[SOLVED] No sound in Arch

Envoy of Goats · 03-21-2016, 02:56 AM

I know close to nothing about sound in linux, and until now everything has always just worked. I recently installed Arch and have fixed most of the initial wave of issues, but am unable to get full/practical sound support despite way too many hours of trying.

I have a USB headset and a set of speakers that connect to the motherboard by optical (IEC958). Success is defined as getting the speakers to work, though being able to conveniently switch between the two devices would be nice.

VLC is able to play audio over the headset without issue, but the device must be manually selected.

Firefox and Chrome never use either device for sound.

For a fleeting moment the speakers worked precisely one time after changing the "switches" in alsa mixer. The volume was far too loud so I quickly went to reduce it, the audio cut back out arround this time and never returned. Attempts to reverse my steps to the point where it worked were unsuccesful. This lasted maybe two or three seconds at most.

Windows and Ubuntu 14 (live USB) are able to use both devices without much fuss. (some messing with default devices etc.)

Notably, Ubuntu had two options in its list of sound devices, one for analog and one for digital, only digital worked.

Alsa Mixer shows three options for sound cards. HDA Intel PCH, HDA ATI HDMI, $NAME_OF_HEADSET. It seems pretty clear to me that the object of interest is HDA Intel PCH since I am not using any of my HDMI ports for any purpose and It is very clear that the headset is the third device. The second is almost certainly my graphics card.

lsmod under arch yields the following

Code:

Module                  Size  Used by
fuse                   90112  5
nls_iso8859_1          16384  1
nls_cp437              20480  1
vfat                   20480  1
fat                    65536  1 vfat
intel_rapl             20480  0
iosf_mbi               16384  1 intel_rapl
x86_pkg_temp_thermal    16384  0
intel_powerclamp       16384  0
coretemp               16384  0
kvm_intel             167936  0
arc4                   16384  2
wl                   6377472  0
kvm                   462848  1 kvm_intel
irqbypass              16384  1 kvm
mxm_wmi                16384  0
rt2800usb              28672  0
crct10dif_pclmul       16384  0
rt2x00usb              20480  1 rt2800usb
rt2800lib              86016  1 rt2800usb
eeepc_wmi              16384  0
crc32_pclmul           16384  0
asus_wmi               24576  1 eeepc_wmi
input_leds             16384  0
crc32c_intel           24576  0
sparse_keymap          16384  1 asus_wmi
rt2x00lib              49152  3 rt2x00usb,rt2800lib,rt2800usb
aesni_intel           167936  0
amdkfd                106496  1
amd_iommu_v2           20480  1 amdkfd
iTCO_wdt               16384  0
iTCO_vendor_support    16384  1 iTCO_wdt
mac80211              647168  3 rt2x00lib,rt2x00usb,rt2800lib
led_class              16384  3 rt2x00lib,input_leds,asus_wmi
joydev                 20480  0
radeon               1474560  6
evdev                  24576  21
mousedev               20480  0
crc_ccitt              16384  1 rt2800lib
snd_hda_codec_realtek    69632  1
snd_hda_codec_generic    69632  1 snd_hda_codec_realtek
snd_hda_codec_hdmi     49152  1
mac_hid                16384  0
aes_x86_64             20480  1 aesni_intel
snd_hda_intel          32768  10
ttm                    77824  1 radeon
drm_kms_helper        106496  1 radeon
drm                   286720  9 ttm,drm_kms_helper,radeon
snd_hda_codec         106496  4 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_hda_intel
syscopyarea            16384  1 drm_kms_helper
sysfillrect            16384  1 drm_kms_helper
sysimgblt              16384  1 drm_kms_helper
snd_hda_core           49152  5 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel
fb_sys_fops            16384  1 drm_kms_helper
lrw                    16384  1 aesni_intel
snd_hwdep              16384  1 snd_hda_codec
gf128mul               16384  1 lrw
snd_pcm                86016  4 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_core
glue_helper            16384  1 aesni_intel
ablk_helper            16384  1 aesni_intel
cfg80211              483328  3 wl,mac80211,rt2x00lib
mei_me                 32768  0
snd_timer              28672  1 snd_pcm
i2c_algo_bit           16384  1 radeon
cryptd                 20480  2 aesni_intel,ablk_helper
mei                    81920  1 mei_me
snd                    65536  28 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hwdep,snd_timer,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_pcm,snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel
rfkill                 20480  5 cfg80211,asus_wmi
soundcore              16384  1 snd
psmouse               118784  0
serio_raw              16384  0
pcspkr                 16384  0
i2c_i801               20480  0
thermal                20480  0
tpm_tis                20480  0
tpm                    36864  1 tpm_tis
ie31200_edac           16384  0
battery                20480  0
edac_core              45056  1 ie31200_edac
e1000e                217088  0
ptp                    20480  1 e1000e
pps_core               20480  1 ptp
fjes                   28672  0
lpc_ich                24576  0
video                  36864  1 asus_wmi
shpchp                 32768  0
button                 16384  0
fan                    16384  0
processor              32768  0
wmi                    20480  2 mxm_wmi,asus_wmi
sch_fq_codel           20480  8
ip_tables              28672  0
x_tables               28672  1 ip_tables
ext4                  512000  4
crc16                  16384  1 ext4
mbcache                20480  1 ext4
jbd2                   90112  1 ext4
sr_mod                 24576  0
cdrom                  49152  1 sr_mod
sd_mod                 36864  7
hid_generic            16384  0
usbhid                 45056  0
hid                   114688  2 hid_generic,usbhid
atkbd                  24576  0
libps2                 16384  2 atkbd,psmouse
ahci                   36864  6
libahci                28672  1 ahci
libata                196608  2 ahci,libahci
ehci_pci               16384  0
xhci_pci               16384  0
scsi_mod              151552  3 libata,sd_mod,sr_mod
ehci_hcd               69632  1 ehci_pci
xhci_hcd              159744  1 xhci_pci
usbcore               196608  7 rt2x00usb,rt2800usb,ehci_hcd,ehci_pci,usbhid,xhci_hcd,xhci_pci
usb_common             16384  1 usbcore
i8042                  24576  1 libps2
serio                  20480  6 serio_raw,atkbd,i8042,psmouse

lsmod under ubuntu gives shorter list, but appears to have more audio related content.

Code:

Module                  Size  Used by
intel_rapl             18773  0 
x86_pkg_temp_thermal    14205  0 
intel_powerclamp       14705  0 
coretemp               13435  0 
kvm_intel             143060  0 
dm_crypt               23177  0 
kvm                   451511  1 kvm_intel
snd_hda_codec_hdmi     46207  1 
snd_hda_codec_realtek    61438  1 
crct10dif_pclmul       14289  0 
joydev                 17381  0 
eeepc_wmi              13151  0 
crc32_pclmul           13113  0 
snd_hda_intel          52355  5 
ghash_clmulni_intel    13259  0 
asus_wmi               24191  1 eeepc_wmi
snd_hda_codec         192906  3 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel
snd_seq_midi           13324  0 
aesni_intel            55624  0 
sparse_keymap          13948  1 asus_wmi
aes_x86_64             17131  1 aesni_intel
snd_seq_midi_event     14899  1 snd_seq_midi
lrw                    13286  1 aesni_intel
snd_hwdep              13602  1 snd_hda_codec
dm_multipath           22873  0 
snd_rawmidi            30144  1 snd_seq_midi
snd_pcm               102099  3 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel
snd_seq                61560  2 snd_seq_midi_event,snd_seq_midi
gf128mul               14951  1 lrw
scsi_dh                14882  1 dm_multipath
snd_page_alloc         18710  2 snd_pcm,snd_hda_intel
snd_seq_device         14497  3 snd_seq,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq_midi
glue_helper            13990  1 aesni_intel
mei_me                 18627  0 
snd_timer              29482  2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
ablk_helper            13597  1 aesni_intel
mei                    82274  1 mei_me
cryptd                 20359  3 ghash_clmulni_intel,aesni_intel,ablk_helper
psmouse               102222  0 
lpc_ich                21080  0 
snd                    69238  21 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hwdep,snd_timer,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_pcm,snd_seq,snd_rawmidi,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel,snd_seq_device,snd_seq_midi
soundcore              12680  1 snd
serio_raw              13462  0 
mac_hid                13205  0 
bnep                   19624  2 
rfcomm                 69160  0 
bluetooth             395423  10 bnep,rfcomm
parport_pc             32701  0 
ppdev                  17671  0 
lp                     17759  0 
parport                42348  3 lp,ppdev,parport_pc
squashfs               48362  1 
overlayfs              27916  1 
nls_utf8               12557  1 
isofs                  39835  1 
nls_iso8859_1          12713  0 
dm_mirror              22135  0 
dm_region_hash         20862  1 dm_mirror
dm_log                 18411  2 dm_region_hash,dm_mirror
hid_generic            12548  0 
usbhid                 52616  0 
hid                   106148  2 hid_generic,usbhid
usb_storage            62209  1 
mxm_wmi                13021  0 
radeon               1514165  4 
ahci                   25819  3 
libahci                32168  1 ahci
e1000e                254433  0 
i2c_algo_bit           13413  1 radeon
ttm                    85115  1 radeon
ptp                    18933  1 e1000e
drm_kms_helper         52758  1 radeon
pps_core               19382  1 ptp
drm                   302817  6 ttm,drm_kms_helper,radeon
video                  19476  1 asus_wmi
wmi                    19177  2 mxm_wmi,asus_wmi

I would be a little surprised if it was an issue of driver presence though, since both devices have produced sound (even if only briefly).

alsa-state.service does not run, but from what little I think I understand about alsa that might be totally fine.

Code:

● alsa-state.service - Manage Sound Card State (restore and store)
   Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/alsa-state.service; static; vendor pr
   Active: inactive (dead)
Condition: start condition failed at Mon 2016-03-21 01:33:11 CDT; 1h 9min ago
           ConditionPathExists=/etc/alsa/state-daemon.conf was not met

further research lead me to check alsa-restore.service

Code:

● alsa-restore.service - Save/Restore Sound Card State
   Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/alsa-restore.service; static; vendor 
   Active: active (exited) since Mon 2016-03-21 01:33:11 CDT; 1h 14min ago
  Process: 460 ExecStart=/usr/bin/alsactl restore (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS
 Main PID: 460 (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
    Tasks: 0 (limit: 512)
   CGroup: /system.slice/alsa-restore.service

Mar 21 01:33:11 $HOSTNAME systemd[1]: Starting Save/Restore Sound Card State...
Mar 21 01:33:11 $HOSTNAME systemd[1]: Started Save/Restore Sound Card State.

Which originally ran, but threw some errors about permisions being inadequate. These have since gone away, that particular error seemed to stop after running alsactl init under sudo. The error does not appear even if alsactl init is not run after reboot.

At this point I feel every path I go down is just another red herring. I would use a better title if I understood what the actual root problem was.

Ztcoracat · 03-21-2016, 08:53 PM

Trouble shooting sound can be a PITA. I couldn't get sound with Open Suse no matter what I tried.

Running this cmd will show you what sound card you have.

Code:

aplay -l

In some cases there is an onboard snd card and certain graphics cards are seen as a snd card as well.

Try these links, HTH-

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php...d_Architecture
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/PulseAudio
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/sound_system

Envoy of Goats · 03-21-2016, 10:47 PM

I feel a bit stupid now, but I did finally find the issue. The graphical front end I was using (xfce4-mixer) does not display the pulse audio master volume... which was muted. Even with it unmuted my system is muting "S/PDIF" and unmuting "S/PDIF D" every restart. Audio plays when "S/PDIF" is on and "SPDIF D" is irrelevant. Oddly, this is the opposite of the correct settings for Ubuntu. I am surprised that sound under VLC worked at all with pulse muted, this was one of my main reasons for believing that my trouble was not with the volume sliders. It appears that VLC is not using pulse at all.

Trouble shooting was more difficult than necesary since changing these settings does not always yield immediate results and I was not restarting firefox or even just waiting a few seconds before moving forward.

I still dont know how to stop S/PDIF from being muted at start, but am at a point where I can reliably get sound with relatively little work and am too tired of this issue to pursue that specific fix at this time. Marking as Solved.

TLDR: PulseAudio Master Volume was muted. False negatives/positives during troubleshooting because I was testing with software that ignores Pulse.

Ztcoracat · 03-21-2016, 11:15 PM

Quote:

Trouble shooting was more difficult than necesary since changing these settings does not always yield immediate results and I was not restarting firefox or even just waiting a few seconds before moving forward.

-::-BTDT-::-

Glad to hear that you were able to determine that the master was muted.
I don't get why sound or the interface for sound is muted after a fresh install.

It's that way with Debian as well.

Enjoy your Arch Linux.-

enorbet · 03-22-2016, 06:24 AM

In many cases, especially with an actual sound card as opposed to onboard sound (partly due to on-chip hardware mixing in sound cards but absent in onboard) I find pulseaudio offers no advantages and the disadvantage of conflicting with the Jack daemon. Therefore I enjoy the simplicity of Alsa-only by disabling pulseaudio. If you have an actual soundcard it is very much worth a try with the only caveat (at least for now) that Skype, if you use it, requires a minor workaround to convince it all conditions are met. There are threads on LQN to show how that is accomplished in under 5 minutes.