Arch Linux

ashbygeek

Member

Registered: 2011-11-27

Posts: 3

alsa configuration

I recently installed ARCH on my HP Pavillion dv7 3067cl laptop and I can't figure out how to set up alsa correctly.

AlsaMixer lets me control all my output sources (most importantly the main speakers and the headphone jacks). However, amixer and gnome's built in mixer only show a single output destination. I can control my card, but only through AlsaMixer and its derivatives. Its like only AlsaMixer actually uses my soundcard's subdevices.

The lspci -k entry for my sound card is this:
00:14.2 Audio device: ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 Azalia (Intel HDA)
    Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device 363a
    Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
    Kernel modules: snd-hda-intel

Any ideas?

cybertorture

Member

Registered: 2010-05-05

Posts: 339

Re: alsa configuration

Are you sure you use alsa, not pulseaudio as it is default for gnome ?

---

O' rly ? Ya rly Oo

GrannyTux

Member

Registered: 2010-09-13

Posts: 10

Re: alsa configuration

Pulseaudio is a sound server which uses Alsa etc and pulseaudios job is to manage streams. From what I have been told I believe gnome 3 is quite intergated with   pulseaudio.   Pauvcontrol will help you with the selection  the devices used in the various streams.

ashbygeek

Member

Registered: 2011-11-27

Posts: 3

Re: alsa configuration

it has the same problem as amixer and gnome's soundconfig (I'm using I described above. There is only a front left and right output where AlsaMixer shows a Speaker left and right, a Front left and right, and several others for recording and digital output.

If it weren't for the fact that amixer also has that problem I would think that pulse audio is somehow misinterpreting the alsa set up. Since amixer comes with alsa and doesn't require pulseaudio, I instead suspect that alsa hasn't been correctly set up. I've been through the wiki pages for setting up alsa without fixing the problem.

GrannyTux

Member

Registered: 2010-09-13

Posts: 10

Re: alsa configuration

Found this on the Gentoo page , may be of help

Things Works with some effort
[edit] Sound

If your sound codec isn't detected correctly (aka "no sound from speakers"),
you have to manually specify the "model=hp-dv5" and "enable_msi=1" parameters for "snd-hda-intel"
to hear a sound from the speaker by adding

File: /etc/modprobe.d/alsa
...
options snd-hda-intel model=hp-dv5 enable_msi=1
...

to your /etc/modprobe.d/alsa. after that, do:
# udpate-modules -f
# rmmod snd-hda-intel
# /etc/init.d/alsasound start

If you couldn't rmmod snd-hda-intel, restart your computer.
[edit] built-in

If the above doesn't work, compile the alsa driver as built-in kernel module. Make sure you make the following edit, change STAC_HP_M4 to STAC_HP_DV5 to match:
File: /usr/src/linux/sound/pci/hda/patch_sigmatel.c:1722-1723

...
SND_PCI_QUIRK(PCI_VENDOR_ID_HP, 0x30f2,
                "HP dv5", STAC_HP_DV5),
...

ashbygeek

Member

Registered: 2011-11-27

Posts: 3

Re: alsa configuration

is there any way to confirm that the "snd-hda-intel model=..." has actually done something? I've seen that before and it actually worked when I was using Ubuntu 9, but I've tried putting that option in several different files without any apparent change.