[SOLVED] Sound too loud

Keith Hedger · 05-07-2011, 07:46 AM

I've got a problem on Slackware64 13.37, my sound is way to loud even on minimum settings, it just jumps from off to quite loud, this is not a hardware problem as when I use sound from my debian rescue partition I have full control, I have tried using alsamixer as well as the graphical volume control (I'm using xfce but a quick test on kde gives the same results), alsaconf doesn't seem to detect any sound cards, alsa mixer correctly identifies my sound card ( NVIDA ), been googling and searching these forums but all the sound problems seem to be about sound being to low or nonexistent.

Richard Cranium · 05-07-2011, 10:35 AM

Which type of NVIDIA card? What did you turn down using alsamixer?

Keith Hedger · 05-07-2011, 11:15 AM

Alsamixer says HDA NVidia, tried ALL conttrols and combos

H_TeXMeX_H · 05-07-2011, 01:15 PM

Can you post the output of 'lspci -k' and 'lsmod'.

Keith Hedger · 05-07-2011, 01:28 PM

Code:

keithhedger@SlackHolly:~-> lspci -k
00:00.0 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation C51 Host Bridge (rev a2)
	Subsystem: Elitegroup Computer Systems Device 1b57
00:00.1 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation C51 Memory Controller 0 (rev a2)
	Subsystem: Elitegroup Computer Systems Device 1b57
00:00.2 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation C51 Memory Controller 1 (rev a2)
	Subsystem: Elitegroup Computer Systems Device 1b57
00:00.3 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation C51 Memory Controller 5 (rev a2)
	Subsystem: Elitegroup Computer Systems Device 1b57
00:00.4 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation C51 Memory Controller 4 (rev a2)
	Subsystem: Elitegroup Computer Systems Device 1b57
00:00.5 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation C51 Host Bridge (rev a2)
	Subsystem: Elitegroup Computer Systems Device 1b57
00:00.6 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation C51 Memory Controller 3 (rev a2)
	Subsystem: Elitegroup Computer Systems Device 1b57
00:00.7 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation C51 Memory Controller 2 (rev a2)
	Subsystem: Elitegroup Computer Systems Device 1b57
00:02.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation C51 PCI Express Bridge (rev a1)
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:03.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation C51 PCI Express Bridge (rev a1)
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:04.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation C51 PCI Express Bridge (rev a1)
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:05.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation C51 [GeForce 6150 LE] (rev a2)
	Subsystem: Elitegroup Computer Systems Device 1b57
	Kernel driver in use: nvidia
	Kernel modules: nvidia, nouveau, nvidiafb
00:09.0 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation MCP51 Host Bridge (rev a2)
	Subsystem: Elitegroup Computer Systems Device 1b57
00:0a.0 ISA bridge: nVidia Corporation MCP51 LPC Bridge (rev a3)
	Subsystem: Elitegroup Computer Systems Device 1b57
00:0a.1 SMBus: nVidia Corporation MCP51 SMBus (rev a3)
	Subsystem: Elitegroup Computer Systems Device 1b57
	Kernel driver in use: nForce2_smbus
	Kernel modules: i2c-nforce2
00:0a.2 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation MCP51 Memory Controller 0 (rev a3)
	Subsystem: Elitegroup Computer Systems Device 1b57
00:0b.0 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation MCP51 USB Controller (rev a3)
	Subsystem: Elitegroup Computer Systems Device 1b57
	Kernel driver in use: ohci_hcd
	Kernel modules: ohci-hcd
00:0b.1 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation MCP51 USB Controller (rev a3)
	Subsystem: Elitegroup Computer Systems Device 1b57
	Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
	Kernel modules: ehci-hcd
00:0d.0 IDE interface: nVidia Corporation MCP51 IDE (rev a1)
	Subsystem: Elitegroup Computer Systems Device 1b57
	Kernel driver in use: pata_amd
00:0e.0 IDE interface: nVidia Corporation MCP51 Serial ATA Controller (rev a1)
	Subsystem: Elitegroup Computer Systems Device 1b57
	Kernel driver in use: sata_nv
00:10.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation MCP51 PCI Bridge (rev a2)
00:10.1 Audio device: nVidia Corporation MCP51 High Definition Audio (rev a2)
	Subsystem: Elitegroup Computer Systems Device 1877
	Kernel driver in use: HDA Intel
	Kernel modules: snd-hda-intel
00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control
	Kernel driver in use: k8temp
	Kernel modules: k8temp
04:06.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6306/7/8 [Fire II(M)] IEEE 1394 OHCI Controller (rev 46)
	Subsystem: Albatron Corp. Device 3044
	Kernel driver in use: firewire_ohci
	Kernel modules: firewire-ohci
04:09.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10)
	Subsystem: Elitegroup Computer Systems Device 8139
	Kernel driver in use: 8139too
	Kernel modules: 8139too, 8139cp

Code:

keithhedger@SlackHolly:~-> lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by
snd_seq_dummy           1479  0 
snd_seq_oss            30116  0 
snd_seq_midi_event      5708  1 snd_seq_oss
snd_seq                52486  5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_seq_device          5473  3 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq
snd_pcm_oss            40089  0 
snd_mixer_oss          17282  2 snd_pcm_oss
ipv6                  275315  21 
pcmcia                 37397  0 
pcmcia_core            12125  1 pcmcia
lp                      9781  0 
fuse                   66651  1 
nvidia              10486926  28 
snd_hda_codec_realtek   293594  1 
usbhid                 36859  0 
firewire_sbp2          14021  3 
processor              25982  0 
snd_hda_intel          21915  4 
snd_hda_codec          71748  2 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel
fan                     2506  0 
snd_hwdep               6254  1 snd_hda_codec
thermal                 8082  0 
button                  5013  0 
hid                    77723  1 usbhid
ppdev                   6021  0 
snd_pcm                73762  3 snd_pcm_oss,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec
agpgart                28874  1 nvidia
firewire_ohci          27301  0 
thermal_sys            13862  3 processor,fan,thermal
snd_timer              19671  2 snd_seq,snd_pcm
firewire_core          51107  2 firewire_sbp2,firewire_ohci
snd                    58334  17 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq,snd_seq_device,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hwdep,snd_pcm,snd_timer
rtc_cmos                9374  0 
rtc_core               14471  1 rtc_cmos
rtc_lib                 1978  1 rtc_core
evdev                   9813  10 
parport_pc             21214  1 
parport                30087  3 lp,ppdev,parport_pc
8139too                19577  0 
mii                     3906  1 8139too
i2c_nforce2             5208  0 
shpchp                 26821  0 
k8temp                  3451  0 
soundcore               5681  2 snd
snd_page_alloc          7297  2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
sg                     26495  0 
hwmon                   1473  2 thermal_sys,k8temp
i2c_core               19769  2 nvidia,i2c_nforce2

I figure it must be a badly configured module of some sort but I just can't track it down ( bet its something obvious, it always is! )

H_TeXMeX_H · 05-07-2011, 02:31 PM

Check '/proc/asound', maybe find out more info on the card. See if there is a codec and oss_mixer file.

Keith Hedger · 05-07-2011, 05:10 PM

Code:

keithhedger@SlackHolly:~-> ls /proc/asound
NVidia  card0  cards  devices  hwdep  modules  oss  pcm  seq  timers  version

theres a oss folder but no oss_mixer file what is it and what does it do?

H_TeXMeX_H · 05-08-2011, 04:14 AM

It contains information on the cards that are found.

Also, is this a laptop ? Some laptops have separate volume keys.

Keith Hedger · 05-08-2011, 05:16 AM

No its not a laptop, but this is not a hardware fault as the sound control is fine on debian it must be some sort of software/config problem

tommcd · 05-08-2011, 06:16 AM

This "sounds" like an unusual problem

Just out of curiosity, are you able to lower the sound in applications like xmms, audacious, and mplayer?
Running <mplayer name_of_file> in the terminal, you can lower sound with the 9 key on the keyboard, and raise sound with the 0 (zero) key.

Your output from lsmod looks like you have the proper driver loaded.

Keith Hedger · 05-08-2011, 06:29 AM

yes in fact I use home brew script to play music files using mplayer and I have had to add "-volume 5" to the mplayer command to get a reasonable level, which shows how loud the minimum really is!

tommcd · 05-08-2011, 09:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keith Hedger

yes in fact I use home brew script to play music files using mplayer and I have had to add "-volume 5" to the mplayer command to get a reasonable level, which shows how loud the minimum really is!

So can you lower the volume in all media apps, or just in MPlayer?
MPlayer seems to default to using OSS (at least in my experience). Make sure that MPlayer is set to use alsa by default. In your ~/.mplayer/config file, place ao=alsa in the file and restart MPlayer.
If you use your own script for playing music with MPlayer, you probably already know this though. I just wanted to mention it.
Be sure to set xmms and audacious to use alsa as well.
My thinking is that since OSS can only use one sound app at a time (as far as I know anyway), perhaps something is taking hold of the sound card using OSS, and this is preventing you from adjusting the volume using alsamixer.
It seems weird that Mplayer can lower the volume, but alsamixer can not. This is indeed an unusual problem.

Keith Hedger · 05-08-2011, 10:44 AM

putting ao=alsa in the config file did nothing.
dragon player I can turn the sound right the way down but again no global control ( ie if the volume on dragon player is at 100% and alsamixier is at min sound is still very loud )
XMMS volume control does nothing
mplayer same as dragon player
flash player in firefox same again
alsamixer ( and the xfce gui volumes control ) does allow me to adjust the sound but only from quite loud upwards, oddly though the mute works ok!

basiclly its the global master volume control that is not working properly

H_TeXMeX_H · 05-08-2011, 10:58 AM

It is strange that in slackware 13.37, alsaconf seems to be useless. I mean it doesn't detect any cards for me either, but the sound card is detected by alsamixer and works fine. I remember that alsaconf stopped working after a kernel update in 13.1.

Keith Hedger · 05-08-2011, 11:21 AM

just run

Code:

alsactl init

and the pcm control seems to have reappeared in alsamixer which allows me to set the global volume, I'm sure I have run this before with no joy, whoops! just checked my history and I hadn't run this command, I feel so foolish, but then again shouldn't this command be issued when first installing alsa?
Thank everyone for the help I'm going to mark this as solved.