ALSA - no subwoofer output

xhazk · 2011-10-11 05:13:18

Hey everyone,

Pulling my hair out here. I am using a 5.1 speaker system with ALSA and my subwoofer refuses to output any bass, regardless of any alterations I make from the obvious to the obscure. ALSA was working properly until several days ago when I tried to switch to OSS (I wasn't impressed by ALSAss OSS failed to output any sound at all, so I promptly reverted to the exact configuration I had with ALSA, at which time this issue arose.

Arch x86_64, updated to all the latest

Hardware
------------
Speakers: Logitech X540 (front2, rear2, center/sub)
Soundcard: none, reads as HDA Intel PCH in alsamixer
Sound chip: Realtek ALC892

ALSA packages
-------------------
alsa-utils, alsa-oss, alsa-firmware, lib32-alsa-lib-git, lib32-alsa-plugins-git, alsaequal, alsa-tools, alsa-plugins-git, alsa-lib-git, lib32-alsa-oss
(Have also tried all the non git counterparts with no success, and various combinations of adding/removing packages)

Outputs
----------
$ lsmod|grep '^snd' | column -t

snd_hda_codec_hdmi     22092   4
snd_hda_codec_realtek  294320  1
snd_hda_intel          22122   2
snd_hda_codec          77927   3   snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel
snd_hwdep              6325    1   snd_hda_codec
snd_pcm                73952   4   snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec
snd_timer              19416   1   snd_pcm
snd                    57818   10  snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hwdep,snd_pcm,snd_timer
snd_page_alloc         7121    2   snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm

$ ls -l /dev/snd

total 0
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root       80 Oct 10 21:25 by-path
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116,  6 Oct 10 21:25 controlC0
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116, 15 Oct 10 21:25 controlC1
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116,  5 Oct 10 21:25 hwC0D0
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116, 14 Oct 10 21:25 hwC1D0
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116, 13 Oct 10 21:25 hwC1D1
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116, 12 Oct 10 21:25 hwC1D2
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116, 11 Oct 10 21:25 hwC1D3
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116,  4 Oct 10 21:28 pcmC0D0c
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116,  3 Oct 10 21:27 pcmC0D0p
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116,  2 Oct 10 21:26 pcmC0D1p
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116, 10 Oct 10 21:37 pcmC1D3p
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116,  9 Oct 10 21:25 pcmC1D7p
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116,  8 Oct 10 21:25 pcmC1D8p
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116,  7 Oct 10 21:25 pcmC1D9p
crw-rw----  1 root audio 116,  1 Oct 10 21:25 seq
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116, 33 Oct 10 21:25 timer

$ aplay -l

**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: ALC892 Analog [ALC892 Analog]
  Subdevices: 0/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 1: ALC892 Digital [ALC892 Digital]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: NVidia [HDA NVidiass device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: NVidia [HDA NVidiass device 7: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: NVidia [HDA NVidiass device 8: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: NVidia [HDA NVidiass device 9: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

$ ls -l /sys/module/snd/holders

total 0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 Oct 10 22:07 snd_hda_codec -> ../../snd_hda_codec
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 Oct 10 22:07 snd_hda_codec_hdmi -> ../../snd_hda_codec_hdmi
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 Oct 10 22:07 snd_hda_codec_realtek -> ../../snd_hda_codec_realtek
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 Oct 10 22:07 snd_hda_intel -> ../../snd_hda_intel
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 Oct 10 22:07 snd_hwdep -> ../../snd_hwdep
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 Oct 10 22:07 snd_pcm -> ../../snd_pcm
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 Oct 10 22:07 snd_timer -> ../../snd_timer

$ cat /proc/asound/modules

 0 snd_hda_intel
 1 snd_hda_intel

Additional information
----------------------------
* The ALSA daemon is in /etc/rc.conf daemon list and loads successfully upon restart.
* Sound comes out of all speakers except the subwoofer. Note that Center and Sub are both on the same cable with these speakers.
* The speakers have been tested on Ubuntu 11.04 live CD and worked properly.

I would more than greatly appreciate assistance. This is extraordinarily irritating. Any additional information I can supply is available on demand.

xhazk · 2011-10-14 14:45:37

Bump since its on page 2 and been days.
Im still SOL here.

brebs · 2011-10-14 16:12:10

What I would do is, recompile the kernel, then reinstall alsa-driver.

In kernel config, for sound, just have CONFIG_SND=m and nothing else SND-related - because it comes from alsa-driver, which is better in my experience than the in-kernel ALSA, weirdly.

xhazk · 2011-10-14 16:33:21

Thanks for the reply Brebs.

Im pretty comfortable in Arch but I have to admit recompiling kernel sounds intimidating.

If its not too basic or vague a question, what strps would i be taking to acomplish what you suggest?

Arch Linux

#1 2011-10-11 05:13:18

ALSA - no subwoofer output

#2 2011-10-14 14:45:37

Re: ALSA - no subwoofer output

#3 2011-10-14 16:12:10

Re: ALSA - no subwoofer output

#4 2011-10-14 16:33:21

Re: ALSA - no subwoofer output

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