topic title: A new laptop sound problem
Posts: 347
Silent Observer
Joined: 08 Aug 2013
#16
Eino wrote:
Silent Observer wrote: And I still don't see how this will fix the volumicon misbehavior...
I the correct driver is loaded for the built in sound card it will correct the issues,
and you will not need the usb sound any more..
Eino, the volumeicon isn't related to the USB, it's an ALSA utility (the tray-resident volume control and mixer launcher). I have the same control on my antiX desktop machine, which has an on-board AC97 six-pack for sound and which needed no intervention to have sound when I first installed antiX. Check the edit in my previous post, I was editing while you were replying. I did see the (fairly complex) instructions on the page you linked for compiling and installing the needed ALSA module; that's the daunting bit.
Posts: 630
Eino
Joined: 12 Oct 2012
#17
Without the usb sound card plugged in. let see if your current packages have the modules needed.
run

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etc/init.d/alsa-utils stop
don't forget to put a / in front of etc
run

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modprobe snd-nm256 ; modprobe snd-pcm-oss ; modprobe snd-mixer-oss ; modprobe snd-seq-oss
Stop here if the modules are not found, and wait for further instructions

Then run

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alsamixer
Now adjust your soundcard's volume levels. All mixer channels are muted by default.
Copy and paste the following into etc/​modules.conf

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# ALSA portion
       alias char-major-116 snd
       alias snd-card-0 snd-nm256
       # module options should go here
       
       # OSS/Free portion
       alias char-major-14 soundcore
       alias sound-slot-0 snd-card-0
       
       # card #1
       alias sound-service-0-0 snd-mixer-oss
       alias sound-service-0-1 snd-seq-oss
       alias sound-service-0-3 snd-pcm-oss
       alias sound-service-0-8 snd-seq-oss
       alias sound-service-0-12 snd-pcm-oss
I'm also looking for a simple fix to the icon issue
Posts: 347
Silent Observer
Joined: 08 Aug 2013
#18
Just a starting point: according to Gateway's spec page for this machine (Solo 2500 model 3500421), it has the NMA2 chipset, rather than the NM2200 series chipsets referenced on the ALSA matrix you linked.

Those modules were apparently present; I got no error message (nothing at all except another prompt). However, alsamixer wouldn't start ("no such file or directory") from terminal, and from Control Centre, I got a window that instantly vanished (as would be the case with ALSA not being started). So, I tried this:

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dqualls@Little-Luddite:~
$ [/]etc/init.d/alsa-utils start
[....] Setting up ALSA...warning: 'alsactl -E HOME=/var/run/alsa restore' failed with error message 'alsactl: state_lock:121: file /var/lib/alsa/asound.state lock error: File exists
alsactl: load_state:1677: Cannot open /var/lib/alsa/asound.state for reading: Fi
[ ok ists'...done.
dqualls@Little-Luddite:~
This resembles the message I get during startup if the USB isn't plugged in; I suspect the NeoMagic driver module you specified isn't the right one for this computer's NMA2 sound chipset.
Posts: 630
Eino
Joined: 12 Oct 2012
#19
for the volume icon issue.
try

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apt-get purge volumeicon-alsa


Then reinstall it.

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apt-get update && apt-get install volumeicon-alsa
Posts: 630
Eino
Joined: 12 Oct 2012
#20
Silent Observer wrote: This resembles the message I get during startup if the USB isn't plugged in; I suspect the NeoMagic driver module you specified isn't the right one for this computer's NMA2 sound chipset.
Sorry I just got back the answer I was looking for, sorry for jumping the gun.
Now we are back to the usb sound.
Here is my answer from a ALSA developer.
>> Hello ALSA users
>>
>> Does ALSA support the NeoMagic NM3298(AKA the NMA2). The datasheet
for this
>> chip says it is"an ISA interafce SIngle Audio Sytstem LSI" which
>>"integrates an OPL3 (FM-synthesizer), 16bit delta-sigma CODEC, MPU401
MIDI
>> interface, and a 3D enhanced controller".

>No, NeoMagic chips are not supported.
I have one in my shop, a long with a Yamaha card that's not supported by ALSA

Time to do this again.
Run

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# alsa  force-unload
Then Run

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# modprobe snd-usb-audio ; modprobe snd-pcm-oss ; modprobe snd-mixer-oss ; modprobe snd-seq-oss
Then Run

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# alsa reload
I hope purging and reinstalling the icon works. to fix the issue.
Posts: 347
Silent Observer
Joined: 08 Aug 2013
#21
Okay, after going through those two sequences, I have a newer version of volumeicon (its tray icon has changed), but there was no change in the behavior; running speaker-test fails, xmms produces no sound, and if volumeicon is in the tray, it hogs all the available CPU cycles. I note I have 28 updates to install; let me go get those, and see if they change anything.

Edit: Okay, that was odd; I had a new version of volumeicon after the specific purge and install -- different tray icon, different icons for menu entries when the menu was popped up -- but after a reboot, and continuing after dist-upgrade and rerunning the cycle of purging and installing, I'm now back to the same appearance of volumeicon that I've had before. Regardless, at no point did volumeicon fail to hog up all available CPU any time I try to play any kind of sound, and at no point does any sound play. I'm considering doing a purge and reinstall of all of alsa, thinking that something in that package is corrupted.
Posts: 630
Eino
Joined: 12 Oct 2012
#22
This is a list of sound files needed to remove, then reinstall.
oss-compat
libao-common
alsa-base
alsa-utils
alsa-tools
alsa-lib
volumeicon-alsa
sox
I would do an"apt-get purge" for each, then a"apt-get clean" when your done with the list
reboot then reinstall each.
You will need to setup your sound cards again.
I think I covered everything that maybe cause of your issue.
It's almost all of the sound processing files.
Silent Observer
Posts: 347
Silent Observer
Joined: 08 Aug 2013
#23
Thanks, Eino, I'll try that when I get some time (might be the weekend; my schedule has changed and bedtime is now much too early).
Posts: 347
Silent Observer
Joined: 08 Aug 2013
#24
Okay, Eino, I went through that sequence -- apt-get purge for each listed package, then apt-get autoremove (there were a lot of unneeded files, I figured they're get reinstalled as dependencies during the install segment) and apt-get clean. I noticed a numbe of packages that were being uninstalled along with the specified ones, but didn't really think anything of it until I saw antix-cc-full-antix -- that's the Control Centre! After rebooting, I reinstalled all the listed packages, as well as the Control Centre, I guess I can use Synapic to save the list of packages from the live USB and then mass install those, and get only the ones that aren't already present, to get back the others.

I've got a dist-upgrade running right now, once that's finished, I'll reboot with the USB sound device connected and see what I get (if the system startup files were left alone through this, I'll only need to do the modprobes to get the midi sound working). I'll post back with the results (and let you know how I came out restoring the dependent packages that got removed along with the listed ones).
Posts: 630
Eino
Joined: 12 Oct 2012
#25
Silent Observer wrote: apt-get autoremove
I've got a dist-upgrade modprobes to get the midi sound working.
The reason I use apt-get clean, is autoremove goes a little too far at times, all that was needed was to remove any leftover dependencies, If any.
I glad to see that you did a dist-upgrade to correct this issue.
Posts: 347
Silent Observer
Joined: 08 Aug 2013
#26
I wasn't concerned about autoremove, because any dependencies on those packages would be renewed when reinstalling them. I'm more worried about other packages that depend on those that got removed, and won't be restored by reinstalling the listed ones or by dist-upgrade, but I have a plan to deal with that (one I've used in the past to be sure I had the stuff I needed installed in the new OS when I upgraded MEPIS from 32-bit to 64-bit): Synaptic can export a list of all installed packages, then import that list as markings for installation; I think I can use that to store a complete default package list from the live session, then install all the marked items to get all the default stuff back. I haven't installed much on this machine that wasn't original, so that should fix me up.

I'll go back and find the thread from getting the USB sound working and see what happens; at present, volumeicon isn't loading on start, even though it's still invoked in the startup files.
Posts: 630
Eino
Joined: 12 Oct 2012
#27
time to do this again, to get the usb sound working.

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# alsa  force-unload
Then Run

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# modprobe snd-usb-audio ; modprobe snd-pcm-oss ; modprobe snd-mixer-oss ; modprobe snd-seq-oss
Then Run

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# alsa reload
Posts: 630
Eino
Joined: 12 Oct 2012
#28
Silent Observer wrote: at present, volumeicon isn't loading on start, even though it's still invoked in the startup files.
If alsa is not loading the drivers to the sound cards, alsa is not loading, hence no volumeicon.
See if it shows after getting, the usb sound recognized by alsa.
Posts: 347
Silent Observer
Joined: 08 Aug 2013
#29
Here's what I got after running the modprobes:

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dqualls@Little-Luddite:~
$ volumeicon &
[1] 30425
dqualls@Little-Luddite:~
$ volumeicon: alsa_backend.c:86: asound_get_volume: Assertion `m_elem != ((void *)0)' failed.
Looks like something is failing in the alsa infrastructure. I checked before this; the line in the startup files that prevents a USB sound device from loading as first sound card is still gone (I had to delete that to get this working originally; probably should have commented it, would have made it easier to confirm it hadn't returned), and lsmod | grep snd showed all the usual alsa and oss components with the USB plugged in but sound not yet working. FWIW, when I reloaded alsa, the status light in the sound device (which had blinked and gone dark when I plugged in the device) went to solid"on", which is its usual state when the drivers are working but the sound is idle. let me try a reboot with the USB connected now that the modules are loaded, and see what I get.
Posts: 630
Eino
Joined: 12 Oct 2012
#30
You need to be added to the audio group.

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su root password <enter>
adduser username audio <enter>
The username is the name you log in as.