No Sound Onboard Realtek ALC889A Codec Gigagbyte EX58-UD5 Core i7
 

TITLE : No Sound, Core i7, Nehalem, Gigabyte EX58-UD5, Rhel 5.3, Kernel 2.6.18-128.1.1.el5 SMP x86_64, 6GB DDR3 RAM

The onboard integrated audio uses a Realtek ALC889A codec according to the User's Manual

When I go into the BIOS the onbaord audio is called Azalia Codec. I've made sure it's enabled.

From the Gnome Desktop I go to System/Administration/Soundcard Detection menu option

It tells me "The following audio device was detected"

Vendor: Intel Model: Corporation 82801JI (IC10 family) HD audio controller Module: snd-hda-intel

When I try the sound test button nothing happens. I've checked the speakers are turned on and turned up to maximum volume. The green plug is plugged into the motherboards green Anaolg Audio output socket. The speakers work on another machine.

[root@WarbBox2 ~]# lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation X58 I/O Hub to ESI Port (rev 12)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation X58 I/O Hub PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev 12)
00:03.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation X58 I/O Hub PCI Express Root Port 3 (rev 12)
00:05.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation X58 I/O Hub PCI Express Root Port 5 (rev 12)
00:07.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation X58 I/O Hub PCI Express Root Port 7 (rev 12)
00:09.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation X58 I/O Hub PCI Express Root Port 9 (rev 12)
00:10.0 PIC: Intel Corporation X58 Physical and Link Layer Registers Port 0 (rev 12)
00:10.1 PIC: Intel Corporation X58 Routing and Protocol Layer Registers Port 0 (rev 12)
00:11.0 PIC: Intel Corporation QuickPath Interconnect Physical and Link Layer Registers Port 1 (rev 12)
00:11.1 PIC: Intel Corporation QuickPath Interconnect Routing and Protocol Layer Registers Port 1 (rev 12)
00:13.0 PIC: Intel Corporation X58 I/O Hub I/OxAPIC Interrupt Controller (rev 12)
00:14.0 PIC: Intel Corporation X58 I/O Hub System Management Registers (rev 12)
00:14.1 PIC: Intel Corporation X58 I/O Hub GPIO and Scratch Pad Registers (rev 12)
00:14.2 PIC: Intel Corporation X58 I/O Hub Control Status and RAS Registers (rev 12)
00:15.0 PIC: Intel Corporation X58 Trusted Execution Technology Registers (rev 12)
00:1a.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4
00:1a.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5
00:1a.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB UHCI Controller #6
00:1a.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) HD Audio Controller
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) PCI Express Port 1
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) PCI Express Port 2
00:1c.4 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) PCI Express Port 5
00:1c.5 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) PCI Express Port 6
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge (rev 90)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801JIR (ICH10R) LPC Interface Controller
00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) 4 port SATA IDE Controller
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) SMBus Controller
00:1f.5 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) 2 port SATA IDE Controller
02:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation Quadro NVS 290 (rev a1)
07:00.0 SATA controller: JMicron Technologies, Inc. JMicron 20360/20363 AHCI Controller (rev 02)
07:00.1 IDE interface: JMicron Technologies, Inc. JMicron 20360/20363 AHCI Controller (rev 02)
08:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 03)
09:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 03)
[root@WarbBox2 ~]#

Went to the Realtek website and dowloaded their latest Linux drivers.

Followed the instructions # ./install

Tons of screens of info flashed by and ended in a bunch of error messages

Anyone know how to install the updated Realtek drivers on this version of Red Hat (EL5.3)

Before installing any drivers, try something:

Open a console as root and type:

alsamixer

and with luck you should be presented with a primitive-looking mixer panel. Using the spacebar or M key, along with the left/right/up/down arrow keys, check that the Master Volume and the PCM Volume selectors are not muted. By default, they are always muted. an MM at the bottom of the sliders means MUTE, whereas a 00 or other number indicates a volume level.

If they were muted, and you are able to un-mute them and turn up the volume, go ahead and set any other sliders that you feel are appropriate for your system/hardware.

When done, hit ESCAPE.

In the console now, type:

alsactl store

to save the settings for across reboots.

Now go and test the sound in your Sound Admin area.

Any success??

Hi GrapefruiTgirl,

I rolled back the kernel to Version 2.16.18-128.el5 (the original version on the installation DVD) and then the sound card worked fine.

Now the onboard Ethernet card failed to work properly even after I installed the updated Realtek drivers. Ended up disabling the onboard ethernet ports and installing an old Intel based fast ethernet card which worked fine.

I now have a working system and will keep it as is for a while

So it looks like this Gigabyte EX58-UD5 motherboard works out of the box with everything except the onboard ethernet. Upgrading the kernel to the 2.16.18-128.1.1.el5 version fixes the ethernet problems but introduces an issue with the onbaord sound card

If I uprgrade the kernel in the future I'll try your alsamixer suggestions

Thanks for taking the time to help.