alsaconf wont detect my sound card
 

Hi Gurus

I installed C-media CMI 8738 PCI in suse linux 8.0. Yast2 detected the sound card but installation failed stating modules NOT available. I installed the driver in /usr/src/linux/drivers/sound. Then in /usr/src/linux i made make menuconfig - selected my sound card.. typed the following:

make dep
make modules
make modules_install
depmod -a
If I give a lspci -tv cannot list my sound card. lsmod gives this output:
cmpci 31316 0 (unused)
soundcore 3396 0 [cmpci]

hwinfo output:
48: PCI 205.0: 0401 Multimedia audio controller
[Created at manual.204]
Unique ID: ZcKW.WbdqlegfjT5
Hardware Class: sound
Model: "Illegal Vendor ID CM8738"
Vendor: 13f6 "C-Media Electronics Inc"
Device: 0111 "CM8738"
SubVendor: ffff "Illegal Vendor ID"
SubDevice: ffff "?"
Revision: 0x10
Driver Info #0:
Driver Status: cmpci is active
Driver Activation Cmd: "modprobe cmpci"

I ran alsaconf but it doesnot detect the sound card. How do I proceed to install...
kernel: 2.4.18
-Kay

it looks like the module is loaded.
open up a mixer and see if it shows any of the volumes up.
or if you can change the volume.

kmixer opens up but doesnot show any volumes. I chose "new mixer tab" but it there are no mixers available to select from.

Many thanks

you might
modprobe snd-pcm-oss
modprobe snd-mixer-oss

then try.
i might have a chance to look it up later, but i'm in a
hurry now.

Some more info:

$ modprobe cmpci
/lib/modules/2.4.18-64GB-SMP/kernel/drivers/sound/cmpci.o: invalid parameter parm_four_ch
/lib/modules/2.4.18-64GB-SMP/kernel/drivers/sound/cmpci.o: insmod /lib/modules/2.4.18-64GB-SMP/kernel/drivers/sound/cmpci.o failed
/lib/modules/2.4.18-64GB-SMP/kernel/drivers/sound/cmpci.o: insmod cmpci failed

thanks.

what driver did you get and from where?
maybe you can find a driver that will work
from www.alsa.org

I downloaded the driver from Cmedia site. http://www.cmedia.com.tw/e_download_01.htm

Also,
$> modinfo soundcore
filename: /lib/modules/2.4.18-64GB-SMP/kernel/drivers/sound/soundcore.o
description: "Core sound module"
author: "Alan Cox"
license: "GPL"

Does the above mean that Cmedia module is still NOT installed? I followed the driver install instructions from http://www.cmedia.com.tw/linux/SuSE-61.htm

Another page (below) of cmedia tells that 'recompile kernel if necessary'. I have not recompiled kernel until now. Is it mandatory?
http://www.cmedia.com.tw/8x38/linux/readme.txt

$> modprobe snd-cmipci
/lib/modules/2.4.18-64GB-SMP/kernel/sound/pci/snd-cmipci.o: init_module: No such device
Hint: insmod errors can be caused by incorrect module parameters, including invalid IO or IRQ parameters
/lib/modules/2.4.18-64GB-SMP/kernel/sound/pci/snd-cmipci.o: insmod /lib/modules/2.4.18-64GB-SMP/kernel/sound/pci/snd-cmipci.o failed
/lib/modules/2.4.18-64GB-SMP/kernel/sound/pci/snd-cmipci.o: insmod snd-cmipci failed

The file: /lib/modules/2.4.18-64GB-SMP/kernel/sound/pci/snd-cmipci.o exists and is readable.

I checked at
http://alsa-project.org/alsa-doc/doc...&module=cmipci

It says "one either build modules" or "recompile kernel" . Have I to recompile kernel ? or can we stick to 'modules'

Shall I once again download 'alsa' and install.

Alsa version: 0.9.0
I have double checked that the sound card is mounted properly.

Many thanks

a module has to match up just right with a kernel to work.
they're telling you that if the module doesn't work right
with your kernel, that you should recompile your kernel, and
build the module yourself. the alsa driver and the oss
driver are different drivers, and have different names.
you only need one of those, but try each until you get the
sound working.
i'll look at those links tonight and maybe give you better
ideas.

ok, those instructions on the cmpci page are pretty old.
i sort of doubt they would work with something modern.

if the the alsa that came with your version of suse
didn't work, then i would say your best bet is to download
the current stable version of alsa, and compile that
stuff. there are instructions on the alsa site for
exactly what you have to do to get a specific sound
card chip working. if the generic instructions don't work,
look for those.
post back where you get stuck, and what error
messages you are getting.

I downloaded the 0.9.9 (stable release) and followed the installation as given in www.alsa-project.org . alsa compiled & intalled without any errors. Then,

$>modprobe snd-cmipci
/lib/modules/2.4.18-64GB-SMP/kernel/sound/pci/snd-cmipci.o: init_module: No such device
Hint: insmod errors can be caused by incorrect module parameters, including invalid IO or IRQ parameters
/lib/modules/2.4.18-64GB-SMP/kernel/sound/pci/snd-cmipci.o: insmod /lib/modules/2.4.18-64GB-SMP/kernel/sound/pci/snd-cmipci.o failed
/lib/modules/2.4.18-64GB-SMP/kernel/sound/pci/snd-cmipci.o: insmod snd-cmipci failed

I just tried out the 'insmode' which gives the following message.

# insmod snd-cmipci
Using /lib/modules/2.4.18-64GB-SMP/kernel/sound/pci/snd-cmipci.o
/lib/modules/2.4.18-64GB-SMP/kernel/sound/pci/snd-cmipci.o: unresolved symbol snd_opl3_hwdep_new
/lib/modules/2.4.18-64GB-SMP/kernel/sound/pci/snd-cmipci.o: unresolved symbol snd_mpu401_uart_interrupt
/lib/modules/2.4.18-64GB-SMP/kernel/sound/pci/snd-cmipci.o: unresolved symbol snd_opl3_create
/lib/modules/2.4.18-64GB-SMP/kernel/sound/pci/snd-cmipci.o: unresolved symbol snd_mpu401_uart_new

I found out that the above dir contains the old version of snd-cmipci.o. So I made a symbolic link to the newly installed alsa and again tried:

> insmod -p snd-cmipci
Using /usr/src/alsa/alsa-driver-0.9.5/pci/snd-cmipci.o
/usr/src/alsa/alsa-driver-0.9.5/pci/snd-cmipci.o: kernel-module version mismatch
/usr/src/alsa/alsa-driver-0.9.5/pci/snd-cmipci.o was compiled for kernel version 2.4.18-4GB
while this kernel is version 2.4.18-64GB-SMP

Does this mean I hv to compile the snd-cmipci.o for kernel version 64GB-SMP ? . could you suggest me how?

uname -a shows me:
Linux crystal 2.4.18-64GB-SMP #1 SMP Wed Mar 27 13:58:12 UTC 2002 i686 unknown

Thanks,

Info:

$> alsamixer
function snd_ctl_open failed for default: No such device

it looks like you are using a slightly different kernel
version than the one that you have the kernel source
installed for. the kernel source is usually in /usr/src/
<kernelversion>. the running kernel version and the
kernel source have to match to build working kernel
modules.
the module directories under /lib/modules are each
there for different kernel version that have been installed,
and depmod -a and modprobe will only search the
directory under the currently running kernel for modules.

perhaps though, the correct module is being built and
put in a different directory than you have found yet.
get rid of that symlink. then run depmod -a again.
make sure your current running kernel and source
code match. you can
find / -name /lib/modules snd-cmpci.o -print
if you are curious about any other modules by the
same name.
it is possible you have more than one version of kernel
source installed. the one that will be used will by
symlinked /usr/src/linux.
you can ls -l /usr/src/linux to see what that points too.

I removed the link and did the following:

$> depmod -a 2.4.18-64GB-SMP
the above runs successfully without errors.

$> modprobe snd-cmipci
/lib/modules/2.4.18-64GB-SMP/kernel/sound/pci/snd-cmipci.o: init_module: No such device
Hint: insmod errors can be caused by incorrect module parameters, including invalid IO or IRQ parameters
/lib/modules/2.4.18-64GB-SMP/kernel/sound/pci/snd-cmipci.o: insmod /lib/modules/2.4.18-64GB-SMP/kernel/sound/pci/snd-cmipci.o failed
/lib/modules/2.4.18-64GB-SMP/kernel/sound/pci/snd-cmipci.o: insmod snd-cmipci failed

after this command I typed dmesg that tells
$> dmesg
C-Media PCI soundcard not found or device busy

To list matching modules... it shows a big list with
$modprobe -l
/lib/modules/2.4.18-64GB-SMP/kernel/sound/pci/snd-cmipci.o

Next I tried,
$> insmod -p snd-cmipci
Using /lib/modules/2.4.18-64GB-SMP/kernel/sound/pci/snd-cmipci.o
/lib/modules/2.4.18-64GB-SMP/kernel/sound/pci/snd-cmipci.o: unresolved symbol snd_opl3_hwdep_new
/lib/modules/2.4.18-64GB-SMP/kernel/sound/pci/snd-cmipci.o: unresolved symbol snd_mpu401_uart_interrupt
/lib/modules/2.4.18-64GB-SMP/kernel/sound/pci/snd-cmipci.o: unresolved symbol snd_opl3_create
/lib/modules/2.4.18-64GB-SMP/kernel/sound/pci/snd-cmipci.o: unresolved symbol snd_mpu401_uart_new

Also,
$> more /lib/modules/2.4.18-64GB-SMP/modules.dep

contains the following lines...
/lib/modules/2.4.18-64GB-SMP/kernel/sound/pci/snd-cmipci.o: /lib/modules/2.4.18-64GB-SMP/kernel/sound/acore/snd-pcm.o \
/lib/modules/2.4.18-64GB-SMP/kernel/sound/acore/snd.o \
/lib/modules/2.4.18-64GB-SMP/kernel/sound/drivers/opl3/snd-opl3-lib.o \
/lib/modules/2.4.18-64GB-SMP/kernel/sound/drivers/mpu401/snd-mpu401-uart.o


$> modprobe -c
alias sound-slot-0 snd-card-0
alias sound-service-0-0 snd-mixer-oss
alias sound-service-0-1 snd-seq-oss
alias sound-service-0-3 snd-pcm-oss
alias sound-service-0-8 snd-seq-oss
alias sound-service-0-12 snd-pcm-oss
alias sound-slot-1 snd-card-1
alias sound-service-1-0 snd-mixer-oss
alias sound-service-1-3 snd-pcm-oss
alias sound-service-1-12 snd-pcm-oss
# Options
options dummy0 -o dummy0
options dummy1 -o dummy1
options sb io=0x220 irq=7 dma=1 dma16=5 mpu_io=0x330
options cipcb cipe_debug=0
options sonypi minor=250
options vtx quiet=1
options isa-pnp isapnp_reset=0
options agpgart agp_try_unsupported=1
# Commands
pre-install mga /sbin/modprobe "-k" "agpgart"
pre-install r128 /sbin/modprobe "-k" "agpgart"
pre-install radeon /sbin/modprobe "-k" "agpgart"
post-install binfmt_misc mount -t binfmt_misc none /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc
pre-remove binfmt_misc umount /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc
# Miscellaneous file and directory names
generic_stringfile=/lib/modules/2.4.18-64GB-SMP/modules.generic_string
pcimapfile=/lib/modules/2.4.18-64GB-SMP/modules.pcimap
isapnpmapfile=/lib/modules/2.4.18-64GB-SMP/modules.isapnpmap
usbmapfile=/lib/modules/2.4.18-64GB-SMP/modules.usbmap
parportmapfile=/lib/modules/2.4.18-64GB-SMP/modules.parportmap
ieee1394mapfile=/lib/modules/2.4.18-64GB-SMP/modules.ieee1394map
pnpbiosmapfile=/lib/modules/2.4.18-64GB-SMP/modules.pnpbiosmap
depfile=/lib/modules/2.4.18-64GB-SMP/modules.dep
persistdir=/var/lib/modules/persist

lspci -tv still does not show the presence the soundcard.

hwinfo shows
PCI 205.0: 0401 Multimedia audio controller
[Created at manual.204]
Unique ID: ZcKW.WbdqlegfjT5
Hardware Class: sound
Model: "Illegal Vendor ID CM8738"
Vendor: 13f6 "C-Media Electronics Inc"
Device: 0111 "CM8738"
SubVendor: ffff "Illegal Vendor ID"
SubDevice: ffff "?"
Revision: 0x10
Driver Info #0:
Driver Status: cmpci is active
Driver Activation Cmd: "modprobe cmpci"

Is it OK that lspci has not detect the card yet?

$>alsamixer
alsamixer: function snd_ctl_open failed for default: No such device

Alsamixer also fails to open.

many thanks,

the command
cat /proc/pci |more

will show all the pci information

when you get the "unresolved symbol" error
with modules, those modules aren't matching up
exactly with the kernel. the kernel source or kernel
version is a little different.


if just a few options are changed in the kernel config,
and then modules are recompiled and installed,
the old kernel may not work with those modules, and
the old modules will not work with the new kernel. it
depends on whether something has changed in that
part of the kernel or not. some modules will still work.
most will not.

lspci is just for parsing the information in /proc/pci

And finally over the weekend I once again reinstalled alsa. finally alsaconf detected the soundcard!
But could not listen to the sound. When the test sound was played after configuration I got the following message.

ALSA lib pcm_hw.c:523:(snd_pcm_hw_drain) SNDRV_PCM_IOCTL_DRAIN failed: Input/output error

I opened up alsamixer and increased the levels...

this time dmesg shows me,
Jul 20 10:01:25 crystal kernel: ALSA ../alsa-kernel/core/pcm_native.c:1085: playback drain error (DMA or IRQ trouble?)

and

playback write error (DMA or IRQ trouble?)



once again many thanks,
(excuse me for the delay in responding)