[SOLVED] I broke my ALSA with Pulseaudio

bpont · 2015-05-09 05:51:34

Months ago, I installed pulseaudio because skype began requiring it. After installation/configuration, I tested skype, but the audio didn't work. After some research, I discovered that I didn't really need pulseaudio, but that I had to configure things differently. I forgot the source for where I was given the configuration, but this is what my ~/.asoundrc looks like as a result

pcm.usb
{
    type hw
    card U0x46d0x81b
}

pcm.!default
{
    type asym
    playback.pcm
    {
        type plug
        slave.pcm "dmix"
    }
    capture.pcm
    {
        type plug
        slave.pcm "usb"
    }
}

I got skype working correctly and the general audio was working too.

I left this machine for months and no one else used it or made any changes. When I came back, the audio wasn't working. I rebooted into an Ubuntu LiveCD .iso file to make sure it wasn't a hardware or speaker issue, etc., and the audio worked fine under Ubuntu.

In summary:

I installed pulseaudio to make skype work (because skype apparently requires it now)
After installation and configuration, skype had no audio
I researched the problem and uninstalled pulseaudio, but tweaked the .asoundrc
As a result, skype worked and ALSA worked
I left the machine for months and returned to find my audio broken

I'm hoping to troubleshoot and repair my ALSA setup. Getting skype to work correctly is not a priority as I have other devices to rely upon for that.

edit: added source link

Last edited by bpont (2015-05-13 02:22:38)

V1del · 2015-05-09 08:33:47

If you uninstalled pulseaudio, pulseaudio doesn't break your audio, it is literally incapable of it. Give the output of

aplay -L

, I suspect it's a boot order issue, so look at https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ad … sound_card as for running skype without pulseaudio, have you seen the following and done the relevant changes?: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Skype#Skype_sound

Last edited by V1del (2015-05-09 08:44:41)

bpont · 2015-05-09 13:15:05

V1del wrote:

If you uninstalled pulseaudio, pulseaudio doesn't break your audio, it is literally incapable of it. Give the output of
aplay -L

$ aplay -L
null
    Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)
pulse
    PulseAudio Sound Server
sysdefault:CARD=Audigy2
    SB Audigy 2 ZS [SB0350], ADC Capture/Standard PCM Playback
    Default Audio Device
front:CARD=Audigy2,DEV=0
    SB Audigy 2 ZS [SB0350], ADC Capture/Standard PCM Playback
    Front speakers
rear:CARD=Audigy2,DEV=0
    SB Audigy 2 ZS [SB0350], ADC Capture/Standard PCM Playback
    Rear speakers
center_lfe:CARD=Audigy2,DEV=0
    SB Audigy 2 ZS [SB0350], ADC Capture/Standard PCM Playback
    Center and Subwoofer speakers
side:CARD=Audigy2,DEV=0
    SB Audigy 2 ZS [SB0350], ADC Capture/Standard PCM Playback
    Side speakers
surround21:CARD=Audigy2,DEV=0
    SB Audigy 2 ZS [SB0350], ADC Capture/Standard PCM Playback
    2.1 Surround output to Front and Subwoofer speakers
surround40:CARD=Audigy2,DEV=0
    SB Audigy 2 ZS [SB0350], ADC Capture/Standard PCM Playback
    4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=Audigy2,DEV=0
    SB Audigy 2 ZS [SB0350], ADC Capture/Standard PCM Playback
    4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=Audigy2,DEV=0
    SB Audigy 2 ZS [SB0350], ADC Capture/Standard PCM Playback
    5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=Audigy2,DEV=0
    SB Audigy 2 ZS [SB0350], ADC Capture/Standard PCM Playback
    5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71:CARD=Audigy2,DEV=0
    SB Audigy 2 ZS [SB0350], ADC Capture/Standard PCM Playback
    7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
iec958:CARD=Audigy2,DEV=0
    SB Audigy 2 ZS [SB0350], ADC Capture/Standard PCM Playback
    IEC958 (S/PDIF) Digital Audio Output

V1del wrote:

I suspect it's a boot order issue, so look at https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ad … sound_card

$ cat /proc/asound/modules 
 0 snd_emu10k1
 1 snd_usb_audio

$ lsmod | grep snd
snd_usb_audio         117564  0 
snd_usbmidi_lib        22995  1 snd_usb_audio
snd_emu10k1           129727  0 
snd_util_mem           12659  1 snd_emu10k1
snd_hwdep              12906  2 snd_usb_audio,snd_emu10k1
snd_ac97_codec         96144  1 snd_emu10k1
ac97_bus               12462  1 snd_ac97_codec
snd_rawmidi            22285  2 snd_usbmidi_lib,snd_emu10k1
snd_seq_device         12980  2 snd_rawmidi,snd_emu10k1
snd_pcm                73796  3 snd_usb_audio,snd_ac97_codec,snd_emu10k1
snd_timer              26106  2 snd_pcm,snd_emu10k1
snd                    55101  9 snd_usb_audio,snd_ac97_codec,snd_hwdep,snd_timer,snd_pcm,snd_rawmidi,snd_usbmidi_lib,snd_emu10k1,snd_seq_device
soundcore              12895  1 snd
usbcore               170981  7 uhci_hcd,snd_usb_audio,uvcvideo,snd_usbmidi_lib,ehci_hcd,ehci_pci,usbhid

I'm pretty sure I had an alsa config file at one time in /etc/modprobe.d/ and probably deleted it when setting up pulseaudio. I'll recreate one and edit this post with the results if it solves the problem.

V1del wrote:

as for running skype without pulseaudio, have you seen the following and done the relevant changes?: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Skype#Skype_sound

Yes I have. That section of the arch wiki was what I was originally referring to regarding not needing pulseaudio for skype. I already have apulse installed.

edit: unfortunately, creating /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf did not solve the issue:

options snd_emu10k1 index=0
options snd_usb_audio index=1

edit:

After further research, I deleted some remnants of my pulseaudio installation which may or may not have had any effect:

$ rm -r ~/pulse
# rm -r /etc/pulse/

Then I edited my ~/.asoundrc

pcm.usb
{
    type hw
    card U0x46d0x81b
}

pcm.!default
{
    type asym
    playback.pcm
    {
        type plug
        slave.pcm "dmix"
    }
    capture.pcm
    {
        type plug
        slave.pcm "usb"
    }
{
        type hw
        card 0
}

ctl.!default {
        type hw           
        card 0
}
}

After a reboot, I tested audio in VLC and got the following error:

Audio output failed:
The audio device "sysdefault:CARD=Audigy2" could not be used:
Invalid argument.

I think this "invalid" name may be the source of my broken audio, but I don't know which file I should edit or what correct naming convention to use.

edit:

I'm still not sure what the issue really is. There is likely a syntax error in .asoundrc which I've tweaked based on a couple different wiki sources, but even removing the file doesn't restore audio.

If I remove .asoundrc, this is the output of aplay:

$ aplay -D default test.wav 
Playing WAVE 'test.wav' : Signed 16 bit Little Endian, Rate 16000 Hz, Mono

There is no error, but there is also no sound.

Similarly, VLC will play the file or an internet stream, but there is no sound.

If I use this .asoundrc:

pcm.usb
{
    type hw
    card U0x46d0x81b
}

pcm.!default
{

	{
	type hw
	card 0
	}


    type asym
    playback.pcm
    {
        type plug
        slave.pcm "dmix"
    }

    capture.pcm
    {
        type plug
        slave.pcm "usb"
    }
}

ctl.!default 
{
	type hw           
	card 0
}

this is the output I get from aplay and cvlc, respectively:

$ aplay -D default test.wav
ALSA lib conf.c:1697:(snd_config_load1) _toplevel_:11:9:Unexpected char
ALSA lib conf.c:3417:(config_file_open) /home/[user]/.asoundrc may be old or corrupted: consider to remove or fix it
ALSA lib conf.c:3339:(snd_config_hooks_call) function snd_config_hook_load returned error: Invalid argument
ALSA lib conf.c:3788:(snd_config_update_r) hooks failed, removing configuration
aplay: main:722: audio open error: Invalid argument

$ cvlc test.wav 
VLC media player 2.1.5 Rincewind (revision 2.1.4-49-gdab6cb5)
[0x9b44b90] [http] lua interface: Lua HTTP interface
ALSA lib conf.c:1697:(snd_config_load1) _toplevel_:11:9:Unexpected char
ALSA lib conf.c:3417:(config_file_open) /home/[user]/.asoundrc may be old or corrupted: consider to remove or fix it
ALSA lib conf.c:3339:(snd_config_hooks_call) function snd_config_hook_load returned error: Invalid argument
ALSA lib conf.c:3788:(snd_config_update_r) hooks failed, removing configuration
[0x9b46118] dummy interface: using the dummy interface module...
ALSA lib conf.c:1697:(snd_config_load1) _toplevel_:11:9:Unexpected char
ALSA lib conf.c:3417:(config_file_open) /home/[user]/.asoundrc may be old or corrupted: consider to remove or fix it
ALSA lib conf.c:3339:(snd_config_hooks_call) function snd_config_hook_load returned error: Invalid argument
ALSA lib conf.c:3788:(snd_config_update_r) hooks failed, removing configuration
[0x9b68dd0] alsa audio output error: cannot open ALSA device "sysdefault:CARD=Audigy2": Invalid argument
[0x9b68dd0] main audio output error: Audio output failed
[0x9b68dd0] main audio output error: The audio device "sysdefault:CARD=Audigy2" could not be used:
Invalid argument.
[0x9b68dd0] main audio output error: module not functional
[0xb6404be8] main decoder error: failed to create audio output

I hope someone can help me troubleshoot and restore my audio. I may not be able to check responses on this thread for a couple days, though.

Last edited by bpont (2015-05-09 18:20:27)

armandrix · 2015-05-11 21:33:04

Do you have some /etc/asound.conf file??

brebs · 2015-05-11 22:29:48

This is not valid syntax, AFAIK:

pcm.!default
{

	{

armandrix · 2015-05-11 23:28:23

Try backup and remove it, this is the system-wide configuration equivalent for your ~/.asoundrc.
You also may try to "sudo cp ~/.asoundrc /etc/asound.conf" without quotes.

V1del · 2015-05-11 23:59:32

^ you shouldn't have a pulse device anymore, so you probably have some remnants of pulseaudio-alsa in /etc/asound.conf

bpont · 2015-05-13 02:22:14

Thanks to all for the help.

As fate would have it, someone had unplugged the speakers from the soundcard jack and plugged them into the onboard audio jack. I hadn't checked that until after all the fuss. Occam's Razor wins again.

I did bork my .asoundrc with too many edits though. For the record, what's recommended in the wiki is sufficient and correct:

pcm.usb
{
    type hw
    card U0x46d0x81b
}

pcm.!default
{
    type asym
    playback.pcm
    {
        type plug
        slave.pcm "dmix"
    }
    capture.pcm
    {
        type plug
        slave.pcm "usb"
    }
}

Sorry for the inconvenience everyone. Marking as solved.

Arch Linux

#1 2015-05-09 05:51:34

[SOLVED] I broke my ALSA with Pulseaudio

#2 2015-05-09 08:33:47

Re: [SOLVED] I broke my ALSA with Pulseaudio

#3 2015-05-09 13:15:05

Re: [SOLVED] I broke my ALSA with Pulseaudio

#4 2015-05-11 21:33:04

Re: [SOLVED] I broke my ALSA with Pulseaudio

#5 2015-05-11 22:29:48

Re: [SOLVED] I broke my ALSA with Pulseaudio

#6 2015-05-11 23:28:23

Re: [SOLVED] I broke my ALSA with Pulseaudio

#7 2015-05-11 23:59:32

Re: [SOLVED] I broke my ALSA with Pulseaudio

#8 2015-05-13 02:22:14

Re: [SOLVED] I broke my ALSA with Pulseaudio

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