Alsa Master channel outputting in mono only

felixculpa · 2013-07-03 20:26:12

Edit: It looks like I am not the only one having this problem, see here.

Here are the relevant cli outputs and config files:

aplay -l

**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 1: Generic [HD-Audio Generic], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 2: SB [HDA ATI SB], device 0: CX20584 Analog [CX20584 Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

amixer

Simple mixer control 'Master',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pvolume-joined pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Mono
  Limits: Playback 0 - 74
  Mono: Playback 71 [96%] [-3.00dB] [on]
Simple mixer control 'Headphone',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pswitch
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 74
  Mono:
  Front Left: Playback 74 [100%] [0.00dB] [on]
  Front Right: Playback 74 [100%] [0.00dB] [on]
Simple mixer control 'Speaker',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pswitch
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 74
  Mono:
  Front Left: Playback 74 [100%] [0.00dB] [on]
  Front Right: Playback 74 [100%] [0.00dB] [on]
Simple mixer control 'PCM',0
  Capabilities: pvolume
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 255
  Mono:
  Front Left: Playback 255 [100%] [0.00dB]
  Front Right: Playback 255 [100%] [0.00dB]
Simple mixer control 'Mic Boost',0
  Capabilities: volume
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: 0 - 4
  Front Left: 4 [100%] [40.00dB]
  Front Right: 4 [100%] [40.00dB]
Simple mixer control 'Beep',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pvolume-joined pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Mono
  Limits: Playback 0 - 7
  Mono: Playback 0 [0%] [-28.00dB] [off]
Simple mixer control 'Capture',0
  Capabilities: cvolume cswitch
  Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Capture 0 - 80
  Front Left: Capture 80 [100%] [6.00dB] [on]
  Front Right: Capture 80 [100%] [6.00dB] [on]
Simple mixer control 'Auto-Mute Mode',0
  Capabilities: enum
  Items: 'Disabled' 'Enabled'
  Item0: 'Enabled'
Simple mixer control 'Digital',0
  Capabilities: cvolume
  Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Capture 0 - 120
  Front Left: Capture 120 [100%] [30.00dB]
  Front Right: Capture 120 [100%] [30.00dB]

lspci | grep Audio

00:01.1 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Wrestler HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 6250/6310]
00:14.2 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] SBx00 Azalia (Intel HDA) (rev 40)

I am not sure if this file is setup properly.
/etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf

options snd slots=snd_mia,snd_hda_intel
options snd_mia index=0
options snd_hda_intel index=1

options bt87x index=-2
options cx88_alsa index=-2
options saa7134-alsa index=-2
options snd-atiixp-modem index=-2
options snd-intel8x0m index=-2
options snd-via82xx-modem index=-2
options snd-usb-audio index=-2
options snd-usb-caiaq index=-2
options snd-usb-ua101 index=-2
options snd-usb-us122l index=-2
options snd-usb-usx2y index=-2
options snd-pcsp index=-2
options snd-usb-audio index=-2

ls -l /dev/snd (device files)

total 0
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root       80 Jul  3 13:55 by-path
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116,  4 Jul  3 13:55 controlC1
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116,  8 Jul  3 13:55 controlC2
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116,  3 Jul  3 13:55 hwC1D0
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116,  7 Jul  3 13:55 hwC2D0
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116,  2 Jul  3 13:55 pcmC1D3p
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116,  6 Jul  3 13:55 pcmC2D0c
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116,  5 Jul  3 13:56 pcmC2D0p
crw-rw----  1 root audio 116,  1 Jul  3 13:55 seq
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116, 33 Jul  3 13:55 timer

I get sound out of the speaker, but it is mono sound, only the right speaker outputs any noise while the "front left" speaker is silent. This is what the output is for speaker-test -c 2:

speaker-test 1.0.27.1

Playback device is default
Stream parameters are 48000Hz, S16_LE, 2 channels
Using 16 octaves of pink noise
Rate set to 48000Hz (requested 48000Hz)
Buffer size range from 2048 to 16384
Period size range from 1024 to 1024
Using max buffer size 16384
Periods = 4
was set period_size = 1024
was set buffer_size = 16384
 0 - Front Left
 1 - Front Right

Alsa alsamixer does not show and thus give me the option of adjusting the left speaker output.

I have also noticed that with my current .asoundrc, alsamixer will gives one of the Sound Cards as HD-Audio Generic which is S/PDIF only, which I have no experience with and I am unsure if this has something to do with my mono problems or not (but I suspect it does).

Last edited by felixculpa (2013-07-03 20:36:57)

Xyne · 2013-07-03 21:41:12

The problem is clearly different but the solution may be the same: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=156509

felixculpa · 2013-07-03 22:48:10

I followed his steps but it didn't seem to do anything, it still only outputs sound in the "right speaker," and still shows this when amixer is evoked.

Simple mixer control 'Master',0
Capabilities: pvolume pvolume-joined pswitch pswitch-joined
Playback channels: Mono
Limits: Playback 0 - 74
Mono: Playback 54 [73%] [-20.00dB] [on]

felixculpa · 2013-07-11 14:42:32

Ok I guess that output is normal. I think my problem has to do with my alsa-base.conf file because if I enter

lspci -v

I get this:

00:00.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 14h Processor Root Complex
	Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device 0520
	Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 0

00:01.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Wrestler [Radeon HD 6310] (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
	Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device 0520
	Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 41
	Memory at e0000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
	I/O ports at 4000 [size=256]
	Memory at f0500000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256K]
	Expansion ROM at <unassigned> [disabled]
	Capabilities: <access denied>
	Kernel driver in use: radeon
	Kernel modules: radeon

00:01.1 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Wrestler HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 6250/6310]
	Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device 0520
	Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 40
	Memory at f0544000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
	Capabilities: <access denied>
	Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
	Kernel modules: snd_hda_intel

00:11.0 SATA controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] SB7x0/SB8x0/SB9x0 SATA Controller [AHCI mode] (prog-if 01 [AHCI 1.0])
	Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device 0520
	Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 19
	I/O ports at 4118 [size=8]
	I/O ports at 4124 [size=4]
	I/O ports at 4110 [size=8]
	I/O ports at 4120 [size=4]
	I/O ports at 4100 [size=16]
	Memory at f054c000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=1K]
	Capabilities: <access denied>
	Kernel driver in use: ahci
	Kernel modules: ahci

00:12.0 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] SB7x0/SB8x0/SB9x0 USB OHCI0 Controller (prog-if 10 [OHCI])
	Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device 0520
	Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 18
	Memory at f054b000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
	Kernel driver in use: ohci_hcd
	Kernel modules: ohci_hcd

00:12.2 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] SB7x0/SB8x0/SB9x0 USB EHCI Controller (prog-if 20 [EHCI])
	Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device 0520
	Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 17
	Memory at f054a000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
	Capabilities: <access denied>
	Kernel driver in use: ehci-pci
	Kernel modules: ehci_pci

00:13.0 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] SB7x0/SB8x0/SB9x0 USB OHCI0 Controller (prog-if 10 [OHCI])
	Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device 0520
	Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 18
	Memory at f0549000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
	Kernel driver in use: ohci_hcd
	Kernel modules: ohci_hcd

00:13.2 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] SB7x0/SB8x0/SB9x0 USB EHCI Controller (prog-if 20 [EHCI])
	Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device 0520
	Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 17
	Memory at f0548000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
	Capabilities: <access denied>
	Kernel driver in use: ehci-pci
	Kernel modules: ehci_pci

00:14.0 SMBus: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] SBx00 SMBus Controller (rev 42)
	Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device 0520
	Flags: 66MHz, medium devsel
	Kernel driver in use: piix4_smbus
	Kernel modules: i2c_piix4, sp5100_tco

00:14.2 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] SBx00 Azalia (Intel HDA) (rev 40)
	Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device 0520
	Flags: bus master, slow devsel, latency 64, IRQ 16
	Memory at f0540000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
	Capabilities: <access denied>
	Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
	Kernel modules: snd_hda_intel

00:14.3 ISA bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] SB7x0/SB8x0/SB9x0 LPC host controller (rev 40)
	Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device 0520
	Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 0

00:14.4 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] SBx00 PCI to PCI Bridge (rev 40) (prog-if 01 [Subtractive decode])
	Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 64
	Bus: primary=00, secondary=01, subordinate=01, sec-latency=64

00:15.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] SB700/SB800/SB900 PCI to PCI bridge (PCIE port 0) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])
	Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
	Bus: primary=00, secondary=02, subordinate=05, sec-latency=0
	I/O behind bridge: 00003000-00003fff
	Memory behind bridge: f0300000-f03fffff
	Prefetchable memory behind bridge: 00000000f0000000-00000000f00fffff
	Capabilities: <access denied>
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport
	Kernel modules: shpchp

00:15.2 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] SB900 PCI to PCI bridge (PCIE port 2) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])
	Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
	Bus: primary=00, secondary=06, subordinate=06, sec-latency=0
	I/O behind bridge: 00002000-00002fff
	Memory behind bridge: f0200000-f02fffff
	Capabilities: <access denied>
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport
	Kernel modules: shpchp

00:15.3 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] SB900 PCI to PCI bridge (PCIE port 3) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])
	Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
	Bus: primary=00, secondary=07, subordinate=07, sec-latency=0
	Memory behind bridge: f0100000-f01fffff
	Capabilities: <access denied>
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport
	Kernel modules: shpchp

00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 12h/14h Processor Function 0 (rev 43)
	Flags: fast devsel

00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 12h/14h Processor Function 1
	Flags: fast devsel

00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 12h/14h Processor Function 2
	Flags: fast devsel

00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 12h/14h Processor Function 3
	Flags: fast devsel
	Capabilities: <access denied>
	Kernel driver in use: k10temp
	Kernel modules: k10temp

00:18.4 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 12h/14h Processor Function 4
	Flags: fast devsel

00:18.5 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 12h/14h Processor Function 6
	Flags: fast devsel

00:18.6 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 12h/14h Processor Function 5
	Flags: fast devsel

00:18.7 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 12h/14h Processor Function 7
	Flags: fast devsel

06:00.0 Ethernet controller: Qualcomm Atheros AR8151 v2.0 Gigabit Ethernet (rev c0)
	Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device 0520
	Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 18
	Memory at f0200000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256K]
	I/O ports at 2000 [size=128]
	Capabilities: <access denied>
	Kernel driver in use: atl1c
	Kernel modules: atl1c

07:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM43225 802.11b/g/n (rev 01)
	Subsystem: Foxconn International, Inc. T77H103.00 Wireless Half-size Mini PCIe Card
	Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 19
	Memory at f0100000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
	Capabilities: <access denied>
	Kernel driver in use: bcma-pci-bridge
	Kernel modules: bcma

If you look carefully there is no snd_mia driver or module in use, which I had set up in alsa-base.conf. So I think I may need to configure that file differently, I removed the file to see if it was needed and indeed it is because alsa won't work at all without it.

Edit:I suspect it has something to do with this, from dmesg | grep microcode:

[    6.798143] microcode: CPU0: patch_level=0x05000025
[    6.979317] microcode: failed to load file amd-ucode/microcode_amd.bin
[    6.979392] microcode: CPU1: patch_level=0x05000025
[    6.979655] microcode: Microcode Update Driver: v2.00 <tigran@aivazian.fsnet.co.uk>, Peter Oruba

I am not sure what microcode_amd.bin is, but seeing all the "microcode" stuff in the output from lspci has me suspecting it.

Last edited by felixculpa (2013-07-11 14:55:57)

Arch Linux

#1 2013-07-03 20:26:12

Alsa Master channel outputting in mono only

#2 2013-07-03 21:41:12

Re: Alsa Master channel outputting in mono only

#3 2013-07-03 22:48:10

Re: Alsa Master channel outputting in mono only

#4 2013-07-11 14:42:32

Re: Alsa Master channel outputting in mono only

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