Weird alsa problem

Snarkout · 2005-12-18 00:15:36

Ok - this is a weird one. The install I did last night is up and working great, but I have this weird problem with alsa. It plays fine, but the "master" volume doesn't control anything. Instead, to get sound, I had to turn on "headphone," and use that as the master controller. All I find when I hit google is stuff about older alsa versions and a problem with headphone-jack-sense which I can't find anywhere on my own system in either kmix or alsamixer. It doesn't sound like the same problem in any event. I've had plenty of problems with alsa in the past, but usually when I actually get it to make noise, it's fine. This is the weirdest problem I've had by far. It's not really a show stopper, but one I'd like to fix nonetheless. My /etc/asound.state looks like it always does and I have the usual few lines for my .asoundrc. Ideas?

Gullible Jones · 2005-12-18 04:11:39

Is this audio that uses via82xx? Because I've seem exactly that with my via8235 onboard audio, and IIRC it's a well-documented bug (with a "solution" that doesn't do a damned thing).

Snarkout · 2005-12-18 05:47:50

Yup, sure is. I've never seen this bug before on this box though. It's not the end of the world though -- sound still works. It's not like I was looking for 5.1 out of a cheap-ass onboard card anyhow. Luckily kmix offers you the option of which mixer you want to act as primary.

Kern · 2005-12-18 13:21:38

Same chipset for me, had similar tho not exactly the same probs as yourself, and it sorted itself out indirectly after i tinkered around.

Not sure how what fixed which, but posting some of my settings just incase you may have missed something obvious.

pacman -Qi |grep alsa

alsa-driver 1.0.10-1
alsa-lib 1.0.10-1
alsa-oss 1.0.10-1
alsa-utils 1.0.10-1
alsaplayer 0.99.76-5
gnome-alsamixer 0.9.6-1

/etc/rc.conf

MODULES=(imm nvidia vfat parport parport_pc usbserial ide-scsi snd-ca0106 snd-pcm-oss snd-mixer-oss snd-seq-oss)

DAEMONS=(syslog-ng hotplug dbus hal !pcmcia network netfs crond cups alsa)

scarecrow · 2005-12-18 14:25:15

What do you have in /etc/modprobe.conf ?
Plz check the official ALSA documentation about that soundcard...

Gullible Jones · 2005-12-18 15:15:06

I've tried the thing where you swap the headphone/surround with the master. Doesn't do a damned thing.

Kern: Yes, would you please post your modprobe.conf? And your alsamixer settings?

Kern · 2005-12-18 17:38:07

GJ, heres my modprobe.conf
=================
#
# /etc/modprobe.conf (for v2.6 kernels)
#

# OSS Compatibility
install snd-pcm modprobe -i snd-pcm ; modprobe snd-pcm-oss ; true
install snd-seq modprobe -i snd-seq ; modprobe snd-seq-oss ; true

# option snd-via82xx ac97_quirk=0

# --- BEGIN: Generated by ALSACONF, do not edit. ---
# --- ALSACONF version 1.0.9a ---
alias snd-card-0 snd-ca0106
alias sound-slot-0 snd-ca0106
# --- END: Generated by ALSACONF, do not edit. ---

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

not sure which file u want me to check re alsa settings, if its a longish one i'll pm you it rather than flood the screen here. maybe just run alsactl and find out where it stores what. maybe one of those "do not edit this file - created by" type of things.

also, maybe worth a look here for a very nice install script.

this one worked for me.
im on a soundblaster cheap-as-sh*t now, but before this it was the bog standard onboard mobo output.

k

Gullible Jones · 2005-12-18 18:38:56

Ah... I was thinking of you giving us a screenshot of alsamixer in a fullscreen terminal, perhaps, but I think your rc.conf says enough.

Snarkout, try putting this in:

option snd-via82xx ac97_quirk=0

And see if that works.

Some more information on this is available at MOVLUG:

Brian Penix wrote:

ac97_quirk - AC'97 workaround for strange hardware (-1 = default)
-1 = default, don't override
0 = disable
1 = use headphone control as master
2 = swap headphone and master controls
3 = for AD1985, turn on OMS bit and use headphone

I once tried swapping Headphone for Master like he recommended. That didn't do anything, but maybe disabling it would work better?

Snarkout · 2005-12-18 22:05:50

Sweet! Thanks a lot guys! I'll give this a look right away.

Snarkout · 2005-12-18 23:53:24

Ha! That worked perfectly! Thanks a lot folks, even though this isn't a critical box (I'm actually planning on moving it to testing at some point soon) it's very nice to have one more fix in my toolkit.

I really wish I'd found my way to Arch sooner -- it's everything I want, and more, in a linux distro.

Gullible Jones · 2005-12-19 00:34:55

Wait, which worked perfectly - 0 or 2?

(Sorry, can't help asking - I've got VT8235 myself.)

Snarkout · 2005-12-19 00:44:36

2 worked perfectly. My master volume control now does it's thing, and the headphones control is gone.

Gullible Jones · 2005-12-19 00:47:31

Thanks, I'll have to try that at some point.

Gullible Jones · 2005-12-19 01:50:33

Nope, neither of the settings works. Probably because I don't have a "Headphone" setting in alsamixer... I'll try 3, but I doubt it will work.

Edit: tried all of them, none of them work. Ah well, I'll just keep using my SB128.

Arch Linux

#1 2005-12-18 00:15:36

Weird alsa problem

#2 2005-12-18 04:11:39

Re: Weird alsa problem

#3 2005-12-18 05:47:50

Re: Weird alsa problem

#4 2005-12-18 13:21:38

Re: Weird alsa problem

#5 2005-12-18 14:25:15

Re: Weird alsa problem

#6 2005-12-18 15:15:06

Re: Weird alsa problem

#7 2005-12-18 17:38:07

Re: Weird alsa problem

#8 2005-12-18 18:38:56

Re: Weird alsa problem

#9 2005-12-18 22:05:50

Re: Weird alsa problem

#10 2005-12-18 23:53:24

Re: Weird alsa problem

#11 2005-12-19 00:34:55

Re: Weird alsa problem

#12 2005-12-19 00:44:36

Re: Weird alsa problem

#13 2005-12-19 00:47:31

Re: Weird alsa problem

#14 2005-12-19 01:50:33

Re: Weird alsa problem

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