I did as you asked, rebooted, and was greeted by a lovely little song once I re-logged in. Sound seems to work.

AND NOW I'M PLAYING AN AUDIO CD!!

Thank you SO INCREDIBLY MUCH for your help!!

sweet...
I love it when a plan comes together.

Have fun and welcome to Linux!

I'd like to jump in on this thread for some help.

I'm not a newbie, but I'm not an expert either. I've been fiddling around with my sound card for months - have read numberous posting - can't get it to work.

Ceder, can't you provide some advice...

Running Ubuntu 5.04 on a Gateway Solo 2500. Sound card is Neomagic 256av.
Let me know if you need more info.

lsmod | grep snd results in..
snd_sb_common 14848 0
snd_seq_device 8332 0
snd_mixer_oss 16768 0
snd_timer 23300 0
snd_page_alloc 9604 0
snd 50276 4 snd_sb_common,snd_seq_device,snd_mixer_oss,snd_timer
soundcore 9824 1 snd

modprobe snd-nm256 (as root) results in a bunch of problems, thefirst few lines posted here...
FATAL: Error inserting snd_pcm (/lib/modules/2.6.10-5-386/updates/alsa/acore/snd-pcm.ko): Unknown symbol in module, or unknown parameter (see dmesg)
WARNING: Error running install command for snd_pcm
WARNING: Error inserting snd_ac97_codec (/lib/modules/2.6.10-5-386/updates/alsa/pci/ac97/snd-ac97-codec.ko): Unknown symbol in module, or unknown parameter (see dmesg)


I'm stuck. Can you (or someone) point me in the right direction?
Thanks!

is snd-nm256 the name of the module? did you go through the kernel config to get that module name or did you find it somewhere else?
edit - it appears to be the right module, but if it's not loading you may have to recompile your kernel to include support for this card...compiling a kernel isn't really all that bad with the 2.6 kernels, just time consuming (1-2 hours)

Yes, snd-nn256 is the name of the module (at least that what it seems from alsa-project.org.) The link below is what I used...

http://www.alsa-project.org/alsa-doc...0&module=nm256

I used one of the recent alsa-drivers from the site - this is not from the kernel config . However, when I last compiled the kernel, I did select nearly all of the the sound modules (my current kernel is 2.6.10-5-386 running Ubuntu).

Recompling in the past did'nt seem to help - unless I've missed something.

I failed to mention previously that I have always received the following message upon KDE startup - no matter which Linux I run (i.e: Debian, Ubuntu, KnoppixLive CD...)

Sound server informational message:
Error while initializing the sound driver:
device /dev/dsp can't be opened (No such file or directory)
The sound server will continue, using the null output device.

As an aside: Seem like kernel compiling takes ~4-6 hours on my computer (pentium II-mmx 233mhz). Probably just the processor speed, eh?

If a re-compile is all this is needed - any suggestions for selecting the sound modules? What's up with the missing /dev/dsp? should that just appear after a recompile?

Thanks, Tim

when you compile your kernel, using make menuconfig or make xconfig go to the section Device drivers --> Sound --> Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (make this a module) --> PCI devices --> NeoMagic NM256AV/ZX (make this a module)
This will give you the ALSA driver for your card, I suspect that you have the OSS driver compiled which is not snd-nm256, but sound-nm256. If you don't feel like recompiling your kernel you can try loading that module first.
Sorry for the delay in answering, I'm on vacation.

Thanks- I'll recompile today and post the results.

I appreciate the guidence. Enjoy your vacation!

Thanks, Tim

Hello everyone,
I have the same problem, but only with compailed kernels - 2.6.11.11 and 2.6.12.2. On Slackware's 10.1 native kernel (2.4.29) sound is ok. Here is the message I got at startup of KDE:
http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/4...orsound4lb.png

lsmod | grep snd - no output

Info about Sound Device - it's built in sound card (not on PCI) Via Motherboard
http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/6945/sound28vu.png

And branch Sound from KInfoCenter
http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/5963/sound10dv.png

Is there any way to make my sound card to work without recompiling kernel? I recompiled kernel two times today therefore I don't want to compile it once again.

Thx for help
Regards,
Daniel

about recompiling.....that depends on whether you included support for your card in the kernel or not
as for it being built-in rather than pci...it probably is pci even though it is built-in (mine is)...it may be isa though
we need more info about your card (you can google your specific computer to find out what kind of card it has) this is necessary to know what module to load (or what to put in the kernel if it comes to that)

Ok, I compiled a new kernel from kernel.org. Used 2.6.12.2

I de-selected all options from: Device drivers --> Sound --> Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (make this a module) --> PCI devices -->
Except: NeoMagic NM256AV/ZX and anything that mentoned cards AD1848 (analog devices) or OPL35A2 (Yamaha), as I read these to be relevant (I can't currently find the reference link I read that from)

Findings:
1. The sounds still doesn't work. I get the same message (as previous to compiling) as LordSurvivoR:
Sound server informational message:
Error while initializing the sound driver:
device: /dev/dsp can't be opened for playback (No such file or directory)
The sound server will continue, using the null output device.

2. lsmod | grep snd, initially produced nothing (no output). Then "modprobe snd", and "lsmod | grep snd" again produced:
snd 51972 0
soundcore 10080 1 snd

3. Then (just for fun), "modprobe snd-nm256", and "lsmod | grep snd" produced:
snd_nm256 68448 0
snd_ac97_codec 70264 1 snd_nm256
snd_pcm_oss 47008 0
snd_mixer_oss 16512 1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm 82952 3 snd_nm256,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss
snd_timer 23684 1 snd_pcm
snd_page_alloc 9604 1 snd_pcm
snd 51972 6 snd_nm256,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_timer
soundcore 10080 1 snd

Restarting the sound system (via KDE control pannel) I still get the .../dev/dsp can't be opened... error

I'm stumped!

I dont' mind re-compiling too much. I'll usually set it up to compile over night. Its done by morning.

Regards.

The information from screenshot above isn't enought? - VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C686 AC97 Audio Controller (rev 50)

Google said:
Audio Output Sound card - PCI
Signal Processor VIA VT82C686B
Sound Output Mode Stereo
Compliant Standards Sound Blaster, DirectSound, AC '97, Sound Blaster Pro
information taken from
http://www.ciao.co.uk/Matsonic_MS8127C__5410090/TabId/4

P.S. The motherboard is Matsonic MS8127c+(266) if the information above still isn't enaught.

Is there any way to "steal" something from 2.4.29 kernel, where sound works?

jmiter--
run alsaconf and let us know what happens

@cedar: what should I do? what should be checked in kernel .config? And afer recompiling kernel, is there any pocket that must be installed?

Ran alsaconf:
1. No PnP or PCI cards found
2. probed for the legacy cards next... did'nt find anything


Before your post to run alsaconf - I was trying to hack this out myself. Found some interesting information....
1. following the instructions from alsa.org for my assumed card: snd-nm256, I re-installed the alsa driver, lib, and utility from source. I used:
- source: alsa driver 1.0.8-4ubuntu4, downloaded through the synaptic package manager
- lib and utility 1.0.8, from the alsa.org ftp site

Put them into /usr/src, and unzipped each to its own directory. Followed directions for each section: http://www.alsa-project.org/alsa-doc...0&module=nm256

!!! Strangely, I had to use ./snddevices inorder to have the /dev/dsp and other nodes installed.

Everything else ran without errors. Inserting the modules (modprobe snd-nm256,...) had a problem that I corrected. The files modprobe searched for filed in /lib/modules/2.6.12.2/kernel/sound/core, but all the needed files were in /lib/modules/2.6.12.2/kernel/sound/acore. I just copied over the need files and modprobed without errors. Only one that did not seem to work was

So, all the nodes were made, no compile errors, and modprobe'd. Restarding alsa with either /etc/init.d/alsasound or through the KDE control pannel still did not work (Still could not open /dev/dsp).

I re-booted and all my newly made nodes were gone !! Ran ./snddevice again, just now. Ran alsaconf before and after getting the nodes back with ./snddevice. Alsaconf can't seem to find the card. After probing for legacy cards, in the terminal I get this..
modinfo: could not find module snd-opl3sa2
modinfo: could not find module snd-cs4236
modinfo: could not find module snd-cs4232
modinfo: could not find module snd-cs4231
modinfo: could not find module snd-es18xx
modinfo: could not find module snd-es1688
modinfo: could not find module snd-sb16
modinfo: could not find module snd-sb8



Thanks,

LordSurvivoR-
check the .config file for the kernel you use (found in /boot ), search for CONFIG_SOUND_VIA82CXXX=m or SND_VIA82XX=m
if these are not present, you need to recompile your kernel to support your card, no other packages should need to be installed once your kernel is configured to support the hardware.