After upgraded to Intrepid RC, I once again fiddled with Ubuntu sound system to use ALSA instead of Pulseaudio in a non-destructive way (a.k.a no removable of Pulseaudio packages and configuration which in turn not remove ubuntu-desktop package which is needed for future distribution upgrade). It was a bit trickier to do compare to Hardy, but I managed to locate all the culpirt that plague my sound system eventually and came up with this comprehensive guide. Without further ado, let the game begin!
1. Preparation! Install the follow packages if you haven’t had them yet. First one is alsa wrapper for oss, 2nd one alsa library and 3rd one is alsa library plugins. The last one is to configure the runlevel of pulseaudio (just for a total overkill)
% sudo apt-get install alsa-oss % sudo apt-get install libasound2 % sudo apt-get install libasound2-plugins % sudo apt-get install sysv-rc-conf
2. Removal Procedure! Remove pulseaudio from Xsession by moving it somewhere safe just in case you want to use back Pulseaudio again. The 1st command will move it to your home folder (~/).
% sudo mv /etc/X11/Xsession.d/70pulseaudio ~/
Remove pulseaudio (sound plugin) from gnome-settings-daemon
% gconftool-2 -s -t bool /apps/gnome_settings_daemon/plugins/sound/active false
Well you can always open a UI to do this if you feel unconfortable, Alt+F2, then type “gconf-editor”, navigate to /apps/gnome_settings_daemon/plugins/sound/ then untick the active box.
Unset Pulseaudio
% asoundconf unset-pulseaudio
Remove from runlevel [Overkill, just to make sure]
% sudo sysv-rc-conf
Page down till you see “pulseaudio” entry, then untick all the box []. Save and exit.
CAUTION: I dare not ask you guys to do this oneliner “sudo update-rc.d -f pulseaudio remove” or “sudo update-rc.d pulseaudio kill 15 2 3 4 5 .” cos I think it is dangerous. If someone can update me on this then I am deeply appreciated. Just stick to sysv-rc-conf for a safe journey.
3. Configuration for ALSA! Now time to configure alsa to use the main sound card
% asoundconf list Names of available sound cards: Intel % asoundconf set-default-card Intel
Make sure the libao.conf is using alsa. You can use gedit if you want to.
% sudo nano /etc/libao.conf default_driver=alsa
Navigate from the menu: System – Preferences – Sound, make sure yours looks like the one in the screenshots below:
You will have no login sound from now on π¦ . Workaround is you create your own autostart event, use “aplay” or “mpg123-alsa” or “mplayer” and path to the your log in sound.
To further overkill pulseaudio, edit your .bashrc at your home folder and put this in:
% export SDL_audiodriver=alsa Use this line if you want alsa wrapper for OSS: % export SDL_audiodriver=aoss
Ubuntu 8.10 has flash 10 package [adobe-flashplugin] so multiple sounds and flash sound work perfectly without libflashsupport (no longer in the repository) π
Still with me? Haha. Give yourself a pat on the shoulder. Reboot and enjoy ALSA. Self-check, type in the terminal “pgrep pulseaudio”. If no number return, pulseaudio is disabled π
Future tips will come as I explore the system more π Till then.
TROUBLESHOOTING: 10 second time out solution below in the comment π
I finally figure out the 10second lag. Those applications will first look for Pulseaudio, but it is gone, so the 10 second time out before alsa kicks in.
=======
Solution:
=======
+ Edit /etc/mplayer/mplayer.conf, line 74, change the order to the order below (original pulse,alsa)
# Specify default audio driver (see -ao help for a list).
ao=alsa,pulse
+ Totem-gstreamer i canβt find the config for it yet, so work around is use totem-xine, then check that ~/.config/totem/xine_config , pulseaudio is comment out.
+ System-wide config (so far I only tested with mpg123-alsa, aplay, moc). Backup your /usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf. Then on the very top. Chage it to the following: (alternatively you can comment out /usr/share/alsa/pulse.conf or move it down the list, I prefer remove it anyway since we got a backup)
# pre-load the configuration files
@hooks [
{
func load
files [
“/usr/share/alsa/bluetooth.conf”
“/etc/asound.conf”
“~/.asoundrc”
]
errors false
}
]
=>>>>>>> Exam time!
Great summary! I could finally get rid of the crappy pulseaudio.
I got rid of pulseaudio. But now i have the problem, that any application that tries to use alsa pauses for about 10 seconds, before it will playback the first sound.
Does it mean that my alsa starts every time i try to play a sound? Im wondering and dont know how to fix it.
Hi, niabot.
If you use Totem (aka Movie Player in Ubuntu) to play sound, it will always lag a bit before loading the mp3 file and pause for the same amount when closing. The cause is in the BBC plugins, I disabled it and it took approximately 1-3 seconds depend on your system load. And for your info, I am using totem-xine instead of totem-gstreamer.
And by the way, do you have libsdl1.2debian and libsdl1.2debian-all packages installed?
If it is a system wide problem, you might want to try run this:
% sudo alsa force-reload
And may you tell me which application has this sound lag? Also post the content of your .asoundrc and .asoundrc.asoundconf if possible.
If it helps, then do reply me to further improve this guide. I appreciate your support very much.
Cheers
It’s a system wide problem. Any application (mplayer, flash, …) that want to get an “Audioline” is forced to wait (it stops) for about 10 seconds. After it gets the line anything is fine and in sync.
“% sudo alsa force-reload” did not have any effect, only that some applications using sound died the fast way.
My .asoundrc:
# ALSA library configuration file
# Include settings that are under the control of asoundconf(1).
# (To disable these settings, comment out this line.)
My .asoundrc.asoundconf:
# ALSA library configuration file managed by asoundconf(1).
#
# MANUAL CHANGES TO THIS FILE WILL BE OVERWRITTEN!
#
# Manual changes to the ALSA library configuration should be implemented
# by editing the ~/.asoundrc file, not by editing this file.
!defaults.pcm.card Intel
defaults.ctl.card Intel
defaults.pcm.device 0
defaults.pcm.subdevice -1
defaults.pcm.nonblock 1
defaults.pcm.ipc_key 5678293
defaults.pcm.ipc_gid audio
defaults.pcm.ipc_perm 0660
defaults.pcm.dmix.max_periods 0
defaults.pcm.dmix.rate 48000
defaults.pcm.dmix.format “unchanged”
defaults.pcm.dmix.card defaults.pcm.card
defaults.pcm.dmix.device defaults.pcm.device
defaults.pcm.dsnoop.card defaults.pcm.card
defaults.pcm.dsnoop.device defaults.pcm.device
defaults.pcm.front.card defaults.pcm.card
defaults.pcm.front.device defaults.pcm.device
defaults.pcm.rear.card defaults.pcm.card
defaults.pcm.rear.device defaults.pcm.device
defaults.pcm.center_lfe.card defaults.pcm.card
defaults.pcm.center_lfe.device defaults.pcm.device
defaults.pcm.side.card defaults.pcm.card
defaults.pcm.side.device defaults.pcm.device
defaults.pcm.surround40.card defaults.pcm.card
defaults.pcm.surround40.device defaults.pcm.device
defaults.pcm.surround41.card defaults.pcm.card
defaults.pcm.surround41.device defaults.pcm.device
defaults.pcm.surround50.card defaults.pcm.card
defaults.pcm.surround50.device defaults.pcm.device
defaults.pcm.surround51.card defaults.pcm.card
defaults.pcm.surround51.device defaults.pcm.device
defaults.pcm.surround71.card defaults.pcm.card
defaults.pcm.surround71.device defaults.pcm.device
defaults.pcm.iec958.card defaults.pcm.card
defaults.pcm.iec958.device defaults.pcm.device
defaults.pcm.modem.card defaults.pcm.card
defaults.pcm.modem.device defaults.pcm.device
defaults.pcm.file_format “raw”
defaults.pcm.file_truncate true
defaults.rawmidi.card 0
defaults.rawmidi.device 0
defaults.rawmidi.subdevice -1
defaults.hwdep.card 0
defaults.hwdep.device 0
defaults.timer.class 2
defaults.timer.sclass 0
defaults.timer.card 0
defaults.timer.device 0
defaults.timer.subdevice 0
defaults.namehint.showall off
defaults.namehint.basic on
defaults.namehint.extended off
I hope you can use this, and i also hope you may know a solution. π
Oooops, the last line of the .asoundrc is missing. But this was only a link to the second file.
Hmph,
I have a similar .asoundrc.conf. May I assume that you have an onboard Intel sound card? (mine is STAC92xx on a Toshiba Tecra M5). Does “% asoundconf list” give you any other cards?
Is it possible for you to have some exact debug/error message from dmesg or .xsessionerrors if any?
You might need to set up individual application to use ALSA specifically. Check your mplayer is set to use ALSA! Then try this
% mplayer -ao alsa:device=hw /path/toSomeMovie/
It should start almost instantly, without any error.
Also, Alt + F2 then “gstreamer-properties”. Check if ALSA is selected as default plugin. Device: Default. Pipeline: alsasink.
If everything is fine, then we have to dig further. Backup your .asoundrc. Then replace its content with the one below, see if that help. You may need to use βtype hwβ instead of βtype alsaβ, both work fine for me >.<:
pcm.!default {
type alsa
card 0
}
ctl.!default {
type alsa
card 0
}
Sorry buddy, my knowledge is not very extensive. Most of this stuff, I went through trial and error. But I will try my best to help you. If I proved to be useless, then you have to google for a solution.
I have only one onboard sound chip. Its an Intel AD 198x.
% mplayer -ao alsa:device=hw /path/toSomeMovie/
It failed for me. I got no sound and this error message after 10 seconds:
[AO_ALSA] alsa-lib: pcm_hw.c:1321:(snd_pcm_hw_open) open /dev/snd/pcmC0D0p failed: Device or resource busy
[AO_ALSA] Playback open error: Device or resource busy
Could not open/initialize audio device -> no sound.
After that i tried % mplayer -ao alsa:device=default /path/toSomeMovie/ and i had my sound – after 10 seconds, seeing mplayer waiting to establish a connection to alsa.
I checked “gstreamer-properties” and anything is right.
After that i copied your stuff into my .asoundrc and i had no sound at all. So i used “type hw” and i have sound again. But the 10 seconds still remaining. π¦
Hmph, so your pause will have any message or it just waits 10s till ==========================================================================
AO: [alsa] 48000Hz 2ch s16le (2 bytes per sample)
Starting playback…
Okay, we try another workaround then.
% gksudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base
Then add “options snd-hda-intel model=yourmodel position_fix=1”
Double check your soundcard model by
% aplay -l
% cat /proc/asound/card0/codec#* | grep Codec
Then go here to check your model, approximately line 739. http://www.mjmwired.net/kernel/Documentation/sound/alsa/ALSA-Configuration.txt.
Check that your alsa-utils is loaded in your Session. System – Preferences – Session. Then reboot, see if that help.
Even the command “aplay -l” waits for 10 seconds before it displays anything. So i found out that my chip is the “AD1986A” with model “laptop”.
I added the line to /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base, checked that alsa-utils is running as service and rebooted. After i logged in was asked to update alsa with “asoundconf set-default-card Intel”.
Ok so far so good, but nothing has changed. Everytime it takes 10 Seconds to access alsa in any way. Even the mixer-programs like alsamixer needing 10 Seconds to start.
Realy a wired problem… All Programs that don’t need sound, are fast and hot as hell…
Now i tried to play sounds with OSS in MPlayer and it worked directly without any problem and without any wait. But this goes only for mplayer. Most other applications that depend on alsa have still the same problem.
Is it normal, that you can control with the oss-mixer and the alsa-mixer the volume at the same time?
To be honest, I am out of idea. I apologize for not able to assist you further.
Can you do a %pgrep pulseaudio after you run an application that use alsa? I suspect pulseaudio kicks in somehow.
Or set an application to use OSS, then run it with % aoss yourApp, see if the 10s lag is still present or not.
– Some troubleshooting links and alternative sound system.
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SoundTroubleshooting?action=show&redirect=DebuggingSoundProblems
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/OpenSound
I hope you would find a solution soon. Reverting back to pulseaudio can be a pain.
After i start audio playback no pulseaudio is started (% pgrep pulseaudio). I guess i removed it correctly.
I set gmplayer to oss and started it with “aoss”. The result is still the same. A 10 second lag before the connection to alsa is established.
Thx for your help so far, i know much more about the sound system now, Even if i couldn’t find and fix the problem. But i will make more tries to get it running and report back if i was able to fix it.
Now iΒ΄m back to PulseAudio again and i used this guide: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=866965 It worked perfect for me. Now is PulseAudio much faster and i donΒ΄t need to wait for ALSA to start up…
The only thing that i had to do is to configure some programs to use pulseaudio instead of alsa. The wrapper for alsa is a bit slow.
[…] – ALSA instead of Pulseaudio for Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid – a Non-Destructive way. Β« Tuxβs idyllic life… (tags: audio […]
niabot,
I finally figure out the 10second lag. Those applications will first look for Pulseaudio, but it is gone, so the 10 second time out before alsa kicks in.
=======
Solution:
=======
+ Edit /etc/mplayer/mplayer.conf, line 74, change the order to the order below (original pulse,alsa)
# Specify default audio driver (see -ao help for a list).
ao=alsa,pulse
+ Totem-gstreamer i can’t find the config for it yet, so work around is use totem-xine, then check that ~/.config/totem/xine_config , pulseaudio is comment out.
+ System-wide config (so far I only tested with mpg123-alsa, aplay, moc). Backup your /usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf. Then on the very top. Chage it to the following: (alternatively you can comment out /usr/share/alsa/pulse.conf or move it down the list, I prefer remove it anyway since we got a backup)
# pre-load the configuration files
@hooks [
{
func load
files [
“/usr/share/alsa/bluetooth.conf”
“/etc/asound.conf”
“~/.asoundrc”
]
errors false
}
]
Reboot and enjoy your sensational ALSA.
Cheer, no more 10 seconds time out. Thanks mate, I will update my guide after my exams………. >.<
Thanks lots. Other fixes didn’t work for me.
Youtube and other sites wouldn’t work at all through Pulseaudio and my Delta 1010. Your guide made it all work wonderfully again. Thank you!!!
Thank you for saving me time!
You are my god. π
Thanks for the instructions …. I have a terratec DMX6fire
stoped working with 8:10 upgrade……
works perfectly now after your instructions…. thanks a lot.
big thumbs up
Now I can hear youtube vids again!!
Thank you veeeeeeeeeery much!!
I just wanted to let you know that you can turn the startup sounds back on after rebooting, and you can still record just fine. π At least, it seems to be that way on my system (Macbook 2.1 w/ Ubuntu 8.10) Thanks for the Fix!
[…] https://idyllictux.wordpress.com/2008/10/29/alsa-instead-of-pulseaudio-for-ubuntu-810-intrepid-a-non-… […]
Great guide, works like a charm :-). Just a small remark for those who, after completing the steps, end up not hearing anything: don’t forget to check your PCM volume!!
For me this was set to 0% and of course I couldn’t hear sh#t and looked for a problem for about half an hour π (yes yes I’m extremely ashamed for not thinking about this in the first place ;-)).
I’d also like to confirm that turning on startup sounds again works fine.
Anyway, keep up the good work!
It worked perfectly ! Thanks a lot !
[…] that would have messed up intrepid for sure ALSA instead of Pulseaudio for Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid – a Non-Destructive way. Tux’s idyllic lif… got rid of the POS. all seems to be working well. let me fire up some […]
[…] constantly because pulseaudio just wasn’t working for some unknown reason. I ran across this guide the will rid you of pulseaudio and set alsa as your main sound server. Posted by kindofabuzz […]
Hi there,
Thanks for this howto, it’s really useful.
The pulseaudio is really frustrating for me, and with that howto this problem is solved π
Thanks a lot, you’re amazing π
This was indeed very helpful, thanks a bunch ..
After the method mentioned by you , I had to further remove some lines from my vlcrc file to enable the required device and increase the volume to 100% from alsamixer …
Everything working fine now ! π
works! thanks!
i love you! =)
Thanks a heap! Will share this on ubuntu forums.
Not trying to be clever, but I think that should be “default_driver”, not “defaul_driver”.
Sorry to be pedantic, it’s just some newbs will no doubt be cutting and pasting that into their /etc/libao.conf.
Thanks Defamed Prawn π
I appreciated it very much. Having internship which requires XP so I couldn’t boot into my linux box recently.
Also ignore one of my invitation email to join Facebook. The clipboard buffer embarrassed me π
Cheers.
Thank you so much. You’ve brought me a bit closer to escaping XP!
Thanks so much – I searched for hours to fix this and nothing came close. This all worked great!
[…] Jak to zrobiΔ opisane jest tu: https://idyllictux.wordpress.com/2008/10/29/alsa-instead-of-pulseaudio-for-ubuntu-810-intrepid-a-non-… […]
Thanks a bunch, this saved me a lot of time and scratching around.
Best regards.
I tried with 8.10 32-bit liveCD on HP XW6200, pulseaudio works just fine. And I loaded it with 64-bit 8.10 server version, no sound at all. I tried your instruction, still no sound. This machine has 5G bytes, I like to stay with 64-bit. Is anything I can try?
$ lspci -v
00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) AC’97 Audio Controller (rev 02)
Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device 12f2
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 17
I/O ports at 3000 [size=256]
I/O ports at 3400 [size=64]
Memory at fa200400 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=512]
Memory at fa200600 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 2
Kernel driver in use: Intel ICH
Kernel modules: snd-intel8x0
root@ubuntuHP:/var/log# aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: ICH5 [Intel ICH5], device 0: Intel ICH [Intel ICH5]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: ICH5 [Intel ICH5], device 4: Intel ICH – IEC958 [Intel ICH5 – IEC958]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
If you do a “lsmod” do you see the following items listed ?
i810_audio
soundcore
AC97_codec
snd_intel8x0
Have you checked your amixer as well?
No i810_audio, I do have soundcore, snd_ac97_codec, and snd_intel8x0 (not snd-intel8x0). Funny thing, just noticed headphone works, and system sound also works (short beep, such in xterm, hit left arrow key).
$ lsmod | grep intel
snd_intel8x0 43688 1
snd_ac97_codec 133080 1 snd_intel8x0
snd_pcm 99208 3 snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss
snd 79432 12 snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_seq_oss,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
snd_page_alloc 17680 2 snd_intel8x0,snd_pcm
No sound from this,
~$ cat /usr/share/sounds/purple/login.wav > /dev/audio
~$ cat /usr/share/sounds/purple/login.wav > /dev/dsp
Edit “/etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base” and add this as the last line:
“options snd-intel8x0 ac97_quirk=3”
Reboot and see if it helps. Once again, check alsamixer to ensure the volume is not muted.
Do check syslog or dmesg to see if Device or resource busy
or the Initialization failed.
Cheers,
βoptions snd-intel8Γ0 ac97_quirk=3β³ – disable the headphone sound. I tried with ac97_quirk=hp_only, headphone is okay, but still no sounds from internal speaker.
Should I use snd_intel8x0 or snd-intel8x0, underscore vs. dash? It is somehow confusing here. Any verification to be done to show what options are turned on on snd-intel8x0 module, by lsmod or what?
Okay try add this in β/etc/modprobe.d/alsa-baseβ then, we are desperate.
“options snd-intel8x0 index=0 ac97_quirk=3 enable=1”
Remove the module and load it again manually.
% rmmod snd_intel8x0
% modprobe snd_intel8x0
To check whether your module is loaded,
% lsmod|grep ‘^snd’
Anyway, check the directory /dev/snd for the right device files:
% ls -l /dev/snd/
It should detect controlC0 and pcmC0D0p or similar.
Clarification on dash vs underscore. I think when you modprobe then you use underscore, while adding the module in a conf file, you use dash.
Still with me? Okay try,
% amixer set Master 90% unmute
% amixer set PCM 85% unmute
Now, we test it:
% speaker-test -c4 -twav
You should hear: “Front Left”, “Front Right”.
If this doesn’t help, and there is no error from the log, you are one step closer to using google. Or you can stick with Pulse, there is a few good guides in the ubuntuforums which can aid your speaker woes.
Cheers,
@ubuntuHP:~$ ls -l /dev/snd
total 0
crw-rw—-+ 1 root audio 116, 10 2009-01-04 19:52 controlC0
crw-rw—-+ 1 root audio 116, 9 2009-01-04 19:52 pcmC0D0c
crw-rw—-+ 1 root audio 116, 8 2009-01-04 20:08 pcmC0D0p
crw-rw—-+ 1 root audio 116, 7 2009-01-04 19:52 pcmC0D1c
crw-rw—-+ 1 root audio 116, 6 2009-01-04 19:52 pcmC0D2c
crw-rw—-+ 1 root audio 116, 5 2009-01-04 19:52 pcmC0D3c
crw-rw—-+ 1 root audio 116, 4 2009-01-04 19:52 pcmC0D4p
crw-rw—-+ 1 root audio 116, 3 2009-01-04 19:52 seq
crw-rw—-+ 1 root audio 116, 2 2009-01-04 19:52 timer
Tried with ac97_quirk other options, still only headphone sounds work. Can we clearly say this is a 64-bit kernel bug? I mean 32-bit liveCD works just fine.
Ah… ;_; I dare not to say anything at this moment. You can try fill a bug at launchpad. Or google your soundcard model + 64 bits, hopefully there will be meaningful result. I am truly sorry.
No worry, I will wait next kernel version. Thanks for the help.
Not to be a pest, but what’s the reversal procedure for this? I seem to have changed everything back to its original settings, but still no sound output. I couldn’t find a proper reversal for the asoundconf and libao.conf changes. Any hints as to what those would be?
Edit “/etc/libao.conf”
default_driver=alsa
% asoundconf reset-default-card (might not needed)
% asoundconf set-pulseaudio
Reversed is just set false -> true, disable -> enable for those command involved them.
I don’t know how far is your reversion of original settings, so I temporarily only answered the questions you ask (libao and asoundconf)
The nicest reversal procedure was for me to follow this HOWTO. It comes from a very authoritative source : a pulseaudio developer. So the story (at least mine) goes along this line :
1/ get hardy upgrade to intrepid
2/ enjoy the horrors of pulseaudio with intrepid
3/ try various hacks to fix it and fail
4/ find this very blog post and reverse to ALSA
5/ then realize pulseaudio + ALSA is better than ALSA alone and you have this nice HOWTO for intrepid from the pulseaudio guy, then realize you can always get back to ALSA without pulseaudio in case this HOWTO does not help, so you eventually decide to go this HOWTO way
6/ realize this HOWTO is really what you needed (it works !) and enjoy pulseaudio on your intrepid
7/ eventually realize the ubuntu team really failed in their initial integrationS (hardy + intrepid) of pulseaudio and hope such an horror story won’t repeat in the future
I got it fixed. Just noticed in gnome-alsamixer, PCM setting is on MUTE.
I do have this in alsa-base file
options snd-intel8x0 index=0 ac97_quirk=3 enable=1
Job well done, thanks
Great!
It works for me also…
Thanks a lot !!!
Hi,
I followed your instruction because i got problem with skype audio in ubuntu 8.10, befor install Alsa , I could hear sound of music and video files by player, but i couldn’t make voice and video connection on skype also i couldn’t record voice by voice recorder.
After using this recipe I can make voice and video connection by skype and I can receive voice and video but i cant send my voice and video stream.(in Ekiga i see my webcam stream without login and making call)
Also I cant recored voice by voice recorder.
My system is: IBM thinkpad laptop R50e
whats wrong of voice recording by Alsa?
Hmph… i don’t have a mic to test. My internal Mic doens’t seem to play nice, so I am out of luck….
You can try open %alsamixer , tab to [Capture], unmute everything and see if it helps. There are plethora of problem with Mic >.<
Hi
I’m a complete novice trying to move to Ubuntu.
I have Realtek Ac’97 chip on my gigabyte MB. Ubuntu doesn’t detect it. Later I installed a generic card as well but both aren’t detected by ubuntu 8.10.
Could you please instruct me with basic steps how to get my sound card or chip recognized by my system.
Thanks before hand
Hi koolneze,
I think you should consult the Ubuntuforums and IRC. They are better at resolving hardware issue than me. Google is your best friend. Though I suggest you try to “modprobe ac97_bus” or “modprobe ac97″. By no detection, ” aplay -l ” (it is l not i ) gives you no sound card/hardware devices at all?
awesome. thanks a lot.
I think ubuntu developers should release another version of their distribution that is not tied to pulseaudio; because it is so hard to get rid of it when it stops working well: till now i haven’t been able to get this ALSA howto to work on my Intrepid Ibex.
PulseAudio have worked somewhat fine on my system for months, but for any reason, these days any sound played now ends up noising PSSSSSS.
Man, you are a genius…. this was awesome….
Seriously dood.
This is really intelligent, in multiple ways. I’m thoroughly impressed… AND now I got rid of my pulse audio blues π
Super bravo for you.
This tutorial is good and you should feel good.
Thankyou!!!
I like pulseaudio, but it’s too much for my laptop…
And as for configuring gstreamer, you just run gstreamer-properties.
Didn’t work for me … could you please explain how to undo this?
Just noticed that you have to toggle the “Speaker” thing in the GUI. Thanks for this instruction.
Why do Ubuntu’s developers destroy a working function in a distribution that’s neither alpha nor beta?
Or…just keep pulseaudio and get flash support…I automated the process of installing flash 32bit and 64bit in Ubuntu Desktop. It even works with pulseaudio. It works in feisty, gutsy, hardy, and intrepid.
Automated Flash Install:
http://www.hildoersystems.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=76:automated-install-of-flash-10-for-ubuntu-desktop-32bit-and-64bit&catid=39:multimedia&Itemid=59
Right… This didn’t work out for me. The capture audio is still muted. Every time I unmute it just auto-mutes back on. Same goes for digital. Followed all the steps given (except the editing .bashrc). I get no output when testing pulseaudio, therefore it’s disabled. An advice would be appreciated. I’m using Packard Bell Easy Note.
Kosio
Yup. Capture audio is a problem I couldn’t rectify. You might want to check some previous comments if you want to use Pulseaudio again.
Thank you SO much!!!!
You are GREAT !!!
May I translate this in Bulgarian and put it on my blog?
I will put a link to your blog and your article ! I mean I only want to translate it. I will use your images also so no changes will be made.
pleeeeeeeeease! π
Your article saved my day!
Gattanegra,
I am honoured. Please feel free to translate and use the images.
Thank you very much!
Okay, Idyllic, I decided to switch to a red hat distro instead, Fedora 10 to be precise, and I was wondering, would this solution work it as well?
Thanks
Hmph, I am not so sure about that. I really don’t know.
You might want to take a look at this:
http://fedorasolved.org/Members/fenris02/pulseaudio-fixes-and-workarounds
Do tell me if it works for you (the above link and my method if you decide to try).
Cheers
I’ve already tested the aforementioned method (linked one) it doesn’t seem to work. The strange thing is that my sound started working like charm, after I did some messing around with VLC. (that’s the only player I got installed so far). The only problem I seem to be unable to resolve is the mic. I believe sound-wise both Fedora and Ubuntu are very similar. If i manage to resolve the mic problem, I’ll surely come back with some feedback, maybe it’d help out on Ubuntu too.
Kind regards
Dear idyllictux
Thank you!
I will do it as soon as I can
π
This worked great for me and I still kept start up and login wav. Thanks
To “HPserver” and other 64-bit users:
You’ll want to try getting some 64 versions of the 32 bit sound libraries if you’re having trouble with your sound at all. Use ‘getlibs’ for this (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=474790). I followed this fix:
http://www.ubuntugeek.com/pulseaudio-fixes-system-wide-equalizer-support-in-ubuntu-804-hardy-heron.html
a little while ago but still had problems with pulseaudio so if you’re having problems with PA replace it with OSS or ALSA, trying to fix it yourself is more effort than simply replacing it.
Hi, I’ve been looking for a solution to my problem with no luck.
I do have audio (Ubuntu 8.10 64 bit on a DELL Inspiron 1420). The audio control even recognizes the volume keys in the machine, even tracks controls, <<,,>>, but I can not use neither the internal mic or an external one (pluggable to the front of the notebook).
I tried everything, even uninstalling pulseaudio…
Beleive or not, I need to use Skype in that machine. I hear all incoming calls, but no one can hear me :S
Any help appreciated.
Mike
Have you tried this guide yet?
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Skype
If you read through the comments, a lot of people are having problem with mic. I can’t even resolve mine on my system. My Gnome-sound-recorder hang on record, let alone Skype :S
I just solved π the problem.
1) Installed again pulseaudio (sudo apt-get install pulseaudio)
2) From terminal : killall pulseaudio
3) followed these guidelines for Intel sound cards in Ubunto 8.10
http://members.chello.hu/balla.gyorgy/balla-it/html/articles/20081230-asus-onboard-soundcard-configuration-on-xubuntu.html
Remember I’m running 64 bit Ubuntu 8.10
Tomorrow I will check if pulseaudio really did the difference or not. Pulseaudio I guess was needed to activate mics.
But have to disable it to use skype… weired
π
The problem I am having is the alert sound now is a high piecing noise. I tried changing the bell sound in System->Preferences>Sound and tried xset b off in my .profile. Also am not seeing any other channels other than the master (no surround channels if you go into alsamixer. (wanted to pass surround to home thearter through toslink long term
The high piercing noise is so bad, had to turn alerts off for fear of damaging the speakers.
Any insight appreaciated
Thanks
Rob
Thank you! Thank you!
Oh thank god!!!
At last I got rid of the problematic pulseaudio from all my Ubuntu boxes! Free at last, FREE AT LAST!
Your guide is a blessing for all Ubuntu fans! π
ok…least work …
i am new to linux. i followed your guide but still no sound.
installed ubuntu 8.10.
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 0: CONEXANT Analog [CONEXANT Analog]
Subdevices: 0/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 1: Conexant Digital [Conexant Digital]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
need some help..
thanks in advance
Please check your alsamixer, make sure all the sliders are up max and unmuted
yes i did it already, but still no sound.
is there any other options????
thanks
madan
Okay, what is your output for the following command?
% grep Codec /proc/asound/card0/codec#*
If you are confident then after you got the output (there are 2 lines, use the output from the first line. Mine is “SigmaTel STAC9200″) visit this site ” http://www.mjmwired.net/kernel/Documentation/sound/alsa/ALSA-Configuration.txt “. Find the corresponding model for your codec. Note it down.
% sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base
Add in this line
options snd-hda-intel model=YOUR_MODEL_FROM_THE_LINK
Reboot.
grep Codec /proc/asound/card0/codec#* is
Codec: Conexant CX20551 (Waikiki)
according to hd-audio-models.txt,
i found model name options are :
Conexant 5047
laptop Basic Laptop config
laptop-hp Laptop config for some HP models (subdevice 30A5)
laptop-eapd Laptop config with EAPD support
i tried with all three options rebooted each time, but no effect.
note: no model name is not listed for conexant cx20551, but i read somewhere that equivalent for it, is conexant 5047.
is there anything else to try.???
thanks for your support…
Hmph, I did a google search on your model, seems like there are plenty of problem. Most suggest compile your own alsa driver. Well, if pulseaudio was working for you, then stick with it. Maybe you can try fill a bug for it (if pulseaudio is not working for you).
nothing works alsa or pulse audio.
i will file a bug report.
thanks taking time for this.
if u come across any solution, shoot a mail.
i will back and post , if i found something that works.
thanks buddy…
Reinstalled everything again, still only getting mono and bell is a screeching sound does anybody know what this is?
lspci has
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 01)
0
aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 0: STAC92xx Analog [STAC92xx Analog]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 1: STAC92xx Digital [STAC92xx Digital]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
Found instructions to redirect sound to other channels by configuring .asoundrc
(alsamixer now shows front, back surround, LFE… but sound still only comes out the front right speaker?
cat ./.asoundrc
# ALSA library configuration file
# Include settings that are under the control of asoundconf(1).
# (To disable these settings, comment out this line.)
pcm.!default {
type route
slave.pcm surround51
slave.channels 6
ttable.0.0 1
ttable.1.1 1
ttable.0.2 1
ttable.1.3 1
ttable.0.5 0.5
ttable.1.5 0.5
}
Any assistance appreciated
i got back my sound by booting with acpi=off kernel option.
following this thread.
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/66426
a good source of information for toshiba p100/105 laptops
having sound problems.
mine toshiba p105.
thanks guys for your help and support.
madan
@madan
Hefty price to pay. acpi=off means no more Fn key for you, no toshset as well. But whatever makes you happy π
@Rob
Hmph, I got the same card as yours.
– Maybe you try, acpi=off like madan
– Or options snd-hda-intel model=YOUR_MODE in the /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base
– Mine .asoundrc.conf
!defaults.pcm.card Intel
defaults.ctl.card Intel
defaults.pcm.device 0
defaults.pcm.subdevice -1
defaults.pcm.nonblock 1
defaults.pcm.ipc_key 5678293
defaults.pcm.ipc_gid audio
defaults.pcm.ipc_perm 0660
defaults.pcm.dmix.max_periods 0
defaults.pcm.dmix.rate 48000
defaults.pcm.dmix.format “unchanged”
defaults.pcm.dmix.card defaults.pcm.card
defaults.pcm.dmix.device defaults.pcm.device
defaults.pcm.dsnoop.card defaults.pcm.card
defaults.pcm.dsnoop.device defaults.pcm.device
defaults.pcm.front.card defaults.pcm.card
defaults.pcm.front.device defaults.pcm.device
defaults.pcm.rear.card defaults.pcm.card
defaults.pcm.rear.device defaults.pcm.device
defaults.pcm.center_lfe.card defaults.pcm.card
defaults.pcm.center_lfe.device defaults.pcm.device
defaults.pcm.side.card defaults.pcm.card
defaults.pcm.side.device defaults.pcm.device
defaults.pcm.surround40.card defaults.pcm.card
defaults.pcm.surround40.device defaults.pcm.device
defaults.pcm.surround41.card defaults.pcm.card
defaults.pcm.surround41.device defaults.pcm.device
defaults.pcm.surround50.card defaults.pcm.card
defaults.pcm.surround50.device defaults.pcm.device
defaults.pcm.surround51.card defaults.pcm.card
defaults.pcm.surround51.device defaults.pcm.device
defaults.pcm.surround71.card defaults.pcm.card
defaults.pcm.surround71.device defaults.pcm.device
defaults.pcm.iec958.card defaults.pcm.card
defaults.pcm.iec958.device defaults.pcm.device
defaults.pcm.modem.card defaults.pcm.card
defaults.pcm.modem.device defaults.pcm.device
defaults.pcm.file_format “raw”
defaults.pcm.file_truncate true
defaults.rawmidi.card 0
defaults.rawmidi.device 0
defaults.rawmidi.subdevice -1
defaults.hwdep.card 0
defaults.hwdep.device 0
defaults.timer.class 2
defaults.timer.sclass 0
defaults.timer.card 0
defaults.timer.device 0
defaults.timer.subdevice 0
defaults.namehint.showall off
defaults.namehint.basic on
defaults.namehint.extended off
Just to be more precise
tried acpi=off did not help.
Preferences-> Sound set to the ALSA does not work (no test sounds just error)
audiotestsrc wave=sine freq=512 ! audioconvert ! audioresample ! gconfaudiosink: Could not open audio device for playback.
Preferences-> Sound on OSS works mono only as before
By mono, mean that all sounds in folder /usr/share/sounds/alsa play through all speakers so front left wav sound comes out of left and right speakers.
Has Ubuntu has gone microsoft and restricted the playback to mono if you don’t pay $50 for mediabuntu packages?
Does anybody know of any good explanation of audio changes were for 8.4?
Thanks for continued assistance.
Seem like a regression to me π¦
% speaker-test -c2 -l5 -twav
Hopefully u can hear left, right, left, right.
Open System Monitor (gnome-system-monitor), then on Monitor tab, Search for Open Files, type in ‘snd’ without quote to find out which process is using the sink.
Check lsmod as well.
Have you tried google with the given error?
Thnaks for highlighting about apci=off option.(negative side)
After reading many thread relating this , correcting “dsdt.aml”(has bugs)file, may enable ”apci” on.
and this suggested correction only suits for (or tried) for bios ver.2.4
and mine was bios ver2.2
and upgraded to bios ver 2.4. , after removed ”apci=off” in boot file. and restarted.
To my surprise sound works now. and got back ‘battery indicator icon” and a/c power indicator icon(dissappear while apci=off).without touching dsdt.aml file.
still i have to test how it goes.
expecting your view on it.
thanks.
note : above mentioned is for specifically p100/p105 toshiba laptos. i am not sure it works for other brands.
A little help here guys.
speaker-test -c2 -l5 -twav gave me this: (i don’t know why, I did what u said in the begining)
*** PULSEAUDIO: Unable to connect: Connection refused
Playback open error: -111,Connection refused
Also Preferences-> Sound set to the ALSA does not work. It gives me this
audiotestsrc wave=sine freq=512 ! audioconvert ! audioresample ! gconfaudiosink profile=chat: Failed to connect: Connection refused
Also, when I click the active in the gconf-editor the Preferences-Sound (set to ALSA) works.
Sorry for my three posts, but the command asoundconf unset-pulseaudio also gave me this:
Usage:
asoundconf is-active
asoundconf get|delete PARAMETER
asoundconf set PARAMETER VALUE
asoundconf list
Convenience macro functions:
asoundconf set-default-card CARD
asoundconf reset-default-card
From your first post, it seems that pulseaudio is still running. ‘speaker-test -c2 -l5 -twav’ is a test after you followed my post.
Not quite sure what are you trying to say in 2nd post.
3rd post is weird, Intrepid should have that macro. Check if you did the first step.
Maybe, you can tell us more about your hardware?
Thanks for the quick answer!
I did the first step. (install the packages)
I am using a Dell XPS M1530 laptop. The output of lspci|grep Audio is
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller (rev 02)
Any ideas?
What an odd copy of Ubuntu installation you have!
Can you just skip the the unset-pulseaudio part? Maybe ‘pkill pulseaudio’ then Just carry on with the procedure as the guide.
Btw, I upload a copy of my /usr/bin/asoundconf which contains the macro here http://pastebin.ca/1392323
I actually have pure Debian 5, but I think its the same about configuring sounds, because same issues happened in Ubuntu. I just don’t remember how I get rid of them.
The pkill thing didn’t work.
Hmph, backup your asoundconf, replace urs with mine. Rinse my steps and check again. Sry, I won’t be answer very frequent this time. Having exams soon >.<
I did it but nothing changed π¦ .
Just to mention that the first step didn’t work out. I don’t have any file /etc/X11/Xsession.d/70pulseaudio.
If u find time and other ideas, I will be glad.
Good luck with your exams.
Also my Preferences->Sound has a label Enable sound mixing (in the sound tab). I tried both with on and off and again nothing changed.
Seem like a tough cookie to crack. Seem like Ubuntu is heavily modified from Debian in this pulseaudio matter. Maybe google will do you some good? Or ask around the Debian forum/IRC?
% pulseaudio –check
and
% alsamixer
To see what error it throws out.
Try this as well,
Sounds like, it did work in breaking up the sound, lol!
ALSA is installed and fully loaded like you mentioned but is not working at all!
I’ll check the link tomorrow. The first command gave me this:
E: pid.c: Daemon already running.
E: main.c: pa_pid_file_create() failed.
Sorry, when I checked I was almost up and working for 24+ hours. I had my external speakers plugged in which I just found were powered off. Indeed ALSA was installed fine and is working great – just I was being nuts… LOL.
Thanks
Works perfect for me on my Dell Vostro1500. Thanks.
I still can’t get it working on Dell XPS M1530! π¦
bo, give me some times. I will try to push out a guide for Jaunty 9.04 which I manage to keep the Pulseaudio beast at bay as well as got the mic working. π No promise that it to work on ur Debian. I have only one laptop to work with anyway π¦
Thanks I appreciate it!
I am done with the guide. You can check it at
I think the relevant part is these 2 lines in /etc/pulse/default.pa
load-module module-alsa-sink device=dmix
load-module module-alsa-source device=dsnoop
And those folks previously can’t get the mic work. The solution is found π
Still no luck! Thanks for all the effort and good luck to your exams!
audiotestsrc wave=sine freq=512 ! audioconvert ! audioresample ! gconfaudiosink profile=chat: Failed to connect: Connection refused
for ALSA, but for OSS the test works.
asoundconf unset-pulseaudio
Usage:
asoundconf is-active
asoundconf get|delete PARAMETER
asoundconf set PARAMETER VALUE
asoundconf list
Convenience macro functions:
asoundconf set-default-card CARD
asoundconf reset-default-card
Maybe I haven’t set right my model in the options snd-hda-intel model, but I cannot find it (for Dell xps and Codec: SigmaTel STAC9228)
I’ll try some forums too. Thanks again mate!
Ok for me the solution was to set every sound application to use pulseaudio and not to remove it.
Now I can here for every application that uses pulseaudio simulatneously.
I’m only trying to set vlc to use pulseaudio. In the preferences menu of vlc, all it has is setting for every module the correct device, not choosing the module you want.
Ok, thanks for all the effort though!!!
It really works, i tried it on a live cd, so it has to work correctly in the real OS.
Thanks
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Well done, I have managed to get skype workier ng properly on Dell vostro 1500 laptop. It was necessary to change some Volume control settings. Even the internal mic is working now. Very good post!!!
The seting of the Volume Control ( double click the speaker icon on the panel)
1. Go to “Preferences and select all (Master,PCM,Front,Capture,Capture1,Digital,Mux,IE958,….)
2.Go to recording and pull the volume to 3/4, do the same in playback.
in recording leave the mic’s on mute as it is from default.
3.Go to switches and tick
the top two (IEC958, IEC958PCM)
4.Go to Options and select
“Digital Imput Source” to “digital mic”
“imput sources” to “mic”
I’ve done everything you mentioned in this guide yet I still don’t have sound. I’m using Compaq Presario CQ40-129TU. My sound card is onboard Intel STAC92xx.
Thanks
Wow.. people on so many sites looking all over for the config files starting pulse audio. Maybye my obivous solution only works for kde4, but it’s pathetically obvious.
Move the executable /usr/bin/pulseaudio.. to some safe place where it’s not in any defualt path.
Using kde4 phonon will pick up on pulseaudio’s failure and it seems will use alsa instead. Maybe I’ll get bit when I find some software bypassing phonon that isn’t as smart or something. I don’t know. I’ve only tested it youtube in firefox so far. Oh.. and I’m not using ubuntu, but this problem is somewhat universal and I think this solution may also be.
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