[RESOLVED] 2.6.31-17 kernel and Pulse Audio 'weirdness'

[Snowhog]

Interesting. Was notified of updates this evening, of which, one was the new 2.6.31-17 kernel. After updates installed, was notified that a reboot was required to finish. Followed through and let the PC reboot. When the desktop presented, I was informed of 'Removed Sound Devices' showing my HDA Intel (CONEXANT Analog) and HDA Intel (Conexant Digital) 'grayed' out and a new PulseAudio as the only device. I remember a few posts about this. Made snapshots so I'd have a record.

Went ahead and answered 'Yes' to 'Do you want KDE to permanently forget about these devices?' which consisted of:

Capture: HDA Intel (CONEXANT Analog)
Output: HDA Intel (CONEXANT Analog)
Output: HDA Intel (Conexant Digital)

Selected 'Yes' as these drives were in fact removed/uninstalled(?) during the update. I was then told that the following Audio Output Devices were now present:

PulseAudio
ALSA default output
OSS default output

I tested all three, and all work just fine. Chose to accept PulseAudio as the Default device. I noticed no difference in sound quality among the three. This is what what updated and newly installed:

01-07-2010
(dist-upgrade)
gimp gimp-data libgimp2.0 libgssapi-krb5-2 libk5crypto3 libkrb5-3 libkrb5support0 linux-generic linux-headers-generic linux-image-generic linux-libc-dev
(new)
linux-headers-2.6.31-17 linux-headers-2.6.31-17-generic   linux-image-2.6.31-17-generic

KMix still shows HDA Intel:

[Snowhog]

Truly interesting! Started my laptop this morning. No working sound!! Was presented with the 'Removed Sound Device' pop-up again with my HDA Intel devices grayed out - again - and only Pulse Audio 'active' and a pop-up notification telling my Pulse Audio was not working and falling back to - (literally '-' (as there were no other devices to fall back to!) Hmm says I.

Remembering that I had made a change to the /etc/modules.d/alsa-base.conf to stop the 'pop' when the desktop started and when some programs started:

# Begin modification 01-02-2010
# Comment following line
# options snd-hda-intel power_save=10 power_save_controller=N
# Tip provided by http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSbw42MkPvE
# Stops the 'pop' on system startup and start of some apps
# End modifciation 01-02-2010

Note that the line commented affects the snd-hda-intel module/driver. So, I decided to uncomment it:

# Begin modification 01-09-2010
# Add following line
options snd-hda-intel power_save=10 power_save_controller=N
# End modification 01-09-2010

A reboot resulted in the 'pop' sound when the desktop started, but I didn't have system sounds. Hmm. Not being deterred, I rebooted again. This time, when the desktop loaded, I had working sound (and the 'pop', but I can live with that).

Looking at K > System Settings > Multimedia > Device Preference now shows:

HDA Intel (CONEXANT Analog)
HDA Intel (Conexant Digital)
Pulse Audio

Keep in mind, that since the kernel update two days ago, nothing else has been done to this system - no new updates, no new packages installed/removed. So, when the sound change initially took place on January 7th, and even after a reboot, the sound worked, based on what devices were 'actively' reported as:

Pulse Audio
ALSA default output
OSS default output

And to add to this curiousness, the sound worked last night! 

[dibl]

I've had my multimedia > audio settings unchanged for weeks if not months.  Just updated last night and it is all still working fine.  I also have hda-intel audio - here is the settings view:

[Snowhog]

In /etc/modules.d/alsa-base.conf I changed:

options snd-hda-intel power_save=10 power_save_controller=N

to:

options snd-hda-intel power_save=0 power_save_controller=N

(power_save=0 'disables' the powersave function - it's when it's enabled that the 'pop' is heard)
and got got rid of the 'pop' when sound is activated on loading the Desktop while still having fully functioning sound. Nice.

The pop-up still presents telling me that Pulse Audio isn't working and falling back to Intel. I wonder if I can safely un-install Pulse Audio without mucking up my system and the working sound.

[Snowhog]

Okay, this is interesting:

Code:

sudo apt-get remove --simulate pulseaudio
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Package pulseaudio is not installed, so not removed

pulseaudio is not installed, yet K > System Settings > Multimedia > Device Preference says it is! It not being installed would explain why the system says it isn't working, but why is it listed at all? Where did it come from? As stated at the beginning of this thread, it appeared when the 2.6.31-17 kernel was installed.

[dibl]

Heh heh heh ...  it's a sanity test, Snowhog.  If you are not in good mental health, you'll lose it!   


Seriously, those Phonon "crash" messages at login have never actually translated to anything deleterious on my system.  I have not actually seen one lately, now that I think of it.  I would leave Pulseaudio installed, if I were you. Just use the sequence in Multimedia > Audio to get the "current" working device on top of the list.

[Snowhog]

get the "current" working device on top of the list.

Which it is (see image in Reply#1).

[dibl]

So when you highlight the Pulseaudio device, and push the "Test" button, no sound?

[Snowhog]

No, there is sound - very good sound even. But, the pop-up shows that says something about phonon - it doesn't stay up long enough for me to capture it.

It reports that Pulse Audio isn't working and ...

Got it. See image below:

[dibl]

I don't do anything fancy with the sound system, just alsaplayer to play music and skype or ekiga (via headphones) once in awhile.  They work with the setup in the image I showed.

[Snowhog]

Here is the result of a search (sudo locate) on pulseaudio

/usr/lib/xine/plugins/1.26/xineplug_ao_out_pulseaudio.so
/usr/share/locale-langpack/en_CA/LC_MESSAGES/pulseaudio.mo

Testing something out. Rebooting to see what it does.

Okay. I removed (moved) /usr/lib/xine/plugins/1.26/xineplug_ao_out_pulseaudio.so to see if this would result in PulseAudio no longer being listed in K > System Settings > Multimedia > Device Preference on a reboot. Yes, it no longer is listed. But, instead of having two separate HDA Intel devices (Conexant Analog and Digital), it now reports two HDA Intel Analog devices, one being a 'copy' of the first. The only difference between the two is seen when you mouse-over each entry. The first shows:

This will try the following devices and use the first that works:
1. OSS: /dev/dsp
2. OSS: /dev/audio

The second shows:

This will try the following devices and use the first that works:
1. OSS: /dev/adsp

If, under Device Preferences, I click on Show advanced devices then an additional device is show:

HDA Intel, Conextant Digital (IEC958 (S/PDIF) Digital Audio Output)

Click on that and click the Test button results in no sound. I checked KMix and configured Channels to add both IEC958 and IEC958 Default PCM and tested sound on that device again. Still no sound with that device.

So, it 'appears' that PulseAudo, even though it isn't installed, but having /usr/lib/xine/plugins/1.26/xineplug_ao_out_pulseaudio.so present, causes PulseAudio to show in Device Preferences, along with both, Analog and Digital HDA Intel entries. And, all three when clicked, will play sound when tested. It would appear, at least on this observation only, that PulseAudio (/usr/lib/xine/plugins/1.26/xineplug_ao_out_pulseaudio.so) aids/supports the HDA Intel (Conexant Digital Audio), and without it, that HDA Intel device 'disappears' from the list.

[dibl]

My "digital" device has never worked, but "Pulseaudio" and "Analog" both work -- pretty much interchangeable.  xine is the backend.

[vinnywright]

Here is the result of a search (sudo locate) on pulseaudio

/usr/lib/xine/plugins/1.26/xineplug_ao_out_pulseaudio.so
/usr/share/locale-langpack/en_CA/LC_MESSAGES/pulseaudio.mo

Testing something out. Rebooting to see what it does.

Okay. I removed (moved) /usr/lib/xine/plugins/1.26/xineplug_ao_out_pulseaudio.so to see if this would result in PulseAudio no longer being listed in K > System Settings > Multimedia > Device Preference on a reboot. Yes, it no longer is listed. But, instead of having two separate HDA Intel devices (Conexant Analog and Digital), it now reports two HDA Intel Analog devices, one being a 'copy' of the first. The only difference between the two is seen when you mouse-over each entry. The first shows:

This will try the following devices and use the first that works:
1. OSS: /dev/dsp
2. OSS: /dev/audio

The second shows:

This will try the following devices and use the first that works:
1. OSS: /dev/adsp

If, under Device Preferences, I click on Show advanced devices then an additional device is show:

HDA Intel, Conextant Digital (IEC958 (S/PDIF) Digital Audio Output)

Click on that and click the Test button results in no sound. I checked KMix and configured Channels to add both IEC958 and IEC958 Default PCM and tested sound on that device again. Still no sound with that device.

So, it 'appears' that PulseAudo, even though it isn't installed, but having /usr/lib/xine/plugins/1.26/xineplug_ao_out_pulseaudio.so present, causes PulseAudio to show in Device Preferences, along with both, Analog and Digital HDA Intel entries. And, all three when clicked, will play sound when tested. It would appear, at least on this observation only, that PulseAudio (/usr/lib/xine/plugins/1.26/xineplug_ao_out_pulseaudio.so) aids/supports the HDA Intel (Conexant Digital Audio), and without it, that HDA Intel device 'disappears' from the list.

shurley you get more than that.......or you just posted the relavent part of the sertch?

hears mine

vinny@desktop:~$ locate pulseaudio
/etc/X11/Xsession.d/70pulseaudio   
/etc/default/pulseaudio           
/etc/init.d/pulseaudio             
/etc/rc1.d/K15pulseaudio           
/etc/rc2.d/S50pulseaudio           
/etc/rc3.d/S50pulseaudio           
/etc/rc4.d/S50pulseaudio           
/etc/rc5.d/S50pulseaudio           
/lib/udev/rules.d/90-pulseaudio.rules
/usr/bin/pulseaudio                 
/usr/bin/start-pulseaudio-x11       
/usr/lib/pulseaudio                 
/usr/lib/pulseaudio/pulse           
/usr/lib/pulseaudio/pulse/gconf-helper
/usr/lib/pulseaudio/pulse/proximity-helper
/usr/lib/sox/libsox_fmt_pulseaudio.so     
/usr/lib/xine/plugins/1.26/xineplug_ao_out_pulseaudio.so
/usr/share/pulseaudio                                   
/usr/share/apport/package-hooks/source_pulseaudio.py   
/usr/share/doc/gstreamer0.10-pulseaudio                 
/usr/share/doc/pulseaudio                               
/usr/share/doc/pulseaudio-esound-compat                 
/usr/share/doc/pulseaudio-module-bluetooth             
/usr/share/doc/pulseaudio-module-gconf                 
/usr/share/doc/pulseaudio-module-udev                   
/usr/share/doc/pulseaudio-module-x11                   
/usr/share/doc/pulseaudio-utils                         
/usr/share/doc/gstreamer0.10-pulseaudio/AUTHORS         
/usr/share/doc/gstreamer0.10-pulseaudio/NEWS.gz         
/usr/share/doc/gstreamer0.10-pulseaudio/README.Debian   
/usr/share/doc/gstreamer0.10-pulseaudio/README.gz       
/usr/share/doc/gstreamer0.10-pulseaudio/changelog.Debian.gz
/usr/share/doc/gstreamer0.10-pulseaudio/copyright         
/usr/share/doc/pulseaudio/README                           
/usr/share/doc/pulseaudio/README.Debian                   
/usr/share/doc/pulseaudio/changelog.Debian.gz             
/usr/share/doc/pulseaudio/copyright                       
/usr/share/doc/pulseaudio-esound-compat/README             
/usr/share/doc/pulseaudio-esound-compat/changelog.Debian.gz
/usr/share/doc/pulseaudio-esound-compat/copyright         
/usr/share/doc/pulseaudio-module-bluetooth/README         
/usr/share/doc/pulseaudio-module-bluetooth/changelog.Debian.gz
/usr/share/doc/pulseaudio-module-bluetooth/copyright         
/usr/share/doc/pulseaudio-module-gconf/README                 
/usr/share/doc/pulseaudio-module-gconf/changelog.Debian.gz   
/usr/share/doc/pulseaudio-module-gconf/copyright             
/usr/share/doc/pulseaudio-module-udev/README                 
/usr/share/doc/pulseaudio-module-udev/changelog.Debian.gz     
/usr/share/doc/pulseaudio-module-udev/copyright               
/usr/share/doc/pulseaudio-module-x11/README                   
/usr/share/doc/pulseaudio-module-x11/changelog.Debian.gz     
/usr/share/doc/pulseaudio-module-x11/copyright               
/usr/share/doc/pulseaudio-utils/README                       
/usr/share/doc/pulseaudio-utils/changelog.Debian.gz           
/usr/share/doc/pulseaudio-utils/copyright                     
/usr/share/lintian/overrides/pulseaudio                       
/usr/share/lintian/overrides/pulseaudio-module-x11           
/usr/share/lintian/overrides/pulseaudio-utils                 
/usr/share/locale-langpack/en_CA/LC_MESSAGES/pulseaudio.mo   
/usr/share/man/man1/pulseaudio.1.gz                           
/usr/share/pulseaudio/alsa-mixer                             
/usr/share/pulseaudio/alsa-mixer/paths                       
/usr/share/pulseaudio/alsa-mixer/profile-sets                 
/usr/share/pulseaudio/alsa-mixer/paths/analog-input-aux.conf 
/usr/share/pulseaudio/alsa-mixer/paths/analog-input-fm.conf   
/usr/share/pulseaudio/alsa-mixer/paths/analog-input-linein.conf
/usr/share/pulseaudio/alsa-mixer/paths/analog-input-mic-line.conf
/usr/share/pulseaudio/alsa-mixer/paths/analog-input-mic.conf     
/usr/share/pulseaudio/alsa-mixer/paths/analog-input-mic.conf.common
/usr/share/pulseaudio/alsa-mixer/paths/analog-input-tvtuner.conf   
/usr/share/pulseaudio/alsa-mixer/paths/analog-input-video.conf     
/usr/share/pulseaudio/alsa-mixer/paths/analog-input.conf           
/usr/share/pulseaudio/alsa-mixer/paths/analog-input.conf.common   
/usr/share/pulseaudio/alsa-mixer/paths/analog-output-headphones.conf
/usr/share/pulseaudio/alsa-mixer/paths/analog-output-lfe-on-mono.conf
/usr/share/pulseaudio/alsa-mixer/paths/analog-output-mono.conf
/usr/share/pulseaudio/alsa-mixer/paths/analog-output.conf
/usr/share/pulseaudio/alsa-mixer/paths/analog-output.conf.common
/usr/share/pulseaudio/alsa-mixer/profile-sets/default.conf
/usr/share/pulseaudio/alsa-mixer/profile-sets/native-instruments-audio4dj.conf
/usr/share/pulseaudio/alsa-mixer/profile-sets/native-instruments-audio8dj.conf
/var/cache/apt/archives/pulseaudio-esound-compat_1%3a0.9.19-0ubuntu4_i386.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/pulseaudio-module-bluetooth_1%3a0.9.19-0ubuntu4_i386.deb
/var/cache/apt/archives/pulseaudio-module-gconf_1%3a0.9.19-0ubuntu4_i386.deb
/var/lib/pulseaudio
/var/lib/dpkg/info/gstreamer0.10-pulseaudio.list
/var/lib/dpkg/info/gstreamer0.10-pulseaudio.md5sums
/var/lib/dpkg/info/pulseaudio-esound-compat.list
/var/lib/dpkg/info/pulseaudio-esound-compat.md5sums
/var/lib/dpkg/info/pulseaudio-module-bluetooth.list
/var/lib/dpkg/info/pulseaudio-module-bluetooth.md5sums
/var/lib/dpkg/info/pulseaudio-module-gconf.list
/var/lib/dpkg/info/pulseaudio-module-gconf.md5sums
/var/lib/dpkg/info/pulseaudio-module-udev.list
/var/lib/dpkg/info/pulseaudio-module-udev.md5sums
/var/lib/dpkg/info/pulseaudio-module-x11.list
/var/lib/dpkg/info/pulseaudio-module-x11.md5sums
/var/lib/dpkg/info/pulseaudio-utils.list
/var/lib/dpkg/info/pulseaudio-utils.md5sums
/var/lib/dpkg/info/pulseaudio.conffiles
/var/lib/dpkg/info/pulseaudio.list
/var/lib/dpkg/info/pulseaudio.md5sums
/var/lib/dpkg/info/pulseaudio.postinst
/var/lib/dpkg/info/pulseaudio.postrm
/var/lib/dpkg/info/pulseaudio.preinst
/var/lib/dpkg/info/pulseaudio.prerm
/var/lib/dpkg/info/pulseaudio.shlibs
/var/lib/update-rc.d/pulseaudio
vinny@desktop:~$

00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 03)

I allso get the pop you discribe and have goten (but not in a wile) the detected removed hardware popup to..... but of corse hadent removed eneything.

BUT in my case it was a duplacet entrey IE:HDA intel (ALC880 Analog) 1 and 2 I removed the 2

VINNY

[Snowhog]

Okay, this is just to weird! After the last change I 'tested' and the reboot, sound worked. Rebooted again, and then sound did not work, and the HDA Intel devices were once again grayed out.

Put the /usr/lib/xine/plugins/1.26/xineplug_ao_out_pulseaudio.so back, rebooted, and damn, sound works again. Of course, I get the pop-up telling me that PulseAudio doesn't work and falling back to the HDA Intel device. Geez.

I'm leaving it alone. I'll reboot a few times later and see it sound continues to work.

[Snowhog]

shurley you get more than that.......or you just posted the relavent part of the sertch?

Nope. Remember, I don't have pulseaudio installed.