Asus X205TA - unable to detect sound card

danielng91 · 2016-01-04 17:01:25

Hello. I have an Asus X205TA which does not have a written sound driver. I am hoping to learn how to write one so that I can play some audio on my laptop.

The supposedly sound card it is supposed to have is Realtek RT-5648, which shares similarities to the RT-5645 and 5640.

While doing some researching I decided to try and see if I can find the device ID of this sound card and hopefully verify if the sound card is really the RT-5648. But the outputs of the standard command lines of lspci, lshw and many others is not able to find the sound card.

lspci -nn:

00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Atom Processor Z36xxx/Z37xxx Series SoC Transaction Register [8086:0f00] (rev 0f)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation Atom Processor Z36xxx/Z37xxx Series Graphics & Display [8086:0f31] (rev 0f)
00:14.0 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation Atom Processor Z36xxx/Z37xxx Series USB xHCI [8086:0f35] (rev 0f)
00:1a.0 Encryption controller [1080]: Intel Corporation Atom Processor Z36xxx/Z37xxx Series Trusted Execution Engine [8086:0f18] (rev 0f)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation Atom Processor Z36xxx/Z37xxx Series Power Control Unit [8086:0f1c] (rev 0f)

lshw -short:

H/W path       Device  Class       Description
==============================================
                       system      X205TA (ASUS-NotebookSKU)
/0                     bus         X205TA
/0/0                   memory      64KiB BIOS
/0/a                   memory      2GiB System Memory
/0/a/0                 memory      2GiB DIMM DDR3 1333 MHz (0.8 ns)
/0/f                   memory      224KiB L1 cache
/0/10                  memory      1MiB L2 cache
/0/11                  processor   Core i5 (Fill By OEM)
/0/100                 bridge      Atom Processor Z36xxx/Z37xxx Series SoC Transaction Register
/0/100/2               display     Atom Processor Z36xxx/Z37xxx Series Graphics & Display
/0/100/14              bus         Atom Processor Z36xxx/Z37xxx Series USB xHCI
/0/100/14/0    usb2    bus         xHCI Host Controller
/0/100/14/1    usb1    bus         xHCI Host Controller
/0/100/14/1/1          multimedia  USB2.0 VGA UVC WebCam
/0/100/14/1/2          bus         USB2.0 Hub
/0/100/1a              generic     Atom Processor Z36xxx/Z37xxx Series Trusted Execution Engine
/0/100/1f              bridge      Atom Processor Z36xxx/Z37xxx Series Power Control Unit
/1             wlan0   network     Wireless interface

inxi -Fx:

System:    Host: localhost Kernel: 4.2.2-1-ARCH x86_64 (64 bit gcc: 5.2.0) Desktop: Openbox 3.6.1
           Distro: Arch Linux
Machine:   Mobo: ASUSTeK model: X205TA v: 1.0 Bios: American Megatrends v: X205TA.208 date: 12/18/2014
CPU:       Quad core Intel Atom Z3735F (-MCP-) cache: 1024 KB
           flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 10653
           clock speeds: max: 1832 MHz 1: 1582 MHz 2: 1582 MHz 3: 1582 MHz 4: 1582 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Intel Atom Processor Z36xxx/Z37xxx Series Graphics & Display bus-ID: 00:02.0
           Display Server: X.Org 1.17.2 driver: intel Resolution: 1366x768@60.06hz
           GLX Renderer: Mesa DRI Intel Bay Trail GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 11.0.3 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio:     Card Failed to Detect Sound Card! Sound: ALSA v: k4.2.2-1-ARCH
Network:   Card: Failed to Detect Network Card!
Drives:    HDD Total Size: NA (-) ID-1: /dev/mmcblk0 model: N/A size: 62.5GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 57G used: 21G (38%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/mmcblk0p2
Sensors:   None detected - is lm-sensors installed and configured?
Info:      Processes: 133 Uptime: 18 min Memory: 934.2/1941.0MB Init: systemd Gcc sys: 5.3.0
           Client: Shell (bash 4.3.421) inxi: 2.2.32

aplay -l:

aplay: device_list:268: no soundcards found...

arecord -l:

arecord: device_list:268: no soundcards found...

tried testing the speakers as well with speaker-test -c2 -t wav:

speaker-test 1.1.0

Playback device is default
Stream parameters are 48000Hz, S16_LE, 2 channels
WAV file(s)
ALSA lib confmisc.c:768:(parse_card) cannot find card '0'
ALSA lib conf.c:4260:(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_card_driver returned error: No such file or directory
ALSA lib confmisc.c:392:(snd_func_concat) error evaluating strings
ALSA lib conf.c:4260:(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_concat returned error: No such file or directory
ALSA lib confmisc.c:1251:(snd_func_refer) error evaluating name
ALSA lib conf.c:4260:(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_refer returned error: No such file or directory
ALSA lib conf.c:4739:(snd_config_expand) Evaluate error: No such file or directory
ALSA lib pcm.c:2267:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM default
Playback open error: -2,No such file or directory

And any listing of devices in /proc/asound/ shows no devices listed. This is true under 'oss' as well.

Reading from here, it says that you don't need the driver to detect the sound card..

I also made sure alsa-utils was installed.

Lastly, I also tried finding for an in-built option by accessing BIOS but with no luck. And this is a new laptop, with working audio on windows before switching to Arch.

Anyone else having this issue? Or if you have the same laptop and can detect the sound card, please do let me know as well!

Last edited by danielng91 (2016-01-04 17:07:05)

ewaller · 2016-01-04 17:25:11

This might be why it does not show up on the PCI bus https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=95681#c7
But, I do not see the SDIO of which they speak. But, there is a SD drive: /dev/mmcblk0.
Is that the full output of lspci -nn, or did you silently redact things that were not "Intel"?

This does not look promising. What is the output of lsusb ?

tom.ty89 · 2016-01-04 17:29:14

Not surprising. I think the sound card is often (exposed as?) acpi or i2c devices:

[tom@localhost ~]$ modinfo snd-soc-rt5640 | grep -i alias
alias:          acpi*:10EC5642:*
alias:          acpi*:10EC5640:*
alias:          acpi*:INT33CA:*
alias:          i2c:rt5642
alias:          i2c:rt5639
alias:          i2c:rt5640
[tom@localhost ~]$ modinfo snd-soc-rt5645 | grep -i alias
alias:          acpi*:10EC5650:*
alias:          acpi*:10EC5645:*
alias:          i2c:rt5650
alias:          i2c:rt5645

so it can be normal that lspci does not show it.

And without any driver loaded, neither aplay / arecord / /proc/asound/ would list anything about it. And alsa-utils are only utilities as its name told.

danielng91 · 2016-01-05 15:52:00

Apologies for the late reply. Been busy today. And thank you for your prompt ones!

To ewaller, yes, that is the full output of lspci -nn.

For lsusb:

[danielng92@localhost ~]$ lsusb
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 05e3:0610 Genesys Logic, Inc. 4-port hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 04f2:b483 Chicony Electronics Co., Ltd 
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

Unfortunately, I'm not sure where the sound card lies in this list.

For tom.ty89, I've tried the inputs as you have shown and got similar output (except for rt5648):

[danielng92@localhost ~]$ modinfo snd-soc-rt5640 | grep -i alias
alias:          acpi*:10EC5642:*
alias:          acpi*:10EC5640:*
alias:          acpi*:INT33CA:*
alias:          i2c:rt5642
alias:          i2c:rt5639
alias:          i2c:rt5640
[danielng92@localhost ~]$ modinfo snd-soc-rt5645 | grep -i alias
alias:          acpi*:10EC5650:*
alias:          acpi*:10EC5645:*
alias:          i2c:rt5650
alias:          i2c:rt5645
[danielng92@localhost ~]$ modinfo snd-soc-rt5648 | grep -i alias
modinfo: ERROR: Module snd-soc-rt5648 not found.

I'm not too sure what it all means. It just means I have those kernel modules available in my laptop, no?

tom.ty89 · 2016-01-05 16:18:36

I just meant to show you that your "sound card" does not necessarily need to be usb or pci(e) devices, but acpi or i2c devices as you can see from the aliases. So you don't need to be bothered by the fact that neither lspci or lsusb list it.

modinfo just tell you information about kernel modules, so yours should be similar (or mostly identical) as mine And well, there is no such module as snd-soc-rt5648 yet.

Btw there's a chance that some kernel modules have actually been throwing messages on the fact that no driver for the codec is available. Try `journalctl -k -p 3` or `journalctl -k | grep sst`.

Last edited by tom.ty89 (2016-01-05 16:18:55)

danielng91 · 2016-01-05 16:34:51

Oh. Alright. Thank you very much!

journalctl -k -p 3 shows:

[danielng92@localhost ~]$ journalctl -k -p 3
-- Logs begin at Fri 2015-10-02 03:07:22 MYT, end at Wed 2016-01-06 00:00:03 MYT. --
Jan 05 23:40:46 localhost kernel: efi: requested map not found.
Jan 05 23:40:46 localhost kernel: esrt: ESRT header is not in the memory map.
Jan 05 23:40:46 localhost kernel: Ignoring BGRT: invalid status 0 (expected 1)
Jan 05 23:40:46 localhost kernel: sst-acpi 80860F28:00: No matching ASoC machine driver found
Jan 05 23:40:46 localhost kernel: intel_sst_acpi 80860F28:00: No matching machine driver found
Jan 05 23:40:48 localhost kernel: i2c_hid i2c-PDEC3393:00: error in i2c_hid_init_report size:7 / ret_size:4
Jan 05 23:40:48 localhost kernel: i2c_hid i2c-PDEC3393:00: error in i2c_hid_init_report size:19 / ret_size:4
Jan 05 23:40:48 localhost kernel: brcmfmac: brcmf_sdio_drivestrengthinit: No SDIO Drive strength init done for chip 4334
Jan 05 23:40:48 localhost kernel: i2c_hid i2c-ELAN0100:00: error in i2c_hid_init_report size:633 / ret_size:7
Jan 05 23:40:48 localhost kernel: i2c_hid i2c-ELAN0100:00: error in i2c_hid_init_report size:131 / ret_size:7
Jan 05 23:40:49 localhost kernel: brcmfmac: brcmf_c_preinit_dcmds: Firmware version = wl0: Jun 17 2014 11:48:43 version 
Jan 05 23:40:49 localhost kernel: brcmfmac: brcmf_cfg80211_reg_notifier: not a ISO3166 code
Jan 05 23:40:58 localhost kernel: brcmfmac: brcmf_add_if: ERROR: netdev:wlan0 already exists
Jan 05 23:40:58 localhost kernel: brcmfmac: brcmf_add_if: ignore IF event

and journalctl -k | grep sst:

[danielng92@localhost ~]$ journalctl -k | grep sst
Jan 05 23:40:46 localhost kernel: sst-acpi 80860F28:00: No matching ASoC machine driver found
Jan 05 23:40:46 localhost kernel: intel_sst_acpi 80860F28:00: No matching machine driver found

Thank you! Just got this. Trying to understand it in the meantime..

danielng91 · 2016-01-05 16:46:59

Oh wow. Is the 80860F28 the device ID then? It being 8086:0F28, 8086 = intel.

However lspci -vv -d 8086:0f28 does not return anything.

This site shows it is a valleyview LPE Audio Controller.

I am currently reading this to see what I can find on it.

tom.ty89 · 2016-01-05 17:00:17

Again, acpi devices:

[tom@localhost ~]$ modinfo snd-intel-sst-acpi | grep 0F28
alias:          acpi*:80860F28:*
[tom@localhost ~]$ modinfo snd-soc-sst-acpi | grep 0F28
alias:          acpi*:80860F28:*

Jimmy84 · 2016-01-09 22:32:21

The x205ta has a rt5648 soundcard. I have these source files but I cant make it work as I don't have the required skillset: https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=7 … =file%2cgz

Also my peeps over at ubuntu are in the same bind: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php? … st13420485

Last edited by Jimmy84 (2016-01-10 00:15:57)

danielng91 · 2016-01-10 06:17:02

Hello. Thank you for replying to this post. I am currently learning the ALSA API hoping to do it. I know someone else tried but no word after a while.

Anyway, it is as stated in some forums and pages that it contains an RT5648, but no one has actually verified it? And somebody was saying that different builds have different sound cards.

https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=95681#c7

So how do we know for sure?

Jimmy84 · 2016-01-10 06:28:27

danielng91 wrote:

Hello. Thank you for replying to this post. I am currently learning the ALSA API hoping to do it. I know someone else tried but no word after a while.
Anyway, it is as stated in some forums and pages that it contains an RT5648, but no one has actually verified it? And somebody was saying that different builds have different sound cards.
https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=95681#c7
So how do we know for sure?

Check the physical chip for the desig, it should read ALC5648. We found that the ASUS Fonepad7 had the same hardware and inside the firmware of the device were these files:
https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=7 … =file%2cgz

The source is old and in need of maintenance. KemmyLand over at ubuntufourums http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php? … 22&page=47 is attempting to make a patchfile out of what we have.

danielng91 · 2016-01-10 13:25:38

Oh wow! This is great. Thank you very much!

gustaprana · 2016-01-20 04:08:28

Hi daniel, I've the same machine.Does the sound had working?
I've another issues Libreoffice won't start without error message. OOT lol

x33a · 2016-01-20 06:03:49

gustaprana wrote:

I've another issues Libreoffice won't start without error message. OOT lol

As you yourself realized, this question doesn't belong to this thread. Please open a separate thread for the same.

Airon90 · 2016-05-31 15:44:54

My friend bought an ASUS X205TA and she would like to remove Windows in order to install a Linux distribution but I read that the sound card is not supported yet.
Did someone test these sound card drivers?

Arch Linux

#1 2016-01-04 17:01:25

Asus X205TA - unable to detect sound card

#2 2016-01-04 17:25:11

Re: Asus X205TA - unable to detect sound card

#3 2016-01-04 17:29:14

Re: Asus X205TA - unable to detect sound card

#4 2016-01-05 15:52:00

Re: Asus X205TA - unable to detect sound card

#5 2016-01-05 16:18:36

Re: Asus X205TA - unable to detect sound card

#6 2016-01-05 16:34:51

Re: Asus X205TA - unable to detect sound card

#7 2016-01-05 16:46:59

Re: Asus X205TA - unable to detect sound card

#8 2016-01-05 17:00:17

Re: Asus X205TA - unable to detect sound card

#9 2016-01-09 22:32:21

Re: Asus X205TA - unable to detect sound card

#10 2016-01-10 06:17:02

Re: Asus X205TA - unable to detect sound card

#11 2016-01-10 06:28:27

Re: Asus X205TA - unable to detect sound card

#12 2016-01-10 13:25:38

Re: Asus X205TA - unable to detect sound card

#13 2016-01-20 04:08:28

Re: Asus X205TA - unable to detect sound card

#14 2016-01-20 06:03:49

Re: Asus X205TA - unable to detect sound card

#15 2016-05-31 15:44:54

Re: Asus X205TA - unable to detect sound card

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