No sound on newish system.

narrowfocus · 02-24-2018, 12:26 PM

I have a six-month old system, running debian 9, on which the audio
has never worked.

I have got by since purchase with playing music on an older system
but I need to use the new system. I cannot even figure out whether
this is a hardware problem or a matter of settings on software.

I removed pulseaudio, thinking that was the problem. I have alsa.
Alsa has worked well on past machines.

If I play a video (VLC, totem) I get a dialogue with

>>>
Audio output failed:
The audio device "default" could not be used:
No such file or directory.
<<<

I've fiddled with settings under

System > Preferences > Personal > Preferred applications

System > Adminstration > Services > Alsa

System > Control Centre > Sound

but nothing has helped.

I'm using Logitech speakers plugged into the motherboard.

Any suggestions about where to start, where to look, etc, would
be greatly appreciated.

Chas

Emerson · 02-24-2018, 12:40 PM

For cases like this I have SystemRescueCd on a USB stick, permanently. It has latest kernels available and serves great as a test OS to make sure the hardware is operational. Debian is known for its conservative approach. It may be you need to use some backport or use a newer OS altogether.

narrowfocus · 02-24-2018, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emerson

For cases like this I have SystemRescueCd on a USB stick, permanently. It has latest kernels available and serves great as a test OS to make sure the hardware is operational. Debian is known for its conservative approach. It may be you need to use some backport or use a newer OS altogether.

Thanks, good suggestion. I'll try that.

`Newer OS' ? Debian 9 is less than a year old.

Emerson · 02-24-2018, 02:57 PM

What's the kernel version, 4.9? Current stable is 4.15. Anyhow, perhaps you have HDMI and it is the default output? Is there a driver loaded for your sound (lspci -k)?

frankbell · 02-24-2018, 08:58 PM

What audio chipset is in the machine? (You should be able to find that out by running the command lspci in a terminal; you may have to run the command as root.)

ondoho · 02-25-2018, 12:53 AM

some output we need:

Code:

aplay -l
aplay -L
lspci -k | grep -A5 Audio
uname -rv

how did you plug the speaker in, is it a usb connection or a small 3.5mm stereo plug?

narrowfocus · 02-25-2018, 06:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emerson

What's the kernel version, 4.9? Current stable is 4.15. Anyhow, perhaps you have HDMI and it is the default output? Is there a driver loaded for your sound (lspci -k)?

Yep. 4.9 indeed.

lspci -k produced:

01:00.1 Audio device: NVIDIA Corporation GK208 HDMI/DP Audio Controller (rev a1)
Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. GK208 HDMI/DP Audio Controller
Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
Kernel modules: snd_hda_intel

03:00.0 Audio device: Creative Labs Sound Core3D [Sound Blaster Recon3D / Z-Series] (rev 01)
Subsystem: Creative Labs SB1570 SB Audigy Fx
Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
Kernel modules: snd_hda_intel

If I understand this correctly, I do need HDMI speakers. Can't get them today but probably tomorrow (Monday).

This is very helpful ....

narrowfocus · 02-25-2018, 06:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frankbell

What audio chipset is in the machine? (You should be able to find that out by running the command lspci in a terminal; you may have to run the command as root.)

Thanks. Ran lspci as root (with and without -k) but got the same entries as in my reply to Emerson a few minutes ago

Chas

narrowfocus · 02-25-2018, 06:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ondoho

some output we need:

Code:

aplay -l
aplay -L
lspci -k | grep -A5 Audio
uname -rv

how did you plug the speaker in, is it a usb connection or a small 3.5mm stereo plug?

Thanks ondoho. Plugging in just by 3.5 plugs. Couldn't find USB speakers in recent searches.

In reverse order (and skipping lspci -k)

uname -rv gives

4.9.0-3-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 4.9.30-2+deb9u5 (2017-09-19)

aplay -l

**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 7: HDMI 1 [HDMI 1]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: Creative [HDA Creative], device 0: CA0132 Analog [CA0132 Analog]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: Creative [HDA Creative], device 1: CA0132 Digital [CA0132 Digital]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

aplay -L
null
Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)
hdmi:CARD=NVidia,DEV=0
HDA NVidia, HDMI 0
HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=NVidia,DEV=1
HDA NVidia, HDMI 1
HDMI Audio Output
dmix:CARD=NVidia,DEV=3
HDA NVidia, HDMI 0
Direct sample mixing device
dmix:CARD=NVidia,DEV=7
HDA NVidia, HDMI 1
Direct sample mixing device
dsnoop:CARD=NVidia,DEV=3
HDA NVidia, HDMI 0
Direct sample snooping device
dsnoop:CARD=NVidia,DEV=7
HDA NVidia, HDMI 1
Direct sample snooping device
hw:CARD=NVidia,DEV=3
HDA NVidia, HDMI 0
Direct hardware device without any conversions
hw:CARD=NVidia,DEV=7
HDA NVidia, HDMI 1
Direct hardware device without any conversions
plughw:CARD=NVidia,DEV=3
HDA NVidia, HDMI 0
Hardware device with all software conversions
plughw:CARD=NVidia,DEV=7
HDA NVidia, HDMI 1
Hardware device with all software conversions
default:CARD=Creative
HDA Creative, CA0132 Analog
Default Audio Device
sysdefault:CARD=Creative
HDA Creative, CA0132 Analog
Default Audio Device
front:CARD=Creative,DEV=0
HDA Creative, CA0132 Analog
Front speakers
surround21:CARD=Creative,DEV=0
HDA Creative, CA0132 Analog
2.1 Surround output to Front and Subwoofer speakers
surround40:CARD=Creative,DEV=0
HDA Creative, CA0132 Analog
4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=Creative,DEV=0
HDA Creative, CA0132 Analog
4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=Creative,DEV=0
HDA Creative, CA0132 Analog
5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=Creative,DEV=0
HDA Creative, CA0132 Analog
5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71:CARD=Creative,DEV=0
HDA Creative, CA0132 Analog
7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
iec958:CARD=Creative,DEV=0
HDA Creative, CA0132 Digital
IEC958 (S/PDIF) Digital Audio Output
dmix:CARD=Creative,DEV=0
HDA Creative, CA0132 Analog
Direct sample mixing device
dmix:CARD=Creative,DEV=1
HDA Creative, CA0132 Digital
Direct sample mixing device
dsnoop:CARD=Creative,DEV=0
HDA Creative, CA0132 Analog
Direct sample snooping device
dsnoop:CARD=Creative,DEV=1
HDA Creative, CA0132 Digital
Direct sample snooping device
hw:CARD=Creative,DEV=0
HDA Creative, CA0132 Analog
Direct hardware device without any conversions
hw:CARD=Creative,DEV=1
HDA Creative, CA0132 Digital
Direct hardware device without any conversions
plughw:CARD=Creative,DEV=0
HDA Creative, CA0132 Analog
Hardware device with all software conversions
plughw:CARD=Creative,DEV=1
HDA Creative, CA0132 Digital
Hardware device with all software conversions

ondoho · 02-26-2018, 02:42 PM

my guess is you just need to change the card in alsamixer.
it uses the nvidia as default, i guess.
so, enter 'alsamixer' in a terminal, press F6 and select your SB.
if you're lucky, you will now have sound. if not, you maybe need to restart pulseaudio (not sure, i don't use it).
so if that works, i'm not sure if it stays across reboots, but let's test that first.

narrowfocus · 02-26-2018, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ondoho

my guess is you just need to change the card in alsamixer.
it uses the nvidia as default, i guess.
so, enter 'alsamixer' in a terminal, press F6 and select your SB.
if you're lucky, you will now have sound. if not, you maybe need to restart pulseaudio (not sure, i don't use it).
so if that works, i'm not sure if it stays across reboots, but let's test that first.

That's good to know, but no success.

narrowfocus · 02-26-2018, 03:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by narrowfocus

That's good to know, but no success.

Alsamixer just offers

- default
0 HDA NVidia
1 HDA Creative

Believe this is correct for my system. (With VLC, under Audio > Audio Device I get a list of 30 or so options, most obviously irrelevant.)

Emerson · 02-26-2018, 03:51 PM

I think VLC will happily ignore the system settings and play the sound when you choose the correct one.

narrowfocus · 02-26-2018, 04:41 PM

I guess I'm missing something.

I'll go through the set-up again tomorrow, and use music on the web for testing.

(I want to avoid pulseaudio if possible.)

Emerson · 02-26-2018, 05:04 PM

When the driver is loaded device nodes are created, below are mine for example.

Code:

$ ls -l /dev/snd/
total 0
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root       60 Feb 23 22:35 by-id
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root       80 Feb 23 22:35 by-path
crw-rw---- 1 root audio 116,  2 Feb 23 22:35 controlC0
crw-rw---- 1 root audio 116, 11 Feb 23 22:35 controlC1
crw-rw---- 1 root audio 116,  4 Feb 24 21:02 pcmC0D0c
crw-rw---- 1 root audio 116,  3 Feb 26 16:36 pcmC0D0p
crw-rw---- 1 root audio 116, 10 Feb 23 22:35 pcmC0D10p
crw-rw---- 1 root audio 116,  5 Feb 23 22:35 pcmC0D2c
crw-rw---- 1 root audio 116,  6 Feb 23 22:35 pcmC0D3p
crw-rw---- 1 root audio 116,  7 Feb 23 22:35 pcmC0D7p
crw-rw---- 1 root audio 116,  8 Feb 23 22:35 pcmC0D8p
crw-rw---- 1 root audio 116,  9 Feb 23 22:35 pcmC0D9p
crw-rw---- 1 root audio 116, 12 Feb 23 22:35 pcmC1D0c
crw-rw---- 1 root audio 116, 33 Feb 23 22:35 timer

These can be used by any sound application, these are the devices your VLC can see. Note, to use these nodes the user must be member of audio group. If your system was meant to work with PulseAudio then your user may not be in audio group, you may need to add it.