Sound problems with ALSA

Mellar · 10-11-2010, 04:30 PM

Basically, sound will cut in and out. If I'm on Youtube, whenever sound cuts out, the video will continue for exactly two seconds and stop. Sometimes I can reload the Youtube video, and it'll either play for two seconds without sound, or go normal, but usually for only a little time, not even a minute. Similar problems for Amarok, Spotify and other applications using the sound card.

This is the output when trying to restart the alsa demon

Code:

root@Muspellsheim:/etc/rc.d# /etc/rc.d/rc.alsa restart
Loading ALSA mixer settings:  /usr/sbin/alsactl restore
Unknown hardware: "ICH4" "Realtek ALC650F" "AC97a:414c4723" "0x1462" "0x5770"
Hardware is initialized using a guess method
/usr/sbin/alsactl: set_control:1255: failed to obtain info for control #11 (No such file or directory)
/usr/sbin/alsactl: set_control:1255: failed to obtain info for control #12 (No such file or directory)

Output of /etc/modprobe.d/sound.conf

Code:

root@Muspellsheim:/etc/rc.d# cat /etc/modprobe.d/sound.conf 
alias snd-card-0 snd-intel8x0
alias sound-slot-0 snd-intel8x0

Some of the utput of lspci -v

Code:

00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 02)
        Subsystem: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. Device 5770
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 17
        I/O ports at e000 [size=256]
        I/O ports at e400 [size=64]
        Memory at e9001000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=512]
        Memory at e9002000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
        Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 2
        Kernel driver in use: Intel ICH
        Kernel modules: snd-intel8x0

And lsmod

Code:

root@Muspellsheim:/etc/rc.d# lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by
snd_seq_dummy           1107  0 
snd_seq_oss            25580  0 
snd_seq_midi_event      4620  1 snd_seq_oss
snd_seq                42857  5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_seq_device          4543  3 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq
snd_pcm_oss            33917  0 
snd_mixer_oss          13399  3 snd_pcm_oss
ipv6                  229909  12 
lp                      7161  0 
fuse                   52401  1 
hid_a4tech              1788  0 
usbhid                 33016  0 
hid                    61027  2 hid_a4tech,usbhid
nvidia               9803190  28 
snd_intel8x0           22387  4 
uhci_hcd               19164  0 
snd_ac97_codec         89467  1 snd_intel8x0
ohci1394               25433  0 
ac97_bus                 822  1 snd_ac97_codec
ppdev                   5103  0 
processor              26515  0 
ieee1394               63728  1 ohci1394
snd_pcm                57736  3 snd_pcm_oss,snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec
intel_agp              22699  1 
rtc_cmos                7838  0 
thermal                10194  0 
parport_pc             18027  1 
thermal_sys            12086  2 processor,thermal
snd_timer              15699  2 snd_seq,snd_pcm
rtc_core               12050  1 rtc_cmos
8139too                16866  0 
i2c_i801                7194  0 
mii                     3322  1 8139too
parport                25487  3 lp,ppdev,parport_pc
rtc_lib                 1522  1 rtc_core
button                  3934  0 
hwmon                   1085  1 thermal_sys
i2c_core               15279  2 nvidia,i2c_i801
evdev                   6939  8 
ehci_hcd               32608  0 
agpgart                23773  2 nvidia,intel_agp
shpchp                 27112  0 
snd                    43107  13 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq,snd_seq_device,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm,snd_timer
sg                     21214  0 
soundcore               4815  3 snd
snd_page_alloc          5849  2 snd_intel8x0,snd_pcm
xfs                   794291  8 
exportfs                3010  1 xfs

I've tried reconfiguring alsa by using the alsaconf application, which didn't help.

The output from restarting the alsa demon, may indicate that the correct driver isn't loaded.

Any ideas or hints?

onebuck · 10-11-2010, 08:02 PM

Hi,

Try removing '/etc/asound.state' and reboot to generate a new file.
Then see what happens.

allend · 10-12-2010, 12:49 AM

You may need to a driver from Realtek.
http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/...&GetDown=false

Mellar · 10-12-2010, 08:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by onebuck

Hi,

Try removing '/etc/asound.state' and reboot to generate a new file.
Then see what happens.

After removing '/etc/asound.state' I got rid of the error messages when restarting the alsa demon. Unfortunately the sound still cuts in and out

Quote:

Originally Posted by allend

You may need to a driver from Realtek.

I've been using Slackware on this computer for several years, without any problems related to sound or needing to install the Realtek driver manually. I'm not quite sure when this problem first occurred, but I assume it's related to an upgrade of either kernel or alsa...

onebuck · 10-12-2010, 08:52 AM

Hi,

See if a pre-amp will help things. Look at this post: #151.

Mellar · 10-17-2010, 10:49 AM

The pre-amp suggestion didn't help. I've also tried following this guide http://bugtrack.alsa-project.org/mai...odule-intel8x0 without the "quik installation" part, because I already have the soundcard module.

I tried installing Arch Linux, just to make sure it wasn't anything wrong with my Slackware system. I actually got the identical problem I have in Slackware.

My question is, is there anywhere I can find log files for the sound system in Slackware? Would be very nice to have some relevant error messages to give me a little hint of what's wrong.

Did Slackware have any upgrades from 13.1 to 13.0 which can be relevant to my problem?

onebuck · 10-17-2010, 11:41 AM

Hi,

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mellar

<snip>

I tried installing Arch Linux, just to make sure it wasn't anything wrong with my Slackware system. I actually got the identical problem I have in Slackware.

My question is, is there anywhere I can find log files for the sound system in Slackware? Would be very nice to have some relevant error messages to give me a little hint of what's wrong.

Did Slackware have any upgrades from 13.1 to 13.0 which can be relevant to my problem?

Look in the '/var/log'. You should look at 'dmesg' for potential message(s) at boot and while using.

Look at ANNOUNCE.13_1 ,CHANGES_AND_HINTS.TXT
RELEASE_NOTES, and UPGRADE.TXT.

Plus look at 'Slackware-HOWTO'.

EDIT: The upgrade would be from 13.0 to 13.1

titopoquito · 10-17-2010, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mellar

Did Slackware have any upgrades from 13.1 to 13.0 which can be relevant to my problem?

The in-kernel ALSA parts are not updated as fast as the ALSA development itself. With Slackware-current you get ALSA 1.0.23, with Slackware 13.1 AFAIR ALSA 1.0.21 and with Slackware 13.0 for sure an even older version. In my case (laptop with onboard sound card with snd_hda_intel module as well as an externel USB sound card from E-MU) ALSA 1.0.23 made a huge difference. External mic is working for the first time with my onboard sound card for example.

So there might be changes in Slackware 13.1 or even a newer kernel (2.6.35 has ALSA 1.0.23 drivers) that can make a difference, yes. I don't know though if it makes a difference for your specific issue