getting audio in 64-bit Debian 5.0.4?
 

What codecs/drivers/whatever do I need to get sound working on my debian 64bit install? I can play video files, but they have no sound. In fact the only sound my computer will produce at all is the system beep. This is getting really frustrating for me, any help would be appreciated.

Hi there,

it usually helps to tell us what you've tried so far, so that we aren't suggesting things you've already done.

However, the first thing I suggest is checking `alsamixer` and making sure the appropriate things are not muted, and that the channel(s) & speaker(s) you want to use are not muted and are turned up sufficiently.

To do that, run this as root from a terminal:
After turning up the master vol, PCM vol, and whatever speaker channel(s) you want, and making sure nothing you wish to use shows an <MM> at the bottom (that means MUTED, which can be changed by pressing M or SPACE) then try some sound. If it works, great. Hit ESCAPE to exit the mixer. Then, to save the settings, do this as root:

Now it will save the settings you just set.

There is also a tool called `alsaconf` which will try to automatically try to set up your sound hardware by asking you a few questions. You could run that as root too and see what happens.

If these ideas do not help, please show us the output from `lspci -v` and/or tell us what sort of sound chip you have.

P.S. - maybe a silly suggestion, but check the BIOS of your computer to make sure the sound hardware is actually turned on if you aren't sure.

Best of luck.

I have a dualboot win7 and debian 5.0.4 (my lq profile says differently, haven't updated it yet), and sound works fine in Windows, so I know the card itself is on.

I installed several packages for this that were suggested by others, but none did anything. One that someone told me I should get but haven't tried yet is w32codecs-all (something like that), because I'm on a 64 bit version and that isn't in the DVD repository (can't connect the Debian laptop to the net at the moment). Is that the library I need, maybe?

When trying to make audio work in other ways, I tried loading an OGG in Amarok, it said that an appropriate device couldn't be loaded (or something like that).

and just now I tried your suggestions. alsamixer put out this
alsaconf said no drivers loaded, and it couldn't find a sound card.

Then lspci -v put this out:

So I'm guessing that in the end, debian doesn't recognize my soundcard. But thats a little odd to me, since Mandriva does recognize it (but Mandriva included proprietary drivers, so that may be the issue).

Ok, here's the sound card:

And a quick google took me to here: http://cateee.net/lkddb/web-lkddb/SND_HDA_INTEL.html which appears to indicate that at least some incarnations of this device are supported by the Linux kernel's built-in HDA Audio driver. It appears that on your machine, one of two things is going on: either your kernel has not got the alsa driver necessary, OR your particular device is not supported. My vote goes to the first idea for now..

If you would do:
again, and just paste us the chunk that matches the audio device, as I have copied here, it will show us an extra line with a AAAA:BBBB formatted entry, which allows us to identify precisely what version of this device you have.

Also, try:
and look for "snd_hda_intel" in the list. It probably isn't there. If not, try (as root):
and if that returns nothing, do the `lsmod` again and see if the module is now present in the list. If it is, repeat the alsamixer stuff from earlier; if it is not, I believe you'll need to recompile the kernel with the necessary support, OR we will have to examine the `lspci -vn` output and do some more research on the exact device..

I do not believe that any proprietary drivers should be needed (can always be wrong, but so far I don't think so..)

Further reassurance: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=87536

Appears to be the same device over there, and the problem was solved with a kernel upgrade. I dunno what kernel version you have, but if it's really old, upgrading should help. If it's pretty new, it should be adequate.

Post output from:
when you get a moment, and we can see what kernel you're running.

kernel version is 2.6.26.2 -amd64

about to check the rest

Version *should be* new enough - according to kernel mailing list (device driver database to be exact) it came in at 2.6.12 - but maybe full support to the degree that works with this exact device, was implemented later. I or you'd have to examine the kernel HDA Audio source-code for your kernel version, to see if your device ID is coded in yet or not.

Even if it is not, there are workarounds that may work; the snd-hda-intel driver accepts some parameters which can be used to "program" it when it's inserted, to tell it what device it's supposed to drive, but we'll deal with this bridge when we get there.

k, the lspci -vn brought back a bunch of stuff but didn't have any audio device specifically named as such. saw Device 1303 on the original output, and found it with two numbers in that format: the first was 8086:3b56, the second was Subsystem: 1043:1303

lsmod didn't have it in the list.

the modprobe commands you gave returned absolutely nothing, just opened another terminal prompt with no output at all. does the hda refer to the harddrive, or something else?

I'm downloading the 2.6.34.1 kernel now, I'll try upgrading it and see how it works. Should be an interesting learning experience ^_^) b

question though, are there separate kernels for different architectures, or will cover a 64 bit arch?

and is the patch seriously only 64kb? or is the dl bad or something?
Should I use the full source or the patch? I'm guessing patch, but probably should make sure

HDA refers to "High Def Audio", which basically refers to a set of audio chips & their respective drivers. HDA chips come from different manufacturers, such as Realtek, Intel, etc..

A successful modprobe command should return nothing, but it should NOT open a new terminal all by itself. This is why I mentioned (I think I did..) to re-run the lsmod command after the modprobe command. A failed modprobe will show an error, but a good one will show nothing.

As for the `lspci -vn` yes, the name (the human readable name anyhow) does not show; you have to visually identify the same block of data as being for the right device. Probably combining a bunch of lspci options will show both, but I haven't taken the time to figura out that combination :)

Chances are that one of:
are the device ID, if you correctly matched the right block of lspci text; google should easily identify one of these as being the audio device if it is. I would google for "Linux AAAA:BBBB" and see what comes back (of course putting the right codes there for AAAA & BBBB).

One kernel covers all architectures, however you are downloading the wrong thing. :)
You want these (about 65 Mb):
The `sign` file is used to verify the authenticity of the kernel archive. You would do:
to check the signature. If you do not have the key, you will get errors telling you you're missing the key you need.. If so, you will want to get that key:
replacing the ABCD1234 with the correct last 8 characters of the key that it tells you is missing.

will I lose anything from a kernel recompile, or will all my apps and stuff still be there afterwards?

You won't lose anything at all.

In fact you will want to ADD your new kernel to your bootloader, but NOT replace your existing one with it. This is because, if your new kernel is borked and doesn't boot for some reason (it happens!!) then you can still boot your old working kernel.

If you've never built a kernel, you will have a learning process ahead of you. I can help to some degree, as I've been building my own kernel for a few years now. However, each distro tends to have its own way of installing the kernel, so once your kernel is built, you'll need the help of a Debian person to do the installation. It's easy, but just will be slightly different from what I do on my system.

Also, I don't know what bootloader you use (GRUB or LILO probably) and I have no experience with GRUB as I use LILO. If your Debian installation is pretty stock, it will have whatever bootloader Debian installs.

You may wish to go now and locate a decent Debian-based kernel compile & install tutorial for reference, and have a read of it before beginning. Have a grasp what you're going to have to do, before starting it. :)

http://linux.about.com/od/linux101/l/blnewbie_atoc.htm I found this, looks like a pretty good guide to me, but is it pretty much still correct? Its a little old so I'm not sure if anything has changed since that was written

I recommend something newer. A lot may have changed in 10 years. Lemme see what I can find - but I'd still prefer a Debian-experienced member make the final assesment of any tutorial either of us find.

thanks for helping to look. All the guides I can find are dated 2002 or older

I would start with this: http://kernel-handbook.alioth.debian.org/

And have a look at section 4.1 first, which indicates that you may be able to get the "Debian-ized" kernel sources using your package manager or apt-get. Maybe you can use apt-get to get whatever the newest kernel sources are, rather than starting with the vanilla (unmodified) kernel that we are currently looking at, and which you are downloading.

I have no idea what exactly Debian does to their kernel sources, but it would be wise to investigate this, and decide which sources would be most appropriate.

Myself, I use sources from kernel.org, but if you want to be Debian-esque, maybe use their sources if there is a new enough version for download using apt-get.

I must repeat: we really need a Debian user to give some advice here - us Slackers are often telling folks to do things the Slackware way ;) but that isn't always ideal for Debian or other OS situations.

I compile my own kernels with Debian,would it help if I post my method?.

well, because of my job location, I don't have access to any internet connection other than through my work computer, and wont for another month at least. So I can't apt-get anything that isn't on the 5.0.4 dvd set. Basically have to work with whatever I can download here and transfer to my laptop on a disc.

it would help tremendously, if its a method that can be followed by someone with only a very basic CLI knowledge from about 3 months of Linux use. I can do the basic stuff on my own (installing the less complicated tarballs from source, etc), but a kernel recompile is deep water for me

@ trooper - yes, for sure, thank you! Although I'm thinking now, maybe the OP should start a new thread for the Debian Kernel Compiling topic.. Since this thread is about the Audio, a new thread would be a good idea.

Then, the OP can take leave of this thread, deal with the kernel in the new thread, and when that's all done, come back here and continue to evaluate the audio situation.

P.S. - trooper, can OP download a new Debian kernel source from somewhere, so he doesn't have to use apt-get from work?

Ok,just let me know which thread you want me to post in.
Also I think it's worth pointing out that you can get a more up to-date kernel for Lenny/Stable from Debian Backports if you are after a 'quick' fix.
But compiling your own kernels can be fun and a good learning exercise.

I'll start a new thread and see what comes up. Post your method there, if you would

If the op has all the Debian dvd's I would have thought that the Debian kernel source would be on one of the discs.
I couldn't say which though, I'd have to Google that one!.

you mean a newer kernel version than the one that was installed originally? my DVD set is 5.0.4, not sure if it has anything more recent than the one it gave me at install

It might be on the discs, but which Kernel version would it be, I wonder..? Probably not 2.6.34.1 so if OP wants to make a nice 'really-new' kernel, quite probably this release is not on the DVD's..

Myself, I have no clue :p and have never even installed Debian (er.. maybe I did one day for a few minutes, way back when I first discovered Linux, but it didn't last.. Slackware took over :) )

P.S. - Here's the kernel compiling thread: http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...d.php?t=821936

For Lenny it would be:

http://packages.debian.org/lenny/linux-source-2.6.26

This would be the package to look for on the discs.

yeah, thats the one I already have. Need the newer one for the drivers, though

We haven't 100% verified that -- remember, the HDA driver *is* in your kernel version -- but we aren't sure if it is new enough to support your exact audio chip.
And, it *seems* that for whatever reason, it may not have been built when your kernel was built, which does sound odd since it's a very common driver.

You could try rebuilding version 2.26.1 and see; OR, for the sake of newness, go ahead and build a 2.6.34 version for the heck of it.

I'm going to go on with the .34 just to cover my bases, soon as I can come up with a guide that I can follow

kernel upgrade worked!

I turned a simple codec question into a horrible multi-thread kernel upgrading driver switching mess, but it worked out, finally :P

thanks a ton :)

I can happily mark this thread SOLVED

LOL, well at least you actually cut the mess off at the pass - and a relatively simple upgrade did the trick instead of a rebuild. :)

Congrats - I hope your sound is great from here on in.

Edit: Did not realize I posted in the middle of the thread.