[SOLVED] Alsa doesnt recognize my sound card

zerox20 · 2008-12-21 15:42:00

Hi,

I have been doing quite a bit of searching and wouldn't post if I hadn't done some extensive searching on this issue. I tend to try to find answers on my own, but I am resorting to a message board to see if I can gain any help from anyone.

When I run alsamixer, I get the following error:

alsamixer: function snd_ctrl_open failed for default: No such device

Here is the output for lspci | grep audio

00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) AC'97 Audio Controler (rev 02)

Here is the output for lsmod | grep intel

snd_intel8x0m               15500   0
snd_intel8x0                30748   0
snd_ac97_codec             100516   2   snd_intel8x0m,snd_intel8x0
snd_pcm                     69636   4   snd_pcm_oss,snd_intel8x0m,snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec
intel_agp                   27068   1
snd                         50724   10   snd_seq_oss,snd_seq,snd_seq_device,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_intel8x0m,snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm,snd_timer
snd_page_alloc               9224   3   snd_intel8x0m,snd_intel8x0,snd_pcm
agpgart                     30804   2   drm,intel_agp

I found a couple supporting articles that were unable to help me. I will post them here in hopes I overlooked something.
http://www.sabi.co.uk/Notes/linuxSoundALSA.html -- This article discussed that if snd_ctrl_open failed, to check the /dev/snd directory and then run snddevices if it doesnt have any files. My /dev/snd directory has quite a few files.

Any help you can provide is much appreciated!

-Matt

Last edited by zerox20 (2008-12-24 17:26:24)

sisco311 · 2008-12-21 15:49:30

did you add your user to the audio group?

id

as root:

usermod -aG audio username

zerox20 · 2008-12-21 16:50:54

I have added myself to the audio group, no avail. I read somewhere that I may need to add another group to the list in /etc/group, but I can't recall what that was.

sisco311 · 2008-12-21 17:01:26

you must to log out and log back in for the changes to take effect.

what's the output of:

aplay -l

zerox20 · 2008-12-21 17:05:14

I logged back in/out -- still nothing.

Output of aplay -l

aplay: device_list:217: no soundcards found...

sisco311 · 2008-12-21 17:12:59

try to restart the alsa server:
as root:

/etc/rc.d/alsa restart

also add alsa to the daemon list in /etc/rc.conf

DAEMONS=(syslog-ng network netfs crond alsa gdm)

zerox20 · 2008-12-21 17:21:42

Here's what happens when I restart the alsa server:

bash-3.2# /etc/rc.d/alsa restart
:: Saving ALSA Levels                                                                                        [BUSY]
/usr/sbin/alsactl: save_state:1513: No soundcards found...
                                                                                                             [DONE]
:: Restoring ALSA Levels                                                                                     [BUSY]
/usr/sbin/alsactl: load_state:1616: No soundcards found...
                                                                                                             [FAIL]

KimTjik · 2008-12-21 19:33:14

If there's no device configured then the above is normal. To start and restart ALSA won't make a difference.

What soundcard do you have?

zerox20 · 2008-12-21 20:15:07

I have tried configuring ALSA using alsaconf. It is able to detect my sound card, (Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) AC'97 Audio Controler -- uses snd_intel8x0). However, after the alsaconf completes, I still receive the same error message (snd_ctrl_open fail) -- so it appears alsa was never able to configure this soundcard.

Might I say I am quite impressed with the responsiveness I have received today. Having said that, karma would suggest I won't receive another response for a day or two...

KimTjik · 2008-12-22 08:49:19

What is the output of:

cat /proc/asound/cards

?

zerox20 · 2008-12-22 12:55:46

There is no directory "asound" under /proc/.

The command "locate cards" provided only the relevant location /usr/share/alsa/cards/CARDNAME.conf

KimTjik · 2008-12-22 13:33:59

It looks like you've got conflicting modules: snd_intel8x0m and snd_intel8x0

I did look in the Wiki and the Alsa section mention these modules. You've got to blacklist one and keep the other. Check Alsa in the Wiki and see if it applies to your situation.

zerox20 · 2008-12-23 04:09:36

Well I got it to work. I tried blacklisting the module, as the wiki suggested. After doing that, I couldn't find any modules and doing 'modprobe snd-intel8x0' gave the output "Module Not Found." I then went ahead and reinstalled the kernel, I reinstalled alsa again, and started from scratch. Once I did those things, the computer was able to find the module snd-intel8x0 and i loaded it, and voila, it worked. I updated my rc.conf to only load that module and hopefully I won't have any more problems.

Thanks KimTjik and sisco311 for all of your help.

KimTjik · 2008-12-23 08:34:26

Wonderful! Please add "[SOLVED]" to the subject.

Arch Linux

#1 2008-12-21 15:42:00

[SOLVED] Alsa doesnt recognize my sound card

#2 2008-12-21 15:49:30

Re: [SOLVED] Alsa doesnt recognize my sound card

#3 2008-12-21 16:50:54

Re: [SOLVED] Alsa doesnt recognize my sound card

#4 2008-12-21 17:01:26

Re: [SOLVED] Alsa doesnt recognize my sound card

#5 2008-12-21 17:05:14

Re: [SOLVED] Alsa doesnt recognize my sound card

#6 2008-12-21 17:12:59

Re: [SOLVED] Alsa doesnt recognize my sound card

#7 2008-12-21 17:21:42

Re: [SOLVED] Alsa doesnt recognize my sound card

#8 2008-12-21 19:33:14

Re: [SOLVED] Alsa doesnt recognize my sound card

#9 2008-12-21 20:15:07

Re: [SOLVED] Alsa doesnt recognize my sound card

#10 2008-12-22 08:49:19

Re: [SOLVED] Alsa doesnt recognize my sound card

#11 2008-12-22 12:55:46

Re: [SOLVED] Alsa doesnt recognize my sound card

#12 2008-12-22 13:33:59

Re: [SOLVED] Alsa doesnt recognize my sound card

#13 2008-12-23 04:09:36

Re: [SOLVED] Alsa doesnt recognize my sound card

#14 2008-12-23 08:34:26

Re: [SOLVED] Alsa doesnt recognize my sound card

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