Sound problems, ALSA can't find sound card at boot

brokengestalt · 2012-08-29 08:29:28

Sometimes, my sound randomly drops out, and I can't get it back until I reboot. Even when I reboot, 1/20 times, it will not be back.

When I watch stuff on youtube, sometimes the sound just drops out. Nothing gets muted. My audio player can't produce sound.

If I do

 lsmod | grep snd

I'll see the some output.

When I reboot and try to play music from Quodlibet, I'll get an error like this:

Output Error
GStreamer output pipeline could not be initialized. The pipeline might be invalid, or the device may be in use. Check the player preferences.

"lsmod | grep snd" will have NO output and when I try to start alsamixer:

[xz@gestalt ~]$ alsamixer
cannot open mixer: No such file or directory

I can't figure out what's going on, and googling has just led me to various not-completely-related posts on this board... what could be the problem?

EDIT: A few more things to note--

I have alsa in my daemons list in rc.conf
I'm part of the "audio" groups.
soundcore is not blacklisted

Last edited by brokengestalt (2012-08-29 09:10:59)

vacant · 2012-08-29 09:56:17

Starting with how the PC/laptop boots, have you tried resetting the BIOS to system defaults? Also, try booting without any extra peripherals plugged in.

brokengestalt · 2012-08-29 10:38:22

OK, I tried that. It did not help. Just tried a few things to check:

I still get

[xz@gestalt ~]$ alsamixer
cannot open mixer: No such file or directory
[xz@gestalt ~]$ lsmod | grep snd
[xz@gestalt ~]$

Last edited by brokengestalt (2012-08-29 11:11:49)

theshadster · 2012-08-29 19:29:44

B...,

I have alsa in my daemons list in rc.conf

?

Never have I needed that... is there an 'alsa' daemon ?
I'd try removing it & rebooting, can't hurt.

[EDIT]

I'll amend the above to: 'Never have I put it in myself' - it may have been there as a default !

( humbly slinks off, back into the safety of obscurity...)

Last edited by theshadster (2012-08-29 19:33:12)

brokengestalt · 2012-08-30 03:05:19

I think the alsa daemon is to restore(?) settings. By default, the arch linux kernel has alsa. I hope that makes sense.

Anyone else have any ideas? I followed the setup procedure a while ago, and got it working. But only recently, I have these issues where sound randomly drops out... there seems to be no common pattern for when it happens, but it usually starts when I pause a youtube video... (that seems oddly specific to me, but I'm not sure why *just* youtube videos would cause that problem...)

brokengestalt · 2012-08-31 04:03:37

If I try

[xz@gestalt ~]$ lspci -nn
00:00.0 RAM memory [0500]: NVIDIA Corporation MCP67 Memory Controller [10de:0547] (rev a2)
00:01.0 ISA bridge [0601]: NVIDIA Corporation MCP67 ISA Bridge [10de:0548] (rev a2)
00:01.1 SMBus [0c05]: NVIDIA Corporation MCP67 SMBus [10de:0542] (rev a2)
00:01.2 RAM memory [0500]: NVIDIA Corporation MCP67 Memory Controller [10de:0541] (rev a2)
00:01.3 Co-processor [0b40]: NVIDIA Corporation MCP67 Co-processor [10de:0543] (rev a2)
00:02.0 USB controller [0c03]: NVIDIA Corporation MCP67 OHCI USB 1.1 Controller [10de:055e] (rev a2)
00:02.1 USB controller [0c03]: NVIDIA Corporation MCP67 EHCI USB 2.0 Controller [10de:055f] (rev a2)
00:04.0 USB controller [0c03]: NVIDIA Corporation MCP67 OHCI USB 1.1 Controller [10de:055e] (rev a2)
00:04.1 USB controller [0c03]: NVIDIA Corporation MCP67 EHCI USB 2.0 Controller [10de:055f] (rev a2)
00:06.0 IDE interface [0101]: NVIDIA Corporation MCP67 IDE Controller [10de:0560] (rev a1)
00:08.0 PCI bridge [0604]: NVIDIA Corporation MCP67 PCI Bridge [10de:0561] (rev a2)
00:09.0 IDE interface [0101]: NVIDIA Corporation MCP67 AHCI Controller [10de:0550] (rev a2)
00:0a.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: NVIDIA Corporation MCP67 Ethernet [10de:054c] (rev a2)
00:0c.0 PCI bridge [0604]: NVIDIA Corporation MCP67 PCI Express Bridge [10de:0563] (rev a2)
00:0d.0 PCI bridge [0604]: NVIDIA Corporation MCP67 PCI Express Bridge [10de:0563] (rev a2)
00:12.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: NVIDIA Corporation C67 [GeForce 7150M / nForce 630M] [10de:0531] (rev a2)
00:18.0 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration [1022:1100]
00:18.1 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map [1022:1101]
00:18.2 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller [1022:1102]
00:18.3 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control [1022:1103]
02:05.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394) [0c00]: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C832 IEEE 1394 Controller [1180:0832] (rev 05)
02:05.1 SD Host controller [0805]: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C822 SD/SDIO/MMC/MS/MSPro Host Adapter [1180:0822] (rev 22)
02:05.2 System peripheral [0880]: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C592 Memory Stick Bus Host Adapter [1180:0592] (rev 12)
02:05.3 System peripheral [0880]: Ricoh Co Ltd xD-Picture Card Controller [1180:0852] (rev 12)
03:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Atheros Communications Inc. AR242x / AR542x Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express) [168c:001c] (rev 01)

Audio devices aren't even mentioned. I noticed when I tried to boot up that I get an error like "sound card not detected." Why would arch suddenly not be able to find a soundcard? It looks like it almost has nothing to do with my ALSA configuration, and has more to do with my sound card not being found at all in the first place....

theshadster · 2012-08-31 05:21:04

No Sound with Onboard Intel Sound Card
There may be an issue with two conflicting modules loaded, namely snd_intel8x0 and
snd_intel8x0m. In this case, blacklist snd_intel8x0m:
/etc/modprobe.d/modprobe.conf
blacklist snd_intel8x0m
Muting the "External Amplifier" in alsamixer or
amixer may also help. See the ALSA wiki.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/AL … leshooting

This may help:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iTl … SFLMI/edit

Bags of stuff via t'internet...

brokengestalt · 2012-08-31 07:12:42

I'm trying this stuff, and it's not helping.

The stuff you suggested in that quote box... I'm not sure if that's relevant to me, because I think my sound chip was a Conexant one, but I can't even verify because nothing relevant is showing up in Hardinfo OR HDT.

That docs.google file lead me to http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1681577

The last time the guide was updated was 2012-February, quite a while ago. I'm also 99% sure I have the latest version. (ALSA-utils is at 1.0.25 already... I also just updated all packages recently.)

I also just tried removing alsa from daemons, as suggested in some old thread I read somewhere, in the hopes of being able to run alsaconf again. It didn't help. Sound card still isn't detected at boot. (I'm on a laptop, my BIOS is rudimentary, all I can do is change boot order, shared RAM and one or two other settings.)

Any more ideas? I'm not asking to be spoon-fed an answer, I've been digging through quite a few threads, and just looking through a bunch of terminal output to try and figure out what the problem currently is... I still don't have an inkling of why audio would drop out *in the first place.*

Also:

[xz@gestalt ~]$ sudo alsamixer
Password: 
cannot open mixer: No such file or directory

So I've eliminated the possibility that running as root will help. 99% sure this whole problem is dependent on my sound card not being found at boot time...

Last edited by brokengestalt (2012-08-31 07:17:52)

theshadster · 2012-08-31 07:26:57

The search: "linux laptop sound card not found" gives a host of possible solutions - if you haven't
already tried this. That aside, I'm a busted flush...

brokengestalt · 2012-09-01 22:05:53

Just tried running Ubuntu off of a livedisk. I have the same problem. In the sound preferences, my only "device" is "dummy output."

Ugh. I think this means That either I have a hardware failure, or the lastest distro of Ubuntu shares a problem with my arch install.

brokengestalt · 2012-09-03 07:15:51

Sorry for the bump, but I feel like I have a valid reason. Some people are having issues with sound due to the kernel update. I'm mostly sure my hardware is just flat-out dead.

I'm thinking about just buying a usb sound card to replace it. Are there any general guidelines to picking one out? I'm currently considering this one, but I'm not sure about compatibility.

According to this thread, "Pulseaudio works with whatever works with alsa." Earlier, I didn't have to do any configuration to get my onboard sound working. Just unmute it... So how do I know if something works with ALSA?

brokengestalt · 2012-09-09 15:44:02

I'm bumping this thread yet again, and for a good reason. I tried things like installing pulse/OSS, but that didn't help. So I uninstalled them, and was able to get sound for a while...

I noticed that I was actually able to start quodlibet and get it to playback without errors. There was just no sound. I rebooted, and I was able to have sound. But sometimes, it drops during playback. I made sure that I have neither OSS installed. I rebooted a few times, and sound isn't coming back on. I don't know if there's something wrong with my configuration, or if the hardware is just erratic. Sometimes

 aplay -l

gives me no soundcards, but sometimes it DOES, and I still have no sound, sometimes it gives me soundcards, and I have sound...

[xz@gestalt ~]$ aplay -L
null
    Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)
[xz@gestalt ~]$ aplay -l
aplay: device_list:256: no soundcards found...
[xz@gestalt ~]$

Anyone having this kind of problem?

Last edited by brokengestalt (2012-09-10 00:30:27)

ilkyest · 2012-09-11 00:59:13

re-installing alsa-firmware, alsa-plugins, alsa-utils don't solves?

brokengestalt · 2012-09-14 09:01:14

I've tried reinstalling alsa-plugins and alsa-utils to no avail. It looks like I don't even have alsa-firmware installed. Wasn't it only necessary for certain hardware?

I don't see anything on the arch wiki about alsa-firmware...

[xz@gestalt ~]$ sudo pacman -R alsa-firmware
[sudo] password for xz:
error: target not found: alsa-firmware
[xz@gestalt ~]$

Arch Linux

#1 2012-08-29 08:29:28

Sound problems, ALSA can't find sound card at boot

#2 2012-08-29 09:56:17

Re: Sound problems, ALSA can't find sound card at boot

#3 2012-08-29 10:38:22

Re: Sound problems, ALSA can't find sound card at boot

#4 2012-08-29 19:29:44

Re: Sound problems, ALSA can't find sound card at boot

#5 2012-08-30 03:05:19

Re: Sound problems, ALSA can't find sound card at boot

#6 2012-08-31 04:03:37

Re: Sound problems, ALSA can't find sound card at boot

#7 2012-08-31 05:21:04

Re: Sound problems, ALSA can't find sound card at boot

#8 2012-08-31 07:12:42

Re: Sound problems, ALSA can't find sound card at boot

#9 2012-08-31 07:26:57

Re: Sound problems, ALSA can't find sound card at boot

#10 2012-09-01 22:05:53

Re: Sound problems, ALSA can't find sound card at boot

#11 2012-09-03 07:15:51

Re: Sound problems, ALSA can't find sound card at boot

#12 2012-09-09 15:44:02

Re: Sound problems, ALSA can't find sound card at boot

#13 2012-09-11 00:59:13

Re: Sound problems, ALSA can't find sound card at boot

#14 2012-09-14 09:01:14

Re: Sound problems, ALSA can't find sound card at boot

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