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Ploppz

Member

Registered: 2013-09-14

Posts: 313

[Solved] Cannot set volume through amixer

amixer -q sset Master,0 1+

or

amixer -q sset Master 1+

both do not report any error, but have no effect on volume either. `alsamixer` shows a single channel called "Master" which remains unchanged.

Last edited by Ploppz (2019-08-08 09:22:04)

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 23,102

Re: [Solved] Cannot set volume through amixer

which device? post

aplay -lL
amixer -c0

Also +1 is a one volume step increment from potentially high increments, if you have a big step range a step of +1 will be almost inaudible

Last edited by V1del (2019-08-09 09:35:29)

Ploppz

Member

Registered: 2013-09-14

Posts: 313

Re: [Solved] Cannot set volume through amixer

$ aplay -lL

null
    Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)
jack
    JACK Audio Connection Kit
pulse
    PulseAudio Sound Server
default
    Default ALSA Output (currently PulseAudio Sound Server)
hdmi:CARD=Generic,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, HDMI 0
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=Generic,DEV=1
    HD-Audio Generic, HDMI 1
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=Generic,DEV=2
    HD-Audio Generic, HDMI 2
    HDMI Audio Output
usbstream:CARD=Generic
    HD-Audio Generic
    USB Stream Output
sysdefault:CARD=Generic_1
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC257 Analog
    Default Audio Device
front:CARD=Generic_1,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC257 Analog
    Front speakers
surround21:CARD=Generic_1,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC257 Analog
    2.1 Surround output to Front and Subwoofer speakers
surround40:CARD=Generic_1,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC257 Analog
    4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=Generic_1,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC257 Analog
    4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=Generic_1,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC257 Analog
    5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=Generic_1,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC257 Analog
    5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71:CARD=Generic_1,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC257 Analog
    7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
usbstream:CARD=Generic_1
    HD-Audio Generic
    USB Stream Output
sysdefault:CARD=Audio
    ThinkPad Dock USB Audio, USB Audio
    Default Audio Device
front:CARD=Audio,DEV=0
    ThinkPad Dock USB Audio, USB Audio
    Front speakers
surround21:CARD=Audio,DEV=0
    ThinkPad Dock USB Audio, USB Audio
    2.1 Surround output to Front and Subwoofer speakers
surround40:CARD=Audio,DEV=0
    ThinkPad Dock USB Audio, USB Audio
    4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=Audio,DEV=0
    ThinkPad Dock USB Audio, USB Audio
    4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=Audio,DEV=0
    ThinkPad Dock USB Audio, USB Audio
    5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=Audio,DEV=0
    ThinkPad Dock USB Audio, USB Audio
    5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71:CARD=Audio,DEV=0
    ThinkPad Dock USB Audio, USB Audio
    7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
iec958:CARD=Audio,DEV=0
    ThinkPad Dock USB Audio, USB Audio
    IEC958 (S/PDIF) Digital Audio Output
usbstream:CARD=Audio
    ThinkPad Dock USB Audio
    USB Stream Output
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: Generic [HD-Audio Generic], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: Generic [HD-Audio Generic], device 7: HDMI 1 [HDMI 1]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: Generic [HD-Audio Generic], device 8: HDMI 2 [HDMI 2]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: Generic_1 [HD-Audio Generic], device 0: ALC257 Analog [ALC257 Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 2: Audio [ThinkPad Dock USB Audio], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]
  Subdevices: 0/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

$ amixer -c0
Simple mixer control 'IEC958',0
  Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Mono
  Mono: Playback [on]
Simple mixer control 'IEC958',1
  Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Mono
  Mono: Playback [on]
Simple mixer control 'IEC958',2
  Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Mono
  Mono: Playback [on]

Edit: Actually, now I realize that sound doesn't work at all (it did previously), although any channels in `alsamixer` are unmuted and have volume.
Also, I just realized that I do have pulseaudio, because it was installed as a dependency of zoom... In `pavucontrol`, it shows that there is audio. But I cannot hear anything.

Last edited by Ploppz (2019-08-08 08:46:10)

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 23,102

Re: [Solved] Cannot set volume through amixer

Then it's likely configured to play to the wrong device, you have a hdmi, an internal and an USB dock device, move the running audio stream to the correct card in pavucontrol, and/or post

pacmd list-cards
pacmd list-sinks
pacmd list-sink-inputs

during playback.

Ploppz

Member

Registered: 2013-09-14

Posts: 313

Re: [Solved] Cannot set volume through amixer

Thanks, indeed no audio problem was that the wrong output was selected in pavucontrol!

The problem of setting the volume through amixer remains however.

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 23,102

Re: [Solved] Cannot set volume through amixer

Yes that's normal, you should not use amixer to control a pulse volume, if you are happy with staying on pulse get familiar with pactl in particular granted you've switched the default device to the correct card of choice you can use

pactl set-sink-volume @DEFAULT_SINK@ +5%

or similar.

If you absolutely want to control volume with amixer you should not touch the pulseaudio compatibility control, but adjust the master/pcm of the actual card you are manipulating by passing the -c parameter to amixer, e.g.

amixer -c1 set PCM,0 +5 #Assuming you have a PCM on your analog card 1

either way if you stay on pulse it will be more predictable if you adjust volumes there.

Last edited by V1del (2019-08-08 11:07:23)

Ploppz

Member

Registered: 2013-09-14

Posts: 313

Re: [Solved] Cannot set volume through amixer

Thank you very much!