[SOLVED] ALSA Sound Muted on Reboot / Logoff-On

roguewolf · 2012-05-29 08:47:17

Hi,

I'm new to Arch but have some knowledge of Linux in general. I'm wanting to use Arch as a way of getting more clued up on how Linux works 'under-the-hood'.

I have an issue with ALSA which, after reading up on it in the Arch Wiki, I'm not sure how to solve. I'm hoping that someone can point me in the right direction.

ALSA itself seems to be working fine. I can run 'alsamixer', press F6 to select my soundcard and un-mute and increase the volume and I get sound. I've saved the settings to ~/.asoundrc.

If I reboot or log off and back on, however, the ALSA settings are reset.

If I run:

amixer -c 0 sset 'Master' 50% unmute &> /dev/null

I get sound again. I've tried adding the above line to rc.local but sound is still muted and 0% volume after a reboot.

Could anyone suggest why this might be?

Last edited by roguewolf (2012-06-04 06:56:59)

headkase · 2012-05-29 08:52:43

Install "alsa-utils":

sudo pacman -S alsa-utils

Then set your volumes to where you would like them using whatever mixer, then do:

sudo alsactl store

Then made sure that "alsa" is in your DAEMONS array in /etc/rc.conf

That should do the trick.

tkdncty2 · 2012-05-29 08:54:25

-Set the desired volume in alsamixer

-Use the command
alsactl store

open /etc/rc.conf and add alsa to the daemons.

This is from the wiki page https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Alsa and it worked for me.

Last edited by tkdncty2 (2012-05-29 08:55:03)

headkase · 2012-05-29 09:01:13

Also, "alsa" in your DAEMONS array should be as far left as possible. Here is mine for reference:

DAEMONS=(syslog-ng dbus hwclock alsa network crond slim)

Don't worry about the stuff you don't need, just make sure that alsa is at least before your login manager.

roguewolf · 2012-05-29 09:04:35

Wow, thanks for the very quick replies

I made sure to read through the ALSA Wiki page after installation (and before posting here) so should already have done as you have suggested but, just to be sure:

I double-checked and I already have alsa-utils installed.

I re-ran:

sudo alsactl store

I've also double-checked to make sure that 'alsa' is in my DAEMONS array and it is:

DAEMONS=(syslog-ng dbus network crond alsa gdm)

But still no sound after logoff/on

roguewolf · 2012-05-29 09:06:10

Thanks headkase, just rebooting after moving 'alsa' in front of 'network' in my DAEMONS array...

Last edited by roguewolf (2012-05-29 09:10:51)

roguewolf · 2012-05-29 09:07:38

...but still no sound.

Could it be something like Pulse Audio over-riding the ALSA settings?

Last edited by roguewolf (2012-05-29 09:10:34)

headkase · 2012-05-29 09:14:55

Try removing or renaming your ~/.asoundrc file. What mixer are you using? I use "xfce4-mixer" as my desktop environment is Xfce 4.10. That one I select the sound hardware in, I have more than one, then after doing that do the alsactl store command.

Edit: also, logoff/login isn't enough for the ALSA daemon: you have to reboot. All that daemon does is store the volume on shutdown and restore it on bootup.

Edit2: do alsactl store right after setting everything up in amixer. If that doesn't work perhaps try another mixer?

Last edited by headkase (2012-05-29 09:18:13)

roguewolf · 2012-05-29 09:34:01

Thanks again headkase.

I've renamed the ~/.asoundrc to ~/.asoundrc_bak and done a full reboot but still no sound.

I'm not sure what mixer I'm using? I'm just right-clicking on the gnome volume control and selecting 'Sound Preferences'. I do have PulseAudio Volume Control installed and that shows movement on the 'volume bar' when I do something which should make a sound (e.g. pressing left arrow in terminal). But no sound is actually emitted (unless I run the amixer command from my original post).

headkase · 2012-05-29 09:39:02

Yeah, I'm sorry I don't know what to suggest from here. I'm, as said, using Xfce 4.10 and I am using just ALSA with that and the given instructions do work for myself. Now, I do know like you say that GNOME uses Pulse Audio. So the best place to start for yourself from here would be that page on the Wiki:

PulseAudio

I'm unfamiliar with Pulse, and don't use it, so hopefully if nothing stands-out to you on the Wiki then perhaps someone else will be able to help.

roguewolf · 2012-05-29 09:49:09

No need to apologise, I really appreciate the help.

I am reasonably sure that it's some sort of conflict between ALSA and Pulse Audio. It seems odd that adding the alsamixer line to rc.local isn't working as it works when running manually and, if I understand correctly from the Wiki, rc.local is the last thing to run after login. That's makes me suspect that Pulse is overwriting the ALSA settings.

I have read through the Pulse Audio Wiki entry and there's a section specifically dealing with Pulse overwriting the ALSA settings but I've added the suggested code to .xinitrc but to no avail. I even thought about removing Pulse Audio altogether but it seems that GNOME requires it.

I'm not tied to the GNOME interface so, if I can't sort this out I might have a look at the other options. XFCE seems pretty cool so I might give that a try

Thanks again for your help, glad to see that my problem doesn't seem to be due to any stupid newbie error on my part (hopefully!).

Last edited by roguewolf (2012-05-29 09:50:08)

headkase · 2012-05-29 10:02:53

You're welcome, sorry I couldn't get it resolved with you. Xfce is a very light desktop environment - I use it mostly because it is compatible with Compiz. If you do go with it check that out too! Lot's of pretty bell's 'n whistles..

debdj · 2012-05-29 11:58:45

try removing pulseaudio if thats installed...

roguewolf · 2012-05-29 12:15:56

Thanks debdj. Is that possible with GNOME? If I try to remove pulseaudio I get a message advising that 'gnome-setting-daemon requires pulseaudio'.

debdj · 2012-05-29 12:54:29

Sorry, I didnt notice you're using gnome.

Have you tried this?
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Pu … A_settings

roguewolf · 2012-05-29 12:56:47

No worries.

I had noticed that section of the PulseAudio Wiki and tried what was suggested but unfortunately that didn't work.

roguewolf · 2012-05-29 13:01:10

@headkase

I've removed GNOME and Pulse Audio and installed Xfce and guess what, I have persistent sound!

Thanks again for your help

headkase · 2012-05-29 13:05:17

Right on, you're welcome!

archie0 · 2013-09-27 19:40:56

Had the same problem on Gnome. Installing alsa-utils fixed it.

fsckd · 2013-09-28 13:47:52

archie0, see the wiki article for ALSA and Forum Etiquette: Old Threads / Necro-Bumping. Closing.

Arch Linux

#1 2012-05-29 08:47:17

[SOLVED] ALSA Sound Muted on Reboot / Logoff-On

#2 2012-05-29 08:52:43

Re: [SOLVED] ALSA Sound Muted on Reboot / Logoff-On

#3 2012-05-29 08:54:25

Re: [SOLVED] ALSA Sound Muted on Reboot / Logoff-On

#4 2012-05-29 09:01:13

Re: [SOLVED] ALSA Sound Muted on Reboot / Logoff-On

#5 2012-05-29 09:04:35

Re: [SOLVED] ALSA Sound Muted on Reboot / Logoff-On

#6 2012-05-29 09:06:10

Re: [SOLVED] ALSA Sound Muted on Reboot / Logoff-On

#7 2012-05-29 09:07:38

Re: [SOLVED] ALSA Sound Muted on Reboot / Logoff-On

#8 2012-05-29 09:14:55

Re: [SOLVED] ALSA Sound Muted on Reboot / Logoff-On

#9 2012-05-29 09:34:01

Re: [SOLVED] ALSA Sound Muted on Reboot / Logoff-On

#10 2012-05-29 09:39:02

Re: [SOLVED] ALSA Sound Muted on Reboot / Logoff-On

#11 2012-05-29 09:49:09

Re: [SOLVED] ALSA Sound Muted on Reboot / Logoff-On

#12 2012-05-29 10:02:53

Re: [SOLVED] ALSA Sound Muted on Reboot / Logoff-On

#13 2012-05-29 11:58:45

Re: [SOLVED] ALSA Sound Muted on Reboot / Logoff-On

#14 2012-05-29 12:15:56

Re: [SOLVED] ALSA Sound Muted on Reboot / Logoff-On

#15 2012-05-29 12:54:29

Re: [SOLVED] ALSA Sound Muted on Reboot / Logoff-On

#16 2012-05-29 12:56:47

Re: [SOLVED] ALSA Sound Muted on Reboot / Logoff-On

#17 2012-05-29 13:01:10

Re: [SOLVED] ALSA Sound Muted on Reboot / Logoff-On

#18 2012-05-29 13:05:17

Re: [SOLVED] ALSA Sound Muted on Reboot / Logoff-On

#19 2013-09-27 19:40:56

Re: [SOLVED] ALSA Sound Muted on Reboot / Logoff-On

#20 2013-09-28 13:47:52

Re: [SOLVED] ALSA Sound Muted on Reboot / Logoff-On

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