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I am a linux n00b and am having problems getting my SB live card to work in Mandrake 10. I had 9.1 installed before I downloaded 10, and the sound worked just fine. From what I can see (and again im a n00b) when i try to configure my soundcard in the KDE Control Center, I get a message that says /dev/dsp cannot be opened, it doesn't exist, linux will load a null device
i went into my dev folder, and there is no dsp folder, but there is a sound folder so i tried overriding the device folder in KDE CC, and i get the same error except it points to /dev/sound instead of /dev/dsp. the dev/sound folder doesn't have anything in it, but all of my other device folders do so im guessing i dont have something installed properly...
I went into the Mandrake Control Center and checked the hardware it has listed for a soundcard, and it does recognize the SB Live card, but i can't find out any other information about it. Ive tried all of the suggested drivers (em10k1, snd-em10k1, and audigy) and non of them work. Is there some file i can look at that will give me more info on how linux is recognizing my card? Does anyone know how i can fix this so that i can load my card right?
That's a little bizarre. All of your modules are loaded including the OSS emulation. It's obviously looking for a /dev/dsp device so you'll have to create one. Try a MAKEDEV dsp (as root) in the /dev directory. Also try dsp0, dsp1, dsp2 if dsp doesn't work. Then just symlink dspX to dsp.
If that doesn't work then we'll have to try editting the /etc/asound.conf file.
I just tried the MAKEDEV dsp command and now when i check it in KDE CC, the artsmessage error just says "device /dev/dsp/ can't be opened (Is a directory)" instead of the No Such File or Directory error I was getting before, so I guess that didn't work unless there is something I'm missing
Errr... Are you sure you typed it in correctly? the command "ls -l dsp*" should only come up with one file on your system - the one you created with MAKEDEV. What I specifically wanted to see was the properties and permissions of dsp. Here are mine:
Code:
adz@hades:/dev$ ls -l dsp*
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 9 Feb 5 00:54 dsp -> /dev/dsp0
crw-rw---- 1 root audio 14, 3 Feb 5 00:54 dsp0
crw-rw---- 1 root audio 14, 19 Feb 5 00:54 dsp1
crw-rw---- 1 root audio 14, 35 Feb 5 00:54 dsp2
crw-rw---- 1 root audio 14, 51 Feb 5 00:54 dsp3
One other thing you can try is to create a dsp virtual device in ALSA. To do this you'd edit/create /etc/asound.conf (or ~/.asoundrc for the individual user) and enter the following:
Code:
pcm.dsp {
type plug
slave.pcm "dmix"
}
# mixer can stay unchanged, because it isn't used anyway, I guess ;)
ctl.mixer {
type hw
card 0
}
The above was ripped off directly from the ALSA WIKI. It is actually designed to let you play two sounds at once but may be helpful here in creating the dsp virtual device. Note that dsp and mixer can also be changed to dspX and mixerX where X 0, 1, 2, or 3.
Go into Mandrake Control Center. Click on System and then Services. Look for alsasound and sound. Turn them off and then turn them on again. If you do not see alsasound you may want to install the alsa RPM files for now. Also in KDE, turn off artsd. If that does not work, go into your BIOS and enable an option that refreshes the BIOS device information table. If it still does not work, try putting the card in a different pci slot.
Go to into "/proc/asound". Do you see a directory called card0 and maybe EMU10K1.
Try "ls -l /dev/dsp" to find out if its linking to a directory. On my system its linking to "/dev/sound/dsp".
What does dmesg say.
What is listed in your "/etc/modules.conf".
I do not know what options Mandrake has picked for kernel version 2.6.3. Type grep -v "#" /boot/config .
I think I may have led you down the garden path with the /etc/asound.conf file. But just to humour me (I should have asked this at the beginning) can you get sound out of ALSA output apps (like XMMS with the ALSA output plugin and mplayer)?
adz: when i did the MAKEDEV /dsp it took a really long time to finish, and when it did i opened the folder it made a ton of other files and folders (for example, it created a bunch of usb devices), so im not sure if there was something i left out in the makedev command, but i think thats why the ls -l /dsp listed so many files. Is there something specific i need to add in the command so that it only creates a sound device?
i created the asound.conf file because there wasn't one there. is there something i can do with that file now?
I can't get sound out of any apps at all. XMMS was actually the first app i tried when i got an error. the error in XMMS is different, however, but its more basic; stuff like make sure your soundcard is configured correctly.
electro:
Thanks for joining in on this I went into services and the sound option is working fine when i stop and restart it. but when i click start on the alsa option it says the alsa driver isn't running, and it is stopped by default.
this is what is listed in my modules.conf file:
probeall scsi_hostadapter usb-storage
probeall usb-interface usb-uhci ehci-hcd
alias eth0 via-rhine
above snd-emu10k1 snd-pcm-oss
alias sound-slot-0 emu10k1
This may answer electro's question of what is everything linking to...
Im guessing that the /dev/sound/ folder is being referred to as the /dev/dsp folder, but there aren"t any files in the sound folder. just thought this might help out
i was reading another post from someone who is having the same problem and they were saying that kernel 2.6 uses modprobe.conf to load modules instead of modules.conf. Could this be the problem? should i be working with modprobe.conf to fix the problem?
Yes you should be using modprobe.conf if you're using a 2.6 kernel. I didn't notice the discrepancy, sorry.
One question. When you tried XMMS was is configured to use the ALSA output plugin (Options -> Preferences)? If not, try that. Make sure you try a few different audio devices to see if they work (press "Configure"). Report any errors. If no workie try adding this to /etc/asound.conf (make sure it's not being overridden by ~/.asoundrc):
Code:
pcm.!default {
type plug
slave.pcm "dmix"
}
If still no success, try changing "dmix" to "plug". With the above file make sure your audio device is "default".
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SB Live 5.1 for Mandrake 10
I went into services and the sound option is working fine when i stop and restart it. but when i click start on the alsa option it says the alsa driver isn't running, and it is stopped by default. 
