Snd Probs with Kernel 2.6.16.1

After doing a moderately successful Kernel compile and install I am unable to access sound. I have a 2.4.x Kernel which is still functional and with sound...however, I wish to make a jump to the 2.6.x series so I'm trying to get everything working before a full transiton. During boot I noticed a couple messages which might be significant here - FATAL:Module snd_pom_oss not found and FATAL:Module snd_mixer_oss not found, I also received a '/dev/dsp - can't open, error' box when I logged into x. Any help if widely appreciated.

p.s I'm using AC97 for sound.

These errors are not fatal as it is said if you compiled alsa support into the kernel or as modules because these errors are related to the oss system.
Run alsaconf, then alsamixer and unmute your sound and then alsactl store to save your settings.

Which soundchip are you using? AC '97 is just a codec.

Issue "/sbin/lspci" and post the output.

And issue "cat /usr/src/linux-2.6.16.1/.config | grep -i snd"
replacing that path with the path of your new kernel's .config
file and post that output.

It would be Realtec one (AC'97 Audio Controller).

This is my output after a few re-compiles of kernel 2.6.16.1.
/sbin/lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. P4M266 Host Bridge
00:01.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8633 [Apollo Pro266 AGP]
00:09.0 Communication controller: Conexant HSF 56k HSFi Modem (rev 01)
00:0a.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10)
00:10.0 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 80)
00:10.1 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 80)
00:10.2 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 80)
00:10.3 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. USB 2.0 (rev 82)
00:11.0 ISA bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8235 ISA Bridge
00:11.1 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C586A/B/VT82C686/A/B/VT823x/A/C PIPC Bus Master IDE (rev 06)
00:11.5 Multimedia audio controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8233/A/8235/8237 AC97 Audio Controller (rev 50)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: S3 Inc. VT8375 [ProSavage8 KM266/KL266]

cat /usr/src/linux-2.6.16.1/.config | grep -i snd
CONFIG_SND=m
CONFIG_SND_TIMER=m
CONFIG_SND_PCM=m
CONFIG_SND_RAWMIDI=m
CONFIG_SND_SEQUENCER=m
# CONFIG_SND_SEQ_DUMMY is not set
CONFIG_SND_OSSEMUL=y
CONFIG_SND_MIXER_OSS=m
CONFIG_SND_PCM_OSS=m
CONFIG_SND_SEQUENCER_OSS=y
# CONFIG_SND_DYNAMIC_MINORS is not set
CONFIG_SND_SUPPORT_OLD_API=y
# CONFIG_SND_VERBOSE_PRINTK is not set
# CONFIG_SND_DEBUG is not set
CONFIG_SND_MPU401_UART=m
CONFIG_SND_AC97_CODEC=m
CONFIG_SND_AC97_BUS=m
# CONFIG_SND_DUMMY is not set
# CONFIG_SND_VIRMIDI is not set
# CONFIG_SND_MTPAV is not set
# CONFIG_SND_SERIAL_U16550 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_MPU401 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_AD1889 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_ALS4000 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_ALI5451 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_ATIIXP is not set
# CONFIG_SND_ATIIXP_MODEM is not set
# CONFIG_SND_AU8810 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_AU8820 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_AU8830 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_AZT3328 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_BT87X is not set
# CONFIG_SND_CA0106 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_CMIPCI is not set
# CONFIG_SND_CS4281 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_CS46XX is not set
# CONFIG_SND_CS5535AUDIO is not set
# CONFIG_SND_EMU10K1 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_EMU10K1X is not set
# CONFIG_SND_ENS1370 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_ENS1371 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_ES1938 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_ES1968 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_FM801 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_HDA_INTEL is not set
# CONFIG_SND_HDSP is not set
# CONFIG_SND_HDSPM is not set
# CONFIG_SND_ICE1712 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_ICE1724 is not set
CONFIG_SND_INTEL8X0=m
# CONFIG_SND_INTEL8X0M is not set
# CONFIG_SND_KORG1212 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_MAESTRO3 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_MIXART is not set
# CONFIG_SND_NM256 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_PCXHR is not set
# CONFIG_SND_RME32 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_RME96 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_RME9652 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_SONICVIBES is not set
# CONFIG_SND_TRIDENT is not set
CONFIG_SND_VIA82XX=m
# CONFIG_SND_VIA82XX_MODEM is not set
# CONFIG_SND_VX222 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_YMFPCI is not set
# CONFIG_SND_USB_AUDIO is not set
# CONFIG_SND_USB_USX2Y is not set
# CONFIG_SOUND_MSNDCLAS is not set
# CONFIG_SOUND_MSNDPIN is not set

So is it working now or still not?

Yes and No, unfortunately during boot when the kernel tries to access the sound modules I get a error saying that they can't open due to not being in the right format.

So would anyone know how to compile/install modules after a kernel compile, or anyone know what I should do next?(the kernel's fine, just the sound.)

Maybe you should try to upgrade alsa and then to rebuild kernel. Never encountered similar problem with modules being not the right format.

I 'think' I know what the problem is. I did a lsmod and nothing showed up unlike my 2.4 kernel which has a mix of modules. So I think it's a problem with the modular system rather than ALSA. I've tried make modules, and make modules_install + generate-modprobe.conf while using my 2.6 kernel but still nothing just invalid module format messages during boot...please can someone help. I've been googling for 3 FULL days and still nothing that gives me a straight answer.

Go back to your kernel source and run 'make menuconfig' or 'make xconfig'. CHECK YOUR CONFIG.

Then save it, 'make && make modules_install' copy the bzImage, etc to boot, edit lilo.conf, run lilo, and reboot.

Sometimes, you just miss something minor. I've had to recompile 8 times before to get all the stuff working on a new kernel.

Perhaps maybe if I enable MODVERSION my modules would be able to load-I don't know, but I don't think it's my config. And by the way, this is my 8th compile. XD

SlackerDex,

Short version: it sounds like you left KMOD out of your kernel.

Long post -- you can skip if you want...

I never enable MODVERSION in my kernels. But you do need to enable KMOD (to load modules automatically: when a part of the kernel needs a module, it runs modprobe with the appropriate arguments, thereby loading the module if it is available).

A couple of things I see in your .config:

(1) You have "CONFIG_SND_INTEL8X0=m" which is support for the integrated AC97 sound device on motherboards with Intel/SiS/nVidia/AMD chipsets, or ALi chipsets using the M5455 Audio Controller. (There is a separate driver for ALi M5451 Audio Controllers.)

That can be removed because you have a VIA chipset mobo, but it shouldn't hurt anything in there as a module.

(2) You don't have CONFIG_SND_HWDEP=m which is an option under "CONFIG_SND=m". CONFIG_SND is ALSA, where you have "Say 'Y' or 'M' to enable ALSA (Advanced Linux Sound Architecture), the new base sound system." You don't see SND_TIMER, SND_PCM, SND_HWDEP, and SND_RAWMIDI in "make xconfig" unless you select from the menu Option > Show All Options.

That was in 2.6.16, and it is in 2.6.16.2 -- so I don't know why it's not in your kernel. There may be something else that triggers it, but I don't know what it would be.

And one last question. Did you by chance use a 2.4 .config file and run "make oldconfig" against it before you built this kernel? The reason I ask is because a couple years ago a kernel developer told me,

Please do *NOT* use a configuration file from a 2.4 kernel as input to "make oldconfig" for a 2.6 kernel source. The resulting configuration file is most likely to be subtly broken and the kernel build as a result will most likely not work correctly.

After you boot that kernel, what do you get for the output of "ls -l /lib/modules/2.6.16.1/kernel/sound/pci/" ?

But if you don't have anything output from "lsmod" then you left KMOD out. You can manually load your sound modules just to hear sound before recompiling to fix that issue. As root issue "modprobe snd && snd-via82xx" might work. I've never needed to load sound modules, so that might not be all you need. For VIA sound my wife's comp loads the following modules:

anna@peter:~$ uname -a
Linux peter 2.6.15.6 #1 PREEMPT Mon Mar 20 19:01:57 CST 2006 i686 AMD Athlon(TM) XP 2000+ AuthenticAMD GNU/Linux
anna@peter:~$ lsmod | grep -i snd
snd_pcm_oss            58272  0
snd_mixer_oss          17600  1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_mpu401              5128  0
snd_via82xx            24340  0
snd_ac97_codec         93984  1 snd_via82xx
snd_ac97_bus            1792  1 snd_ac97_codec
snd_pcm                93640  3 snd_pcm_oss,snd_via82xx,snd_ac97_codec
snd_timer              23620  1 snd_pcm
snd_page_alloc          8904  2 snd_via82xx,snd_pcm
snd_mpu401_uart         6528  2 snd_mpu401,snd_via82xx
snd_rawmidi            22432  1 snd_mpu401_uart
snd_seq_device          7244  1 snd_rawmidi
snd                    54116  10 snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_mpu401,snd_via82xx,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm,snd_timer,snd_mpu401_uart,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq_device
soundcore               7840  1 snd

Hope that helps.

Actually I did try loading the modules manually, however it didn't work. After compiling the 2.6 kernel for the 10th time I got frustrated and decided to do a whole Slackware install from scratch (eg.partitioning etc.). Right now I'm using the 2.6.13 kernel from the slackware installation disc(#2) and it's working fine , however I still wish to use the most stable kernel available. From the way I see it I have two options, patching the kernel I'm using now(2.6.13 - is it possible?) or installing another kernal. If I go with option B could I use the same process to install the kernel? (mkinitrd -c -k 2.6.16.5 -m reiserfs perhaps?)

Yes, you could get 2.6.16.5 from kernel.org, and then use the .config from your present kernel, since it's working for you. Very simple with Slackware. These are your steps:

1 - get the source from kernel.org
2 - mv it to /usr/src/ and cd /usr/src/
3 - tar -xvjf linux-2.6.16.5.tar.bz2
4 - cd linux-2.6.16.5/
5 - cp /path/to/linux-2.6.13/.config .
6 - make silentoldconfig (answer questions for any changes)
7 - make
8 - cp System.map /boot/System.map-2.6.16.5 ; ln -sf /boot/System.map-2.6.16.5 /boot/System.map
9 - make modules_install
10 - cp arch/i386/boot/bzImage /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.16.15
11 - pico /etc/lilo.conf and add the lines below:
# Linux bootable partition config begins <--- just under this line
image = /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.16.5
root = /dev/sda7 <--- replace with your root directory
label = 2.6.16.5
read-only
12 - lilo
13 - Make the initrd according to /boot/README.initrd
14 - lilo
15 - reboot
and enjoy Slackware goodness with a shiny new kernel.

NB: If you don't want to make an initrd image, you can issue "make xconfig" after step 6 and change the support for your root filesystem (resierfs) from m (module) to y (built in) and you can skip boot without that initrd.img -- I never use one.

You need this line:
CONFIG_REISERFS_FS=y
for the reiserfs, and then the support for your hard drive. What do you have? An IDE drive, or SATA, or what?