Alsa and Last Kernel Update

virati · 2009-02-03 02:27:42

Ever since the last kernel update my sound is completely messed up. When i open up alsamixer I don't even see the same thing. It still recognizes my card name (Xonar D2X) but I have no adjustable levels for master, side, back, etc. When I try playing music it all comes out very low quality, as expected if its not using the right drivers.

I havn't had to switch back to my windows partition since I've installed Arch and have been through (and enjoyed fixing) plenty of update-related problems. This one, on the other hand, is just absurd. Any help would be appreciated before I get sucked back into the world of Windows.

Ranguvar · 2009-02-03 02:43:57

Sounds like a kernel bug. I'd file a bug report with them, they'll walk you through the process of finding the specific patch that killed your ALSA.
There don't seem to be any real config or PKGBUILD changes between 2.6.28.1 and 2.6.28.2, so it definitely points towards a kernel bug.
I think these are all:

http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/g … 521272ff1c
http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/g … 5e377c575b
http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/g … a442310753
http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/g … 43696a529f
http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/g … 3a3824f9dc

Or, you could try OSS4

virati · 2009-02-03 02:58:44

Ranguvar wrote:

Sounds like a kernel bug. I'd file a bug report with them, they'll walk you through the process of finding the specific patch that killed your ALSA.
There don't seem to be any real config or PKGBUILD changes between 2.6.28.1 and 2.6.28.2, so it definitely points towards a kernel bug.
I think these are all:
http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/g … 521272ff1c
http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/g … 5e377c575b
http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/g … a442310753
http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/g … 43696a529f
http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/g … 3a3824f9dc

Or, you could try OSS4

Thanks for the help. I'm sure something like this has happened before: should I expect the next kernel update to fix my problem or does the fact that the latest kernel isn't working mean they changed something that's going to stay for good?

As for OSS4, I'm very very tempted to. Do they have support for the Asus Xonar D2X? I've already tried searching and havn't found anything. What would be the biggest difference if i switched to OSS4? (that may be more appropriate for a separate thread but i figured i'd ask it here anyways).

Thanks for the help.

fflarex · 2009-02-03 03:24:15

I had this same problem and I solved it by blacklisting the snd-pcsp module in /etc/rc.conf

I would bet that if you tried 'alsamixer -c 1' you would see all your old volume sliders (but the sound is still being sent to pcsp, which won't output any sound).

Ranguvar · 2009-02-03 16:17:01

Differences: http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/OSS … s_vs._ALSA
I personally love the mixer sound quality. Not sure about your card, but you can always try.

Stuff will stay unless they hear/see it broke Which might be you, might not.

Also, do what fflarex said, even if you do switch to OSS, that module has indeed stopped people's sound cold.

How far (version) did you update from?

virati · 2009-02-04 01:57:04

Ranguvar wrote:

Differences: http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/OSS … s_vs._ALSA
I personally love the mixer sound quality. Not sure about your card, but you can always try.
Stuff will stay unless they hear/see it broke Which might be you, might not.
Also, do what fflarex said, even if you do switch to OSS, that module has indeed stopped people's sound cold.
How far (version) did you update from?

Kernel wise? I do system upgrade every two or so days so I would think it would be the last one that was in the main repository.

Thanks for the help. I'm going to try it out once I boot back to arch.

virati · 2009-02-10 23:19:31

Hmmm, Sound seems like it's working fine again (seems a little lower in quality but it just may be paranoia).

I'm still not getting my old sliders back in alsamixer though and that worries me. Here's what I would expect to see: http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=a … =939&num=1 (the first picture with the 4 pcm sliders).

Instead those are completely missing. I've tried a variety of things to get those back but so far no luck.

HaaTa · 2009-02-11 05:34:50

I'm having the same issue. I can't find the sliders for my Xonar DX2.

I can provide additional information if that will help solve the problem.

Ranguvar · 2009-02-24 20:19:33

2.6.29 may solve your problems... I'm seeing some commits mentioning that card.

I'd still report it as a bug to the kernel devs though.

Arch Linux

#1 2009-02-03 02:27:42

Alsa and Last Kernel Update

#2 2009-02-03 02:43:57

Re: Alsa and Last Kernel Update

#3 2009-02-03 02:58:44

Re: Alsa and Last Kernel Update

#4 2009-02-03 03:24:15

Re: Alsa and Last Kernel Update

#5 2009-02-03 16:17:01

Re: Alsa and Last Kernel Update

#6 2009-02-04 01:57:04

Re: Alsa and Last Kernel Update

#7 2009-02-10 23:19:31

Re: Alsa and Last Kernel Update

#8 2009-02-11 05:34:50

Re: Alsa and Last Kernel Update

#9 2009-02-24 20:19:33

Re: Alsa and Last Kernel Update

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