Arch Linux

SkankinSasquatch

Member

Registered: 2005-05-03

Posts: 44

nForce audio issues

I installed the nForce drivers just as the wiki explained and I'm still getting sound issues.

My rc.conf

#
# /etc/rc.conf - Main Configuration for Arch Linux
#

#
# Localization
#
# HARDWARECLOCK: set to "UTC" or "localtime"
# TIMEZONE: timezones are found in /usr/share/zoneinfo
# KEYMAP: keymaps are found in /usr/share/kbd/keymaps
# CONSOLEFONT: fount in /usr/share/kbd/consolefonts (only needed for non-us)
# USECOLOR: use ANSI color sequences in startup messages
#
HARDWARECLOCK="localtime"
TIMEZONE=America/New_York
KEYMAP=us
CONSOLEFONT=
USECOLOR="yes"

# Scan for LVM volume groups at startup, required if you use LVM
USELVM="no"

#
# Networking
#
HOSTNAME="shaft"

#
# Module to load at boot-up (in this order)
#   (prefix a module with a ! to disable it)
#
MODULES=(nvnet nvsound snd-pcm-oss !usbserial !ide-scsi)

#
# Interfaces to start at boot-up (in this order)
# Declare each interface then list in INTERFACES
#   (prefix an interface in INTERFACES with a ! to disable it)
#
# Note: to use DHCP, set your interface to be "dhcp" (eth0="dhcp")
#
lo="lo 127.0.0.1"
eth0="dhcp"
INTERFACES=(lo eth0)

#
# Routes to start at boot-up (in this order)
# Declare each route then list in ROUTES
#   (prefix a route in ROUTES with a ! to disable it)
#
gateway="default gw 192.168.0.1"
ROUTES=(!gateway)

#
# Daemons to start at boot-up (in this order)
#   (prefix a daemon with a ! to disable it)
#
DAEMONS=(syslog-ng hotplug !pcmcia network netfs crond)
# End of file

My modprobe.conf

#
# /etc/modprobe.conf (for v2.6 kernels)
#

# OSS Compatibility
install snd-pcm modprobe -i snd-pcm ; modprobe snd-pcm-oss ; true
install snd-seq modprobe -i snd-seq ; modprobe snd-seq-oss ; true
alias eth0 nvnet
alias sound-card-0 nvsound

I also tried following the ALSA section of the wiki and had no luck. When running alsa mixer I get this error:

alsamixer: function snd_ctl_open failed for default: No such device

Any idea on what the problem is?

SkankinSasquatch

Member

Registered: 2005-05-03

Posts: 44

Re: nForce audio issues

I added ALSA to the daemons list in my rc.conf and now I can hear my mic, and some garbled high pitched stuff from flash movies, but I still can't play mp3s. Any ideas?

colnago

Member

From: Victoria, BC

Registered: 2004-03-25

Posts: 438

Re: nForce audio issues

Have you tried a mixer (like kmix) to adjust settings?  Alsaconf does this too.  I have an nforce2 and all I do is add forcedeth and snd-intel8x0 to the modules line in rc.conf and pacman alsa-lib and alsa-utils.  If you need the nvidia ones for some reason, try just adding nvnet and nvsound to rc.conf (i guess what you do by adding to modules.conf, so nevermind).

Check dmesg for problems:

dmesg | grep nv

SkankinSasquatch

Member

Registered: 2005-05-03

Posts: 44

Re: nForce audio issues

I haven't changed anything, but now I'm getting good sound from xmms but none from Noatun. Flash movies don't play any sound (not even the garbled junk) anymore. What the hell is going on?

EDIT:

[shaft@shaft ~]$ dmesg | grep nv
nvnet: module license 'NVIDIA' taints kernel.

What does this mean?

Snowman

Developer/Forum Fellow

From: Montreal, Canada

Registered: 2004-08-20

Posts: 5,212

Re: nForce audio issues

[shaft@shaft ~]$ dmesg | grep nv
nvnet: module license 'NVIDIA' taints kernel.

What does this mean?

It means that the nvnet module contains closed source binaries.  Don't worry about that.

SkankinSasquatch

Member

Registered: 2005-05-03

Posts: 44

Re: nForce audio issues

Nevermind on the flash movies not producing sound, they still do and its still garbled. I think I had something muted on accident.

SkankinSasquatch

Member

Registered: 2005-05-03

Posts: 44

Re: nForce audio issues

I keep getting this X error message too. Does this help any?

Sound server informational message:
Error while initializing the sound driver:
device: default can't be opened for playback (No such device)
The sound server will continue, using the null output device.

colnago

Member

From: Victoria, BC

Registered: 2004-03-25

Posts: 438

Re: nForce audio issues

Maybe because of the 'alias sound-card-0 nvsound' line.  I was just looking at my modprobe.conf and it just has the arch defaults, so I went over to my rc.conf and so does it for modules.  Hotplug has been doing everything for me for a while now, I forgot about that.  Do you need the nvsound rather than the snd-intel8x0 for some reason?  Try it out.

You can look to make sure you have what you think right now, `lsmod` will tell you what is loaded.  I get stuff like this:

snd_mpu401              6472  0
snd_mpu401_uart         7808  1 snd_mpu401
snd_rawmidi            26528  1 snd_mpu401_uart
snd_seq_device          8844  1 snd_rawmidi
pcspkr                  3652  0
snd_intel8x0           34112  0
snd_ac97_codec         83064  1 snd_intel8x0
snd_pcm_oss            54816  0
snd_mixer_oss          20096  1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm                96520  3 snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss
snd_timer              26244  1 snd_pcm
snd                    58244  10 snd_mpu401,snd_mpu401_uart,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq_device,snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_timer
soundcore              10208  1 snd
snd_page_alloc          9988  2 snd_intel8x0,snd_pcm

SkankinSasquatch

Member

Registered: 2005-05-03

Posts: 44

Re: nForce audio issues

Fix'd. Hah, the wonders a re-install can do.

xterminus

Member

From: Tacoma, WA, USA, Earth, Sol, M

Registered: 2005-10-30

Posts: 93

Re: nForce audio issues

I spend a LONG time trying to get my nforce2 working right, with both the nvidia oss drivers, and then the alsa ones.

Since nvidia announced there would be no more oss drivers, (even bugfixes), I've since switched to alsa.  It took some tweaking, but I eventually created an .asoundrc which gets rid of the stutter, and allows me use skype and other lame applications while remaining in control of what sounds go where.  Here is my tweaked out asoundrc.

It defauts to sending alsa generated sound out the S/PDIF interface.  OSS apps are sent out the analog jack.  Since most VOIP apps are OSS based, that works great with headphones and microphone setups.  If you want to silence your speakers and send regular alsa sound out the analog interface, change pcm.asymed to one of the other commented out options.

If you have any questions, ask.

# Defalt Device is combined doodad
pcm.!default {
  type plug
  slave.pcm "asymed"
}
#pcm.!dmix {
#  type plug
#  slave.pcm "asymed"
#}
pcm.!dsnoop {
 type plug
 slave.pcm "asymed"
}
pcm.dsp0 {
 type plug
 slave.pcm "asymed"
}

#a quick plug plugin for the below device to do the converting magic
pcm.pasymed {
        type plug
        slave.pcm "asymed"
}

# Combine output and capture into one device
pcm.asymed {
        type asym
        #playback.pcm "dmix-digital"
      #playback.pcm "digital-hw"
      playback.pcm "dmix-digital"
      #playback.pcm "dmix-analog"
        capture.pcm "dsnooper"
}

# Alias for analog output on the nForce2 (hw:0,0)
# - This is identical to the device named "default"--which
# always exists and refers to hw:0,0 (unless overridden)
# - Therefore, we can specify "hw:0,0", "default", or "analog"
# to access analog output on the nForce2
pcm.analog {
  type plug
  slave.pcm "analog-hw"
}

# Control device (mixer, etc.) for the nForce2 card
ctl.analog {
  type hw
  card 0
}

# Alias for (rate-converted) mixed analog output on the
# nForce2 (hw:0,0)
#  - This will accept audio input--regardless of rate--and
# convert to the rate required for the dmix plugin
# (in this case 48000Hz)
pcm.mixed-analog {
  type plug
  slave.pcm "dmix-analog"
}

# Control device (mixer, etc.) for the nForce2 card
ctl.mixed-analog {
  type hw
  card 0
}

# Alias for (rate-converted) digital (S/PDIF) output on the
# nForce2 (hw:0,2)
#  - This will accept audio input--regardless of rate--and
# convert to the rate required for the S/PDIF hardware
# (in this case 48000Hz)
pcm.digital {
  type plug
  slave.pcm "digital-hw"
}

# Control device (mixer, etc.) for the nForce2 card
ctl.digital {
  type hw
  card 0
}

# Alias for mixed (rate-converted) digital (S/PDIF) output on the
# nForce2 (hw:0,2)
#  - This will accept audio input--regardless of rate--and
# convert to the rate required for the S/PDIF hardware
# (in this case 48000Hz)
pcm.mixed-digital {
  type plug
  slave.pcm "dmix-digital"
}

# Control device (mixer, etc.) for the nForce2 card
ctl.mixed-digital {
  type hw
  card 0
}

# The following devices are not useful by themselves.  They
# require specific rates, channels, and formats.  Therefore,
# you probably do not want to use them directly.  Instead use
# of of the devices defined above.

# Alias for analog output on the nForce2 (hw:0,0)
# Do not use this directly--it requires specific rate,
# channels, and format
pcm.analog-hw {
  type hw
  card 0
  device 0 # Define anyway
  # The default value for device is 0, so no need to specify
}

# Control device (mixer, etc.) for the nForce2 card
ctl.analog-hw {
  type hw
  card 0
}

# Alias for digital (S/PDIF) output on the nForce2 (hw:0,2)
# Do not use this directly--it requires specific rate,
# channels, and format
pcm.digital-hw {
  type hw
  card 0
  device 2
}

# Control device (mixer, etc.) for the nForce2 card
ctl.digital-hw {
  type hw
  card 0
}


# Definition for capture device (analog)
pcm.dsnooper {
  ipc_key 1027
  type dsnoop
  slave {
    pcm "hw:0,0"
    period_time 0
    period_size 1024
    buffer_size 32768
    rate 48000
    #format S32_LE
  }
}

# a ctl device for shared device to keep xmms happy
ctl.pasymed {
        type hw
        card 0
}

# Direct software mixing plugin for analog output on
# the nForce2 (hw:0,0)
# Do not use this directly--it requires specific rate,
# channels, and format
pcm.dmix-analog {
  type dmix
  ipc_key 1234
  slave {
    pcm "analog-hw"
    period_time 0
    period_size 1024
    buffer_size 32768
    rate 48000
    #format S32_LE
  }
}

# Control device (mixer, etc.) for the nForce2 card
ctl.dmix-analog {
  type hw
  card 0
}

# Direct software mixing plugin for digital (S/PDIF) output
# on the nForce2 (hw:0,2)
# Do not use this directly--it requires specific rate,
# channels, and format
pcm.dmix-digital {
  type dmix
  ipc_key 1235
  slave {
    pcm "digital-hw"
    period_time 0
    period_size 1024
    buffer_size 32768
    rate 48000
    #format S32_LE
  }
}

# Control device (mixer, etc.) for the nForce2 card (useless)
ctl.dmix-digital {
  type hw
  card 0
}