Audio nightmares...

[x-shaney-x]

I am having allsorts of problems with my sound:

After install the sound preferences show a single analogue stereo device which works but I am unable to switch to to a HDMI device for my external display.

If I remove the pulseaudio stuff then I have a full set of devices (analogue stereo, HDMI etc) but my desktop keeps freezing when music is played and if I try to play a video I get a message that there is a problem with the device so it falls back to HDMI which leaves me with no sound.

Putting back the pulseaudio stuff reverts me back to the original situation.

These are related things spouted out by hwinfo:

5 Series/3400 Series Chipset High Definition Audio
hda_intel
ALC259
realtek

And alsamixer says:
│ Card: HDA Intel
│ Chip: Intel IbexPeak HDMI

Since I'm not sure exactly what info is needed, sound cards confuse me

[sithlord48]

Re: Audio nightmares...

to switch you sounds card, you should look in system settings-> multimedia. be sure the card you want is on the top of the list (and you can use the test button to test its output).
also it you might want to set your channels in alsamixer (run in konsole) for some reason pluseaudio seams to only like to show the main volume in kmix.

[x-shaney-x]

Re: Audio nightmares...

Everything looks how I would expect in alsamixer, with or without pulseaudio.

In the multimedia settings, only one device is listed so I am unable to switch to anything.
After removing pulseaudio packages it lists more devices but then I get the lockups/freezing mentioned.

[GreyGeek]

Re: Audio nightmares...

On a previous system I owned the alsa sound drivers would not work. I went to 4Front and purchased their OSS sound driver. Now, these drivers are available for free (but support is not). You can download the binary driver for your system (a deb package for the 2.6 kernel that is either 32 or 64 bit -- both are offered, and so are RPM packages, which you don't need) here. You can uninstall both Alsa and Pulseaudio, and install the 4Front binary and give it a shot.

[claydoh]

Re: Audio nightmares...

have you installed and used pavucontrol? kmix does not yet work well with pulse.

[x-shaney-x]

Re: Audio nightmares...

Which makes me wonder why pulse is there at all in kubuntu?
It isn't working properly for quite a few people by default.

I would really like to know why I am getting so many lock-ups without pulse stuff installed.
Anything from starting an app to opening kmenu can completely freeze everything.

[MoonRise]

Re: Audio nightmares...

.... kmix does not yet work well with pulse.

That explains my issues then and I agree with x-shaney-x's statment "Which makes me wonder why pulse is there at all in kubuntu?
It isn't working properly for quite a few people by default."

It's fine on my desktop because how my sound is setup but on my laptop it really is a mess.

[pisacksen]

Re: Audio nightmares...

Has anyone been able to get audio working on a integrated Intel ICH7 audio?

[dibl]

Re: Audio nightmares...

Audio is working fine, within the limits of what I need it for, on my Intel D975XBX2 motherboard:

don@meerkat:~$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82975X Memory Controller Hub
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82975X PCI Express Root Port
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 01)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family PCI Express Port 1 (rev 01)
00:1c.5 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801GR/GH/GHM (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 6 (rev 01)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 01)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 01)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 01)
00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 01)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 01)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge (rev e1)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801GH (ICH7DH) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 01)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) IDE Controller (rev 01)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation N10/ICH7 Family SATA AHCI Controller (rev 01)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family SMBus Controller (rev 01)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation GT200 [GeForce GTX 260] (rev a1)
03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82573L Gigabit Ethernet Controller
04:04.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Texas Instruments TSB43AB23 IEEE-1394a-2000 Controller (PHY/Link)

It is Kubuntu 10.10 default, with paman, padevchooser, and pavucontrol installed. Immediately after installation, there was no sound. I opened pavucontrol, found the "audio speakers" channel muted, unmuted it, and that is the last adjustment that I have needed to make. Music plays with amarok and videos play with kaffeine, flash, alsaplayer, etc.

[Snowhog]

Re: Audio nightmares...

Here, on my Toshiba, which has the same Intel Audio Controller as dibl, except that mine is rev 2, sound works flawlessly, and I didn't need to do a thing after installing Maverick. But it's likely/probable that this was so because I also have an integrated Intel Grapics Controller.

[woodsmoke]

Re: Audio nightmares...

This will NOT HELP, but it may explain things.

One question.

Are you using a "card" like in the side of the computer?

Or are you using the "plug" on the back of the computer.

Intel integrated chips sometimes work WONDERFULLY or sometimes(less actually) DO NOT WORK.

So...which?

woodsmoke

[pisacksen]

Re: Audio nightmares...

PAVUControl solved the issue. Thanks for the tip.