Slackware Sound on Portege R200
 

Hi All,

Long time linux user, first time posting. At work, a coworker couldn't get this little laptop working, so I threw Slackware 14 on it just for fun. Lo and behold, I really like this little Toshiba Portege R200. The only problem I am having is that I can't get sound to work out through the speakers. I've seen others with this issue online, but from what I can tell, I've exhausted my options. So here we go:

Problem: Sound plays just fine through the headphones, but will not play through the internal speaker.
Hardware: Stock Toshiba Portege R200
Software: Slackware 14
Window Manager: KDE

The sound module is loaded into the kernel correctly from what I can tell. alsamixer displays the soundcard as:

Card: Intel ICH6
Module: Analog Devices AD1981B

I've read some people having problem with the headphone autosense, but I have the same performance on either setting. As well, it doesn't matter what my privilege level is, if I'm logged in as my normal user or root, the problem is the same.

Thanks for your help!

MaNiFeX

Hello MaNiFeX, welcome to LQ,

could you please check which modules there are loaded with "snd" in their name, there should be more than one.
Which kernel did you install?

What does alsamixer show?

Markus

Hi Markus,

Thanks for helping me out! I installed the default Slackware kernel (the biggy.) The following is the output from lsmod:
Alsamixer shows the following:
Card: Intel ICH6
Chip: Analog Devices AD1981B

The mixer levels are at 70% and the Master, Master Main, Headphone and PCM are all unmuted. If I mute the headphones, or turn on Jack Sense, nothing comes out of the built in speakers.

The headphones still work like a charm.

Thanks in advance,

Matthew

PS - the kernel version is 3.2.29-smp.

mh, there's some other point. What happens when you plug the headphones off the computer? And what does alsamixer show?

Markus

Hi Markus,

If the headphones are unplugged, no sound is made at all... That's the crux of my issue. All the sound works just fine through the headphone jack, but when a headphone is unplugged, there is no sound routed to the built-in speakers.

The modules that are installed look correct, right?

When using alsamixer, the normal bars come up. By default, Jack Sense is off. It doesn't seem to matter if it is on or off. Is there something I should be looking for?

Here's some of the previous work I've looked at to try and get this to work:

http://glozer.net/dynabook/dynabook.html

http://www.linlap.com/toshiba_portege_r200

http://zir0faive.free.fr/portege.php (en francais)


Thanks for your help,

Matthew

Yes, the modules look ok. I daubt that there's something wrong with the setup. It could also be a hardware-issue.

Markus

Hi Markus,

I'm pretty sure this is not a hardware issue. When it was running Windows, the speaker worked...

I saw in some of the articles listed above, that some people have tried a force-reload to get the sound to work. Also some say that the jack sense needs to be turned off. What do you think of the following?

Thanks,

Matthew

Well, do you have the OSS modules loaded? maybe you try to load them manually with modprobe (as root of course).

Markus

Hi Markus,

OK. I'll give that a try and let you know how it goes. Thanks for the help.

Matthew

Don't forget, when alsamixer is running, to press F2 in order to get more information! Check if there are other settings available in alsamixer which you don't see at first sight!

Markus

I haven't loaded the OSS modules yet, but pressing F2 in alsamixer gives me a lot more information. I see plenty of capture/playback devices, but am not sure what to do with that information.

Thanks,

Matthew

http://kmuto.jp/debian/hcl/Toshiba/Portege+M200

driver used is snd-intel8x0. Yes, means it works in sound.

which you show

So probably a setting is turned off like speakers in alsamixer (F5 gives me all settings in Alsamixer, I guess F2 is for Slackware).

might want to post

also to beef up the thread maybe.

Thanks rokytnji,

Just to clarify what I see in alsamixer: F5 gives me all my output and input devices on the screen with sliders, mute, etc. F2 gives me a list of files with a variety of what looks to be hardware addresses, flags, or settings.

I left my machine at home today, so I'll have to post the output of asound.state when I get off of work. I've been using slackware since 1998 and have usually had no problem with the sound, so I guess I get to use this as a learning opportunity!

PLease remember, I just installed Slackware 14 on this puppy, so it's running kernel version 3.2.29-smp. I don't know if this affects the sound modules or not.

Thanks,

Matthew

Referring to your post #8 in this thread, I cannot find
in the kernel. But I don't know what this is, the other modules you've listed are available in the stock-Slackware-14-kernel

Markus

Hey Rokytnji,

Here's the output of asound.state, hopefully you can glean something from it! I appreciate the input/help!

Just looking at the asound state, it's illuminating to do a 'find in page' for the word false.

Value = false turns things off. maybe set some of them to 'true' or a numerical value (e.g. 2), save the file, and run
and see if it helps.