topic title: A new laptop sound problem
Posts: 347
Silent Observer
Joined: 08 Aug 2013
#1
After my power was out for four days (ice storm dropped a tree on the neighborhood high voltage supply line), everything worked fine overnight, but this morning, I found my laptop (300 MHz Pentium II, 288 MiB RAM, Antix 13.2 32-bit) was happily running xmms, but no sound was audible. Speakers connected, turned on, volume knob not down; I found volumeicon was showing muted and consuming around 70% of CPU as shown in htop. Adjusting mixer did nothing, restarting didn't help, so I restarted with my USB sound device unplugged, then again with it plugged, and got the volume icon to behave -- but still no sound.

Sound Test, as accessed from Control Centre, played"Front Left" once, then stopped with no further sound and"Front Right" on screen, subsequently, even after another reboot, it will stop without any audible sound and"Front Left" showing. As far as I can tell, all the software modules I loaded when trying to originally get the USB sound operating on this laptop are still in place (ALSA Mixer still sees the USB device and detect if it's unplugged), and the fact that this ran for almost 24 hours after the power came back makes me pretty sure the hardware wasn't damaged by the pulses on the power line when the wires went down.

Suggestions?
Posts: 347
Silent Observer
Joined: 08 Aug 2013
#2
Following up on this, I used Synaptic to"reinstall" volumeicon-alsa, but I still find that as soon as I try to run anything that produces sound, the volumeicon process starts to use up all the available CPU, typically hogging 70% or so and running the meter on conky up to 100%.
Posts: 630
Eino
Joined: 12 Oct 2012
#3
I posted something but then i remembered, that the opl3 Yamaha drivers are no longer available.
Sound blaster drivers may have worked in it's place, but MIDI will be no longer usable with the sound card.

What is the output of" aplay -L" ,and inxi -A
If one differs from the other you have a real issue
You may need to re-install the sound modules, for your card. .
Posts: 4,164
rokytnji
Joined: 20 Feb 2009
#4
Yeah, if me. If a retro kernel or a re-install don't fix it. I would figure it had been kicked in the teeth once too often.
Posts: 347
Silent Observer
Joined: 08 Aug 2013
#5
Eino, this laptop has a NeoMagic sound chipset, a version for which there has apparently never been a Linux driver; hence why I installed a USB sound device, which has been working correctly for several months. I can't use the built-in speakers, volume control, and microphone, but at least I can play music and (in theory) use applications like Skype.

Roky, I'm not sure what you mean by retro kernel -- I could try booting into one of the older kernels I still have showing in the GRUB menu (I have 3.10.7 and 3.11.5, and I think 3.12.1, prior to the current working 3.12.3) if that's what you mean -- else reinstall the entire OS? This machine wasn't restarted after the first power drop that morning, so was powered down during the subsequent up-and-down cycles that led up to the actual fireball of the high voltage lines parting. On startup after the four days without power, it ran a forced file system check and forced a reboot (as it's done following every unclean shutdown since installing the compact flash as SSD and getting 13.2 up and running), and ran fine (including playing sound) for about 20 hours...
Posts: 630
Eino
Joined: 12 Oct 2012
#6
For the usb audio
Run

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# alsa  force-unload
Then

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

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# alsa reload
Posts: 347
Silent Observer
Joined: 08 Aug 2013
#7

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dqualls@Little-Luddite:~
$ aplay -L
null
    Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)
default:CARD=Device
    USB PnP Sound Device, USB Audio
    Default Audio Device
sysdefault:CARD=Device
    USB PnP Sound Device, USB Audio
    Default Audio Device
front:CARD=Device,DEV=0
    USB PnP Sound Device, USB Audio
    Front speakers
surround40:CARD=Device,DEV=0
    USB PnP Sound Device, USB Audio
    4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=Device,DEV=0
    USB PnP Sound Device, USB Audio
    4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=Device,DEV=0
    USB PnP Sound Device, USB Audio
    5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=Device,DEV=0
    USB PnP Sound Device, USB Audio
    5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71:CARD=Device,DEV=0
    USB PnP Sound Device, USB Audio
    7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
iec958:CARD=Device,DEV=0
    USB PnP Sound Device, USB Audio
    IEC958 (S/PDIF) Digital Audio Output
dqualls@Little-Luddite:~
and

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dqualls@Little-Luddite:~
$ inxi -A
Audio:     Card-1: USB PnP Sound Device driver: USB-Audio Sound: ALSA ver: k3.12.3-antix.2-486-smp
           Card-2: C-Media CM108 Audio Controller driver: USB Audio 
dqualls@Little-Luddite:~
FWIW...

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dqualls@Little-Luddite:~
$ lsmod | grep snd
snd_usb_audio          83956  0 
snd_usbmidi_lib        13486  1 snd_usb_audio
snd_hwdep               4115  1 snd_usb_audio
snd_seq_midi            3588  0 
snd_seq_midi_event      3608  1 snd_seq_midi
snd_rawmidi            12938  2 snd_usbmidi_lib,snd_seq_midi
snd_pcm_oss            27658  0 
snd_mixer_oss          10401  1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm                51105  2 snd_pcm_oss,snd_usb_audio
snd_page_alloc          5082  1 snd_pcm
snd_seq                35206  2 snd_seq_midi_event,snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_device          3932  3 snd_seq,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq_midi
snd_timer              12349  2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd                    37310  11 snd_pcm_oss,snd_usb_audio,snd_hwdep,snd_timer,snd_pcm,snd_seq,snd_rawmidi,snd_usbmidi_lib,snd_seq_device,snd_mixer_oss,snd_seq_midi
soundcore               3494  1 snd
dqualls@Little-Luddite:~
These were done after a start with the USB sound unit unplugged, to keep from loading the offending volumeicon, but after hot-plugging the sound device (as you can see it was detected and the drivers loaded). I tried loading volumeicon from a terminal, and it seemed to behave normally, but I don't recall if I tried playing sound when it was loaded, and I couldn't offhand recall how to get it to stay loaded after closing the terminal.

Now...

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root@Little-Luddite:/home/dqualls# alsa force-unload
Unloading ALSA sound driver modules: snd-usb-audio snd-usbmidi-lib snd-hwdep snd-seq-midi snd-seq-midi-event snd-rawmidi snd-pcm-oss snd-mixer-oss snd-pcm snd-page-alloc snd-seq snd-seq-device snd-timer (failed: modules still loaded: snd-usb-audio snd-usbmidi-lib snd-hwdep snd-rawmidi snd-pcm snd-page-alloc snd-seq-device snd-timer).
root@Little-Luddite:/home/dqualls#  modprobe snd-usb-audio ; modprobe snd-pcm-oss ; modprobe snd-mixer-oss ; modprobe snd-seq-oss
root@Little-Luddite:/home/dqualls# alsa force-reload
Unloading ALSA sound driver modules: snd-seq-dummy snd-seq-oss snd-seq-midi-event snd-seq snd-pcm-oss snd-mixer-oss snd-usb-audio snd-usbmidi-lib snd-hwdep snd-rawmidi snd-pcm snd-page-alloc snd-seq-device snd-timer (failed: modules still loaded: snd-usb-audio snd-usbmidi-lib snd-hwdep snd-rawmidi snd-pcm snd-page-alloc snd-seq-device snd-timer).
Loading ALSA sound driver modules: snd-seq-dummy snd-seq-oss snd-seq-midi-event snd-seq snd-pcm-oss snd-mixer-oss snd-usb-audio snd-usbmidi-lib snd-hwdep snd-rawmidi snd-pcm snd-page-alloc snd-seq-device snd-timer.
root@Little-Luddite:/home/dqualls#
As previously when getting the USB sound working, there seem to be a lot of alsa modules that don't unload. I've got volumeicon loaded now (remembered I wanted to follow the command with & to get it to fork instead of chain), let's see if it behaves...

Okay, I opened a terminal running htop, then launched speaker-test from Control Centre -- and just like previously, speaker-test locked after displaying"front left" but without any audible sound, and volumeicon immediately started hogging every available CPU cycle, though fortunately at a low enough priority I was able to kill the volumeicon process without difficulty.
Posts: 630
Eino
Joined: 12 Oct 2012
#8
Reloading the modules did not work. So now I'm trying to look at it from a different angle.
This may take me awhile to figure out.
Posts: 630
Eino
Joined: 12 Oct 2012
#9
I think the built in card is causing the issue.
Let's see if it's in the directory.

Run

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# ls /proc/asound/card*
Without the usb sound plugged in run the following it should remove the offending icon.

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#  etc/init.d/alsa-utils stop
Posts: 4,164
rokytnji
Joined: 20 Feb 2009
#10
Just for info since Eino is helping you just fine. Older kernels can be had via smxi when yrun run one of it's kernel install options.

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KERNEL OPTIONS. Always available in Post Upgrade Options.
(NOTE: this is turned OFF in the pre upgrade section if -G Gui option is used, but it is available via the main options section)

    install-apt-kernel (note: this only shows if the kernel in apt is different than the currently running kernel on your system. However, you can always install the current apt kernel using the alternate-kernel-install section)
        yes-install-kernel
        no-return-to-menu
        continue-no-kernel
    alternate-kernel-install
        Select from list of archived kernels
        install-debian-kernel (default 32/64 Debian kernel for your system)
            yes-install-kernel
            no-return-to-menu
            continue-no-kernel
        install-debian-486/686-kernel (only present if 32 bit. Shows the opposite kernel to your current installed type)
            yes-install-kernel
            no-return-to-menu
            continue-no-kernel
        install-liquorix-kernel (only if you have liquorix sources enabled)
            yes-install-kernel
            no-return-to-menu
            continue-no-kernel
        install-siduction-kernel (only if you have Siduction sources enabled)
            yes-install-kernel
            no-return-to-menu
            continue-no-kernel
        install-aptosid-kernel (only if you have Aptosid sources enabled)
            yes-install-kernel
            no-return-to-menu
            continue-no-kernel
        back-to-main-menu
    advanced-kernel-options (some options that will be used less often):
        kernel-metapackage-options (Debian, Aptosid, and Liquorix)
            remove-kernel-metapackages
            install-kernel-metapackages-custom (currently only for Aptosid kernel users)
            install-current-apt-kernel
                yes-install-kernel
                no-return-to-menu
                continue-no-kernel
            continue-manual/meta (depending on your settings) - returns to super-advanced-options section.
        add-liquorix-sources - Test for and add if missing Liquorix kernel sources, if you want to use Liquorix kernels.
        add-siduction-sources - Test for and add if missing Siduction kernel sources, if you want to use Siduction/Towo kernels (note that by adding Siduction sources, you may pull in packages from Sid in the Siduction repositories, so if you use Debian Testing, you may want to be aware of that).
        change-smxi-default-kernel - change the kernel smxi tests for default apt kernel install. Also sets the latest kernel shown in the system information section. This feature is also available from Miscellaneous Tweaks, Advanced Tweaks
        install-kernel-modules
            Select from list of modules. Not all modules available for all kernels.
            continue
        remove-kernel-modules
            Select from list of modules installed on your system, removes one by one as you select them.
            continue

========= SCRAPER REMOVED AN EMBEDDED LINK HERE ===========
url was:"http://smxi.org/docs/navigation.htm"
linktext was:"http://smxi.org/docs/navigation.htm"
====================================



Me/ I keep this link handy also for emergencies on real old gear.

========= SCRAPER REMOVED AN EMBEDDED LINK HERE ===========
url was:"https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B3t2qHbasjtBMjJiNDIxMDItYTc3OS00ZWZjLWJmODAtMmNlN2Q2ZWE5Mjc5/edit?pli=1&hl=en"
linktext was:"https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B3t2qHb ... li=1&hl=en"
====================================

In case I wanna bypass smxi entirely and do a manual kernel install with dpkg -i.

Like I said. Just posting info more than helping like Eino is doing.
On startup after the four days without power, it ran a forced file system check
Which is why I said
had been kicked in the teeth once too often.
Because I don't get that till after letting a box sit for at least over 30 days without a power on.
I used to be a avionics crew chief on CH-53's and also punched a time clock as a Licensed Industrial Electrican while I raised my kids and I know lightening/voltage spikes and electronics don't play well together.
You might have got lucky in one way but was the bug on the windshield another way. I can't say for sure yet because Eino may bail you out of this.

You gotta admit. Lightning strike. Laptop sits for 4 days. File system check. Lost sound.
Somethings gotta be related. I break things on a constant basis so I kinda know and have the experience.
As far as working before the reboot. It does not matter. It's broke now.

I gotta go fix a motorcycle, bye. __{{emoticon}}__
Posts: 630
Eino
Joined: 12 Oct 2012
#11
The last opl3 synthesizer chip that Yamaha made was in the year 2000, so the Kernel will need to be pre 2000. to have the right sound modules.
NeoMagic used the same combination of chips as Sound Blaster 16 sound cards. .
Posts: 1,308
BitJam
Joined: 31 Aug 2009
#12
Hardware drivers are not deleted from the kernel when hardware production stops. This
========= SCRAPER REMOVED AN EMBEDDED LINK HERE ===========
url was:"https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=167125"
linktext was:"Arch Linux thread"
====================================
shows that people got the OPL3 chip working on systems in 2014. The final post said:
before playing a file I must do a :

sbiload std.o3 drums.o3

then I can read a midi file with aplaymidi,
Posts: 630
Eino
Joined: 12 Oct 2012
#13
I did find the ALSA matrix for Neomagic cards.
Because it was never added to a kernel it will need to be ether compiled into the kernel, or set up as modules.


========= SCRAPER REMOVED AN EMBEDDED LINK HERE ===========
url was:"http://www.alsa-project.org/main/index.php/Matrix:Vendor-Neomagic"
linktext was:"http://www.alsa-project.org/main/index. ... r-Neomagic"
====================================
Posts: 347
Silent Observer
Joined: 08 Aug 2013
#14
For those of us who aren't anything approaching a Linux guru, this looks pretty daunting -- I have to either compile a kernel (from instructions that, in my experience, are written for those who already know what they're doing) or compile the drivers as modules and load them. I don't have the beginning of an idea how to do that; every time I've ever compiled a program into a reusable .exe (DOS/Windows) it was with a click from an integrated development environment (Quick BASIC, Quick C, or Top Speed Modula-2), and that's been around twenty years. Nor do I know how to go about integrating a module that's not compiled into the kernel so it loads on startup.

And I still don't see how this will fix the volumicon misbehavior...

Edit: All that said, I'd like to be able to use the internal sound hardware, so I'm interested in getting the NeoMagic modules installed.

And this; Roky, there was no lightning strike. A tree fell over the high voltage line for my neighborhood during an ice/sleet/rain event, there was never any lightning anywhere in my region during that event. And the laptop was already powered down from previous short power drops when that occurred. Unless the USB sound device failed 20+ hours after being powered up from that four-day down time, this is a software problem (admittedly, likely due to a file getting corrupted in an unclean shutdown). I'm inclined to try anything I can to fix the existing OS rather than just reinstall, however, because of the process I had to go through to get antiX 13.2 onto this laptop in the first place (it's a chore to get a good boot from USB stick on a 1997 BIOS, complicated by a tired CD-ROM drive -- which is needed to start PLOP Boot Manager to get the USB to start).
Last edited by Silent Observer on 15 Mar 2014, 13:46, edited 1 time in total.
Posts: 630
Eino
Joined: 12 Oct 2012
#15
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.

Scroll down to some earlier instructions.

I'm working on step by step instructions.