Is there any support for the audio card/codec Realtek ALC298?

BigBird123 · 04-22-2018, 11:31 AM

I recently installed Ubuntu Gnome on my galaxy book 10. Everything works almost out of the box with the only exception being networking but that was an easy fix.

The only issue left unresolved is that of audio output. Neither the headphone jack nor built in speakers produce any sound.

The sound card used in this machine is the Realtek ALC298 which does not seem to be officially supported by Realtek themselves for linux. My question is;

Has anyone managed to make this or any other "non-supported" sound card work? If so how?

I ran a alsa-info script that contains the majority of the information pertaining to my system and how the sound is configured here.

This is my modprobe alsa-base.conf

Code:

# autoloader aliases
install sound-slot-0 /sbin/modprobe snd-card-0
install sound-slot-1 /sbin/modprobe snd-card-1
install sound-slot-2 /sbin/modprobe snd-card-2
install sound-slot-3 /sbin/modprobe snd-card-3
install sound-slot-4 /sbin/modprobe snd-card-4
install sound-slot-5 /sbin/modprobe snd-card-5
install sound-slot-6 /sbin/modprobe snd-card-6
install sound-slot-7 /sbin/modprobe snd-card-7

# Cause optional modules to be loaded above generic modules
install snd /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install snd $CMDLINE_OPTS && { /sbin/modprobe --quiet --use-blacklist snd-ioctl32 ; /sbin/modprobe --quiet --use-blacklist snd-seq ; }
#
# Workaround at bug #499695 (reverted in Ubuntu see LP #319505)
install snd-pcm /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install snd-pcm $CMDLINE_OPTS && { /sbin/modprobe --quiet --use-blacklist snd-pcm-oss ; : ; }
install snd-mixer /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install snd-mixer $CMDLINE_OPTS && { /sbin/modprobe --quiet --use-blacklist snd-mixer-oss ; : ; }
install snd-seq /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install snd-seq $CMDLINE_OPTS && { /sbin/modprobe --quiet --use-blacklist snd-seq-midi ; /sbin/modprobe --quiet --use-blacklist snd-seq-oss ; : ; }
#
install snd-rawmidi /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install snd-rawmidi $CMDLINE_OPTS && { /sbin/modprobe --quiet --use-blacklist snd-seq-midi ; : ; }
# Cause optional modules to be loaded above sound card driver modules
install snd-emu10k1 /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install snd-emu10k1 $CMDLINE_OPTS && { /sbin/modprobe --quiet --use-blacklist snd-emu10k1-synth ; }
install snd-via82xx /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install snd-via82xx $CMDLINE_OPTS && { /sbin/modprobe --quiet --use-blacklist snd-seq ; }

# Load saa7134-alsa instead of saa7134 (which gets dragged in by it anyway)
install saa7134 /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install saa7134 $CMDLINE_OPTS && { /sbin/modprobe --quiet --use-blacklist saa7134-alsa ; : ; }
# Prevent abnormal drivers from grabbing index 0
options bt87x index=-2
options cx88_alsa index=-2
options saa7134-alsa index=-2
options snd-atiixp-modem index=-2
options snd-intel8x0m index=-2
options snd-via82xx-modem index=-2
options snd-usb-audio index=-2
options snd-usb-caiaq index=-2
options snd-usb-ua101 index=-2
options snd-usb-us122l index=-2
options snd-usb-usx2y index=-2
# Ubuntu #62691, enable MPU for snd-cmipci
options snd-cmipci mpu_port=0x330 fm_port=0x388
# Keep snd-pcsp from being loaded as first soundcard
options snd-pcsp index=-2
# Keep snd-usb-audio from beeing loaded as first soundcard
options snd-usb-audio index=-2

#Options that I changed from default
options snd_hda_intel enable=1 index=0
options snd_hda_intel index=1
options snd_hda_intel model=laptop-amic

dmesg audio output

Code:

:$ dmesg | grep audio
[    4.333720] snd_hda_intel 0000:00:1f.3: bound 0000:00:02.0 (ops i915_audio_component_bind_ops [i915])
[    4.489470] snd_hda_codec_realtek hdaudioC0D0: autoconfig for ALC298: line_outs=1 (0x17/0x0/0x0/0x0/0x0) type:speaker
[    4.489473] snd_hda_codec_realtek hdaudioC0D0:    speaker_outs=0 (0x0/0x0/0x0/0x0/0x0)
[    4.489474] snd_hda_codec_realtek hdaudioC0D0:    hp_outs=0 (0x0/0x0/0x0/0x0/0x0)
[    4.489476] snd_hda_codec_realtek hdaudioC0D0:    mono: mono_out=0x0
[    4.489477] snd_hda_codec_realtek hdaudioC0D0:    inputs:
[    4.489479] snd_hda_codec_realtek hdaudioC0D0:      Mic=0x18
[    4.489480] snd_hda_codec_realtek hdaudioC0D0:      Internal Mic=0x12

beachboy2 · 04-23-2018, 12:12 PM

BigBird123,

Welcome to LQ.

A sound setting may be muted by default.

Install pavucontrol via Terminal:

Code:

sudo apt-get install pavucontrol

Look here for a similar problem:
https://askubuntu.com/questions/8442...realtek-alc892

BigBird123 · 04-23-2018, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beachboy2

BigBird123,

Welcome to LQ.

A sound setting may be muted by default.

Install pavucontrol via Terminal:

Code:

sudo apt-get install pavucontrol

Look here for a similar problem:
https://askubuntu.com/questions/8442...realtek-alc892

Thank you beachboy2,

This is one of two threads I attempted to post (first time posting to this site). The other goes into more detail what I have tried so far.

Using pavucontrol shows that nothing is muted, as does alsamixer.

I will update my original post to include more debug logs (if possible, if not I will just post them in another comment).

_roman_ · 04-24-2018, 09:30 AM

sounds like hda_intel soundcard (which was also later told in your outputs: snd_hda_intel)

hda_intel is sometimes problematic. hda_intel is a summary of many different sound cards

--

Common mistake is to just unmute only alsa based soundcard or only pulseaudio soundmixer.

that'S the reason why you were told to use pavucontrol.

you need to unmute, and set some volume levels for both the software sound mixer, usually called pulseaudio and for your hardware sound card. afaik f6 keys in alsamixer can switch soundcards.

--

also note, that wiht my similar hda_intel based notebook sound card, certain linux kernels had issues.

only working kernel here is kenrel branch 4.10. So you may try different linux kernel branches.
Just for information, my outdated antique asus g75vw notebook, did not work properly with kernels 4.11-4.15. Sound card did only work sometimes / special keys broken / power management broken ... and other issues. kernel 4.0 and kernel 4.4 were more stable and more tested in my point of view. also some subkernels / updated kernels also do not work always. hda_intel is a bit problematic. also gentoo linux guys used certain compiler flags which also caused many linux kernel bugs which were related to untested "gcc compiler flags", "unused / unusual gcc compiler flags".

--

I would not recommend touching any alsa based config files. Usually it works or it does not work with a certain kernels. playing around with config files introduce a second source of why it may not work

BigBird123 · 04-24-2018, 07:38 PM

Thank you _roman_ for the reply,

When I open alsa mixer and attempt to switch sound cards my options are

1. (default)
2. HDA Intel PCH
3. enter device name...

When I try and switch from HDA Intel PCH to (default)

I get the error

Code:

Cannot open mixer device 'default' No such file or directory

Hopefully this means something to you.

Shadow_7 · 04-25-2018, 09:01 PM

$ cat /proc/asound/cards

If it has a driver and it's used, it'll show up there. Along side an index number that lets you reference it in the absence of audio extras like pulse audio.

$ alsamixer -c 1
(or press F6 and select it)
( press F1 for the help while in alsamixer )

In the presence of pulseaudio, things get more difficult. Pulse locks the device from other methods. What might be "default" as a parameter will change to "pulse". Baring a .asoundrc that specifies pulse as the default. Lots of layers with lots of toe stepping these days.

The i915 is the intel GPU, so HDMI OUT? Which probably is NOT hw:0,0 in alsa naming conventions.

$ egrep -r -i HDMI /proc/asound/* | grep -i pcm

drunkenmaster! · 05-02-2018, 03:47 AM

Hi Shadow 7,

egrep -r -i HDMI /proc/asound/* | grep -i pcm gives (only last lines):

/proc/asound/pcm:00-03: HDMI 0 : HDMI 0 : playback 1
/proc/asound/pcm:00-07: HDMI 1 : HDMI 1 : playback 1
/proc/asound/pcm:00-08: HDMI 2 : HDMI 2 : playback 1
/proc/asound/pcm:00-09: HDMI 3 : HDMI 3 : playback 1
/proc/asound/pcm:00-10: HDMI 4 : HDMI 4 : playback 1

I couldn't try USB-C -> HDMI because of a missing adapter. But sound over bluetooth works with headphones and speakers. In addition mkchromecast connected to a chromecast also playes sound. Bluetooth sometimes works with glitches and mkchromecast refuses to work - e.g. start video everythings works fine. Stop and start again, sound is missing. Repeat and sound works again.

------------------
Hardware Samsung Book 10.6

Shadow_7 · 05-03-2018, 03:23 PM

/proc/asound/pcm:00-03: HDMI 0 : HDMI 0 : playback 1 === hw:0,3
/proc/asound/pcm:00-07: HDMI 1 : HDMI 1 : playback 1 === hw:0,7
/proc/asound/pcm:00-08: HDMI 2 : HDMI 2 : playback 1 === hw:0,8
/proc/asound/pcm:00-09: HDMI 3 : HDMI 3 : playback 1 === hw:0,9
/proc/asound/pcm:00-10: HDMI 4 : HDMI 4 : playback 1 === hw:0,10

Or something like that in terms of alsa names.

$ speaker-test -c 2 -l 1 -D hw:0,3
$ speaker-test -c 2 -l 1 -D hw:0,7
$ speaker-test -c 2 -l 1 -D hw:0,8
$ speaker-test -c 2 -l 1 -D hw:0,9
$ speaker-test -c 2 -l 1 -D hw:0,10

You can have a .asoundrc that reflects one of those as default (when using alsa natively) that looks a bit like this:

FILE: $HOME/.asoundrc

Code:

defaults.ctl.card 0
defaults.pcm.card 0
defaults.pcm.device 3

Replace the .device number as appropriate, depending on which HDMI out your monitor (with audio) is plugged into. The default is hw:0,0 which is normally the speakers or headphone jack depending on the type of computer.

And yes bluetooth is quite quirky IME. Even with the switch-on-connect module, it'll work great when it's first setup, and then get very unreliable with pavucontrol interventions to make it work again. Although most time's I've used it, it has been on small embedded devices like a pocketchip.

AwesomeMachine · 05-08-2018, 05:06 PM

I think it's a kernel regression. You might consider reporting it to the distro bug system under the kernel-version.

BigBird123 · 05-16-2018, 06:59 PM

Thanks shadow,

I ran the commands you suggested with little success.

Here is the result of

Code:

egrep -r -i HDMI /proc/asound* | grep -i pcm

Code:

/proc/asound/pcm:01-03: HDMI 0 : HDMI 0 : playback 1
/proc/asound/pcm:01-07: HDMI 1 : HDMI 1 : playback 1
/proc/asound/pcm:01-08: HDMI 2 : HDMI 2 : playback 1
/proc/asound/pcm:01-09: HDMI 3 : HDMI 3 : playback 1
/proc/asound/pcm:01-10: HDMI 4 : HDMI 4 : playback 1
/proc/asound/card1/pcm3p/info:id: HDMI 0
/proc/asound/card1/pcm3p/info:name: HDMI 0
/proc/asound/card1/pcm3p/sub0/info:id: HDMI 0
/proc/asound/card1/pcm3p/sub0/info:name: HDMI 0
/proc/asound/card1/pcm7p/info:id: HDMI 1
/proc/asound/card1/pcm7p/info:name: HDMI 1
/proc/asound/card1/pcm7p/sub0/info:id: HDMI 1
/proc/asound/card1/pcm7p/sub0/info:name: HDMI 1
/proc/asound/card1/pcm8p/info:id: HDMI 2
/proc/asound/card1/pcm8p/info:name: HDMI 2
/proc/asound/card1/pcm8p/sub0/info:id: HDMI 2
/proc/asound/card1/pcm8p/sub0/info:name: HDMI 2
/proc/asound/card1/pcm9p/info:id: HDMI 3
/proc/asound/card1/pcm9p/info:name: HDMI 3
/proc/asound/card1/pcm9p/sub0/info:id: HDMI 3
/proc/asound/card1/pcm9p/sub0/info:name: HDMI 3
/proc/asound/card1/pcm10p/info:id: HDMI 4
/proc/asound/card1/pcm10p/info:name: HDMI 4
/proc/asound/card1/pcm10p/sub0/info:id: HDMI 4
/proc/asound/card1/pcm10p/sub0/info:name: HDMI 4

I also tried

Code:

speaker-test -c 2 -l 1 -D h2:x,x

on HDMI 0-4 with no success

Thank you

Shadow_7 · 05-18-2018, 12:10 AM

/proc/asound/card1/pcm10p/info:id: HDMI 4

this would be hw:1,10 for the alsa name.

/proc/asound/pcm:01-10: HDMI 4 : HDMI 4 : playback 1

This would also be hw:1,10 for the alsa name.

Where 1 is the card # and 10 is the device. Technically there is a subdevice as well which is likely 0 and assumed so hw:1,10,0 if you want to get overly technical. Rarely needed, except when doing exotic things like snd-aloop / alsaloop.

$ cat /proc/asound/card1/pcm10p/info

jba1978 · 12-07-2019, 09:41 AM

Has there been any movement on this by chance? I'm running Fedora31 and Ubuntu19.10 and there is still no sound with ALC298.
I've tried alsamixer and pavucontrol, but no go.
Is there a way to find if support is coming in future kernels? I'm trying to decide whether or not to return a computer with this issue.
Thank you!

business_kid · 12-09-2019, 04:42 AM

I'm running a hda_intel here for years with no problems on the kernels you mention. It's not a soundcard to write home about (actually, it sucks) but it does the job. Check these basic details

Code:

bash-5.0$ lspci -v |grep -A10 Audio
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C216 Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 04)
	Subsystem: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd 7 Series/C216 Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller
	Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 27
	Memory at c0210000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
	Capabilities: <access denied>
	Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
	Kernel modules: snd_hda_intel
bash-5.0$ lsmod |grep snd
snd_hda_codec_hdmi     57344  1
snd_hda_codec_realtek    94208  1
snd_hda_codec_generic    77824  1 snd_hda_codec_realtek
snd_hda_intel          36864  3
snd_hda_codec         122880  4 snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec_realtek
snd_hwdep              16384  1 snd_hda_codec
snd_hda_core           69632  5 snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_codec_realtek
snd_pcm                90112  4 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_core
snd_timer              32768  1 snd_pcm
snd                    81920  14 snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hwdep,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_timer,snd_pcm
soundcore              16384  1 snd
bash-5.0$ uname -r
4.19.59-dec2
bash-5.0$

The kernel is my own home-brewed job. Every distro kernel I tried worked out of the box. If you have that stuff, you're tripping up on software.

aus9 · 12-09-2019, 04:57 AM

Hi I hope the others don't mind chipping in.

OP post 5 reports alsamixer F6 results as 1...2..3..
but I wonder if you meant ....dash....0....?

@BigBird123

Can you post the actual results of

Code:

aplay -l
aplay -L

and I am thinking out loud....you have only one card but different devices on same card...My device is not yours but my F6 offers only card zero.

so do you agree that actual results for F6 were as per my image....ignore the ALC number?
https://imgur.com/TWsC8Bl