Problems with Sound Blaster 24 bit

[v_lattas]

Hello,
I am a newbie in KBD and I am trying for about ten days to solve a problem with my speakers. I have an onboard soundcard "Sound Blaster 24 bit" and I have 5.1 speakers. But only the front speakers work properly, the rear and subwoofer doesn't work at all. I search and find that I already have in my computer CA0106 driver as the alsa project says.

please help

[sithlord48]

Re: Problems with Sound Blaster 24 bit

check you mixer settings..., i know your not the first person on this forum to have issues with a SB card, please search the forum you should find some good guidance by doing so. .right click on your kmix tray icon check your "master" channel.

[v_lattas]

Re: Problems with Sound Blaster 24 bit

I have tried almost anything with KMix, but I can not find a solution.
Thank you very much for your reply.

[doctordruidphd]

Re: Problems with Sound Blaster 24 bit

Which version of kubuntu are you using -- jaunty, karmic?

1. When you open kmix, click the mixer button, then click Settings, then Configure channels.
Be sure you have added the channels for the rear and side speakers.

2. If you have pulseaudio installed (if you are using karmic or jaunty, you probably do), it may not be feeding audio to your card properly. Run pavucontrol, click the configuration tab, and on the profile setting for your soundcard, make sure it is set up for 5.1 and not just stereo.

[v_lattas]

Re: Problems with Sound Blaster 24 bit

the obuntu version is Ubuntu 9.04 \n \l, so I think I am using jaunty.
From the settings I find the pulseaudio driver and so I install pavucontrol. Pavucontrol says that I have only two speakers front right and front left.

Any idea...

[doctordruidphd]

Re: Problems with Sound Blaster 24 bit

open pavucontrol, choose the Configuration tab, and open the dropbox for your soundcard. Is there an option there for 5.1, or just stereo?

[v_lattas]

Re: Problems with Sound Blaster 24 bit

hello again,

I upgrate my system to Kubuntu 9.10 karmic, but the problem remains. And now when I am going to open pavucontrol I get the message "connection failed: connection refused". I read your reply after I have installed Kubuntu 9.10. My version now is kubuntu 9.10 for AMD 64 processor.

[doctordruidphd]

Re: Problems with Sound Blaster 24 bit

Please post the output of:

cat /proc/asound/modules

If the snd_ctxfi driver is listed, then make sure pulseaudio is running

ps aux | grep pulseaudio

If there is nothing there except the "grep pulseaudio" process, then you need to start pulseaudio:

pulseaudio --start

Note: do NOT run this command as sudo!

Now try the ps aux | grep pulseaudio and see if it is running.

If so, then you can try pavucontrol. There are instances where pulseaudio is not starting in new installations.

[v_lattas]

Re: Problems with Sound Blaster 24 bit

I made all of them and then I haven't sound at all.So I make restart and I get this message

KDE detected that one or more internal sound devices were removed.

Do you want KDE to permanently forget about these devices?

This is the list of devices KDE thinks can be removed:
Capture: Playback/recording through the PulseAudio sound server
Output: Playback/recording through the PulseAudio sound server

After the first command I take the output
o snd_ca0106

Now when I am trying to start the pulseaudio I get this output
E: main.c: Daemon startup failed


After the restart I hava sound again only from the front left and right speakers

[doctordruidphd]

Re: Problems with Sound Blaster 24 bit

After the restart I hava sound again only from the front left and right speakers

I suspect there is some other problem, and with the "main.c" error, that's a little over my head. One thing you might check again is that in pavucontrol, in the Configuration tab, that your sound card is set up for 5.1.

[v_lattas]

Re: Problems with Sound Blaster 24 bit

start from the beginning, so I format my hard disc and install again Kubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala.
When I try to start pulseaudio, I get the answer that is not installed. After that I installed the pulseaudio with apt-get and start it with the command that you referred to.
Now when I type cat /proc/asound/modules
I get 0 snd_ca0106.

When I type cat /proc/modules
I get the follow

snd_ca0106 41216 8 - Live 0xffffffffa0c39000
snd_ac97_codec 125720 1 snd_ca0106, Live 0xffffffffa0c15000
ac97_bus 2176 1 snd_ac97_codec, Live 0xffffffffa0c0f000
snd_pcm_oss 44704 0 - Live 0xffffffffa0bff000
snd_mixer_oss 18976 1 snd_pcm_oss, Live 0xffffffffa0bf5000
snd_pcm 93160 4 snd_ca0106,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss, Live 0xffffffffa0bd9000
snd_seq_dummy 3460 0 - Live 0xffffffffa0bd3000
snd_seq_oss 33440 0 - Live 0xffffffffa0bc5000
snd_seq_midi 8192 0 - Live 0xffffffffa0bbe000
snd_rawmidi 27360 2 snd_ca0106,snd_seq_midi, Live 0xffffffffa0bb2000
snd_seq_midi_event 8448 2 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi, Live 0xffffffffa0baa000
snd_seq 60608 6 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_mid i_event, Live 0xffffffffa0b96000
snd_timer 26992 6 snd_pcm,snd_seq, Live 0xffffffffa0b8a000
iptable_filter 3872 0 - Live 0xffffffffa0b84000
snd_seq_device 8308 5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi ,snd_seq, Live 0xffffffffa0b7c000
bttv 137396 0 - Live 0xffffffffa0b55000
ir_common 52740 1 bttv, Live 0xffffffffa0b46000
i2c_algo_bit 7076 1 bttv, Live 0xffffffffa0b42000
v4l2_common 21024 1 bttv, Live 0xffffffffa0b3a000
videodev 43360 2 bttv,v4l2_common, Live 0xffffffffa0b2a000
v4l1_compat 16804 1 videodev, Live 0xffffffffa0b23000
v4l2_compat_ioctl32 13344 1 videodev, Live 0xffffffffa0b1d000
videobuf_dma_sg 14436 1 bttv, Live 0xffffffffa0b17000
snd 77096 21 snd_ca0106,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_os s,snd_pcm,snd_seq_oss,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_time r,snd_seq_device, Live 0xffffffffa0aff000
amd64_edac_mod 26688 0 - Live 0xffffffffa0af3000
videobuf_core 21188 2 bttv,videobuf_dma_sg, Live 0xffffffffa0aeb000
soundcore 9088 1 snd, Live 0xffffffffa0ae3000
ip_tables 21200 1 iptable_filter, Live 0xffffffffa0ad8000
ppdev 8232 0 - Live 0xffffffffa0ad0000
btcx_risc 5672 1 bttv, Live 0xffffffffa0acc000
psmouse 57124 0 - Live 0xffffffffa0ab9000
snd_page_alloc 10928 2 snd_ca0106,snd_pcm, Live 0xffffffffa0ab1000
lp 11908 0 - Live 0xffffffffa0aa9000
x_tables 25832 1 ip_tables, Live 0xffffffffa0a9d000
i2c_nforce2 8168 0 - Live 0xffffffffa0a96000
edac_core 48876 1 amd64_edac_mod, Live 0xffffffffa0a85000
tveeprom 14884 1 bttv, Live 0xffffffffa0a7f000
k8temp 5504 0 - Live 0xffffffffa0079000
parport_pc 37352 1 - Live 0xffffffffa0a70000
joydev 13088 0 - Live 0xffffffffa0a6a000
serio_raw 6596 0 - Live 0xffffffffa0026000
nvidia 10316904 36 - Live 0xffffffffa0091000 (P)
parport 40528 3 ppdev,lp,parport_pc, Live 0xffffffffa0085000
hid_logitech 10112 0 - Live 0xffffffffa0080000
ff_memless 6504 1 hid_logitech, Live 0xffffffffa007c000
usbhid 43968 1 hid_logitech, Live 0xffffffffa006c000
usb_storage 65952 1 - Live 0xffffffffa0056000
ohci1394 33780 0 - Live 0xffffffffa0048000
ieee1394 100896 1 ohci1394, Live 0xffffffffa002a000
floppy 65192 0 - Live 0xffffffffa0014000
forcedeth 61292 0 - Live 0xffffffffa0000000

After that I installed the pavucontrol and everything ok, but when I change the configuration settings and choose Analog Surround 5.1 Output instead of Analog Stereo Duplex, nothing happens.
Again I have sound only from the two front speakers.
Please help.

[doctordruidphd]

Re: Problems with Sound Blaster 24 bit

The only other thing I can think of is that in KMix, you may need to add channels for the other speakers. Open the KMIx icon, press the Mixer button, and see if there are channels there for the other speakers. If not, you can add them using the Settings > Configure channels option. That may allow you to turn up the volume for the other speakers.