[ALSA] surround 5.1 not working on Acer Aspire 8943G

_artem_ · 2011-07-02 13:12:49

My laptop Acer 8943G has a ALC670 Realtek chip.
And it has built-in Dolby Home Theater 5.1 Cinematic Surround.

My problem is that I can't bring all the 5 speakers + subwoofer to work.

I'm using gnome3 (gnome-shell). In pulseaudio I see only surround 4.0, so speaker-test -Dsurround40 -c4 is working great and -Dsurround51 -c4 too but not with -c6:

[_artem_@linux-void ~]$ speaker-test -Dsurround40 -c4 -twav

speaker-test 1.0.24.2

Playback device is surround40
Stream parameters are 48000Hz, S16_LE, 4 channels
WAV file(s)
Rate set to 48000Hz (requested 48000Hz)
Buffer size range from 32 to 8192
Period size range from 16 to 4096
Using max buffer size 8192
Periods = 4
was set period_size = 2048
was set buffer_size = 8192
 0 - Front Left
 1 - Front Right
 3 - Rear Right
 2 - Rear Left
Time per period = 5.717822
 0 - Front Left
^C
[_artem_@linux-void ~]$ speaker-test -Dsurround51 -c6 -twav

speaker-test 1.0.24.2

Playback device is surround51
Stream parameters are 48000Hz, S16_LE, 6 channels
WAV file(s)
Channels count (6) not available for playbacks: Invalid argument
Setting of hwparams failed: Invalid argument
[_artem_@linux-void ~]$

as pulse audio has no 5.1 profile for my hardware I decided to remove it completely, so I did.

now I have just alsa: speaker-test -D default -c6 -twav gives sound only on front-left, front-right, but it gives no error on hwparams

Yesterday on pulseaudio I got speaker-test -c6 -twav to give sound on all the speakers including LFE (subwoofer).
But that worked only with speaker-test, sound settings of gnome still gave me 4.0 profile where I could test only 4 channels.
That's why I wanted to play all the sounds directly through alsa without pulseaudio.

here is alsa-info
http://www.alsa-project.org/db/?f=4467f … 7f061397cb

here is alsamixer:

it has no options for channels, only FRONT (left-right) and SURROUND (left-right) no other controls, no LFE, no CENTER, nothing.

the last thing I tried:

[_artem_@linux-void ~]$ cat .asoundrc
ctl.jack51 {
    type hw
    card 0
    device 0
}

pcm.jack51 {
    type asym
    playback.pcm {
        type plug
        slave.pcm "surround51"
        slave.channels 6
        route_policy duplicate
    }
    capture.pcm {
        type hw
        card 0
        device 0
    }
}
[_artem_@linux-void ~]$

[_artem_@linux-void ~]$ sudo jackd -d alsa --device jack51 --inchannels 2 --outchannels 6
jackd 0.121.2
Copyright 2001-2009 Paul Davis, Stephane Letz, Jack O'Quinn, Torben Hohn and others.
jackd comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY
This is free software, and you are welcome to redistribute it
under certain conditions; see the file COPYING for details

could not open driver .so '/usr/lib/jack/jack_firewire.so': libffado.so.2: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

JACK compiled with System V SHM support.
loading driver ..
creating alsa driver ... jack51|jack51|1024|2|48000|2|6|nomon|swmeter|-|32bit
ALSA lib control.c:882:(snd_ctl_open_noupdate) Invalid CTL jack51
control open "jack51" (No such file or directory)
ALSA lib pcm.c:2212:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM jack51
ALSA lib pcm.c:2212:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM jack51
ALSA: Cannot open PCM device alsa_pcm for playback. Falling back to capture-only mode
cannot load driver module alsa
[_artem_@linux-void ~]$

I read already almost all the manuals but can't get it working, I played with default.pa, daemon.conf (both with pulseaudio) + .asoundrc
now since I delited pulseaudio completely, I tried everything with .asound + /etc/modprobe.d/alsa.conf (setting default card, manual setting the model) but nothing works.

I hope you can help me, because I have no idea what to do next

Last edited by _artem_ (2011-07-02 13:13:27)

brebs · 2011-07-02 19:03:05

You probably need:

model=acer-aspire-8930g

If this works, tell the ALSA devs, through the ALSA bugzilla.

_artem_ · 2011-07-02 22:04:21

that doesn't work as well
I've removed alsa-* with all the libs, then I recompiled kernel and removed alsa support from it, then booted the new kernel, installed alsa-driver, alsa-firmware, plugins, utils, tools.
now I have no sound card
alsaconf says I have no supported card, even legacy doesn't find my cards......
I can't compile alsa-driver from source because of an error: linux/smp_lock: not found I guess that's because I have a 3.0.0-rc5 kernel (self compiled)
so no idea... try to boot into latest stable 2.6 kernel and compile the driver there.

brebs · 2011-07-02 22:21:37

Forget alsaconf, it's quite useless.

You need to do your own googling to see whether anyone has your laptop model's sound working. If not, use the ALSA bugzilla.

_artem_ · 2011-07-03 03:00:12

I tried all the models from HD-Audio-Models.txt

ALC662/663/272
==============
  3stack-dig    3-stack (2-channel) with SPDIF
  3stack-6ch     3-stack (6-channel)
  3stack-6ch-dig 3-stack (6-channel) with SPDIF
  6stack-dig     6-stack with SPDIF
  lenovo-101e     Lenovo laptop
  eeepc-p701    ASUS Eeepc P701
  eeepc-ep20    ASUS Eeepc EP20
  ecs        ECS/Foxconn mobo
  m51va        ASUS M51VA
  g71v        ASUS G71V
  h13        ASUS H13
  g50v        ASUS G50V
  asus-mode1    ASUS
  asus-mode2    ASUS
  asus-mode3    ASUS
  asus-mode4    ASUS
  asus-mode5    ASUS
  asus-mode6    ASUS
  asus-mode7    ASUS
  asus-mode8    ASUS
  dell        Dell with ALC272
  dell-zm1    Dell ZM1 with ALC272
  samsung-nc10    Samsung NC10 mini notebook
  auto        auto-config reading BIOS (default)

and I figured out that only this do something in the right direction...

[_artem_@linux-void ~]$ cat /etc/modprobe.d/alsa.conf 
#options snd-hda-intel model=3stack-6ch

options snd-hda-intel model=3stack-6ch-dig

#options snd-hda-intel model=base
#options snd-hda-intel model=eeepc-ep20
[_artem_@linux-void ~]$

here is how the uncommented model looks like in alsamixer:

so I now have CENTER and LFE that are missing in the default alsa config (screenshot in first post)...
but speaker-test

[_artem_@linux-void ~]$ speaker-test -Dsurround51 -c6 -twav

speaker-test 1.0.24.2

Playback device is surround51
Stream parameters are 48000Hz, S16_LE, 6 channels
WAV file(s)
Rate set to 48000Hz (requested 48000Hz)
Buffer size range from 64 to 5440
Period size range from 32 to 2720
Using max buffer size 5440
Periods = 4
was set period_size = 1088
was set buffer_size = 5440
 0 - Front Left
 4 - Center            #silent
 1 - Front Right
 3 - Rear Right      #silent
 2 - Rear Left        #silent
 5 - LFE                 #silent
Time per period = 8.522361

rear left and rear right are always silent on model=3stack-6ch-dig even if I pass to the speaker-test -c4, on another model=*** with -c4 I could here all 4 speakers, but on -c6 only front left and front right (weird because they work on -c4 but on -c6 they are silent...)
if I set in alsamixer Channel Mode to 2 instead of 6, the above command gives me hwparameter error, so it's correcter than before because it can't play 6 channel on a "set to 2 channels hardware".
but I don't still know how to get "center", "rear-*" and "lfe" to give sound.

Maybe you know another models (names) that I can try. I have googled on alc670 alsa models but can't find anything related... one thing (saw in a patch diff that it's quiet "equal" to alc622 and alc272 that's why I tried all the models from above. and some of them are at least visually correcter than the default alsa detection: I mean they give me the correct parts (lfe, center), default one gives only Front and Surround).

p.s. I recompiled kernel with alsa support other ways I wasn't able to compile alsa-driver manually and had no cards to try different model options, because there was no kernel module for snd-hda-intel...

brebs · 2011-07-03 03:35:50

I suggest you try again:
options snd-hda-intel model=lenovo-101e

From wiki.

_artem_ · 2011-07-03 07:58:01

i tried it... it has even fewer controls than default one

_artem_ · 2011-07-03 09:31:46

never mind I'm pretty tired of that crap. just let it as it is... crap stereo instead of 5.1

is that so difficult to make it just work by default??? or not by default... with manual config editing BUT make it working(!!!)

alsa 1.0.23 changelog says that there is ALC670 support added...
bullshit (because I'm using 1.0.24), look at that page: https://wiki.archlinux.de/title/Hda-intel
they just get output: Codec: Realtek ALC883, then they just open HD-Intel-Models.txt AND take any model from section ALC882/883
and what about my ALC670? it even has no section in the models-txt, I can't find any working model options nothing
my laptop is 1 year old, and there is still no support for its on-board speaker.
there are couple of threads on diverse forums and bug-zillas related to this codec, AND EVEN TO THIS LAPTOP (aspire 8943g), but there is no solution, no fix, nothing
wtf is going on?

p.s. using lenovo-101e gives me only Front, it even has no Surround like default one has...
p.p.s. googling "alc670 alsa" gives tons of links related not to alc670 BUT to acer 8943g is it the only one notebook that's using that codec? trololol... but in none of that threads and bug-zillas is a working solution.

thread can be closed/deleted (as you wish moderators)

p.p.p.s. spent 4 day, slept less than 5 hours a day, tried quite everything I could, and no result...

Last edited by _artem_ (2011-07-03 09:37:52)

brebs · 2011-07-03 20:12:26

1 year is quite normal. It took quite a while for my laptop to be properly supported by ALSA - one guy with determination and perseverence helped a lot.

I'd suggest trying the latest Ubuntu livecd, just to check if that's better sound-wise. If it is, you could grab their ALSA patches.

_artem_ · 2011-07-03 21:48:59

ok. i'll check it tomorrow.
thank you

_artem_ · 2011-07-04 07:40:13

booted into live-usb with daily ubuntu 11.10 it also shows 4.0 profile in audio settings...
so I have to wait until alsa adds support for my laptop or until someone founds a working "model=" and posts here

fordfrog · 2011-08-20 20:37:14

_artem_, any news in the last and half month? i have exactly the same laptop and exactly the same issue as you and so far did not find how to configure it too.

_artem_ · 2011-08-21 07:51:32

nope, no news. there was no alsa release in the mean time, and no dev release. I haven't checked the git repository, but think that it still wasn't fixed (added support for our hardware)

brebs · 2011-08-21 09:09:49

There's dev releases daily to try...

STEELBAS · 2011-08-21 09:16:00

May not be preferable, but have you tried OSS instead of ALSA?

fordfrog · 2011-08-21 19:58:45

i'm using latest drivers from git repo.

@steelbas: why you think oss could work?

STEELBAS · 2011-09-15 13:50:34

Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot to check back at this topic. Well, OSS is quite a different system than ALSA, and in the past I have myself experienced OSS to work with a soundcard where ALSA did not. It's possible that OSS will work better for your soundcard than ALSA.. Worth a try, at least, I'd say.

Arch Linux

#1 2011-07-02 13:12:49

[ALSA] surround 5.1 not working on Acer Aspire 8943G

#2 2011-07-02 19:03:05

Re: [ALSA] surround 5.1 not working on Acer Aspire 8943G

#3 2011-07-02 22:04:21

Re: [ALSA] surround 5.1 not working on Acer Aspire 8943G

#4 2011-07-02 22:21:37

Re: [ALSA] surround 5.1 not working on Acer Aspire 8943G

#5 2011-07-03 03:00:12

Re: [ALSA] surround 5.1 not working on Acer Aspire 8943G

#6 2011-07-03 03:35:50

Re: [ALSA] surround 5.1 not working on Acer Aspire 8943G

#7 2011-07-03 07:58:01

Re: [ALSA] surround 5.1 not working on Acer Aspire 8943G

#8 2011-07-03 09:31:46

Re: [ALSA] surround 5.1 not working on Acer Aspire 8943G

#9 2011-07-03 20:12:26

Re: [ALSA] surround 5.1 not working on Acer Aspire 8943G

#10 2011-07-03 21:48:59

Re: [ALSA] surround 5.1 not working on Acer Aspire 8943G

#11 2011-07-04 07:40:13

Re: [ALSA] surround 5.1 not working on Acer Aspire 8943G

#12 2011-08-20 20:37:14

Re: [ALSA] surround 5.1 not working on Acer Aspire 8943G

#13 2011-08-21 07:51:32

Re: [ALSA] surround 5.1 not working on Acer Aspire 8943G

#14 2011-08-21 09:09:49

Re: [ALSA] surround 5.1 not working on Acer Aspire 8943G

#15 2011-08-21 09:16:00

Re: [ALSA] surround 5.1 not working on Acer Aspire 8943G

#16 2011-08-21 19:58:45

Re: [ALSA] surround 5.1 not working on Acer Aspire 8943G

#17 2011-09-15 13:50:34

Re: [ALSA] surround 5.1 not working on Acer Aspire 8943G

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