[Solved] Please help this noob get his speakers working

ilikepudding · 2008-02-11 20:10:50

Hello, I'm new to linux (only switched for about a week). Up until now, I've been pretty good about setting stuff up, but I'm at the point where I'm giving up and asking for help.

Current situation:
Onboard sound card is working
I have Bose Companion 5 speakers which require USB input **Not working**
I would like to have ALSA run sound through the USB sound card (the bose speakers), but nothing happens when I switch devices.

I've tried digging through various wikis and forums and haven't found any clear answer. Nothing I've tried has worked.

What should I change? Which config files do I need to edit and what should I add? Are there any pacman repositories I should install? Any help is appreciated.

Here is what I see when I run various commands. Please feel free to say so if you need more information.

#ls -l /dev/snd/
total 0
crw-rw---- 1 root audio 116,  0 Feb 11 02:02 controlC0
crw-rw---- 1 root audio 116, 32 Feb 11 02:02 controlC1
crw-rw---- 1 root audio 116, 64 Feb 11 02:02 controlC2
crw-rw---- 1 root audio 116,  4 Feb 11 02:02 hwC0D0
crw-rw---- 1 root audio 116, 24 Feb 11 02:02 pcmC0D0c
crw-rw---- 1 root audio 116, 16 Feb 11 02:02 pcmC0D0p
crw-rw---- 1 root audio 116, 25 Feb 11 02:02 pcmC0D1c
crw-rw---- 1 root audio 116, 17 Feb 11 02:02 pcmC0D1p
crw-rw---- 1 root audio 116, 26 Feb 11 02:02 pcmC0D2c
crw-rw---- 1 root audio 116, 48 Feb 11 02:02 pcmC1D0p
crw-rw---- 1 root audio 116, 88 Feb 11 02:02 pcmC2D0c
crw-rw---- 1 root audio 116,  1 Feb 11 02:02 seq
crw-rw---- 1 root audio 116, 33 Feb 11 02:02 timer

#lsmod|grep '^snd'
snd_usb_audio          92832  0 
snd_usb_lib            17664  1 snd_usb_audio
snd_hda_intel         382504  1 
snd_rawmidi            23328  1 snd_usb_lib
snd_hwdep               9096  2 snd_usb_audio,snd_hda_intel
snd_seq_oss            33408  0 
snd_seq_midi_event      7936  1 snd_seq_oss
snd_seq                56064  4 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_seq_device          8084  3 snd_rawmidi,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq
snd_pcm_oss            42400  0 
snd_pcm                82440  3 snd_usb_audio,snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm_oss
snd_timer              22792  2 snd_seq,snd_pcm
snd_page_alloc          9232  2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
snd_mixer_oss          17024  1 snd_pcm_oss
snd                    58312  13 snd_usb_audio,snd_hda_intel,snd_rawmidi,snd_hwdep,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq,snd_seq_device,snd_pcm_oss,snd_pcm,snd_timer,snd_mixer_oss

#lsusb
Bus 004 Device 003: ID 0556:0001 Asahi Kasei Microsystems Co., Ltd AK5370 I/F A/D Converter
Bus 004 Device 002: ID 046d:c313 Logitech, Inc. 
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 0000:0000  
Bus 003 Device 002: ID 05a7:1020 Bose Corp. 
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 0000:0000  
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 046d:c01e Logitech, Inc. MX518 Optical Mouse
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 0000:0000  
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 0000:0000  
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 046d:c51a Logitech, Inc. MX Revolution/G7 Cordless Mouse
Bus 005 Device 011: ID 1058:0701 Western Digital Technologies, Inc. 
Bus 005 Device 010: ID 07b8:6001 D-Link Corp. 
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 0000:0000  
Bus 005 Device 009: ID 05ac:921d Apple Computer, Inc. 
Bus 005 Device 005: ID 04b4:6560 Cypress Semiconductor Corp. CY7C65640 USB-2.0 "TetraHub"
Bus 005 Device 003: ID 05ac:911d Apple Computer, Inc.

Last edited by ilikepudding (2008-02-13 19:07:25)

Gluffs · 2008-02-11 20:25:22

Have you added your user to the audio group?

gpasswd -a <your username> audio

you can check out more user group options in the wiki pages

http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Groups

ilikepudding · 2008-02-11 20:26:38

yes I have

lilsirecho · 2008-02-11 20:33:46

Please try in modules rc.conf as first device.....snd-usb-audio.......

Gluffs · 2008-02-11 20:43:42

This might be a silly question but i did the misstake myself a couple of days ago when i did a fresh install.
Have you checked in the mixer that the track you need isn't muted? since in arch everything is muted by default after installation.
So its worth to take an extra check in there just to be safe

ilikepudding · 2008-02-11 21:07:06

lilsirecho:
snd-usb-audio is already listed in modules in my rc.conf
I'm not sure what you mean by as first device.

gluffs:
The track is not muted. However, the only track I get is "PCM" and there is no "Volume" like I get when I switch to my onboard card.

The choices I get in Alsa mixer are:

0: HDA Intel (Alsa Mixer)
1: Bose USB Audio (Alsa Mixer)
2: AK5370 (Alsa Mixer)
3: Realtek ALC888 (OSS Mixer)

Last edited by ilikepudding (2008-02-11 21:08:09)

lilsirecho · 2008-02-11 21:31:11

PCM is correct for the usb audio and you should be able to increase the volume by selecting the numbers1 through 9 while the PCM display is presented....

ilikepudding · 2008-02-13 19:06:59

I solved this!

Solution for others with Bose Companion spearkers:

The trick is to set a new default device for ALSA.

First, run

$ cat /proc/asound/cards

My sample result:

 0 [Intel          ]: HDA-Intel - HDA Intel  HDA Intel at 0xfdff8000 irq 16
 1 [Audio          ]: USB-Audio - Bose USB Audio Bose Corporation Bose USB Audio at usb-0000:00:1d.2-2, full speed

Look at /usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf and find parameters...

# defaults

defaults.ctl.card 0
defaults.pcm.card 0

Change the default number on both values to the number that corresponds with your card. In my case, this is 1.

Then, select the device in System>Preferences>Sound (for gnome) and change alsa mixer volume settings.

Misfit138 · 2008-02-13 20:03:26

Excellent! Glad you got it working.
Now, benefit the whole community and contribute this to the wiki.

ilikepudding · 2008-02-13 22:12:06

Already done

lilsirecho · 2008-02-13 22:23:19

I assume this is gnome-related only?

Arch Linux

#1 2008-02-11 20:10:50

[Solved] Please help this noob get his speakers working

#2 2008-02-11 20:25:22

Re: [Solved] Please help this noob get his speakers working

#3 2008-02-11 20:26:38

Re: [Solved] Please help this noob get his speakers working

#4 2008-02-11 20:33:46

Re: [Solved] Please help this noob get his speakers working

#5 2008-02-11 20:43:42

Re: [Solved] Please help this noob get his speakers working

#6 2008-02-11 21:07:06

Re: [Solved] Please help this noob get his speakers working

#7 2008-02-11 21:31:11

Re: [Solved] Please help this noob get his speakers working

#8 2008-02-13 19:06:59

Re: [Solved] Please help this noob get his speakers working

#9 2008-02-13 20:03:26

Re: [Solved] Please help this noob get his speakers working

#10 2008-02-13 22:12:06

Re: [Solved] Please help this noob get his speakers working

#11 2008-02-13 22:23:19

Re: [Solved] Please help this noob get his speakers working

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