Arch Linux

waxxx333

Member

Registered: 2019-12-10

Posts: 13

Only 1 music level: full

I ran into an issue that I've never ran into on any laptop with any Arch installation - my audio volume level is stuck on just full blast or nothing. Anyone have any ideas ? I can't find much to anything on it.

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 25,292

Re: Only 1 music level: full

A HDMI/digital output is that by definition, you can either set it to on or off. You need to hook something in between to give you a volume, like pulseaudio or pipewire or if you want to remain in ALSA land a softvol plugin.

That's as far as my assumption goes for what you are seeing seeing as the post lacks any and all details.

What kind of system is this? Where do you see "off" or "on"? What's your output for

aplay -l
amixer -c0

in code tags what are you using to test? You say you've never ran into this with a laptop, is this currently a laptop? Which?

Last edited by V1del (2022-01-07 02:31:41)

waxxx333

Member

Registered: 2019-12-10

Posts: 13

Re: Only 1 music level: full

I'm not sure what you mean. I have installed Arch many times and I have never had this problem. I have pulseaudio and pulseaudio-alsa installed, just as I've done many, many times before. Maybe my question wasn't articulated very well. My issue is there's only one volume: max. I cannot lower the volume. The output to amixer and aplay is below.
EDIT - I didn't see the second part of your response:
Yes, it's a laptop: Asus ROG Strix G512LV-UH76. I'm not sure what you mean by what am I using to test. I'm using literally everything: browser, media players, etc. Here's an SS of hardware

aplay -l

**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: ALC294 Analog [ALC294 Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 7: HDMI 1 [HDMI 1]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 8: HDMI 2 [HDMI 2]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 9: HDMI 3 [HDMI 3]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 10: HDMI 4 [HDMI 4]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 7: HDMI 1 [HDMI 1]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 8: HDMI 2 [HDMI 2]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 9: HDMI 3 [HDMI 3]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 10: HDMI 4 [HDMI 4]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

And

amixer -c0

Simple mixer control 'Master',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pvolume-joined pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Mono
  Limits: Playback 0 - 87
  Mono: Playback 1 [1%] [on]
Simple mixer control 'Headphone',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pswitch
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 87
  Mono:
  Front Left: Playback 0 [0%] [-65.25dB] [off]
  Front Right: Playback 0 [0%] [-65.25dB] [off]
Simple mixer control 'Speaker',0
  Capabilities: pswitch
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Mono:
  Front Left: Playback [on]
  Front Right: Playback [on]
Simple mixer control 'Bass Speaker',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pswitch
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 87
  Mono:
  Front Left: Playback 87 [100%] [0.00dB] [on]
  Front Right: Playback 87 [100%] [0.00dB] [on]
Simple mixer control 'PCM',0
  Capabilities: pvolume
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 255
  Mono:
  Front Left: Playback 255 [100%] [0.00dB]
  Front Right: Playback 255 [100%] [0.00dB]
Simple mixer control 'IEC958',0
  Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Mono
  Mono: Playback [off]
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]
Simple mixer control 'IEC958',3
  Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Mono
  Mono: Playback [on]
Simple mixer control 'IEC958',4
  Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Mono
  Mono: Playback [on]
Simple mixer control 'Capture',0
  Capabilities: cvolume cswitch
  Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Capture 0 - 63
  Front Left: Capture 39 [62%] [12.00dB] [on]
  Front Right: Capture 39 [62%] [12.00dB] [on]
Simple mixer control 'Auto-Mute Mode',0
  Capabilities: enum
  Items: 'Disabled' 'Enabled'
  Item0: 'Disabled'
Simple mixer control 'Digital',0
  Capabilities: cvolume
  Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Capture 0 - 120
  Front Left: Capture 60 [50%] [0.00dB]
  Front Right: Capture 60 [50%] [0.00dB]
Simple mixer control 'Internal Mic Boost',0
  Capabilities: volume
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: 0 - 1
  Front Left: 0 [0%] [0.00dB]
  Front Right: 0 [0%] [0.00dB]

Last edited by waxxx333 (2022-01-07 04:40:07)

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 25,292

Re: Only 1 music level: full

Again which "volume" are you talking about? Do you use pulseaudio/pavucontrol/amixer/alsamixer commands? From this output above you indeed have quite the peculiar mixer setup and the speaker control is an on/off switch which could explain this. Assuming you are currently using a pulse tool can you more fine grainedly control what happens with amixer directly, e.g.

amixer -c0 set 'Master',0 50% #...or other increments
#or
amixer -c0 'PCM',0 50%,50%

Can you post the outputs of

pacmd list-cards
pacmd list-sinks

as well?

seth

Member

From: Won't reply 2 private help req

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 77,044

Re: Only 1 music level: full

If you're using the volume keys on your keyboard, do the generate events in "sudo libinput debug-events"?
If yes and yes, they're probably bound to some shortcut daemon and that daemon controls the wrong device.
If yes but no, do you have a parallel windows installation?

---

How to upload text · How to boot w/o GUI · Disable Windows Fast-Start! · Fix your xinitrc

waxxx333

Member

Registered: 2019-12-10

Posts: 13

Re: Only 1 music level: full

Sorry, my original post was actually kinda worded badly. Not just "Music level" my whole system volume is one level. I'm using Mate's volume management -- not keyboard or through the CLI.

waxxx333

Member

Registered: 2019-12-10

Posts: 13

Re: Only 1 music level: full

Again which "volume" are you talking about? Do you use pulseaudio/pavucontrol/amixer/alsamixer commands? From this output above you indeed have quite the peculiar mixer setup and the speaker control is an on/off switch which could explain this. Assuming you are currently using a pulse tool can you more fine grainedly control what happens with amixer directly, e.g.

amixer -c0 set 'Master',0 50% #...or other increments
#or
amixer -c0 'PCM',0 50%,50%

Can you post the outputs of

pacmd list-cards
pacmd list-sinks

as well?

When I boot up my laptop I will try this and post the output

waxxx333

Member

Registered: 2019-12-10

Posts: 13

Re: Only 1 music level: full

Again which "volume" are you talking about? Do you use pulseaudio/pavucontrol/amixer/alsamixer commands? From this output above you indeed have quite the peculiar mixer setup and the speaker control is an on/off switch which could explain this. Assuming you are currently using a pulse tool can you more fine grainedly control what happens with amixer directly, e.g.

amixer -c0 set 'Master',0 50% #...or other increments
#or
amixer -c0 'PCM',0 50%,50%

Can you post the outputs of

pacmd list-cards
pacmd list-sinks

as well?

list-cards
2 card(s) available.
    index: 0
	name: <alsa_card.pci-0000_01_00.1>
	driver: <module-alsa-card.c>
	owner module: 6
	properties:
		alsa.card = "1"
		alsa.card_name = "HDA NVidia"
		alsa.long_card_name = "HDA NVidia at 0xc5080000 irq 17"
		alsa.driver_name = "snd_hda_intel"
		device.bus_path = "pci-0000:01:00.1"
		sysfs.path = "/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:01.0/0000:01:00.1/sound/card1"
		device.bus = "pci"
		device.vendor.id = "10de"
		device.vendor.name = "NVIDIA Corporation"
		device.product.id = "10f9"
		device.product.name = "TU106 High Definition Audio Controller"
		device.string = "1"
		device.description = "TU106 High Definition Audio Controller"
		module-udev-detect.discovered = "1"
		device.icon_name = "audio-card-pci"
	profiles:
		output:hdmi-stereo: Digital Stereo (HDMI) Output (priority 5900, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround: Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI) Output (priority 800, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround71: Digital Surround 7.1 (HDMI) Output (priority 800, available: no)
		output:hdmi-stereo-extra1: Digital Stereo (HDMI 2) Output (priority 5700, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround-extra1: Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI 2) Output (priority 600, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround71-extra1: Digital Surround 7.1 (HDMI 2) Output (priority 600, available: no)
		output:hdmi-stereo-extra2: Digital Stereo (HDMI 3) Output (priority 5700, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround-extra2: Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI 3) Output (priority 600, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround71-extra2: Digital Surround 7.1 (HDMI 3) Output (priority 600, available: no)
		output:hdmi-stereo-extra3: Digital Stereo (HDMI 4) Output (priority 5700, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround-extra3: Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI 4) Output (priority 600, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround71-extra3: Digital Surround 7.1 (HDMI 4) Output (priority 600, available: no)
		output:hdmi-stereo-extra4: Digital Stereo (HDMI 5) Output (priority 5700, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround-extra4: Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI 5) Output (priority 600, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround71-extra4: Digital Surround 7.1 (HDMI 5) Output (priority 600, available: no)
		off: Off (priority 0, available: unknown)
	active profile: <off>
	ports:
		hdmi-output-0: HDMI / DisplayPort (priority 5900, latency offset 0 usec, available: no)
			properties:
				device.icon_name = "video-display"
		hdmi-output-1: HDMI / DisplayPort 2 (priority 5800, latency offset 0 usec, available: no)
			properties:
				device.icon_name = "video-display"
		hdmi-output-2: HDMI / DisplayPort 3 (priority 5700, latency offset 0 usec, available: no)
			properties:
				device.icon_name = "video-display"
		hdmi-output-3: HDMI / DisplayPort 4 (priority 5600, latency offset 0 usec, available: no)
			properties:
				device.icon_name = "video-display"
		hdmi-output-4: HDMI / DisplayPort 5 (priority 5500, latency offset 0 usec, available: no)
			properties:
				device.icon_name = "video-display"
    index: 1
	name: <alsa_card.pci-0000_00_1f.3>
	driver: <module-alsa-card.c>
	owner module: 7
	properties:
		alsa.card = "0"
		alsa.card_name = "HDA Intel PCH"
		alsa.long_card_name = "HDA Intel PCH at 0xc5418000 irq 157"
		alsa.driver_name = "snd_hda_intel"
		device.bus_path = "pci-0000:00:1f.3"
		sysfs.path = "/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1f.3/sound/card0"
		device.bus = "pci"
		device.vendor.id = "8086"
		device.vendor.name = "Intel Corporation"
		device.product.id = "06c8"
		device.product.name = "Comet Lake PCH cAVS"
		device.form_factor = "internal"
		device.string = "0"
		device.description = "Built-in Audio"
		module-udev-detect.discovered = "1"
		device.icon_name = "audio-card-pci"
	profiles:
		input:analog-stereo: Analog Stereo Input (priority 32833, available: unknown)
		output:analog-stereo: Analog Stereo Output (priority 39268, available: unknown)
		output:analog-stereo+input:analog-stereo: Analog Stereo Duplex (priority 39333, available: unknown)
		output:analog-surround-21: Analog Surround 2.1 Output (priority 34068, available: unknown)
		output:analog-surround-21+input:analog-stereo: Analog Surround 2.1 Output + Analog Stereo Input (priority 34133, available: unknown)
		output:analog-surround-40: Analog Surround 4.0 Output (priority 33968, available: unknown)
		output:analog-surround-40+input:analog-stereo: Analog Surround 4.0 Output + Analog Stereo Input (priority 34033, available: unknown)
		output:hdmi-stereo: Digital Stereo (HDMI) Output (priority 5900, available: no)
		output:hdmi-stereo+input:analog-stereo: Digital Stereo (HDMI) Output + Analog Stereo Input (priority 5965, available: unknown)
		output:hdmi-surround: Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI) Output (priority 800, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround+input:analog-stereo: Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI) Output + Analog Stereo Input (priority 865, available: unknown)
		output:hdmi-surround71: Digital Surround 7.1 (HDMI) Output (priority 800, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround71+input:analog-stereo: Digital Surround 7.1 (HDMI) Output + Analog Stereo Input (priority 865, available: unknown)
		output:hdmi-stereo-extra1: Digital Stereo (HDMI 2) Output (priority 5700, available: no)
		output:hdmi-stereo-extra1+input:analog-stereo: Digital Stereo (HDMI 2) Output + Analog Stereo Input (priority 5765, available: unknown)
		output:hdmi-surround-extra1: Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI 2) Output (priority 600, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround-extra1+input:analog-stereo: Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI 2) Output + Analog Stereo Input (priority 665, available: unknown)
		output:hdmi-surround71-extra1: Digital Surround 7.1 (HDMI 2) Output (priority 600, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround71-extra1+input:analog-stereo: Digital Surround 7.1 (HDMI 2) Output + Analog Stereo Input (priority 665, available: unknown)
		output:hdmi-stereo-extra2: Digital Stereo (HDMI 3) Output (priority 5700, available: no)
		output:hdmi-stereo-extra2+input:analog-stereo: Digital Stereo (HDMI 3) Output + Analog Stereo Input (priority 5765, available: unknown)
		output:hdmi-surround-extra2: Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI 3) Output (priority 600, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround-extra2+input:analog-stereo: Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI 3) Output + Analog Stereo Input (priority 665, available: unknown)
		output:hdmi-surround71-extra2: Digital Surround 7.1 (HDMI 3) Output (priority 600, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround71-extra2+input:analog-stereo: Digital Surround 7.1 (HDMI 3) Output + Analog Stereo Input (priority 665, available: unknown)
		output:hdmi-stereo-extra3: Digital Stereo (HDMI 4) Output (priority 5700, available: no)
		output:hdmi-stereo-extra3+input:analog-stereo: Digital Stereo (HDMI 4) Output + Analog Stereo Input (priority 5765, available: unknown)
		output:hdmi-surround-extra3: Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI 4) Output (priority 600, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround-extra3+input:analog-stereo: Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI 4) Output + Analog Stereo Input (priority 665, available: unknown)
		output:hdmi-surround71-extra3: Digital Surround 7.1 (HDMI 4) Output (priority 600, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround71-extra3+input:analog-stereo: Digital Surround 7.1 (HDMI 4) Output + Analog Stereo Input (priority 665, available: unknown)
		output:hdmi-stereo-extra4: Digital Stereo (HDMI 5) Output (priority 5700, available: no)
		output:hdmi-stereo-extra4+input:analog-stereo: Digital Stereo (HDMI 5) Output + Analog Stereo Input (priority 5765, available: unknown)
		output:hdmi-surround-extra4: Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI 5) Output (priority 600, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround-extra4+input:analog-stereo: Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI 5) Output + Analog Stereo Input (priority 665, available: unknown)
		output:hdmi-surround71-extra4: Digital Surround 7.1 (HDMI 5) Output (priority 600, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround71-extra4+input:analog-stereo: Digital Surround 7.1 (HDMI 5) Output + Analog Stereo Input (priority 665, available: unknown)
		off: Off (priority 0, available: unknown)
	active profile: <output:analog-stereo>
	sinks:
		alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1f.3.analog-stereo/#0: Built-in Audio Analog Stereo
	sources:
		alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1f.3.analog-stereo.monitor/#0: Monitor of Built-in Audio Analog Stereo
	ports:
		analog-input-internal-mic: Internal Microphone (priority 8900, latency offset 0 usec, available: unknown)
			properties:
				device.icon_name = "audio-input-microphone"
		analog-input-mic: Microphone (priority 8700, latency offset 0 usec, available: no)
			properties:
				device.icon_name = "audio-input-microphone"
		analog-output-speaker: Speakers (priority 10000, latency offset 0 usec, available: unknown)
			properties:
				device.icon_name = "audio-speakers"
		analog-output-headphones: Headphones (priority 9900, latency offset 0 usec, available: no)
			properties:
				device.icon_name = "audio-headphones"
		hdmi-output-0: HDMI / DisplayPort (priority 5900, latency offset 0 usec, available: no)
			properties:
				device.icon_name = "video-display"
		hdmi-output-1: HDMI / DisplayPort 2 (priority 5800, latency offset 0 usec, available: no)
			properties:
				device.icon_name = "video-display"
		hdmi-output-2: HDMI / DisplayPort 3 (priority 5700, latency offset 0 usec, available: no)
			properties:
				device.icon_name = "video-display"
		hdmi-output-3: HDMI / DisplayPort 4 (priority 5600, latency offset 0 usec, available: no)
			properties:
				device.icon_name = "video-display"
		hdmi-output-4: HDMI / DisplayPort 5 (priority 5500, latency offset 0 usec, available: no)
			properties:
				device.icon_name = "video-display"

And sinks

1 sink(s) available.
  * index: 0
	name: <alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1f.3.analog-stereo>
	driver: <module-alsa-card.c>
	flags: HARDWARE HW_MUTE_CTRL HW_VOLUME_CTRL LATENCY DYNAMIC_LATENCY
	state: SUSPENDED
	suspend cause: IDLE
	priority: 9039
	volume: front-left: 753 /   1%,   front-right: 753 /   1%
	        balance 0.00
	base volume: 65536 / 100%
	volume steps: 88
	muted: no
	current latency: 0.00 ms
	max request: 0 KiB
	max rewind: 0 KiB
	monitor source: 0
	sample spec: s16le 2ch 48000Hz
	channel map: front-left,front-right
	             Stereo
	used by: 0
	linked by: 0
	configured latency: 0.00 ms; range is 0.50 .. 2000.00 ms
	card: 1 <alsa_card.pci-0000_00_1f.3>
	module: 7
	properties:
		alsa.resolution_bits = "16"
		device.api = "alsa"
		device.class = "sound"
		alsa.class = "generic"
		alsa.subclass = "generic-mix"
		alsa.name = "ALC294 Analog"
		alsa.id = "ALC294 Analog"
		alsa.subdevice = "0"
		alsa.subdevice_name = "subdevice #0"
		alsa.device = "0"
		alsa.card = "0"
		alsa.card_name = "HDA Intel PCH"
		alsa.long_card_name = "HDA Intel PCH at 0xc5418000 irq 157"
		alsa.driver_name = "snd_hda_intel"
		device.bus_path = "pci-0000:00:1f.3"
		sysfs.path = "/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1f.3/sound/card0"
		device.bus = "pci"
		device.vendor.id = "8086"
		device.vendor.name = "Intel Corporation"
		device.product.id = "06c8"
		device.product.name = "Comet Lake PCH cAVS"
		device.form_factor = "internal"
		device.string = "front:0"
		device.buffering.buffer_size = "384000"
		device.buffering.fragment_size = "192000"
		device.access_mode = "mmap+timer"
		device.profile.name = "analog-stereo"
		device.profile.description = "Analog Stereo"
		device.description = "Built-in Audio Analog Stereo"
		module-udev-detect.discovered = "1"
		device.icon_name = "audio-card-pci"
	ports:
		analog-output-speaker: Speakers (priority 10000, latency offset 0 usec, available: unknown)
			properties:
				device.icon_name = "audio-speakers"
		analog-output-headphones: Headphones (priority 9900, latency offset 0 usec, available: no)
			properties:
				device.icon_name = "audio-headphones"
	active port: <analog-output-speaker>

Last edited by waxxx333 (2022-01-22 02:42:33)

ewaller

Administrator

From: Pasadena, CA

Registered: 2009-07-13

Posts: 20,690

Re: Only 1 music level: full

Sorry, my original post was actually kinda worded badly. Not just "Music level" my whole system volume is one level. I'm using Mate's volume management -- not keyboard or through the CLI.

Mine goes to eleven

---

Nothing is too wonderful to be true, if it be consistent with the laws of nature -- Michael Faraday
The shortest way to ruin a country is to give power to demagogues.— Dionysius of Halicarnassus
---
How to Ask Questions the Smart Way

seth

Member

From: Won't reply 2 private help req

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 77,044

Re: Only 1 music level: full

	volume: front-left: 753 /   1%,   front-right: 753 /   1%
	        balance 0.00
	base volume: 65536 / 100%
	volume steps: 88

Assuming you are currently using a pulse tool can you more fine grainedly control what happens with amixer directly, e.g.

amixer -c0 set 'Master',0 50% #...or other increments
#or
amixer -c0 'PCM',0 50%,50%

---

How to upload text · How to boot w/o GUI · Disable Windows Fast-Start! · Fix your xinitrc

waxxx333

Member

Registered: 2019-12-10

Posts: 13

Re: Only 1 music level: full

	volume: front-left: 753 /   1%,   front-right: 753 /   1%
	        balance 0.00
	base volume: 65536 / 100%
	volume steps: 88

Assuming you are currently using a pulse tool can you more fine grainedly control what happens with amixer directly, e.g.

amixer -c0 set 'Master',0 50% #...or other increments
#or
amixer -c0 'PCM',0 50%,50%

$ amixer -c0 set 'Master',0 50%

Simple mixer control 'Master',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pvolume-joined pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Mono
  Limits: Playback 0 - 87
  Mono: Playback 44 [51%] [on]

And for

amixer -c0 'PCM',0 50%,50%

it just says 'Unknown command PCM'

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 25,292

Re: Only 1 music level: full

Did that change something? Did you play with other values? The PCM command incidentally lacks the set, it should be

amixer -c0 set 'PCM',0 50%,50%

of course, sorry about that. Also more generally  from a pulse perspective you do have multiple increment steps, does

pactl set-sink-volume alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1f.3.analog-stereo 50%,50% #... and other values of course

work? If this last thing works then it's likely a mate widget bug, test pavucontrol. (... and maybe post a screenshot of what you are actually manipulating, everything I find in google tells me mate should have a working vol mixer)

What's your output for

sudo fuser -v /dev/snd/*

just to check there's nothing dangling there.

Last edited by V1del (2022-01-26 07:47:48)

waxxx333

Member

Registered: 2019-12-10

Posts: 13

Re: Only 1 music level: full

Did that change something? Did you play with other values? The PCM command incidentally lacks the set, it should be

amixer -c0 set 'PCM',0 50%,50%

of course, sorry about that. Also more generally  from a pulse perspective you do have multiple increment steps, does

pactl set-sink-volume alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1f.3.analog-stereo 50%,50% #... and other values of course

work? If this last thing works then it's likely a mate widget bug, test pavucontrol. (... and maybe post a screenshot of what you are actually manipulating, everything I find in google tells me mate should have a working vol mixer)

What's your output for

sudo fuser -v /dev/snd/*

just to check there's nothing dangling there.

Okay, so fuser gives me:

                     USER        PID ACCESS COMMAND
/dev/snd/controlC0:  ${ME}        1257 F.... pulseaudio
/dev/snd/controlC1:  ${ME}        1257 F.... pulseaudio
/dev/snd/pcmC0D0p:   ${ME}        1257 F...m pulseaudio

pactl gives me an error the way you put it: Invalid volume specification but if I change 50%,50% to just 50% no error, but it doesn't do anything.
amixer actually seems to work system-wide, but very inconvenient to have to open a shell to adjust system-wide volume. I have been using Mate on Arch for years and I have never experienced this. This is, however, a very new laptop. It's the ROG Strix G512LV-UH76. I'm going to upload a video to show you so you can get a visualization of what I'm saying. I'm not sure if the video is going to demonstrate the audio level change when I use amixer, but if it doesn't, just know that it's the only thing affecting volume. Strange though how the system volume isn't increasing or decreasing with Vokoscreen even.

I have a feeling it's something to do with Nvidia.

video

Last edited by waxxx333 (2022-02-02 22:55:28)

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 25,292

Re: Only 1 music level: full

That amixer has no effect on "system volume" is normal, you directly touch card level controls. They way pulseaudio works is to try and find a logical middle ground between all mixers you have available and combine them into a single logical volume so that you don't have to adjust 10 knobs. This normally works well, but in your case for some reason one specific mixer part in this chain leads to "too strong" of an effect, I'm still assuming that "Speaker" which I've never seen being a boolean being a problem.

For a simple "guaranteed to work" test you can do

pacmd load-module module-alsa-sink sink_name="Speakers" sink_properties=device.description="Speakers" device=hw:PCH,0 control='PCM',0

that should give you an additional sink and playing from that should have working volume control.

FWIW if you move the "system volume" slider in cinnamon around and double check the values with amixer -c0/alsamixer -c0 which actual mixer is being adjusted for any given volume in-/decrement? Or is just nothing happening at all?

And no nvidia has no relation to this.

waxxx333

Member

Registered: 2019-12-10

Posts: 13

Re: Only 1 music level: full

That amixer has no effect on "system volume" is normal, you directly touch card level controls. They way pulseaudio works is to try and find a logical middle ground between all mixers you have available and combine them into a single logical volume so that you don't have to adjust 10 knobs. This normally works well, but in your case for some reason one specific mixer part in this chain leads to "too strong" of an effect, I'm still assuming that "Speaker" which I've never seen being a boolean being a problem.

For a simple "guaranteed to work" test you can do

pacmd load-module module-alsa-sink sink_name="Speakers" sink_properties=device.description="Speakers" device=hw:PCH,0 control='PCM',0

that should give you an additional sink and playing from that should have working volume control.

FWIW if you move the "system volume" slider in cinnamon around and double check the values with amixer -c0/alsamixer -c0 which actual mixer is being adjusted for any given volume in-/decrement? Or is just nothing happening at all?

And no nvidia has no relation to this.

No, amixer was the only thing controlling the system-wide volume. What I meant was when amixer was working with volume, it wasn't changing in the video. All you heard was one steady volume but when I was running the amixer it was indeed changing the whole system wide volume.
I'm pretty sure that pactl command just killed the mate-volume-control daemon because it's not in my system tray anymore.
I did, however, find a GUI for Pulse in my control center that controls system volume perfectly. Strange. So there's a simple resolution to my problem, only issue now is I cannot find a way to put a slider in my sys tray. Still have to open up the Mate Control Center and open the Pulse GUI to change the volume(or pin it to my dock I guess). I just don't understand why Mate's volume control isn't working whatsoever.

Or is just nothing happening at all?

It's doing absolutely nothing.

Last edited by waxxx333 (2022-02-03 04:55:46)

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 25,292

Re: Only 1 music level: full

The "system volume" you are controlling now is this new sink we've allocated or the old " alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1f.3.analog-stereo" ? I did suggest to test out pavucontrol but you didn't feedback on whether that worked. In that case I have no clue what this mate control is doing exactly.

waxxx333

Member

Registered: 2019-12-10

Posts: 13

Re: Only 1 music level: full

The "system volume" you are controlling now is this new sink we've allocated or the old " alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1f.3.analog-stereo" ? I did suggest to test out pavucontrol but you didn't feedback on whether that worked. In that case I have no clue what this mate control is doing exactly.

Sorry, missed it. pavucontrol is what seems to be working 'system-wide'. Is there any way to get a slider for it like Mate's ?
pactl does toggle the Mate volume control's slider, but it does nothing to the volume.

EDIT:
After trying 5 system tray applets I finally got volctl to work. I'm still curious why this is happening. Thanks for your help though.

Last edited by waxxx333 (2022-02-03 18:43:12)

waxxx333

Member

Registered: 2019-12-10

Posts: 13

Re: Only 1 music level: full

This was finally resolved the correct way.
First:

sudo echo 'options snd-hda-intel model=asus-zenbook' > /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf 

Then add this: before the [Element CPM] block. in

/usr/share/pulseaudio/alsa-mixer/paths/analog-output.conf.common

[Element Master]
switch = mute
volume = ignore

So it'll look something like this:

[Element Master]
switch = mute
volume = ignore
[Element PCM]
switch = mute
volume = merge
override-map.1 = all
override-map.2 = all-left,all-right

Now restart Pulseaudio.

systemctl --user restart pulseaudio

Hopefully this helps someone because it drove me crazy for a long time.

Last edited by waxxx333 (2022-06-17 01:02:45)