Sound no longer works in kubuntu, though snd_intel8x0 is loaded

What actions do you take in alsaconf which get sound working for you?

Show us the resulting /etc/modprobe.d/sound and /etc/modprobe.conf after running
alsaconf.

We don't want to rely upon alsaconf. However, it is useful to know
that running alsaconf makes sound work for you. Something that alsaconf
does is evidently not being done by the standard infrastructure in
the alsa-base and alsa-utils packages. We need to find out what that is
so that we can fix the standard infrastructure.

Before looking at alsaconf, however, we should eliminate some known
reasons why the sound subsystem would not be properly initialized. These
include bugs in the "cold plugging" code and shortcomings in the alsa-utils
initscript. You should upgrade your OS to the very latest in Breezy.

If sound still does not work after upgrading to today's Breezy, and
alsaconf still makes sound work, the most important question is this:

   To make sound work, do you have to run alsaconf after every
   reboot, or does running alsaconf once make sound work
   immediately _and_ after subsequent reboots? Or is the
   pattern of behavior otherwise?

If alsaconf only fixes sound during the current run (i.e., its effects
do not last beyond reboot) then it is most likely that alsaconf fixes
sound by initializing mixer levels. Running

   /etc/init.d/alsa-utils start

or

   /etc/init.d/alsa-utils reset

should have the same effect. Please let us know whether or not this
is the case.

If alsaconf fixes sound also after subsequent reboots then it must be
writing an /etc/modprobe.d/sound file that has the curative effect.
As mdz asked, please send /etc/modprobe.d/sound and /etc/modprobe.conf
if present.

In either case, please provide as many details as you can.

Created an attachment (id=4359)
modprobe.d/alsa-base

(In reply to comment #2)

First of all, thank you for your positive replies.

I've snatched alsaconf from a debian testing.

> We don't want to rely upon alsaconf. However, it is useful to know
> that running alsaconf makes sound work for you.
It solves the problem till next boot.
>........
>
> Before looking at alsaconf, however, we should eliminate some known
> reasons why the sound subsystem would not be properly initialized. These
> include bugs in the "cold plugging" code and shortcomings in the alsa-utils
> initscript. You should upgrade your OS to the very latest in Breezy.

I must admit that it is a kubuntu installation, i.e. hoary 5.04, but it is
upgraded. When I installed it, sound worked perfectly.
>
> ...
>
> To make sound work, do you have to run alsaconf after every
> reboot,
yes.

> ..........
> If alsaconf only fixes sound during the current run (i.e., its effects
> do not last beyond reboot) then it is most likely that alsaconf fixes
> sound by initializing mixer levels. Running
>
> /etc/init.d/alsa-utils start
>
> or
>
> /etc/init.d/alsa-utils reset
>
> should have the same effect. Please let us know whether or not this
> is the case.

There is no

/etc/init.d/alsa-utils

though alsa-utils is installed.

/etc/init.d/alsa restart

doesn't help.
>
> If alsaconf fixes sound also after subsequent reboots then it must be
> writing an /etc/modprobe.d/sound file that has the curative effect.
> As mdz asked, please send /etc/modprobe.d/sound and /etc/modprobe.conf
> if present.
>
> In either case, please provide as many details as you can.

/etc/modprobe.d/sound
alias snd-card-0 snd-intel8x0
options snd-intel8x0 index=0

I have attached /etc/modprobe.d/sound/alsa-base. There is no /etc/modprobe.conf.

Flemming

(In reply to comment #4)
> There is no
>
> /etc/init.d/alsa-utils

This script is present in Breezy. Once you have upgraded to Breezy
we can continue hunting for the bug, if there still is a bug.

Please download a Breezy live CD (such as Colony 5 or a daily build) and boot it
to confirm whether this bug still exists; we've fixed many similar bugs since Hoary.

(In reply to comment #6)
> Please download a Breezy live CD (such as Colony 5 or a daily build) and boot it
> to confirm whether this bug still exists; we've fixed many similar bugs since
Hoary.

Or, uh, that. I keep forgetting about the live CD! :)

(In reply to comment #7)
> (In reply to comment #6)
> > Please download a Breezy live CD (such as Colony 5 or a daily build) and boot it
> > to confirm whether this bug still exists; we've fixed many similar bugs since
> Hoary.
>
> Or, uh, that. I keep forgetting about the live CD! :)

Well, basically, it won't help trying a Breezy live. Probably, it works nice as
Kubuntu (as well as earlier ubuntu versions had done) did when I installed it -
and several month after.

If I try to update to Breezy, what will happen to kubuntu? I guess I'll run into
a bunch of dependencies. So, I guess I must wait untill kubuntu is build on Breezy.

But, the good thing is that my sound works now!!! I don't really know why? My
best guess is that it is due to that I having used alsaconf to fix the problem
temporarily tried to select alsa (instead of autodetect) in kde controlcenter.
It won't accept it (???), so it still uses autodetect. But, I have forced kde to
connect to the sound system ... which was possible due to alsaconf.

To conclude: It is not really worth spending more energy on this bug since we
don't know whether it has been fixed or not. In case others should run into
similar problems as I, I attach alsaconf. It may solve a hopefully temporary
problem for others.

Thank you for the help.

Created an attachment (id=4384)
Alsaconf

Unpack as root and run the program. More information in the discussion of this
bug.

If everything is working properly out of the box, and you don't want to test
Breezy, then we'll assume this is dealt with. Thanks.

(In reply to comment #10)
> If everything is working properly out of the box, and you don't want to test
> Breezy, then we'll assume this is dealt with. Thanks.

I didn't say that I don't want to test Breezy. My point was that I don't see the
point in trying a new Breezy, because there have been no problems with sounds on
my IBM laptom at all, whether using ubuntu or kubuntu, at installation time. The
problems first turned up after some months during which I have continually
upgraded kubuntu. If it works with a live cd, it won't tell us anything about
whether 'my' bug is still abundant or not. Therefore, I find it most relevant to
wait untill kubuntu is upgraded to Breezy version, and then test it. But, of
course I will put a live Breezy in the box.

Flemming

(In reply to comment #11)
> (In reply to comment #10)
> > If everything is working properly out of the box, and you don't want to test
> > Breezy, then we'll assume this is dealt with. Thanks.
>
> I didn't say that I don't want to test Breezy. My point was that I don't see the
> point in trying a new Breezy, because there have been no problems with sounds on
> my IBM laptom at all, whether using ubuntu or kubuntu, at installation time. The
> problems first turned up after some months during which I have continually
> upgraded kubuntu. If it works with a live cd, it won't tell us anything about
> whether 'my' bug is still abundant or not. Therefore, I find it most relevant to
> wait untill kubuntu is upgraded to Breezy version, and then test it. But, of
> course I will put a live Breezy in the box.
>
> Flemming
>
>

Now, Kubuntu is available in Breezy, and I have dist-upgraded my laptop
installation. Sound continued for some days to work perfectly. But today, I
logged out. When I logged in again the sound had disappeared. I tried restarting
alsa-utils. Still

cat sound.file > /dev/dsp

didn't gave any sound.

Then, I opened the kde control panel > sound > sound system > hardware and
selected alsa as hardware profile. That froze kubuntu!!! (Chocking!)

Now, what would you like me to do. Should I try to run alsaconf?

Flemming

What sound chipset is involved (lspnp -v)? Does /proc/asound/cards exist? If so,
what are its contents? If it exists, you should also be able to attach the
output from amixer.

(In reply to comment #14)
> What sound chipset is involved (lspnp -v)? Does /proc/asound/cards exist? If so,
> what are its contents? If it exists, you should also be able to attach the
> output from amixer.

Here you are. Is there anything else, I should do?

Flemming

from lspci -v
=============
0000:00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corp. 82801DB/DBL/DBM
(ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev
03)
        Subsystem: IBM: Unknown device 0523
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 11
        I/O ports at 1c00 [size=256]
        I/O ports at 18c0 [size=64]
        Memory at d0000c00 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=512]
        Memory at d0000800 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
        Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 2

/proc/asound/cards
==================
0 [I82801DBICH4 ]: ICH4 - Intel 82801DB-ICH4
                     Intel 82801DB-ICH4 with AD1981B at 0xd0000c00, irq 11

from lsmod
===========
snd_intel8x0 30144 0
snd_ac97_codec 72188 1 snd_intel8x0
snd_pcm_oss 46368 0
snd_mixer_oss 16128 1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm 78344 3 snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss
snd_timer 21764 1 snd_pcm
snd 48644 6
snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_timer
soundcore 9184 1 snd
snd_page_alloc 10120 2 snd_intel8x0,snd_pcm

from amixer output
==================

Simple mixer control 'Master',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pswitch
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 31
  Front Left: Playback 31 [100%] [on]
  Front Right: Playback 31 [100%] [on]
......
Simple mixer control 'Headphone',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pswitch
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 31
  Front Left: Playback 31 [100%] [on]
  Front Right: Playback 31 [100%] [on]
.........
Simple mixer control 'PCM',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pswitch
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 31
  Front Left: Playback 31 [100%] [off]
  Front Right: Playback 31 [100%] [off]
Simple mixer control 'Line',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pswitch cswitch cswitch-joined cswitch-exclusive
  Capture exclusive group: 0
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 31
  Front Left: Playback 31 [100%] [on] Capture [on]
  Front Right: Playback 31 [100%] [on] Capture [on]

Created an attachment (id=4774)
This time alsaconf should be uploaded

Unpack with tar xvzf alsaconf.tgs. and place it for instance in /usr/sbin. Run
alsaconf as root.

Hi,

Have a similar problem with my Intel ICH4 sound chip on my Dell laptop. After
the upgrade from Hoary to Breezy, I hear no sound through the speaker, but only
through the headphone. The speakers are ok, because shortly I can hear a sound
(e.g. an mp3 file), when a system beep is generated, and I don't mean the beep
itself ;-)
The relevant mixer levels (PCH, master) are all up and not muted.

Calling alsaconf does not fix the problem.

What information do you need to investigate this any further?

Greetings,

Christian

Maybe it helps:

$ lspci -v
...
0000:00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corp. 82801DB/DBL/DBM
(ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 03)
        Subsystem: Dell: Unknown device 013e
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 5
        I/O ports at b800 [size=256]
        I/O ports at bc40 [size=64]
        Memory at f4fff800 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=512]
        Memory at f4fff400 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
        Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 2
...

and
$ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: I82801DBICH4 [Intel 82801DB-ICH4], device 0: Intel ICH [Intel 82801DB-ICH4]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: I82801DBICH4 [Intel 82801DB-ICH4], device 4: Intel ICH - IEC958 [Intel
82801DB-ICH4 - IEC958]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

For me it looks strange. Two sound devices for one card? Is that ok?

Christian

Found the solution.

It was really the last mixer slider in alsamixer, named "Extern". Its not a real
slider, but only a toggle, and it was muted :-P

Maybe this info helps others with the same "problem".

Shame on me, and greetings,

Christian

(In reply to comment #19)
> It was really the last mixer slider in alsamixer, named "Extern". Its not a real
> slider, but only a toggle, and it was muted :-P
>
> Maybe this info helps others with the same "problem".

Flemming Bjerke: Does toggling the "External Amplifier" control solve the
no-sound problem for you too?

Note that "External Amplifier" being incorrectly initialized on some
systems is a known problem which we hope will eventually be solved upstream.

(Let's not deal with the "selecting alsa as hardware profile in KDE causes
Ubuntu to freeze" problem here. If you can reproduce the latter problem
then please open a separate bug report, providing a procedure for
reproducing the problem.)

(In reply to comment #20)
> (In reply to comment #19)
> > It was really the last mixer slider in alsamixer, named "Extern". Its not a real
> > slider, but only a toggle, and it was muted :-P
> >
> > Maybe this info helps others with the same "problem".
>
> Flemming Bjerke: Does toggling the "External Amplifier" control solve the
> no-sound problem for you too?
No.
>
> Note that "External Amplifier" being incorrectly initialized on some
> systems is a known problem which we hope will eventually be solved upstream.
?

It is right that I've got sound. But, only when I play a cd! If play an ogg file
with xmms, it says: failed to open audio device (/dev/dsp) (respectively: pcm
device (hw:0,0) dependig on setup in the output. Correspondingly, following
command doesn't give any sound:

cat /usr/share/sounds/pop.waw > /dev/dsp

Also, there is no system sound.

It would be nice with any suggestions about what to do.

I've also just upgraded my son's asus 1000 laptop to kubuntu breezy which made
the sound unstable. It comes and goes .... Annoying!

Flemming
>
> (Let's not deal with the "selecting alsa as hardware profile in KDE causes
> Ubuntu to freeze" problem here. If you can reproduce the latter problem
> then please open a separate bug report, providing a proc
edure for
> reproducing the problem.)

(In reply to comment #21)
> It is right that I've got sound. But, only when I play a cd! If play an ogg file
> with xmms, it says: failed to open audio device (/dev/dsp) (respectively: pcm
> device (hw:0,0) dependig on setup in the output. Correspondingly, following
> command doesn't give any sound:
>
> cat /usr/share/sounds/pop.waw > /dev/dsp
>
> Also, there is no system sound.
>
> It would be nice with any suggestions about what to do.
>
> I've also just upgraded my son's asus 1000 laptop to kubuntu breezy which made
> the sound unstable. It comes and goes .... Annoying!
>
>
>
> Flemming
> >
> > (Let's not deal with the "selecting alsa as hardware profile in KDE causes
> > Ubuntu to freeze" problem here. If you can reproduce the latter problem
> > then please open a separate bug report, providing a proc
> edure for
> > reproducing the problem.)
>
>

I had the same problem and I fixed it by unmuting "Master Surround" in
alsamixer. It has to be unmuted even if you only have two speakers.

I'm using Ubuntu Breezy. This happened when I dist-upgraded from Hoary.

(In reply to comment #23)
> I had the same problem and I fixed it by unmuting "Master Surround" in
> alsamixer. It has to be unmuted even if you only have two speakers.
>
> I'm using Ubuntu Breezy. This happened when I dist-upgraded from Hoary.
>
Well, I booted in gnome and after some time, the worked. But, in kde only
cd-playing worked. Then, I unmuted PCM in alsamixer, and now it seems to work.
(It not because I haven't tried that before!)

flemming

I was having problems with output to my laptop's builtin speakers recently, and the suggestion to enable the "external amplifier" switch fixed it for me. I'm not really sure how it became disabled (user error on my part, probably).

One thing is clear, which is that the "external amplifier" switch (and all the alsa switches in general) could use some help text or a name that indicates what it does a little more clearly.

Good evening,

I noticed this bug has been updated since 2006-03-16. Are you still having problems with sound no longer working in Kubuntu? If so could you please update the status of this bug?

Thanks,

Jonathan

We are closing this bug report as it lacks the information, described in the previous comments, we need to investigate the problem further. However, please reopen it if you can give us the missing information and feel free to submit bug reports in the future.