Slack10 + ALSA + SBLive + 2.4.x Kernel = Help

Hello.

Installed Slackware 10 with the bare.i kernel, and ALSA worked wonderfully with my SBlive (rev 10, if that matters). But i decided to recompile the kernel, folllowed the steps listed here, and now my sound is broken. Heres some info that will hopefully help you help me:

- did NOT build OSS EMU10k1 into the kernel (was compiled as a modules though)

Result from grep auido /proc/pci:
Multimedia audio controller: Creative Labs SB Live! EMU10k1 (rev 10).


Result from strace -eopen alsamixer:
open("/etc/ld.so.preload", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/etc/ld.so.cache", O_RDONLY) = 3
open("/lib/libncurses.so.5", O_RDONLY) = 3
open("/usr/lib/libasound.so.2", O_RDONLY) = 3
open("/lib/tls/libm.so.6", O_RDONLY) = 3
open("/lib/tls/libdl.so.2", O_RDONLY) = 3
open("/lib/tls/libpthread.so.0", O_RDONLY) = 3
open("/lib/tls/libc.so.6", O_RDONLY) = 3
open("/usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf", O_RDONLY) = 3
open("/dev/snd/controlC0", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENODEV (No such device)
open("/dev/aloadC0", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENODEV (No such device)
open("/dev/snd/controlC0", O_RDWR) = -1 ENODEV (No such device)
open("/dev/snd/controlC0", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENODEV (No such device)
open("/dev/aloadC0", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENODEV (No such device)
open("/dev/snd/controlC0", O_RDWR) = -1 ENODEV (No such device)
alsamixer: function snd_ctl_open failed for default: No such device



Result from lsdev:
Device DMA IRQ I/O Ports
------------------------------------------------
3c509 0220-022f
ATI 6500-65ff
cascade 4 2
Creative 6600-661f 6700-6707
dma 0080-008f
dma1 0000-001f
dma2 00c0-00df
emu10k1-gp 6700-6707
eth0 5
fpu 00f0-00ff
ide0 14 01f0-01f7 03f6-03f6 f000-f007
ide1 15 0170-0177 0376-0376 f008-f00f
Intel 5f00-5f1f 6100-613f 6400-641f f000-f00f
isapnp 0213-0213 0a79-0a79
keyboard 1 0060-006f
Mouse 12
PCI 0cf8-0cff
pic1 0020-003f
pic2 00a0-00bf
rtc 8 0070-007f
serial 02f8-02ff 03f8-03ff
timer 0 0040-005f
usb-uhci 11 6400-641f
vesafb 03c0-03df


Result from lsmod:
Module Size Used by Not tainted
soundcore 3428 0 (autoclean)
uhci 24252 0 (unused)
usbcore 58028 1 [uhci]
emu10k1-gp 1352 0 (unused)
gameport 1388 0 [emu10k1-gp]
ide-scsi 9136 0
3c509 10164 1
isa-pnp 29616 0 [3c509]



Sorry for the large post, i just wanted to give as much info as possible, if ive missed anything, please let me know, based on my limited understanding, slack10 comes with ALSA, so there is no need for me to compile it or anythign like that, and as i said it worked with the initial install.

try :
cp /etc/asound.state /etc/asound.state.bak
rm /etc/asound.state

And restart alsa, see if it work

unfortunately that didnt work. But thanks anyways. any other ideas would be fantastic.

It could be a few things I suppose. I'll tell what I do if your at all remotely interested... It will eliminate all these types of problems. I recompile my kernel all the time for some reason. I don't even bother with compiling anything into my kernel or modules even when it comes to sound. I just build the very top-most sound option into the kernel and leave the rest unchecked. Then I leave the source of 'alsa-driver-1.0.5a' unpacked in /usr/src..... After you build a new kernel, just:

cd ../alsa-driver-1.0.5a
./configure --with-cards=emu10k1 --with-sequencer=yes;make;make install

Your sound will just work then, period... After you've done that once and your rebuilding the same kernel version again, just cd into alsa-driver and type 'make install'. If you move to a new kernel version, do a 'make clean' and then repeat the above boxed in code..... Thats such a small package that it only takes 10 seconds or so to configure.... Doing it this way, your pkgtool directory listing stays intact.

Or you could just pull the slak-pak off of the 1st CD and put it somewhere on your hard drive and:

upgradepkg alsa-driver-1.0.5a-i486-2.tgz

That should do the same thing basically. If it won't upgrade because it says it's the same version, just rename the '2' to a '3'.... I don't know... What ever you want. It just sounds like some modules aren't getting loaded or you left something out during the kernel compile. I just save myself the hassel and let the alsa-driver package build all the necessary modules.... Takes all the guess work out of it...

As for:

based on my limited understanding, slack10 comes with ALSA, so there is no need for me to compile it or anythign like that,

All the alsa-driver package is are the modules and startup script. When you recompiled your kernel, /lib/modules/2.4.26 got completely erased. So, yes, you have to make sure evrything is there again in order for it to work. And, like I say, the alsa-driver package will do all that for you... Good luck.

Originally posted by the_woelf ... Result from lsmod: Module Size Used by Not tainted soundcore 3428 0 (autoclean) uhci 24252 0 (unused) usbcore 58028 1 [uhci] emu10k1-gp 1352 0 (unused) gameport 1388 0 [emu10k1-gp] ide-scsi 9136 0 3c509 10164 1 isa-pnp 29616 0 [3c509]

Why is there
emu10k1-gp 1352 0 (unused)
in your lsmod? Isnt is the OSS module?

With ALSA, i would expect a shit-load of snd-***** modules.

(If emu10k1-gp is OSS, some one second this) than

rmmod emu10k1-gp

and

make it look something like this
root@kasper2:/usr/src/linux# lsmod
Module Size Used by
snd_pcm_oss 50024 0
snd_mixer_oss 17664 1 snd_pcm_oss
...
snd_ens1371 19976 0
snd_rawmidi 20260 1 snd_ens1371
snd_seq_device 6600 1 snd_rawmidi
snd_pcm 86120 2 snd_pcm_oss,snd_ens1371
snd_page_alloc 9032 1 snd_pcm
snd_timer 21284 1 snd_pcm
snd_ac97_codec 67076 1 snd_ens1371
snd 47844 8 snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_ens1371,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq_device,snd_pcm,snd_timer,snd_ac97_codec
soundcore 7328 1 snd
evdev 7264 0
...

right... Have no idea what that is. Thats why I suggested letting alsa do it. Mine looks about the same as yours.

snd-pcm-oss 39844 0 (autoclean)
snd-mixer-oss 13944 0 (autoclean) [snd-pcm-oss]
saa7108e 8936 0 (autoclean) (unused)
rivatv 77420 0 (unused)
snd-emu10k1 77604 0 (autoclean)
snd-pcm 64192 0 (autoclean) [snd-pcm-oss snd-emu10k1]
snd-timer 15812 0 (autoclean) [snd-pcm]
snd-hwdep 5312 0 (autoclean) [snd-emu10k1]
snd-page-alloc 6612 0 (autoclean) [snd-emu10k1 snd-pcm]
snd-util-mem 1296 0 (autoclean) [snd-emu10k1]
snd-ac97-codec 50652 0 (autoclean) [snd-emu10k1]
snd-rawmidi 14080 0 (autoclean) [snd-emu10k1]
snd-seq-device 4356 0 (autoclean) [snd-emu10k1 snd-rawmidi]
snd 33796 0 (autoclean) [snd-pcm-oss snd-mixer-oss snd-emu10k1 snd-pcm snd-timer snd-hwdep snd-util-mem snd-ac97-codec snd-rawmidi snd-seq-device]

Originally posted by jong357 right... Have no idea what that is. Thats why I suggested letting alsa do it. Mine looks about the same as yours.

OK, since jong seconded my motion

It is obvious OSS and ALSA are fighting for control. There are MANY ways of solving this... I give you what I think is the easiest for you.

Since it looks you "successfully" compiled one kernel (i.e. Your computer at least boots! Welcome to Linux admin club ) please:
- Compile your kernel again, but DO NOT select anything in (DevDrivers>Sound) Open Sound System section of the kernel config. (not modules, not "build it" , plain NO)
- and, either Select drivers in ALSA section, or (if you dare), download ALSA fresh and compile separately. (I suggest just the ALSA in the current kernel (worked for me), and go for download if you really have to.

My search for "ALSA and Slackware 10.0" led me to this thread.
I, too, had sound with Slack 10 for an Audigy ES after the basic
install by issuing "alsamixer" to unmute and turn up my volume
and "alsactl store" as su to keep the settings. But when I did
the recompile, there were no modules and nothing worked.

So I followed his advice, mounted my Slack 10.0 CD1 and issued
# cp /mnt/cdrw/slackware/l/alsa-driver-1.0.5a-i486-2.tgz /var/log/packages
and then from /var/log/packages issued
# installpkg alsa-driver-1.0.5a-i486-2.tgz
which installed the alsa-driver package again then issued
# modprobe snd-emu10k1;modprobe snd-pcm-oss;modprobe snd-mixer-oss;modprobe snd-seq-oss
which installed all my modules again.
Then issued
$ alsamixer
and then issued
# alsactl store
and I'm once again playing tunes.

I've always compiled from source with no problems, but since Slack 10.0
has support for ALSA and the drivers are the same ones as on the ALSA
site today, I just wanted to make it work from Pat's packages.

Thanks jong357 ;-}

Yea, theres alot of sound threads on the forums the past year or so... Thats good to know that installpkg will overwrite an existing entry... Wasn't sure about that or how upgradepkg would work with the same version number. I've just gotten in the habit of building from source since I've been using LFS for the past half a year or so... What I was doing for awhile with Slackware was:

./configure --with-cards=emu10k1 --with-sequencer=yes;make;checkinstall

Then checkinstall would make a super small soundcard specific slak-pak for me. I'd leave it in '/' and then do a

tar -xzf /sound-modules.tgz

I'm one of those wierd people who actually recompile thier kernel so much, I got tired of issuing the tar command and wrote a script that would cd into / and then extract the tgz. Dumped it into /usr/bin and named it 'soundmod'... I get really lazy sometimes...

It just seems to me that when people (including myself) try to use the kernel alsa modules from within 'menuconfig' I start seeing alot of "my sound doesn't work anymore after a kernel recompile"... Thats why I like to leave that ENTIRE sound section totally blank except for "CONFIG_SOUND" at the very top. Build it into the kernel and you'll never have to worry about it not loading....

If you do like I just mentioned with the script then you can

make dep bzImage modules modules_install;soundmod

Hell, you could even write a script that would cd into /usr/src/linux,build the kernel, build the modules, install the modules, install the alsa sound modules, move the System.map and bzImage to /boot, rename bzImage to whatever you want, brush your teeth... Oh wait.... I'm still working on that one....

So what's the news woelf?

thanks for all the advice, i had to leave my computer last night.., only to come back to a plethora of posts. but i tried the first recomendation first, that is to dl the alsa source and compile it from there... all went well, or atleast seems to atm, so im happy. thanks jong357 & co

Oh... Cool... You'll have to do that again if you ever recompile your kernel, just remember... That or try and get the right settings in your kernel under "sound ----->" so you can start using those modules instead of the alsa-driver ones.... I find it easier to just do this...