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Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) High Definition Audio

post #1 of 35
11/9/05 at 9:54pm
Thread Starter 
OK, my new Sager 5720 features the above soundcard which, in various flavors, has stymied people from across the linux distro spectrum. Google gives me 1001 answers (from "add myself to the 'audio' group" to grab the drivers from realtek), but most of them seem to imply that using kernel 2.6.12 or higher (I'm at .13) or ALSA 1.08 or higher (I'm at 1.09) takes care of this.

However, I'm still soundless.

I reinstalled the ALSA drivers and running the various tools gives lame results.

Code:
> alsamixer
alsamixer: function snd_ctl_open failed for default: No such file or directory

Code:
> system-config-soundcard
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/share/system-config-soundcard/system-config-soundcard.py", line 46, in ?
    app = soundcard.childWindow()
  File "/usr/share/system-config-soundcard/soundcard.py", line 64, in __init__
    self.cardList = self.soundcardBackend.probeCards()
  File "/usr/share/system-config-soundcard/soundcardBackend.py", line 111, in probeCards
    driverList = read_driver_list()
  File "/usr/share/system-config-soundcard/soundcardBackend.py", line 48, in read_driver_list
    fd = open('/proc/asound/modules', 'r')
IOError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: '/proc/asound/modules'

Earlier, it was loading snd-hda-intel as the driver (everything looked fine), but I was still getting these errors.

Before I start giving loads of lspci output, etc., has anyone seen this problem? Any suggestions?

Thanks!
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post #2 of 35
11/10/05 at 1:11am
I'm having the same problem, and have also updated the kernel with no success.

I've also noticed that the volume control utility in Gnome shows no master volume slider, so for all I know, the card may be working perfectly but is stuck on mute.

For the record, this is under SUSE 10.0.
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post #3 of 35
11/10/05 at 1:58am
Heh my first suggestion is to make sure the driver is actually loading, as my best guess from your output is that it isnt loading and thus not creating the various device nodes needed by those programs.

So yea check lsmod for your driver.

Also make sure you ran alsaconf with the driver loaded.

Seablade
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post #4 of 35
11/10/05 at 7:55am
My Sager 9860 uses the same sound chip. Currently I'm using a 2.6.12 gentoo kernel and, mmmmm, sound 'works' . I remember it taking some work on my part to get it working. You'll want to make sure you're not loading the alsa-driver module on top of a kernel thats already configured with alsa built-in. Here is a guide that explains how to do this (and other stuff to consider) for Gentoo: http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/alsa-guide.xml. you will need to adapt this to whatever distro your using, but kernel configuration at least is pretty much standard across the board. Note also, that all the sound channels are muted by default, so make sure to unmute them as indicated.
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post #5 of 35
11/10/05 at 3:00pm
Thread Starter 
...what *driver* is being loaded for you who have it working?

Originally, I was loading snd-hda-intel out of the box, but it fails to load now

Code:
modprobe snd-hda-intel
FATAL: Error inserting snd_pcm (/lib/modules/2.6.13-1.1532_FC4/updates/sound/acore/snd-pcm.ko): Unknown symbol in module, or unknown parameter (see dmesg)
WARNING: Error running install command for snd_pcm
WARNING: Error inserting snd_hda_codec (/lib/modules/2.6.13-1.1532_FC4/updates/sound/pci/hda/snd-hda-codec.ko): Unknown symbol in module, or unknown parameter (see dmesg)
FATAL: Error inserting snd_hda_intel (/lib/modules/2.6.13-1.1532_FC4/updates/sound/pci/hda/snd-hda-intel.ko): Unknown symbol in module, or unknown parameter (see dmesg)

I've got the latest alsa rpms from ATRpms (1.09rf-21) and am clearing running 2.6.13. I can't figure this out...

Oh, running s-c-sc DETECTS the sound card and says it's using snd-hda-intel, but that module doesn't show up. When i got to "play a test sound" I get this:

Code:
system-config-soundcard
amixer: Mixer attach hw:0 error: No such file or directory
amixer: Mixer attach hw:0 error: No such file or directory
amixer: Mixer attach hw:0 error: No such file or directory
amixer: Mixer attach hw:0 error: No such file or directory
aplay: main:533: audio open error: No such file or directory

Any help appreciated! Thanks.
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post #6 of 35
11/10/05 at 3:28pm
Heh ok I think I have a good idea what your problem is. You downloaded the ALSA rpms precompiled I take it? Bad Idea. You need to compile them from scratch with the headers for the currently compiled kernel, otherwise you wont be able to load them(Like what you are seeing above)

Seablade
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post #7 of 35
11/10/05 at 3:36pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by seablade
Heh ok I think I have a good idea what your problem is. You downloaded the ALSA rpms precompiled I take it? Bad Idea. You need to compile them from scratch with the headers for the currently compiled kernel, otherwise you wont be able to load them(Like what you are seeing above)

Let me ask a stupid question or two, if you don't mind.

1) If this is the case, WTF have the rpms in the first place?

2) Would your suggestion be to remove the rpms and then compile?

3) Does it make any difference that the rpms I grabbed are, in theory, made for my kernel?

Code:
> rpm -qa|grep alsa
alsa-kmdl-2.6.13-1.1532_FC4-1.0.9rfb-40.rhfc4.at
alsa-lib-devel-1.0.9rf-21.rhfc4.at
alsa-driver-devel-1.0.9rfb-40.rhfc4.at
alsa-driver-1.0.9rfb-40.rhfc4.at
alsa-utils-1.0.9rfa-16.rhfc4.at
alsa-lib-1.0.9rf-21.rhfc4.at

> cat /proc/asound/version
Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version 1.0.9b.
Compiled on Oct 22 2005 for kernel 2.6.13-1.1532_FC4.

> uname -a
Linux localhost.localdomain 2.6.13-1.1532_FC4 #1 Thu Oct 20 01:30:08 EDT 2005 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux

None of these questions is to doubt you, I'm just looking for advice.

Thanks!
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post #8 of 35
11/12/05 at 1:33pm
I built the driver into the kernel using the pci Intel high definition audio driver option, I don't load it as a module. What does dmseg tell you about the alsa driver? dmesg gives me 6 lines of output, the first line looks alot like your cat /proc/snd/asound command output. I assume that you had sound working before you updated your kernel. Did you examine your kernel loading output before attempting to re-install the alsa modules? Since 2.6.12 and above now include the alsa driver in the kernel, it may be that the Fedora Core team decided to enable the Intel HDA option compiled already as a module in their FC4 custom kernel so that by installing the module from an RPMS, you are creating a conflict between drivers.
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post #9 of 35
11/14/05 at 1:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by chiphart
Let me ask a stupid question or two, if you don't mind.

1) If this is the case, WTF have the rpms in the first place?

2) Would your suggestion be to remove the rpms and then compile?

3) Does it make any difference that the rpms I grabbed are, in theory, made for my kernel?

Code:
> rpm -qa|grep alsa
alsa-kmdl-2.6.13-1.1532_FC4-1.0.9rfb-40.rhfc4.at
alsa-lib-devel-1.0.9rf-21.rhfc4.at
alsa-driver-devel-1.0.9rfb-40.rhfc4.at
alsa-driver-1.0.9rfb-40.rhfc4.at
alsa-utils-1.0.9rfa-16.rhfc4.at
alsa-lib-1.0.9rf-21.rhfc4.at

> cat /proc/asound/version
Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version 1.0.9b.
Compiled on Oct 22 2005 for kernel 2.6.13-1.1532_FC4.

> uname -a
Linux localhost.localdomain 2.6.13-1.1532_FC4 #1 Thu Oct 20 01:30:08 EDT 2005 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux

None of these questions is to doubt you, I'm just looking for advice.

Thanks!


No feel free to ask questions, it is what places like this are for and will only mean you will understand better in the end.

My thought is that somehow the config between the kernel the RPMs were built for and your config is slightly different, enough to cause it not to be properly inserted. So on that note, any idea what that last .at stands for in the ALSA rpms?

In as far as why have RPMs... well if the kernel is a standard stock kernel, and the rpms are built for that exact kernel it SHOULD work. However when dealing with anything related to the kernel I find it much better practice to just go ahead and deal with compilation from the source instead of using precompiled things. IMO it is just safer, this doesnt just go for drivers, but also for the kernel itself.

In as far as your second suggestion, well if the above paragraph didnt make it obvious, I would say you guessed correctly. I would compile it from scratch and remove the RPMs. Make sure you have the .config file from your kernel before you do this though, as well as the sources. Otherwise you will need to compile your kernel as well.

In as far as your third question, as I said above, IF the rpms were compiled against that exact kernel and config, and IF nothing was mislabeled they SHOULD work. But so many minor differences can screw thigns up that it just isnt worth the hassle IMO.

Seablade
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post #10 of 35
11/14/05 at 11:04am
OK I didn't read all of this carefully, but I am going to but in. I too have an NP5720 and want to get my sound working in linux, my distro of choice (for the moment) is Ubuntu.

Out of the box Ubuntu 5.1 (breezy badger) is supposed to have alsa pre-loaded in the kernel and the driver set to go with snd-hda-intel. My problem was just that. Ubuntu uses hotplug for as much as possible, I think I read somewhere that they are attempting to do it all with hotplug. Anyways it would install from the cd fine, but as soon as it tried to load the first time it would just stop at hotplug. I did some research and ran in the restore mode to find the exact error and it was the danged snd-hda-intel driver that was causing it to lock. I disabled it in the bios, and it started up fine. I have now blacklisted the snd-hda-intel driver and re-enabled the sound in thebios and all is well for booting. Obviously however no sound. I don't think our laptops like the snd-hda-intel driver for some reason.

I also had problems with gentoo not liking the sk98lin driver for the marvel yukon gigabit nic driver, yet other distros (Ubuntu included) seem to load it just fine?!?!?!? Anyways I know I gave more problems than solutions but figured maybe I could help jog someones thoughts in the right direction... Oh and keep me in touch with any fixes on this.

I am considering a switch to gentoo, however from the liveCD I got no working ethernet, which puts a real damper on the install process ANy ideas on this and I might consider the switch
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post #11 of 35
11/14/05 at 11:07am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by seablade
My thought is that somehow the config between the kernel the RPMs were built for and your config is slightly different, enough to cause it not to be properly inserted. So on that note, any idea what that last .at stands for in the ALSA rpms?
...they're from the ATrpms repository, which i'd read is where to get the kernel-specific drivers.

I will see if I can compile the drivers today. I had tried earlier in between some work tasks and one of the pieces (alsa-utils?) kept failing. IIRC, there are some tricks to the compilation (do the packages in a certain order?), so I'll have to look into it.

I'll post the results. Thanks!
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post #12 of 35
11/14/05 at 11:12am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Starcub
I built the driver into the kernel using the pci Intel high definition audio driver option, I don't load it as a module.
Call me lazy, but I prefer RPMs :-)

Quote:
What does dmseg tell you about the alsa driver? dmesg gives me 6 lines of output, the first line looks alot like your cat /proc/snd/asound command output.

At this point, it's not nice:

Code:
snd: no version for "struct_module" found: kernel tainted.
snd_pcm: disagrees about version of symbol snd_timer_notify
snd_pcm: Unknown symbol snd_timer_notify
snd_pcm: disagrees about version of symbol snd_timer_interrupt
snd_pcm: Unknown symbol snd_timer_interrupt
snd_pcm: disagrees about version of symbol snd_dma_reserve_buf
snd_pcm: Unknown symbol snd_dma_reserve_buf
snd_pcm: disagrees about version of symbol snd_dma_free_pages
snd_pcm: Unknown symbol snd_dma_free_pages
snd_pcm: disagrees about version of symbol snd_timer_new
snd_pcm: Unknown symbol snd_timer_new
snd_pcm: disagrees about version of symbol snd_dma_get_reserved_buf
snd_pcm: Unknown symbol snd_dma_get_reserved_buf
snd_pcm: disagrees about version of symbol snd_dma_alloc_pages
snd_pcm: Unknown symbol snd_dma_alloc_pages
snd_hda_codec: Unknown symbol snd_pcm_hw_constraint_step
snd_hda_codec: Unknown symbol snd_pcm_format_width
snd_hda_intel: Unknown symbol snd_pcm_new
snd_hda_intel: Unknown symbol snd_pcm_limit_hw_rates
snd_hda_intel: Unknown symbol snd_pcm_lib_preallocate_pages_for_all
snd_hda_intel: Unknown symbol snd_hda_bus_new
snd_hda_intel: Unknown symbol snd_hda_build_pcms
snd_hda_intel: Unknown symbol snd_hda_codec_new
snd_hda_intel: disagrees about version of symbol snd_dma_free_pages
snd_hda_intel: Unknown symbol snd_dma_free_pages
snd_hda_intel: Unknown symbol snd_hda_queue_unsol_event
snd_hda_intel: Unknown symbol snd_pcm_lib_malloc_pages
snd_hda_intel: Unknown symbol snd_pcm_lib_ioctl
snd_hda_intel: Unknown symbol snd_pcm_lib_free_pages
snd_hda_intel: Unknown symbol snd_hda_calc_stream_format
snd_hda_intel: Unknown symbol snd_pcm_set_ops
snd_hda_intel: Unknown symbol snd_hda_suspend
snd_hda_intel: Unknown symbol snd_pcm_suspend_all
snd_hda_intel: Unknown symbol snd_hda_resume
snd_hda_intel: Unknown symbol snd_pcm_hw_constraint_integer
snd_hda_intel: Unknown symbol snd_hda_build_controls
snd_hda_intel: disagrees about version of symbol snd_dma_alloc_pages
snd_hda_intel: Unknown symbol snd_dma_alloc_pages
snd_hda_intel: Unknown symbol snd_pcm_period_elapsed

Quote:
I assume that you had sound working before you updated your kernel.

No! If I had, I could have tracked this down better. Unfortunately, the sound has never worked. I was hoping that someone here with this card had it working.

Quote:
Did you examine your kernel loading output before attempting to re-install the alsa modules? Since 2.6.12 and above now include the alsa driver in the kernel, it may be that the Fedora Core team decided to enable the Intel HDA option compiled already as a module in their FC4 custom kernel so that by installing the module from an RPMS, you are creating a conflict between drivers.

...I see that point, but the stock Fedora install comes with the alsa rpms loaded. I will try removing them and see where I get.

Thanks.
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post #13 of 35
11/14/05 at 2:09pm
FC4 ships with kernel 2.6.11. The alsa drivers included in kernel 2.6.11 did not include support for the Intel HDA chip our cards use. Therefore, in order to get support, it would have been necessary to use the alsa RPMS's since only the latest alsa versions (post 1.0.8?) have support for our soundcard. If you upgraded your kernel, and the new kernel has the Intel HDA option enabled, you don't need any alsa-driver package. However, you may still want the utils. Personally, I use KDE, so I don't need any of the other alsa modules. I enabled the alsa driver in the kernel, and that's the only alsa thing I use. Judging by the number of problems that FC4 users seem to be experiencing with Intel HDA and alsa, it may be that the FC4 team overlooked the alsa update in its newest kernels and is publishing packages that create conflicts.

If you re-install FC4, remove the asla RPMS, update the kernel, and find that alsa still isn't being properly loaded, try reconfiguring the kernel for the Intel HDA card (you'll probably need to d/l the source pakages for your distro since most distro's don't include sources by default). In a previous post, you'll find the link that tells you exactly how to set the kernel config. If you find you can't do this, or that it doesn't fix your problem, you can always try a vanilla (non-FC specific) kernel and custom configure it.

Look here: http://www.mjmwired.net/resources/mj...html#kernelsrc for more information.
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post #14 of 35
11/14/05 at 3:27pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Starcub
FC4 ships with kernel 2.6.11. The alsa drivers included in kernel 2.6.11 did not include support for the Intel HDA chip our cards use. Therefore, in order to get support, it would have been necessary to use the alsa RPMS's since only the latest alsa versions (post 1.0.8?) have support for our soundcard. If you upgraded your kernel, and the new kernel has the Intel HDA option enabled, you don't need any alsa-driver package.
OK, I follow all this and it makes sense. I don't think, however, that I had sound when I first installed FC (with 2.11 and alsa-1.09 of of the box). Afterall, the first thing I do is get music working so I can at least listen to something while I'm working...


Quote:
Judging by the number of problems that FC4 users seem to be experiencing with Intel HDA and alsa, it may be that the FC4 team overlooked the alsa update in its newest kernels and is publishing packages that create conflicts.
I am beginning to agree with you. To make sure, though: are _do_ have sound using the snd_hda_intel driver? That, at least, helps me narrow my efforts a little (that I have the right driver).

Thanks for this, I will take a stab at lunch. Of course, 2.6.14 just came out, too...
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post #15 of 35
11/14/05 at 4:21pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by chiphart
..take a stab at lunch.

I am so close, I can almost hear it.

I removed the alsa rpms. I rec'd a fresh 2.6-14 care of yum. Rebooted.

Nothing in dmesg at all (which is fine), so I 'modprob snd_hda_intel' and no error returned. A quick look at the various results (/proc/asound) and everything looks great. I reloaded alsa-utils (only, ran alsaconf and it detected the card, wrote to modprobe.conf, and rebooted. Cool so far:


Code:
$ lsmod|grep snd
snd_hda_intel          18625  2
snd_hda_codec          82501  1 snd_hda_intel
snd_seq_dummy           3781  0
snd_seq_oss            31937  0
snd_seq_midi_event      7105  1 snd_seq_oss
snd_seq                49873  5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_seq_device          9165  3 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq
snd_pcm_oss            51057  0
snd_mixer_oss          18113  3 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm                87749  3 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_pcm_oss
snd_timer              25285  2 snd_seq,snd_pcm
snd                    54949  10 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq,snd_seq_device,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_timer
soundcore               9889  3 snd
snd_page_alloc         10825  2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm

Perhaps my best clue that things are close is that gnome isn't complaining about a missing sound device when loading up the mixer in the panel.
However...

...when I try to run gnome-volume-control I get an error box:

Code:
No volume control elements and/or devices found.

I then try to run alsamixer. No luck:

Code:
$ alsamixer
ALSA lib control.c:739:(snd_ctl_open_noupdate) Invalid CTL default

alsamixer: function snd_ctl_open failed for default: No such file or directory

I've run snddevices successfully. Googling the above gives me all sorts of suggestions (load the lib rpm?) but nothing concrete. I am delighted to generate any kind of data from my machine.

Thanks in advance.
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post #16 of 35
11/14/05 at 8:17pm
Now unfortunatly this I dont have as much of a clue on right now(Course I am also half asleep), as far as I can tell it should be working, but the fact your alsamixer is dying obviously says something didnt get set up completly correctly.

However as a note, the snddevices script should not need to be run(This could concievably be the problem I suppose but I dont think so) as the /dev nodes are created when the driver is loaded, I cant remember what version of ALSA changed that but it was a bit ago I think.

Seablade
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post #17 of 35
11/15/05 at 3:16pm
Thread Starter 
Update, moving closer.

Somewhere on google, someone said, "You have to load the alsalib as well." So, I did (via rpm for now). I went from alsactl giving me this:

Code:
$ alsamixer
ALSA lib control.c:739:(snd_ctl_open_noupdate) Invalid CTL default

alsamixer: function snd_ctl_open failed for default: No such file or directory

To:

Code:
$ alsamixer

alsamixer: function snd_mixer_load failed: Invalid argument

That may not be an improvement, but it's something. Unfortunately, many of the pages with references to this problem (including and especially the ones IDing the HDA card) are in Italian or German, so it's a little tough to follow.

So close...
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post #18 of 35
11/16/05 at 3:41pm
and what does Gnome's mixer program report?
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post #19 of 35
11/16/05 at 3:48pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Starcub
and what does Gnome's mixer program report?
"No volume control elements and/or devices found." in a popup.
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post #20 of 35
11/17/05 at 9:03am
I'm not sure I know what the deal is now. I don't think it should have been necessary to install an alsa-libs package for a module already included in the kernel, so Redhat may be doing something different with thier kernels.

I suppose it could be that sound is working, but that you just can't adjust the volume and since sound is muted by default, you can't hear anything.

I know that the Intel HDA driver is the right driver, and that it is included as an option in post 2.6.11 kernels.

At this point you may want to go the plain vanilla kernel route (make sure you have gcc and the kernel sources) and reconfigure the kernel to compile the driver directly into the kernel, not as a module. If for some reason you want to, you can always revert back to your old kernel by changing the symlink back again and re-configuring/re-running your bootloader. But at least this would give you a vanilla state to test from.

You may also want to try the latest version of Knoppix which also uses a 2.6.12 kernel, just to verify that the Intel HDA driver in the kernel works, and what kind of output you might expect to see from a working system.
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