[SOLVED] No mic. sound input, hda-intel, SigmaTel STAC9205, Dell D830

ristretto · 2007-09-04 02:16:23

Really stuck here. (editing: Actually not so stuck anymore see below) Anyone have some advice. Believe me, I've put in my Wiki/Google/Forum dues, but nothing within my understanding was there to help.

Problem: Microphone doesn't work. Also, (perhaps related, perhaps not) cd input doesn't work.

This is a Dell D830 (Linux 2.6.22-ARCH #1 SMP PREEMPT Fri Aug 31 19:54:09 UTC 2007 i686 Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T7300 @ 2.00GHz GenuineIntel GNU/Linux)

I have alsa-lib 1.0.14-5 installed, and sound playback works fine. I'm testing like this

# arecord -vv -fdat foo.wav
<crl-c>
#aplay foo.wav

The file foo.wav is recreated, all seems to be going well. Foo has size (like 1.7M in one test), but play back is totally silent.
skype test calls never result in me hearing my voice either.

I'm really at the end of my understanding of alsa and sound in computers. For example,
# amixer scontrols gives

Simple mixer control 'PCM',0
Simple mixer control 'Front',0
Simple mixer control 'IEC958',0
Simple mixer control 'ADCMux',0
Simple mixer control 'Digital',0
Simple mixer control 'Digital Input Source',0
Simple mixer control 'InMux',0
Simple mixer control 'InVol',0
Simple mixer control 'Input Source',0

# amixer controls gives

numid=12,iface=MIXER,name='PCM Playback Volume'
numid=7,iface=MIXER,name='Front Playback Switch'
numid=6,iface=MIXER,name='Front Playback Volume'
numid=5,iface=MIXER,name='ADCMux Capture Switch'
numid=8,iface=MIXER,name='IEC958 Playback Con Mask'
numid=9,iface=MIXER,name='IEC958 Playback Pro Mask'
numid=10,iface=MIXER,name='IEC958 Playback Default'
numid=11,iface=MIXER,name='IEC958 Playback Switch'
numid=13,iface=MIXER,name='Digital Capture Volume'
numid=1,iface=MIXER,name='Digital Input Source'
numid=3,iface=MIXER,name='InMux Capture Volume'
numid=4,iface=MIXER,name='InVol Capture Volume'
numid=2,iface=MIXER,name='Input Source'

It looks there's something going w.r.t. capturing in the second list, but I don't really understant it, and
I don't see how to do anything about it.
And, Digital is mentioned a views times. Is it clear I can use a standard analog mic?

# cat /proc/asound/cards

 0 [Intel          ]: HDA-Intel - HDA Intel
                      HDA Intel at 0xfebfc000 irq 21

# lspci | grep -i audio

00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller (rev 02)

# head -n 1 /proc/asound/Intel/codec#*

==> /proc/asound/Intel/codec#0 <==
Codec: SigmaTel STAC9205

==> /proc/asound/Intel/codec#1 <==
Codec: Conexant ID 2c06

# amixer

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 'Front',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pswitch
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 127
  Mono:
  Front Left: Playback 127 [100%] [0.00dB] [on]
  Front Right: Playback 127 [100%] [0.00dB] [on]
Simple mixer control 'IEC958',0
  Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Mono
  Mono: Playback [on]
Simple mixer control 'ADCMux',0
  Capabilities: cswitch
  Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Front Left: Capture [off]
  Front Right: Capture [off]
Simple mixer control 'Digital',0
  Capabilities: cvolume
  Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Capture 0 - 120
  Front Left: Capture 80 [67%] [10.00dB]
  Front Right: Capture 80 [67%] [10.00dB]
Simple mixer control 'Digital Input Source',0
  Capabilities: enum
  Items: 'Analog Inputs'
  Item0: 'Analog Inputs'
Simple mixer control 'InMux',0
  Capabilities: cvolume
  Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Capture 0 - 4
  Front Left: Capture 3 [75%] [30.00dB]
  Front Right: Capture 3 [75%] [30.00dB]
Simple mixer control 'InVol',0
  Capabilities: cvolume
  Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Capture 0 - 15
  Front Left: Capture 12 [80%] [18.00dB]
  Front Right: Capture 12 [80%] [18.00dB]
Simple mixer control 'Input Source',0
  Capabilities: enum
  Items: 'Mic' 'Front Mic'
  Item0: 'Front Mic'

Last edited by ristretto (2007-09-04 05:24:36)

ristretto · 2007-09-04 05:22:57

Making progress...

1. got 1.0.15rc1 alsa-driver and alsa-lib from http://www.alsa-project.org/main/index.php/Download
2. followed INSTALL doc namely doing ./configure; make; make install and ./configure; make install
3. pacman -nodeps -R alsa-lib

then

4. amixer sset ADCMux cap

then tested with

5. arecord -vv -fdat foo.wav
6. aplay foo.wav

And it works. Questions I have

1. Did I really need to get the alsa-driver, or was alsa-lib enough?
2. ADCMux shows up in alsamixer but isn't editable. Had to do that through amixer. Is alsamixer broken?

jinn · 2007-09-06 19:16:36

you could try my fix. I had the same problem. definitively more simple:
http://forum.skype.com/index.php?showtopic=96369

big_gie · 2007-09-06 21:25:06

I do have the same problem.
I'll try ristretto's suggestion...
@jinn: Maybe it works in skype, but not for antyhing else!

ristretto · 2007-09-06 21:48:12

Going to back to alsamixer, I found that I could turn on ADCMux by tapping the space bar
which has the function of toggling capture on/off. So, I think I'm wrong about having
to do it in amixer.

I just got off a skype call. The other person said my voice sounded digitally garbled a bit, but it was totally functional. I call it success.

Incidentally, I am running Fluxbox, and the latest Skype and Fluxbox have a really nasty problem: http://forum.skype.com/index.php?s=3676 … opic=90229

So, I'm quite relieved that it all works now.

buttons · 2007-09-07 04:46:35

I've been working on this for several days now and haven't gotten anywhere. Neither ristretto's nor jinn's suggestions make a difference.

Weirdly, if I physically *hit* my laptop while recording takes place, I can hear these as faint taps in playback. You can guess how I figured that one out. Regardless of my own vocal strength, however, nothing of my own voice is recorded. More interesting still, if I plug in a microphone to the laptop mic port, I still can't be heard. But taps on the laptop itself can.

My acdmux capture is on, and the volume levels are up. You can tell because in playback the volume level is very high. There just isn't any of my voice in it.

ristretto · 2007-09-07 05:13:38

Make sure you do

 pacman -nodeps -R alsa-lib

Then
./configure
make install

in alsa-lib-1.0.15rc1 (get it http://www.alsa-project.org/main/index.php/Download and untar it)

You might need to install the driver too? Dunno.
I did: alsa-driver-1.0.15rc1 version

I remember reading the release notes for it that my SigmaTel card has a bug in the capture code that was fixed.

Remember that when you install stuff via pacman in the future, you'll have to make sure pacman doesn't suck in a alsa-lib (because you've removed it) as a dependency. I imagine it would stomp on your freshly installed one. Perhaps there's a way to make that sticky, so I can use pacman and it will always filter out alsa-lib (until the new version is an ALSA package, of course.)

Reality check, I have a

 head -n 1 /proc/asound/card0/codec#*
==> /proc/asound/card0/codec#0 <==
Codec: SigmaTel STAC9205

==> /proc/asound/card0/codec#1 <==
Codec: Conexant ID 2c06

lspci | grep -i aud
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller (rev 02)

It's a Dell D830

I feel your pain. I had my head in hands a few times getting this going. It the price I figure I paid for wanting to run linux on really modern hardware.

Does this help you?

$ lsmod | grep ^snd
snd_seq_oss            31360  0 
snd_seq_midi_event      6656  1 snd_seq_oss
snd_seq                47696  4 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_seq_device          7180  2 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq
snd_hda_intel         282396  3 
snd_hwdep               7428  1 snd_hda_intel
snd_pcm_oss            37280  0 
snd_pcm                69508  3 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm_oss
snd_timer              19332  3 snd_seq,snd_pcm
snd_page_alloc          8072  2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
snd_mixer_oss          14976  1 snd_pcm_oss
snd                    46308  13 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq,snd_seq_device,snd_hda_intel,snd_hwdep,snd_pcm_os

$ amixer
Simple mixer control 'PCM',0
  Capabilities: pvolume
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 255
  Mono:
  Front Left: Playback 230 [90%] [-5.00dB]
  Front Right: Playback 230 [90%] [-5.00dB]
Simple mixer control 'Front',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pswitch
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 127
  Mono:
  Front Left: Playback 115 [91%] [-9.00dB] [on]
  Front Right: Playback 115 [91%] [-9.00dB] [on]
Simple mixer control 'IEC958',0
  Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Mono
  Mono: Playback [off]
Simple mixer control 'ADCMux',0
  Capabilities: cswitch
  Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Front Left: Capture [on]
  Front Right: Capture [on]
Simple mixer control 'Digital',0
  Capabilities: cvolume
  Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Capture 0 - 120
  Front Left: Capture 60 [50%] [0.00dB]
  Front Right: Capture 60 [50%] [0.00dB]
Simple mixer control 'Digital Input Source',0
  Capabilities: enum
  Items: 'Analog Inputs'
  Item0: 'Analog Inputs'
Simple mixer control 'InMux',0
  Capabilities: cvolume
  Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Capture 0 - 4
  Front Left: Capture 3 [75%] [30.00dB]
  Front Right: Capture 3 [75%] [30.00dB]
Simple mixer control 'InVol',0
  Capabilities: cvolume
  Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Capture 0 - 15
  Front Left: Capture 13 [87%] [19.50dB]
  Front Right: Capture 13 [87%] [19.50dB]
Simple mixer control 'Input Source',0
  Capabilities: cenum
  Items: 'Mic' 'Front Mic'
  Item0: 'Mic'

big_gie · 2007-09-07 12:13:56

@buttons : It is the same for me here. I didn't want to do noise in my office for the others, so I tryed "tapping" on the mic. When playing this back, I could hear a faint tapping, but no voice...

@ristretto: I tried compiling alsa-lib, alsa-driver and alsa-utils v1.0.15rc1 but without luck. I'm still at the same point... If it can help somebody, here is a PKGBUILD for alsa-driver:

pkgname=alsa-driver
pkgver=1.0.15rc1
#pkgname=alsa-driver-hg
#pkgver=20070906
pkgrel=1
pkgdesc="ALSA Driver HG"
url="http://www.alsa-project.org/"
license=('GPL')
depends=('kernel26-nb')
arch=('i686' 'x86_64')
#source=("ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/projects/alsa/snapshot/driver/$pkgname$pkgver.tar.bz2")
source=("ftp://ftp.alsa-project.org/pub/driver/$pkgname-$pkgver.tar.bz2")

build() {
    cd $startdir/src/$pkgname-$pkgver
    #cd $startdir/src/$pkgname$pkgver
    ./configure --with-cards=hda-intel || return 1
    #./configure || return 1
    make || return 1
#     make DESTDIR=${startdir}/pkg install-modules || return 1
    make DESTDIR=${startdir}/pkg install || return 1
}

alsa-lib and alsa-utils were taken from abs. The version was changed, and the patch alsa-utils-20070816.patch.bz2 wasn't applyed.

When installing alsa-driver, force it because the modules will already be installed from your kernel26 package:
pacman -Af alsa-utils-1.0.15rc1-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.gz

big_gie · 2007-09-07 16:35:00

Hum, I just re-tryed and my mic now works! I can record and playback...

Here are screenshots of kmix:

buttons · 2007-09-07 18:55:00

Weird. I have everything else the same, but I can't change my input source to "Front Mic." The only thing available is "Line."

Simple mixer control 'Input Source',0
  Capabilities: cenum
  Items: 'Line'
  Item0: 'Line'

Getting worried now.

Last edited by buttons (2007-09-07 19:15:30)

ristretto · 2007-09-07 22:06:19

Do you have the same hardware as me?

buttons · 2007-09-07 22:40:23

head -n 1 /proc/asound/card0/codec#* 
==> /proc/asound/card0/codec#0 <==
Codec: SigmaTel STAC9205

==> /proc/asound/card0/codec#1 <==
Codec: Conexant ID 2c06

lspci |grep -i aud
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller (rev 02)

It's a dell Vostro 1500, but everything else looks the same.

Last edited by buttons (2007-09-07 22:41:03)

ristretto · 2007-09-08 01:15:39

buttons wrote:

Weird. I have everything else the same, but I can't change my input source to "Front Mic." The only thing available is "Line."
Simple mixer control 'Input Source',0
  Capabilities: cenum
  Items: 'Line'
  Item0: 'Line'
Getting worried now.

Do you have a on-board mic? If not, that Input Source is probably right.

Otherwise, is your amixer setup exactly the same as mine? If so,
can you boot something like PCLinuxOS and check the sound. I'm
pretty sure PCLinuxOS will boot on your new hardware, it did on mine.

As a desperate measure, perhaps you need to put windows back on and
do a complete hardware check to make sure it actually isn't broken.

Good luck!!!! If I can think of any other ideas, I'll post 'em

buttons · 2007-09-08 02:38:31

I'll give the PCLinuxOS livecd a shot and see if that works. I'm honestly not sure about the internal mic, though I can't imagine there wouldn't be one. Else how do I hear the thumps when I tap the computer?

The mic input on the computer also does not work.

I've now tried the latest Hg of both alsa-lib and alsa-driver. This has changed the arrangement of the sound devices (I now have a Master volume control, for one) but hasn't actually fixed anything. If anyone is overly curious I can post pkgbuilds.

buttons · 2007-09-08 03:13:49

Oook. Well, I'd never seen PCLinuxOS before. That was a bit of a treat.

Short answer: No, doesn't work. Still just have Line as the only input mixer. Interestingly, tapping in PCLinuxOS doesn't produce noise. This would be the only time I've ever wanted to have a windows XP livecd to test something :-/

ristretto · 2007-09-08 06:32:40

Are you testing like this

arecord -vv -fdat foo.wav

check the file size on foo.wav, after a try.

This is what arecord looks like when it's actually capturing sound
(The bottom line will show 0% when it's not capturing.)
# arecord -vv -fdat foo.wav
Recording WAVE 'foo.wav' : Signed 16 bit Little Endian, Rate 48000 Hz, Stereo
Plug PCM: Soft volume PCM
Control: Digital Capture Volume
min_dB: -30
max_dB: 30
resolution: 121
Its setup is:
stream : CAPTURE
access : RW_INTERLEAVED
format : S16_LE
subformat : STD
channels : 2
rate : 48000
exact rate : 48000 (48000/1)
msbits : 16
buffer_size : 16384
period_size : 1024
period_time : 21333
tick_time : 0
tstamp_mode : NONE
period_step : 1
sleep_min : 0
avail_min : 1024
xfer_align : 1024
start_threshold : 1
stop_threshold : 16384
silence_threshold: 0
silence_size : 0
boundary : 1073741824
Slave: Direct Snoop PCM
Its setup is:
stream : CAPTURE
access : MMAP_INTERLEAVED
format : S16_LE
subformat : STD
channels : 2
rate : 48000
exact rate : 48000 (48000/1)
msbits : 16
buffer_size : 16384
period_size : 1024
period_time : 21333
tick_time : 0
tstamp_mode : NONE
period_step : 1
sleep_min : 0
avail_min : 1024
xfer_align : 1024
start_threshold : 1
stop_threshold : 16384
silence_threshold: 0
silence_size : 0
boundary : 1073741824
Hardware PCM card 0 'HDA Intel' device 0 subdevice 0
Its setup is:
stream : CAPTURE
access : MMAP_INTERLEAVED
format : S16_LE
subformat : STD
channels : 2
rate : 48000
exact rate : 48000 (48000/1)
msbits : 16
buffer_size : 16384
period_size : 1024
period_time : 21333
tick_time : 3333
tstamp_mode : NONE
period_step : 1
sleep_min : 0
avail_min : 1024
xfer_align : 1024
start_threshold : 1
stop_threshold : 1073741824
silence_threshold: 0
silence_size : 0
boundary : 1073741824
############## + | 35%

buttons · 2007-09-08 15:47:15

Yes. Except mine is at 0% (or ~4% if I've turned up the cap volume) indefinitely. Taps result in little spikes at 4 or 9%. Filesize is around 2MB for 10 seconds or so.

buttons · 2007-09-08 16:12:15

AHH! YES! IT WORKS!

I had to change the mixer control "Digital Input Source" to "Digital Mic 1"

I thought I had tried this many times, except the mixer I was using (xfce4-mixer) wasn't actually changing anything when I did it! Gnome-alsamixer was simply unaware of the switch at all, producing errors when you tried to change it along the lines of "No Idea what to do with digital input source!"

The breakthrough came when I was playing with kmix and changed the input source, and it finally worked.

So...for those of you with vostro 1500 laptops:

amixer sset 'Digital Input Source' 'Digital Mic 1'

should do the trick. Wow, that's a relief.

EDIT: By the way, this works with the 1.0.14 driver as well. No need to go and compile anything new.

Last edited by buttons (2007-09-08 16:19:49)

ristretto · 2007-09-08 22:44:02

buttons wrote:

EDIT: By the way, this works with the 1.0.14 driver as well. No need to go and compile anything new.

Excellent. Did you need alsa-lib 1.0.15?

buttons · 2007-09-09 13:22:20

ristretto wrote:

buttons wrote:
EDIT: By the way, this works with the 1.0.14 driver as well. No need to go and compile anything new.
Excellent. Did you need alsa-lib 1.0.15?

Nope, 1.0.14 still works. I suppose the advantage to making pkgbuilds for this is I never have to worry about "make uninstall"

Arch Linux

#1 2007-09-04 02:16:23

[SOLVED] No mic. sound input, hda-intel, SigmaTel STAC9205, Dell D830

#2 2007-09-04 05:22:57

Re: [SOLVED] No mic. sound input, hda-intel, SigmaTel STAC9205, Dell D830

#3 2007-09-06 19:16:36

Re: [SOLVED] No mic. sound input, hda-intel, SigmaTel STAC9205, Dell D830

#4 2007-09-06 21:25:06

Re: [SOLVED] No mic. sound input, hda-intel, SigmaTel STAC9205, Dell D830

#5 2007-09-06 21:48:12

Re: [SOLVED] No mic. sound input, hda-intel, SigmaTel STAC9205, Dell D830

#6 2007-09-07 04:46:35

Re: [SOLVED] No mic. sound input, hda-intel, SigmaTel STAC9205, Dell D830

#7 2007-09-07 05:13:38

Re: [SOLVED] No mic. sound input, hda-intel, SigmaTel STAC9205, Dell D830

#8 2007-09-07 12:13:56

Re: [SOLVED] No mic. sound input, hda-intel, SigmaTel STAC9205, Dell D830

#9 2007-09-07 16:35:00

Re: [SOLVED] No mic. sound input, hda-intel, SigmaTel STAC9205, Dell D830

#10 2007-09-07 18:55:00

Re: [SOLVED] No mic. sound input, hda-intel, SigmaTel STAC9205, Dell D830

#11 2007-09-07 22:06:19

Re: [SOLVED] No mic. sound input, hda-intel, SigmaTel STAC9205, Dell D830

#12 2007-09-07 22:40:23

Re: [SOLVED] No mic. sound input, hda-intel, SigmaTel STAC9205, Dell D830

#13 2007-09-08 01:15:39

Re: [SOLVED] No mic. sound input, hda-intel, SigmaTel STAC9205, Dell D830

#14 2007-09-08 02:38:31

Re: [SOLVED] No mic. sound input, hda-intel, SigmaTel STAC9205, Dell D830

#15 2007-09-08 03:13:49

Re: [SOLVED] No mic. sound input, hda-intel, SigmaTel STAC9205, Dell D830

#16 2007-09-08 06:32:40

Re: [SOLVED] No mic. sound input, hda-intel, SigmaTel STAC9205, Dell D830

#17 2007-09-08 15:47:15

Re: [SOLVED] No mic. sound input, hda-intel, SigmaTel STAC9205, Dell D830

#18 2007-09-08 16:12:15

Re: [SOLVED] No mic. sound input, hda-intel, SigmaTel STAC9205, Dell D830

#19 2007-09-08 22:44:02

Re: [SOLVED] No mic. sound input, hda-intel, SigmaTel STAC9205, Dell D830

#20 2007-09-09 13:22:20

Re: [SOLVED] No mic. sound input, hda-intel, SigmaTel STAC9205, Dell D830

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