     /usr/lib/libm-2.16.so
b759f000-b75a0000 rw-p 0003e000 08:03 130531     /usr/lib/libm-2.16.so
b75a0000-b7690000 r-xp 00000000 08:03 158257     /usr/lib/libasound.so.2.0.0
b7690000-b7694000 r--p 000f0000 08:03 158257     /usr/lib/libasound.so.2.0.0
b7694000-b7695000 rw-p 000f4000 08:03 158257     /usr/lib/libasound.so.2.0.0
b7695000-b7696000 rw-p 00000000 00:00 0 
b7696000-b76ea000 r-xp 00000000 08:03 133334     /usr/lib/libncursesw.so.5.9
b76ea000-b76ec000 r--p 00053000 08:03 133334     /usr/lib/libncursesw.so.5.9
b76ec000-b76ed000 rw-p 00055000 08:03 133334     /usr/lib/libncursesw.so.5.9
b76ed000-b76f0000 r-xp 00000000 08:03 133339     /usr/lib/libpanelw.so.5.9
b76f0000-b76f1000 r--p 00002000 08:03 133339     /usr/lib/libpanelw.so.5.9
b76f1000-b76f2000 rw-p 00003000 08:03 133339     /usr/lib/libpanelw.so.5.9
b76f2000-b76f9000 r-xp 00000000 08:03 133337     /usr/lib/libmenuw.so.5.9
b76f9000-b76fa000 r--p 00006000 08:03 133337     /usr/lib/libmenuw.so.5.9
b76fa000-b76fb000 rw-p 00007000 08:03 133337     /usr/lib/libmenuw.so.5.9
b76fb000-b770a000 r-xp 00000000 08:03 133336     /usr/lib/libformw.so.5.9
b770a000-b770b000 r--p 0000e000 08:03 133336     /usr/lib/libformw.so.5.9
b770b000-b770c000 rw-p 0000f000 08:03 133336     /usr/lib/libformw.so.5.9
b7720000-b7722000 rw-p 00000000 00:00 0 
b7722000-b7723000 r-xp 00000000 00:00 0          [vdso]
b7723000-b7743000 r-xp 00000000 08:03 130553     /usr/lib/ld-2.16.so
b7743000-b7744000 r--p 0001f000 08:03 130553     /usr/lib/ld-2.16.so
b7744000-b7745000 rw-p 00020000 08:03 130553     /usr/lib/ld-2.16.so
bfdc8000-bfde9000 rw-p 00000000 00:00 0          [stack]
Aborted

So im guesssing there is something wrong in line 8 of my .asoundr.asoundconf but I have no idea what.

Also how can I make ALSA use my external DAC when its plugged in and my internal soundcard when it's not?

Trilby · 2012-07-18 14:06:44

First, download a clean copy of that file - or "reinstall" alsa if you prefer for the same effect. Then, read the first two lines of the file ... then reread them. This should fix the problems that previous attempts have created.

Finally, you can begin editting your ~/.asoundrc. There are a few threads asking just the same question you could check out, and this may even be on the alsa wiki page. But first, fix the damage.

edit: perhaps I misunderstood. Was this file copied to your home directory then editted there? If so, the only "fix" needed is deleting it. But if you did edit a system wide file, the above applies.

Last edited by Trilby (2012-07-18 14:10:30)

Troglodyte · 2012-07-18 19:13:44

Thanks for your quick response. To clarify, the file was already there, I just modified it.

I thought of reinstalling the corresponding package myself in order to recreate the file, but according to pacman, it isn't owned by any package.

[lukas@TPX1 ~]$ sudo pacman -Qo /home/lukas/.asoundrc.asoundconf
Password:
error: No package owns /home/lukas/.asoundrc.asoundconf
[lukas@TPX1 ~]$ sudo pacman -Qo /home/lukas/.asoundrc           
error: No package owns /home/lukas/.asoundrc

Edit: Damn I just deleted both the .asoundrc and .asoundrc.asoundconf file (with backup this time) and now I have sound again.

Last edited by Troglodyte (2012-07-18 19:18:09)

Trilby · 2012-07-18 19:19:26

Ah, that is not the sytemwide file, that is your users own file. No package can install to your home directory.

I've never heard of .asoundrc.asoundconf, some googling seems to indicate it is the configuration file for a program "asoundconf" which itself modifies .asoundrc.

I don't quite understand this process ... it seems a bit of unneeded ridiculous complexity to me: you edit a configuration file that is used by a program to write another configuration file.

In short, to fix the problems the tinkering has caused, you can delete both of those files. You'll then be back to a "clean slate" after which you can look into getting your desired behavior properly.

Last edited by Trilby (2012-07-18 19:19:53)

Arch Linux

#1 2012-07-18 13:04:21

Borked my .asoundrc.asoundconf while trying to use an external DAC

#2 2012-07-18 14:06:44

Re: Borked my .asoundrc.asoundconf while trying to use an external DAC

#3 2012-07-18 19:13:44

Re: Borked my .asoundrc.asoundconf while trying to use an external DAC

#4 2012-07-18 19:19:26

Re: Borked my .asoundrc.asoundconf while trying to use an external DAC

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