[SOLVED] Sound completely messed up (Arch Linux with ALSA and pulseaudio)

bertalanp99 · 09-16-2017, 03:09 PM

I was trying to configure sound on my freshly installed Arch Linux PC. Now it looks like things got really messed up and I can't do anything. I know it is not a hardware issue.

Please take a look at the output of alsamixer for example:

Code:

[bertalanp99@watermelon ~]$ alsamixer
ALSA lib conf.c:1206:(parse_value) default is not a string
ALSA lib conf.c:1876:(snd_config_load1) _toplevel_:131:0:Invalid argument
ALSA lib conf.c:3636:(config_file_open) /etc/asound.conf may be old or corrupted: consider to remove or fix it
ALSA lib conf.c:3558:(snd_config_hooks_call) function snd_config_hook_load returned error: Invalid argument
ALSA lib control.c:1373:(snd_ctl_open_noupdate) Invalid CTL default
cannot open mixer: Invalid argument

Result of aplay -l

Code:

[bertalanp99@watermelon ~]$ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
ALSA lib conf.c:1206:(parse_value) default is not a string
ALSA lib conf.c:1876:(snd_config_load1) _toplevel_:131:0:Invalid argument
ALSA lib conf.c:3636:(config_file_open) /etc/asound.conf may be old or corrupted: consider to remove or fix it
ALSA lib conf.c:3558:(snd_config_hooks_call) function snd_config_hook_load returned error: Invalid argument
ALSA lib control.c:1373:(snd_ctl_open_noupdate) Invalid CTL hw:0
aplay: device_list:279: control open (0): Invalid argument
ALSA lib conf.c:1206:(parse_value) default is not a string
ALSA lib conf.c:1876:(snd_config_load1) _toplevel_:131:0:Invalid argument
ALSA lib conf.c:3636:(config_file_open) /etc/asound.conf may be old or corrupted: consider to remove or fix it
ALSA lib conf.c:3558:(snd_config_hooks_call) function snd_config_hook_load returned error: Invalid argument
ALSA lib control.c:1373:(snd_ctl_open_noupdate) Invalid CTL hw:1
aplay: device_list:279: control open (1): Invalid argument
ALSA lib conf.c:1206:(parse_value) default is not a string
ALSA lib conf.c:1876:(snd_config_load1) _toplevel_:131:0:Invalid argument
ALSA lib conf.c:3636:(config_file_open) /etc/asound.conf may be old or corrupted: consider to remove or fix it
ALSA lib conf.c:3558:(snd_config_hooks_call) function snd_config_hook_load returned error: Invalid argument
ALSA lib control.c:1373:(snd_ctl_open_noupdate) Invalid CTL hw:2
aplay: device_list:279: control open (2): Invalid argument

I also have pulseaudio installed.

I don't even know what else to post, everything related to sound gives me tons of these errors. Please help

Emerson · 09-16-2017, 04:28 PM

Is there a tool in Arch to verify the integrity of installed packages (like qcheck in Gentoo)? I suspect file corruption.

WFV · 09-16-2017, 05:56 PM

what version of Arch?

Code:

uname -a

here is a clue also:

Code:

ALSA lib conf.c:3636:(config_file_open) /etc/asound.conf may be old or corrupted: consider to remove or fix it

ondoho · 09-17-2017, 12:43 AM

^ i am using archlinux with plain alsa.
there is no /etc/asound.conf on my system:

Code:

pacman -Qo /etc/asound.conf
error: failed to read file '/etc/asound.conf': No such file or directory

i suggest you move it out of the way and reboot.

if that doesn't help, try re-installing.

Code:

pacman -Ss alsa | grep installed

will give you a list.

Shadow_7 · 09-17-2017, 02:41 AM

Or create a $HOME/.asoundrc so it doesn't even look for /etc/asound.conf.

FILE: $HOME/.asoundrc

Code:

defaults.ctl.card 1
defaults.pcm.card 1
defaults.pcm.device 0

Would be the functional equivalent of hw:1,0. Where *.ctl.card is what you use for control (mixer settings), and *.pcm.card is the sound output (or input) device. The .device is the sub device, 0 for playback, 1 or 2 for capture, 3 is HDMI audio a lot of the time and why I keep the entry even though it's basically defaults to that if missing. Various more details (if you know how to read it) in /proc/asound/*.

You could also pass which soundcard to alsamixer.

$ alsamixer -c 1

To get a glimpse of what the number means and points at:

$ cat /proc/asound/cards

Otherwise (re)install the alsa stuff, to include libasound2, and alsa-utils.

# pacman -Sy alsa-lib alsa-plugins alsa-utils alsa-firmware

Shadow_7 · 09-17-2017, 02:42 AM

$ pkgfile -s -g *asound.conf*
extra/pulseaudio-alsa

Looks like you might have grabbed some pulseaudio stuff. I'm not sure if you were wanting that or not. Although modern web browsers seem to "require" it now (if you want sound).

bertalanp99 · 09-17-2017, 03:34 AM

Hello, thanks for your replies. Sorry for making a fuss; actually, I was able to solve the problem relatively easily an hour after posting. The error says clearly that I have some problem with my /etc/asound.conf. I removed the file and ran

Code:

 sudo pacman -S pulseaudio-alsa

which regenerated the file. Then I had to fix a few things in my asoundrc (selected my correct sound card as default). Now sound works very well.

ondoho · 09-18-2017, 12:51 AM

i thought you meant you don't have pulseaudio.

...and there's no package alsa-pulseaudio.

bertalanp99 · 09-18-2017, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ondoho

i thought you meant you don't have pulseaudio.

...and there's no package alsa-pulseaudio.

Please note that nowehere in my post did I mention not having pulseaudio. I should have mentioned that I had that installed though.

And thanks for pointing that out; of course the package name is pulseaudio-alsa. I edited my last reply.

ondoho · 09-18-2017, 01:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bertalanp99

Please note that nowehere in my post did I mention not having pulseaudio.

exactly. you never mentioned it, talking about ALSA all the time...
but hey, i don't want to dis you!
just pointing out that the potential for misunderstanding was high, and that there's a reason why we always ask people to provide as much information as possible, because you simply cannot take things for granted.

bertalanp99 · 09-19-2017, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ondoho

exactly. you never mentioned it, talking about ALSA all the time...
but hey, i don't want to dis you!
just pointing out that the potential for misunderstanding was high, and that there's a reason why we always ask people to provide as much information as possible, because you simply cannot take things for granted.

I know you don't. And you are right, I added a bit of information about having pulseaudio as well to the original post/question for future reference.

ondoho · 09-20-2017, 12:44 AM

nice.
btw, pulseaudio implies alsa; it is always built on top of alsa.