Sound is completely gone [SOLVED]

Gwenael · 2012-02-19 19:58:23

This is with a fresh install made 2 days ago (x86_64 on an Acer Timeline X). Sound was working fine after the install (in KDE, with Amarok, with VLC, etc...). But today no sound at all (kmix complains that the audio device isn't working, and VLC, Amarok, or KDE notifications are not producing any sound). So, I know it can work since it did just after the install. But I haven't installed anything related with audio/video since. Also:

I've checked in alsamixer that the levels are not set to zero.
I've tried speaker-test: it doesn't complain at all, but there is no sound.
I've tried playing a .wav file using aplayer: same thing, it doesn't complain at all, but there is no sound.
I've also tried all of the above at runlevel 3 in case the additional programs in KDE were causing the problem, but it didn't make any difference either.
I've tried adding snd_hda_intel in MODULE in /etc/rc.conf, but that didn't change anything.

The PulseAudio server isn't installed. It's really just the basic packages which are installed:

local/libpulse 1.1-2
local/alsa-lib 1.0.25-1
local/alsa-utils 1.0.25-1

Here are a few standard snippets of info:

$ lspci |grep Audio
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 04)

$ cat /proc/asound/card0/codec* | grep Codec
Codec: Conexant CX20588
Codec: Intel CougarPoint HDMI

$ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: CONEXANT Analog [CONEXANT Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 1: Conexant Digital [Conexant Digital]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

$ lsmod |grep snd
snd_hda_codec_hdmi     24121  1
snd_hda_codec_conexant    47186  1
snd_hda_intel          23375  2
snd_hda_codec          89160  3 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec_conexant,snd_hda_codec_hdmi
snd_hwdep               6389  1 snd_hda_codec
snd_pcm                74780  3 snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec_hdmi
snd_page_alloc          7153  2 snd_pcm,snd_hda_intel
snd_timer              19544  1 snd_pcm
snd                    59214  11 snd_timer,snd_pcm,snd_hwdep,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec_conexant,snd_hda_codec_hdmi
soundcore               6210  1 snd

The complete output of alsa-info.sh can be found here.

Any suggestions???

Last edited by Gwenael (2012-02-27 20:42:12)

anrxc · 2012-02-19 20:11:32

I have found latest phonon-vlc backend breaks sound here. I've reverted to 0.4.1. This may not be the same, but sounds to me like you use KDE... so why don't you try "aplay /usr/share/sounds/alsa/Noise.wav" for a start.

Gwenael · 2012-02-19 23:09:32

anrxc wrote:

I have found latest phonon-vlc backend breaks sound here. I've reverted to 0.4.1. This may not be the same, but sounds to me like you use KDE... so why don't you try "aplay /usr/share/sounds/alsa/Noise.wav" for a start.

anrxc,

Thanks for the suggestions, and you are right, I use KDE. I downgraded phonon-vlc to 0.4.1 but that didn't change anything. In any case, I have the same problem when I'm not running X windows, so I doubt the problem is caused by phonon.

When I run

$ aplay /usr/share/sounds/alsa/Noise.wav
Playing WAVE '/usr/share/sounds/alsa/Noise.wav' : Signed 16 bit Little Endian, Rate 48000 Hz, Mono

aplay isn't complaining, but there is no sound from the speakers or the headphones.

oboedad55 · 2012-02-19 23:27:27

FWIW, I've been running KDE with pulseaudio and the phonon-vlc backend with no problems. The VLC backend is the only one that allows me to play CDs in Amarok, and in fact works better all around for streaming, etc. than the gstreamer backend. I also saw recently on a KDE phonon site that they recommended the VLC backend; http://amarok.kde.org/wiki/Phonon. It's at the bottom of the page. Is it worth giving pulseaudion a try? I couldn't really get ALSA to work well.

anrxc · 2012-02-20 18:07:21

I couldn't really get ALSA to work well.

You need ALSA (as in sound system) for audio.

aplay isn't complaining, but there is no sound from the speakers or the headphones.

Damn, you seem to really lack audio. Btw you are aware by default mixers start muted? Sometimes
that gets overlooked.
Otherwise try following the standard methods, try different models for your driver:
http://www.mjmwired.net/kernel/Document … ration.txt

CaptSpify · 2012-02-20 22:25:31

My sound got VERY quiet after I upgraded today. I had to turn Amarok all the way up as well as my speaker to hear anything.
I was also getting a message that said "The Audio playback device HDA Intel (ALC662 Rev1 Analog) does not work. Falling back to default."

I reverted back to VLC 1.1.13-6 and it seemed to set it back to normal.

$ lspci |grep Audio
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 01)
$ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 0: ALC662 rev1 Analog [ALC662 rev1 Analog]
Subdevices: 0/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
$ cat /proc/asound/card0/codec* | grep Codec
Codec: Realtek ALC662 rev1

Gwenael · 2012-02-23 20:06:10

Here is a little update. I've tried a few more things, but still no luck

I checked that the users are part of the 'audio' group as required.
I tried with Windows, and the sound is working just fine, so at least it's not the hardware which is faulty.
I tried the procedure suggested there using hda_anlyzer, but the 'EAPD' flag on the node 0x1b is properly set. So this isn't the cause of the problem either.

I have a suspicion that the sound is sent to the digital device instead of the analogue one. So I've tried using the .asoundrc file to tell Alsa to use only the analogue device but that didn't work, in fact it made things worse (aplay wouldn't play a .wav file any more).

I'll keep looking... but obviously any suggestions is welcome!

anrxc: Thanks for the link, I will have a look at the options I can pass to snd_hda_intel (and yes I'm aware the mixer can start muted but that doesn't seem to be the issue).

oboedad55 · 2012-02-23 20:26:19

Gwenael wrote:

Here is a little update. I've tried a few more things, but still no luck
I checked that the users are part of the 'audio' group as required.
I tried with Windows, and the sound is working just fine, so at least it's not the hardware which is faulty.
I tried the procedure suggested there using hda_anlyzer, but the 'EAPD' flag on the node 0x1b is properly set. So this isn't the cause of the problem either.
I have a suspicion that the sound is sent to the digital device instead of the analogue one. So I've tried using the .asoundrc file to tell Alsa to use only the analogue device but that didn't work, in fact it made things worse (aplay wouldn't play a .wav file any more).
I'll keep looking... but obviously any suggestions is welcome!
anrxc: Thanks for the link, I will have a look at the options I can pass to snd_hda_intel (and yes I'm aware the mixer can start muted but that doesn't seem to be the issue).

Have you tried pulseaudio yet?

Relmir · 2012-02-24 19:53:23

Hi,

I've the same problem as Gwenael. I tested the same things with the same results.

However, I noticed something... funny, you could say. Whenever I plug or unplug my AC cable, the sounds is there for a pair of seconds...

If it can help anybody to come up with something...

Gwenael · 2012-02-27 20:41:44

Found a way to fix the problem

After adding

options snd_hda_intel model=ideapad

in /etc/modprobe.d/alsa.conf the sound was working again. Running 'aplay -l' gave:

**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: CONEXANT Analog [CONEXANT Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

which shows that the digital device isn't recognized when model is set to 'ideapad'. But the mixer wouldn't work any more... so I removed the 'ideapad' option from alsa.conf and after a reboot the sound was still there! The digital device was recognized once again, but it wasn't used. So I'm back with the same config files as originally but the problem is gone. My guess is that Alsa was stuck using the digital device, and adding the 'ideapad' option forced it to use the analog device once again. (PS: I did try to use the ~/.asoundrc file to tell Alsa to use the analog device, but I must have done something wrong then.)

anrxc: Thanks a lot for suggesting to change the model!!

oboedad55: I haven't forgotten PulseAudio, but I wanted to solve that problem first. PulseAudio would have added an additional layer of libraries and config files between me and the cause of the problem.

Arch Linux

#1 2012-02-19 19:58:23

Sound is completely gone [SOLVED]

#2 2012-02-19 20:11:32

Re: Sound is completely gone [SOLVED]

#3 2012-02-19 23:09:32

Re: Sound is completely gone [SOLVED]

#4 2012-02-19 23:27:27

Re: Sound is completely gone [SOLVED]

#5 2012-02-20 18:07:21

Re: Sound is completely gone [SOLVED]

#6 2012-02-20 22:25:31

Re: Sound is completely gone [SOLVED]

#7 2012-02-23 20:06:10

Re: Sound is completely gone [SOLVED]

#8 2012-02-23 20:26:19

Re: Sound is completely gone [SOLVED]

#9 2012-02-24 19:53:23

Re: Sound is completely gone [SOLVED]

#10 2012-02-27 20:41:44

Re: Sound is completely gone [SOLVED]

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