No sound on stripped down Ubuntu 20.04 LTS with Enlightenment

Turbocapitalist · 11-19-2020, 04:04 AM

I have a refurbished Chromebook with the Enlightenment window manager in place of GNOME or whatever had been the default before removing a lot of GNOME stuff, but no sound.

Code:

$ grep -i pretty /etc/os-release 
PRETTY_NAME="Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS"

$ apt-cache policy enlightenment | head -n 2
enlightenment:
  Installed: 0.23.1-4

I presume there are some manual changes which must be made in order to have sound at all. Enlightenment's sound mixer widget shows no devices. However, there seem to be sound drivers loaded:

Code:

$ lspci -knn | grep -i -a2 audio
        Kernel driver in use: i915
        Kernel modules: i915
00:03.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation Broadwell-U Audio Controller [8086:160c] (rev 08)
        Subsystem: Intel Corporation Broadwell-U Audio Controller [8086:160c]
        Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
        Kernel modules: snd_hda_intel
--
        Kernel driver in use: mei_me
        Kernel modules: mei_me
00:1b.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP High Definition Audio Controller [8086:9ca0] (rev 03)
        Subsystem: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP High Definition Audio Controller [8086:9ca0]
        Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
        Kernel modules: snd_hda_intel

That output shows there is probably a sound driver running. What else is needed? I have searched quite a bit but the most common recipe about Alsa has not started any sound.

Code:

$ sudo alsa force-reload
Unloading ALSA sound driver modules: snd-hda-codec-hdmi snd-hda-codec-realtek snd-hda-codec-generic snd-hda-intel snd-intel-dspcfg snd-hda-codec snd-hda-core snd-hwdep snd-pcm snd-seq-midi snd-seq-midi-event snd-rawmidi snd-seq snd-seq-device snd-timer (failed: modules still loaded: snd-hda-codec-hdmi snd-hda-codec-realtek snd-hda-codec-generic snd-hda-intel snd-intel-dspcfg snd-hda-codec snd-hda-core snd-hwdep snd-pcm snd-timer).
Loading ALSA sound driver modules: snd-hda-codec-hdmi snd-hda-codec-realtek snd-hda-codec-generic snd-hda-intel snd-intel-dspcfg snd-hda-codec snd-hda-core snd-hwdep snd-pcm snd-seq-midi snd-seq-midi-event snd-rawmidi snd-seq snd-seq-device snd-timer.

$ apt-cache policy pulseaudio | head -n 2
pulseaudio:
  Installed: 1:13.99.1-1ubuntu3.7

If I try running pavucontrol the window never finishes loading and instead reports "Establishing connection to PulseAudio. Please wait."

Edit:

Code:

 aplay /usr/lib/libreoffice/share/gallery/sounds/apert.wav 
ALSA lib pcm_dmix.c:1089:(snd_pcm_dmix_open) unable to open slave

Edit 2:

Code:

$ cat /proc/asound/modules 
 0 snd_hda_intel
 1 snd_hda_intel

frankbell · 11-19-2020, 09:41 PM

Just to clarify, did you install Ubuntu with Gnome. then remove Gnome and install E?

Also, have you installed pavucontrol, as Ubuntu uses Pulse Audio?

If you boot to a Live CD/USB of something, do you then have sound?

Turbocapitalist · 11-20-2020, 06:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frankbell

Just to clarify, did you install Ubuntu with Gnome. then remove Gnome and install E?

Yes. It was stock Ubuntu 20.04 but that takes up over 90% of the tidy SSD, usually closer to 99% most of the time and then it gets slow and locks up on a frequent basis. So I've been trimming out the GNOME stuff more and more. When I took out the last of the GNOME stuff, the audio stopped.

Quote:

Originally Posted by frankbell

Also, have you installed pavucontrol, as Ubuntu uses Pulse Audio?

Yes, but pavucontrol will not run properly. It launches but does not show anything beyond a window containing only the message, "Establishing connection to PulseAudio. Please wait."

Code:

$ sudo systemctl status pulseaudio
Unit pulseaudio.service could not be found.

$ sudo systemctl status pulse
Unit pulse.service could not be found.

$ sudo systemctl status pulseaudio-enable-autospawn.service 
● pulseaudio-enable-autospawn.service
     Loaded: masked (Reason: Unit pulseaudio-enable-autospawn.service is masked>
     Active: inactive (dead)

$ apt-cache policy pulseaudio | head -n 2
pulseaudio:
  Installed: 1:13.99.1-1ubuntu3.7

$ pgrep -lf pulse 
967 pulseaudio
1732 pulseaudio

However, even though it appears that pulse is running, Enlightenment's mixer can't find any devices. Nor can pavucontrol find it, as per the error message above.

Quote:

Originally Posted by frankbell

If you boot to a Live CD/USB of something, do you then have sound?

Yes.

Turbocapitalist · 11-20-2020, 02:39 PM

There is sound with the following:

Code:

aplay -D plughw:1,0 /usr/share/sounds/alsa/Front_Center.wav

And 'aplay -l' finds the card.

Should ~/.asoundrc be modified to force something? Again, the Enlightenment Mixer finds nothing. PulseAudio & pavucontrol only find the Dummy Output, for now.

ondoho · 11-21-2020, 01:37 AM

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Establishi...o.+Please+wait.
Some solutions offered seem to be bogus, hardly more than workarounds or hacker voodoo.
The last one looks interesting:
https://askubuntu.com/questions/8790...io-please-wait

In-depth:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php...roubleshooting

Maybe you don't need pulseaudio at all.
Unless you use bluetooth I can think of no good reason.

PS: I'm pretty sure enlightenment has nothing to do with it, it's just a manual configuration issue.

Shadow_7 · 11-21-2020, 04:04 AM

pulseaudio is the default (and only) option for modern web browsers. Since firefox v. 54, seems like were at v. 83 these days.

for alsa:

FILE: $HOME/.asoundrc

Code:

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

This basically sets the default soundcard to hw:1,0 for things that use alsa. So you can omit the -D option for aplay (and others). And gui apps that don't give you any other options find the right card / route to output audio.

$ speaker-test -c 2 -l 1 -D hw:1,0
$ speaker-test -c 2 -l 1 -D default

for pulseaudio:

FILE: $HOME/.asoundrc

Code:

pcm.pulse    { type pulse  fallback "sysdefault" }
ctl.pulse    { type pulse  fallback "sysdefault" }
pcm.!default { type pulse  fallback "sysdefault" }
ctl.!default { type pulse  fallback "sysdefault" }

$ speaker-test -c 2 -l1 -D pulse

I suspect that you uninstalled things needed. Like libasound2, alsa-utils, pulseaudio, and such. Or that your user isn't in the audio and/or pulse groups. Although since aplay worked for you, that's likely not the case.

$ pulseaudio --kill
$ pulseaudio --start

And check the logs to see if it's complaining about something.

$ sudo journalctl -a
then press END to get to the latest entries.

The default soundcard is hw:0,0
By default sound is muted, so run alsamixer and check on that. Although likely not the case since aplay worked for you.

Many applications let you select a sound source/destination. And some things can take control of your soundcard and lock it from other users. Like jackd / jackdbus. Even pulse can lock the soundcard to a single user, unless you enable networked audio and use the lo (127.0.0.1) network device aka localhost.

Other quirks depending on versioning. Having $HOME/.pulse* can interfere / override $HOME/.config/pulse/* configs. Running pulseaudio --kill as root can change the permissions of /run/user/$UID/pulse*, where $UID is NOT root's UID, which effectively locks the card from any non-root users. Snaps will actually check that place, which doesn't exist if the user that is running the snap isn't the user who started X. Which for my use case is a snap failure. Plus it doesn't (yet) respect edge cases like networked pulseaudio. But snd-aloop and alsaloop with that user using a local pulse to hw:LOOPBACK,0,0 is a workaround I use.

Lots of options for sound out there. I use networked pulseaudio. It takes that burden (cpu/ram) off the client machine(s) and is a simple one liner to use (in most cases). $(echo "default-server = 192.168.2.3" > $HOME/.config/pulse/client.conf). It also allows all your networked devices to use your one high end stereo gear.

Turbocapitalist · 11-21-2020, 12:25 PM

Thanks. There is some progress though in this area I still have no guess as to what is going on. I've read too many pages and outside of LQ everyone seems to be cargo culting -- like I'm doing.

So I guess we're about a third of the way.

Enlightenment's mixer still does not show any cards, nor do the volume or mute buttons have any effect at the moment. The key shortcuts are correct still, they are just not recognized.

However, the following settings produce sound with speaker-test, aplay, and the browser Brave.

Code:

$ cat ~/.asoundrc 
defaults.ctl.card 1
defaults.pcm.card 1
defaults.pcm.device 0
defaults.pcm.subdevice 0

$ speaker-test -c 2 -l 1 
speaker-test 1.2.2

Playback device is default
Stream parameters are 48000Hz, S16_LE, 2 channels
Using 16 octaves of pink noise
Rate set to 48000Hz (requested 48000Hz)
Buffer size range from 2048 to 8192
Period size range from 1024 to 1024
Using max buffer size 8192
Periods = 4
was set period_size = 1024
was set buffer_size = 8192
 0 - Front Left
 1 - Front Right
Time per period = 5,824301

$ aplay -Dplughw:1,0 /usr/share/sounds/alsa/Rear_Right.wav
Playing WAVE '/usr/share/sounds/alsa/Rear_Right.wav' : Signed 16 bit Little Endian, Rate 48000 Hz, Mono

I understand the utilities but not how the key words were chosen for in .asoundrc there.

Shadow_7 · 11-21-2020, 07:59 PM

egrep -r -i hdmi /proc/asound/*

A little hint of sorts... alsa has a lot of info in /proc/asound/. Although alsa specific naming conventions. The main issue these days is that everything is a sound card. Including your webcam, which might be "mics" ONLY. And might end up as your "default" sound card, AKA output(???).

$ cat /proc/asound/cards

Shadow_7 · 11-21-2020, 08:10 PM

There's also a few things in /dev/snd/*. The ones ending in c aka Capture aka INPUT. And the ones ending in p aka Playback aka OUTPUT. Which can help you understand the hw:#,#,# terminology and such. Card, Device, sub-Device and so on.

Shadow_7 · 11-21-2020, 08:17 PM

As far as asoundrc, ctl is controller / mixer. And pcm is pulse-code modulation aka output / sound / data. One allows you to hear things, the other allows you to control how loudly, and other attributes.

ondoho · 11-22-2020, 02:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shadow_7

pulseaudio is the default (and only) option for modern web browsers. Since firefox v. 54, seems like were at v. 83 these days.

Not true.
I never use pulseaudio, and Firefox' (83) audio works just fine on ArchLinux. So does Falkon's.
Even if your distro's maintainers don't set the appropriate compile flags, you can use 'apulse' to be independent of pulseaudio.

rokytnji · 11-22-2020, 08:33 PM

Have the required modules installed for sound in e17 desktop?

Quote:

Standard modules

Modules that are distributed with enlightenment:

Battery will give you life expectancy & time before fully charged.
CPUFreq is a CPU frequency controller/monitor.
Clock is, I believe, self explanatory. Nicely designed.
Everything E's application launcher.
IBar is a field where launchers of applications can be stacked.
Mixer control your soundcard volume.
MusicControl control your MPRIS2 audio player.
PackageKit is a module to control system update status.
Pager is your point-n-click access to the Virtual Desktops.
Shot take screenshot of screen/windows.
Start is a E logo that opens the main menù.
Systray system tray that hold applications icons like Skype, Pidgin, NetworkManager and others.
Taskbar display everything running non-iconized.
Temperature, if with compatible hardware, will give temp info from your proc.
Tiling (old, until e19): keep your window aligned, without wasting your screen space.
Tiling (was Tiling2, starting from e19 moved into core): keep your window aligned, without wasting your screen space.

Intel sound chip is not real exotic. Been years since I worked on something like MacPup. I am pretty rusty driving enlightenment.

Might wanna grep for missing firmware but you said you have sound with certain invoked commands.

Code:

 speaker-test