[SOLVED] Need some help getting the sound to work again

DSpider · 2010-11-28 12:43:01

Recently I changed the motherboard and CPU to an AM3 platform, everything works with my previous setup except sound.

Reinstalling alsa-utils and rebooting had absolutely no effect. Google didn't help either.

lspci -v

00:05.0 Audio device: nVidia Corporation MCP61 High Definition Audio (rev a2)
    Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device 8415
    Flags: bus master, 66MHz, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 11
    Memory at dfff4000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
    Capabilities: <access denied>
    Kernel modules: snd-hda-intel

The motherboard documentation refers to it as "VIA VTI708S".

VLC complains about alsa-lib. Reinstalling it also didn't help.

aplay /usr/share/sounds/alsa/Front_Center.wav
ALSA lib confmisc.c:768:(parse_card) cannot find card '0'
ALSA lib conf.c:4154:(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_card_driver returned error: No such file or directory
ALSA lib confmisc.c:392:(snd_func_concat) error evaluating strings
ALSA lib conf.c:4154:(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_concat returned error: No such file or directory
ALSA lib confmisc.c:1251:(snd_func_refer) error evaluating name
ALSA lib conf.c:4154:(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_refer returned error: No such file or directory
ALSA lib conf.c:4633:(snd_config_expand) Evaluate error: No such file or directory
ALSA lib pcm.c:2211:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM default
aplay: main:654: audio open error: No such file or directory

alsamixer
cannot open mixer: No such file or directory

Edit:

Damn ASUS font... It's "VIA VT1708S" (number one, not the letter "i") ! Duh. No wonder Google couldn't find any info.

Still, any ideas ? Or would you just rather let me squirm a little and diagnose the problem myself ?

Last edited by DSpider (2010-11-28 18:15:41)

skottish · 2010-11-28 14:16:43

Did you run alsaconf yet?

graysky · 2010-11-28 14:26:32

+1 - you need to reconfigure it w/ alsaconf as root.

DSpider · 2010-11-28 14:59:07

Yes. It said rebuilding database then no PnP or PCI card detected then it asked if I want to search for a legacy card. Obviously nothing even came close from that list...

Managed to get the sound working again by using OSS (following the wiki). Not sure why ALSA has a problem with this sound card. I would honestly like to keep using ALSA since VolWheel and Sonata apparently can't adjust the sound volume - while VLC and SMPlayer can.

And yes, "oss" is selected from Preferences. Not sure how Sonata adjust the volume tho. Or is it MPD ?

igndenok · 2010-11-28 15:12:54

Check your mpd config file for audio output, change it from alsa type to oss.

DSpider · 2010-11-28 15:31:20

No... adding:

audio_output {
  type          "oss"
  name          "My OSS Device"
}

...to mpd.conf didn't do anything special, it worked even without specifically telling it to use OSS. It's just that the volume bar in Sonata doesn't adjust the volume. I remember I had to install libmpd in order to get it to work. But that was with ALSA not OSS.

Anyway. Is my sound card not supported in ALSA or is this a bug ? Should I try PulseAudio instead ?

Last edited by DSpider (2010-11-28 15:34:58)

ngoonee · 2010-11-28 15:37:22

Pulseaudio runs on alsa, so it would not help. I'm not sure what igndenok was trying to suggest, but no, that would not help as well. You need alsa to detect your card, that's it. There's an alsa script floating around somewhere (check the wiki) which spits out information on connected cards).

igndenok · 2010-11-28 16:03:23

I just remind OP to change mpd config file from alsa to oss, and it seem pointless
According this search result, your soundcard is supported.

DSpider · 2010-11-28 16:20:13

igndenok, then why doesn't alsaconf detect it ?

ngoonee, you mean this script ? Here's the output: http://pastebin.com/gfg5XBgy

So now that I know a little more about my sound card, how do I get ALSA to know what I know ?

Last edited by DSpider (2010-11-28 16:35:50)

igndenok · 2010-11-28 16:35:54

According your 'lspci -v' it showed

snd-hda-intel

but your aadebug output showed

snd-intel8x0

try to

# modprobe snd-intel8x0

see if it's work or not.

ngoonee · 2010-11-28 16:36:14

Actually you just seem to have confirmed that ALSA does not seem to know about your soundcard. Is snd-hda-intel loaded?

DSpider · 2010-11-28 18:00:51

sudo modprobe snd-hda-intel

(I think it's what you tried to tell me, igndenok)

Great. It took the bulk of my day trying to figure out how to get this thing to work.

VolWheel is now set to adjust "Master Front" (it was previously set to "Master" with the old motherboard) and the Sonata volume bar apparently works too, just like I wanted (adjusting the PCM volume by default). Good. Great ! Now I just need to set the "snd-hda-intel" module to load at boot so I don't have to type "sudo modprobe snd-hda-intel" all the time and this thread can be considered SOLVED.

sudo nano /etc/rc.conf

...and add the following:
MODULES="... snd-hda-intel ..."

(also removed snd-ac97-codec from the list because that's what the old mobo used)

THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HELP !

PS: Just out of curiosity, why is it called "snd-hda-intel" ? Why intel ? The CPU is AMD, the chipset is Nvidia nForce, sound is VIA...

Anyone know ? I'll subscribe to this topic just in case anyone knows. Thanks again.

Last edited by DSpider (2010-11-28 18:16:36)

igndenok · 2010-11-29 01:00:54

It's snd-intel8x0 not the snd-hda-intel that I thought, based on your aadebug, and obviously I'm wrong.
I apologize especially if you tried it with snd-intel8x0 first then snd-hda-intel.

Arch Linux

#1 2010-11-28 12:43:01

[SOLVED] Need some help getting the sound to work again

#2 2010-11-28 14:16:43

Re: [SOLVED] Need some help getting the sound to work again

#3 2010-11-28 14:26:32

Re: [SOLVED] Need some help getting the sound to work again

#4 2010-11-28 14:59:07

Re: [SOLVED] Need some help getting the sound to work again

#5 2010-11-28 15:12:54

Re: [SOLVED] Need some help getting the sound to work again

#6 2010-11-28 15:31:20

Re: [SOLVED] Need some help getting the sound to work again

#7 2010-11-28 15:37:22

Re: [SOLVED] Need some help getting the sound to work again

#8 2010-11-28 16:03:23

Re: [SOLVED] Need some help getting the sound to work again

#9 2010-11-28 16:20:13

Re: [SOLVED] Need some help getting the sound to work again

#10 2010-11-28 16:35:54

Re: [SOLVED] Need some help getting the sound to work again

#11 2010-11-28 16:36:14

Re: [SOLVED] Need some help getting the sound to work again

#12 2010-11-28 18:00:51

Re: [SOLVED] Need some help getting the sound to work again

#13 2010-11-29 01:00:54

Re: [SOLVED] Need some help getting the sound to work again

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