alsa mixer not keeping settings

bustertech · 07-27-2011, 09:12 PM

I've got a dell inspiron 1440 with windows7 and I've dual booted mint 10 on it. About a week ago, I did some updates and all the sudden I had no sound. I visited this site and the linux mint site and between the two, I figured out how to get into alsamixer in the terminal. I adjusted the sound, it worked and even worked after a shutdown so I thought the problem was fixed. I booted up this evening and no sound. I went into alsamixer and the speaker sound was muted (with the m's at the bottom) and the audio levels were zero'd. I've checked the terminal man alsamixer and find no instructions there for how to make sure the default sound profile stays adjusted where I want it. Some of the controls don't work like the view control. I only have the playback view and can't get to the all or capture. Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

andrewthomas · 07-27-2011, 09:43 PM

Try using alsactl:

Code:

NAME
       alsactl - advanced controls for ALSA soundcard driver


SYNOPSIS
       alsactl [options] [store|restore|init] <card # or id or device>


DESCRIPTION
       alsactl  is  used  to  control advanced settings for the ALSA soundcard
       drivers. It supports multiple soundcards. If  your  card  has  features
       that  you can't seem to control from a mixer application, you have come
       to the right place.


COMMANDS
       store saves the current driver state for the selected soundcard to  the
       configuration file.

See man alsactl for more options.

bustertech · 07-31-2011, 09:31 AM

Okay, I've tried various ways to enter this, the "man alsactl" is a little ambiguous as to how to enter the exact command;
1) sudo alsactl store default (yields "alsactl: save_state:1519: Cannot find soundcard 'default'")
2) sudo alsactl store/default (yields "alsactl: Unknown command 'store/default'")
3) sudo alsactl store-default (yields "alsactl: Unknown command 'store-default'")
So when I open alsamixer and hit F4, I get "default" as to what profile is running. I'm at a loss for what command to use and the syntax to use to enter it. I don't mean to be dense but I'm new to this. You've at least got me going in the right direction and I appreciate it. Thanks in advance.

tredegar · 07-31-2011, 09:38 AM

Try just sudo alsactl store

bustertech · 08-01-2011, 06:56 AM

I've tried "alsactl store" and nothing happens. They way I'm reading the man is that you have to have "alsactl store (card # or device or ID). When I enter the command "alsactl store 0" I get this;sam@linuxmint ~ $ alsactl store 0
alsactl: save_state:1532: Cannot open /var/lib/alsa/asound.state for writing: Permission denied.
If I enter any other command "alsactl store 0", "alsaclt store default", "alsactl HDA intel" I get this;sam@linuxmint ~ $ alsactl store default
alsactl: save_state:1519: Cannot find soundcard 'default'...
sam@linuxmint ~ $ alsactl store HDA
alsactl: save_state:1519: Cannot find soundcard 'HDA'...
sam@linuxmint ~ $ alsactl store intel
alsactl: save_state:1519: Cannot find soundcard 'intel'...
sam@linuxmint ~ $ alsactl store 0 HDA intel
alsactl: save_state:1532: Cannot open /var/lib/alsa/asound.state for writing: Permission denied. When in alsamixer and I hit F5, I get three options; "default", "0 HDA intel" and "enter soundcard" Still, nothing is storing and I'm having to go into alsamixer every time I boot up to turn the volume up on the speakers. At least, since I've been trying to enter this stuff, I'm not having to take the mute off anymore. I'm getting "00" at the bottom of the speakers channel instead of "MM". So, at least we're making some progress. I appreciate all your help. You've turned me on to a whole new terminal existence I was unaware of.

tredegar · 08-01-2011, 09:46 AM

I think you are seeing this as more complicated than it really is.

You only have one soundcard, so you do not have to specify it, so don't.

When you get "permission denied" it usually means you need to be root, so try

Code:

sudo alsactl store

once you have adjusted your mutes and volumes with alsamixer.

L&R arrows take you from one channel to another.
Up&Down arrows adjust the level of the selected channel
m toggles mute.

I am running gnome on ubuntu 10.04. I adjust the volume with the little speaker icon, and it remembers between boots what the last settings were, so I have not had to mess with alsamixer, but I just checked it, it's there and works. If I have the alsamixer window open, I can see the level changing as I adjust it with the speaker icon.

bustertech · 08-01-2011, 09:21 PM

Tredegar,

Check this out;sam@linuxmint ~ $ sudo alsamixer
[sudo] password for sam:
sam@linuxmint ~ $ sudo alsactl store
Home directory /home/sam not ours.

I went in, toggled "m" to take mute off and adjusted the levels in alsamixer. I hit "esc" and typed in "sudo alsactl store" and there you have it. I have another user on the computer (my wife) so I'm going to try this on her side and see what happens. I'll let you know. Thanks again for your help. I know it must be as frustrating to you as it is to me. I'm WILL NOT give up on linux. I like it too much. Since I've put it on the computer, my wife has only logged into win7 twice and me once. I hate win after using linux.