Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Sound and possibly other stuff not working

Collapse
This topic is closed.
X
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Sound and possibly other stuff not working

    Hi,

    I am new to this forum. I am normally not a forum-joiner. I know that there have been a lot a lot a lot of people talking about sound issues. I have read a number of different posts. But every computer is specific and some of their issues don't translate to my computer, or my level of expertise.

    I have just moved into Linux. There are still some ordinary things that bedevil me from time to time. When I follow the instructions for installing a tar file, Konsole always gives me a fit and tells me that I am doing something wrong, even when I copy and paste. And then other times I get a lot of stuff done at once.

    So the sound issues - maybe somebody knows.

    My sound card is listed, in the system settings, as hda intel stac92xx - but it's not available.

    lspci -v gets me this, among other things:

    00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller (rev 02)
    Subsystem: Dell Device 022f
    Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 9
    Memory at fe9fc000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
    Capabilities: <access denied>
    Kernel modules: snd-hda-intel

    I am running 8.04, 32-bit on a Dell Inspiron 1525. ALSA does not list anything for this particular family (ICH8). They go up to 7. I tried downloading the ALSA GUI Mixer, and there was an error with its installation so it doesn't do a thing.

    As far as the mike and cam go, I am almost positive that they are not working, but I can't be sure because I don't seem to have the stuff downloaded in which I can actually test it. If anybody would be willing to walk me through this, I would be eternally grateful. It's (literally) given me the hugest headache trying to fix it.

    Thank you,

    Kasp

    #2
    Re: Sound and possibly other stuff not working

    Unless it's a Dell Latitude, this sound troubleshooting guide is a pretty reliable approach to fixing it:

    http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=205449

    Comment


      #3
      Re: Sound and possibly other stuff not working

      Well, I started out with that too. I have it up on another screen. I come to the stumbling block simply because the card that I have is not listed on the ALSA site. Perhaps it is actually supported by something else and I don't know it. It's very confusing because everybody says something different, and I am not sure which thing to download.

      Any ideas?

      Kasp

      Comment


        #4
        Re: Sound and possibly other stuff not working

        The STAC 92xxx is the chip that is used for the Intel HDA sound system -- it's the same one I have. So, you need to load the module snd-hda-intel. Just add it to the bottom of the file at /etc/modules.

        After restarting, you can check that it's loaded with
        Code:
        lsmod

        Comment


          #5
          Re: Sound and possibly other stuff not working

          WOW!

          If you've got this same card, then I am almost there.

          > So, you need to load the module snd-hda-intel.

          See, I was afraid that you would say something like that. Okay, so now is the point where you are going to lead me by the nose. Where is this going to be found on the ALSA site? Am I overthinking this? I did a search for it, and came up with some articles about it on ALSA but I am not sure how much of this is what I need.

          > Just add it to the bottom of the file at /etc/modules.

          Someday I am going to say stuff like that too. At the moment, it sounds like when my aunts used to cluster around me and talk in Dutch. You sorta know what the words are, but for the life of you you can't figure out what they are actually saying. *sigh* We have to start somewhere. I am only a week into this.

          At the moment, I am running into weird error messages. like this one.

          $ mkdir alsa
          mkdir: cannot create directory `alsa': Permission denied

          I have no idea why it said no. But of course the instructions that I am reading (available at http://www.alsa-project.org/main/ind...dule-hda-intel) carry on as if these things are super easy. (I may or may not need to implement the instructions from that site. I figured I might as well try it...)

          Thanks,

          Kasp

          Comment


            #6
            Re: Sound and possibly other stuff not working

            Originally posted by Kasper

            Okay, so now is the point where you are going to lead me by the nose.
            I'll try. I'm away from system at the moment -- I may need to give you better instructions later. But here's the deal:

            Alt-F2 and enter "kdesudo kate /etc/modules" with no quote marks. This should bring up the kate editor in Super User mode, aka "root mode" and open the file for editing. Cursor down to the bottom of the file -- add a blank line if needed. On the last line enter
            Code:
            snd-hda-intel
            and press "Enter" so it adds a return at the end.

            Now press "File, Save" and then "File, Quit" and you're done. Shutdown and restart your system.

            I'm not going to confuse you with a modprobe command at this point, and NO, you do not need to "mkdir" anything. Just restart the system and let's see what you get.

            Comment


              #7
              Re: Sound and possibly other stuff not working

              Done. I don't know if it it works though, because the only media player I have installed, Amarok, tells me that "xine was unable to initialize any audio drivers". There seem to be about eighty different reasons for this. Isn't there a way in which you can test out whether or not your sound card works without having to open Amarok? Like in the control center?

              Comment


                #8
                Re: Sound and possibly other stuff not working

                Assuming you have some music files somewhere on your system, you can install the alsaplayer-alsa package and use that to test it. In the Konsole:

                Code:
                sudo apt-get install alsaplayer-alsa
                Then Alt-F2 "alsaplayer" with no quote marks.

                While you have the Konsole open, you might as well
                Code:
                sudo apt-get install libxine1
                just in case ....

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: Sound and possibly other stuff not working

                  Okay. I did what you said word for word, no such luck. It shows that it is playing, but I don't hear a sound. The mute is off, according to the computer. I am cursed. Now what?

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: Sound and possibly other stuff not working

                    Given that you have added the line dibl recommends to /etc/modules/ I would recommend the following:
                    In konsole type
                    Code:
                    alsamixer
                    this will bring up a bunch of levels, turn all of them except mic up to around 90. Then press esc to close alsamixer.
                    If that doesn't work, try typing
                    Code:
                    sudo modprobe snd-intel8x0
                    (this is roughly what adding that line to /etc/modules/ should have done but it can't hurt to try)

                    Comment

                    Working...
                    X