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Re: ALSA sound recording frustration



On Thursday 27 November 2008 17:40, Nigel Henry wrote:
> On Thursday 27 November 2008 15:38, Mark Neidorff wrote:
> > Hi All,
> >
> > In case I have to say it, I'm very frustrated trying to get ALSA sound
> > working on my Debian ETCH (up to date) box.
> >
> > My motherboard has built-in sound.  Needless to say, I want to hear
> > sound. I also want to be able to record sound from the stereo headphones
> > jack of my radio and the stereo audio out from my XM radio.
> >
> > I've used
> > arecord -t wav -f CD junk.wav
> > to try to record.  No matter what the settings in the mixers...total
> > silence (as seen by audacity and as confirmed by using hexdump).
> >
> > I've searched.
> > I tried reloading the ALSA drivers.
> > I ran alsaconf.
> > I downloaded and installed the kernel source and the ALSA drivers source,
> > but I was not able to compile the drivers (couldn't find version.h). 
> > Yes, I adjusted for source location with:
> > ./config --with-kernel=/usr/src/linux-source-2.6.18
> > I've tried alsamixer and alsamixergui.
> >
> > Here is a bunch of info that I found about my system:
> >
> > alsamixergui:
> >
> > Chip Analog Devices  AD1986A
> >
> > +------------------
> >
> > lspci | grep -i audio
> >
> > 00:10.1 Audio device: nVidia Corporation MCP51 High Definition Audio (rev
> > a2)
> >
> > +------------------
> >
> > uname -a
> >
> > Linux mail 2.6.18-6-k7 #1 SMP Mon Oct 13 16:52:47 UTC 2008 i686 GNU/Linux
> >
> > +----------------
> >
> > cat /dev/sndstat
> >
> > Sound Driver:3.8.1a-980706 (ALSA v1.0.12rc1 emulation code)
> > Kernel: Linux mail 2.6.18-6-k7 #1 SMP Mon Oct 13 16:52:47 UTC 2008 i686
> > Config options: 0
> >
> > Installed drivers:
> > Type 10: ALSA emulation
> >
> > Card config:
> > HDA NVidia at 0xfe024000 irq 177
> >
> > Audio devices:
> > 0: AD198x Analog (DUPLEX)
> >
> > Synth devices: NOT ENABLED IN CONFIG
> >
> > Midi devices: NOT ENABLED IN CONFIG
> >
> > Timers:
> > 7: system timer
> >
> > Mixers:
> > 0: Analog Devices AD1986A
> >
> > +--------------------
> >
> > ls -l /dev/dsp
> >
> > crw-rw---- 1 root audio 14, 3 2008-11-27 08:48 /dev/dsp
> >
> > +----------------
> >
> > Is there anything else you need to know about my system to help me get
> > sound working?
> >
> > PLEASE HELP me get sound working.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Mark
>
> Hi Mark.
>
> I've got Etch installed on a machine, with a mobo that uses MCP61, and the
> alsa driver version 1.0.12rc1, that comes with the 2.6.18 kernel, and I get
> no sounds using that alsa driver.
> cat /proc/asound/cards ,  shows no soundcards, unless I have my usb midi
> keyboard plugged in. Then it shows the keyboard as card0. You will probably
> find that when running lsmod it shows all snd modules installed, but the
> card is not being detected.
>
> Their are 2 options. Upgrade the alsa driver, which is currently 1.0.18a,
> or install a later kernel, which has a later alsa driver.
>
> I chose on this machine to install a later kernel, which has alsa driver
> 1.0.16, and my sound on Etch works ok with this.
>
> If you want go this way, add the following line to /etc/apt/sources.list
>
> deb ftp://musix.ourproject.org/pub/musix/deb/ ./
>
> Then run apt-get update, then open synaptic. The kernel you want is as
> below.
>
> linux-image-2.6.26.2-rt1-libre1
>
> I could never find a GPG key for the musix repo, but if you have problems
> installing the kernel with synaptic, you can set the option to ignore the
> missing GPG key. I know it's not a good idea to install unsigned packages,
> and will have to have another go at finding the key for the musix repo, if
> one exists.
>
> Presuming that you now have the 2.6.26 kernel installed now, reboot, and
> choose it on Grub's menu, and hopefully on login (I'm using KDE) you now
> have some login sounds, and more important, the sound works.
>
> Don't forget to comment out the line for the musix repo after installing
> the kernel, by putting a # at the start of the line in
> /etc/apt/sources.list, as you don't want possible updates for other
> packages you have installed on your Etch, being updated from the Musix
> repo. Problems can arise when you use repo pick and mix.
>
> If you still have no sound, post back.
>
> All the best.
>
> Nigel.

Hi Mark.

I see that the thread that you started with the subject of.
"ALSA sound recording frustration" has now moved into a discussion of 
electrical theory, which is not helping you with your problem.

Even though your subject line stated you had a recording problem, your first 2 
paragraphs indicated that you had no sound at all, which is why I suggested 
the later kernel from the musix repo, in order to get the sounds working with 
Etch, as that kernel uses a later version of the alsa driver (1.0.16).

Have you tried installing the kernel from the musix repo? If so, are the 
sounds working now with your Etch install?

Only trying to help you to get your sounds working.

Nigel.



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