Re: CMI8738 sound card - cannot hear sound in Lenny
I've unmuted the Synth control in alsamixer, but I still can't hear any
sound :-(
Alsamixer now shows:
Master = 100,100 (but no mute/unmute box is shown)
3D Control = unmuted
PCM, Synth, Line, CD, Aux = 100,100, unmuted
Line-In = Rear Output
Mic = 0, muted
Mic Boost = muted
Phone, PC Speaker = 100, unmuted
IEC958 {5V, Copyright, In Monitor,
In Phase Inverse, In Select, In Valid, Loop,
Mix Analog, Output} = unmuted
Exchange DAC, Four Channel Mode = unmuted
By the way, alsamixer is not displaying any mute/unmute box for the
Master control. Should I worry about this?
(By comparison, the Wikipedia screenshot
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Alsamixer.png shows a mute/unmute box
for the Master control. My Lenny box is using alsamixer v1.0.13.)
On Fri, 2009-01-16 at 15:37 +0100, Nigel Henry wrote:
> On Friday 16 January 2009 14:13, Robert Canner wrote:
> > On Fri, 2009-01-16 at 01:04 +0100, Nigel Henry wrote:
> > > On Friday 16 January 2009 00:10, Robert Canner wrote:
> > > > Hi folks,
> > > >
> > > > I've installed a CMI8738 PCI sound card (C-Media 8738) on my dual-boot
> > > > machine. When I boot Windows, I can hear sound, but when I boot
> > > > GNU/Linux, I can't hear any sound.
> > > > [... snip ...]
> > > > ==
> > > > $ uname -a
> > > > Linux mercury 2.6.18-6-686 #1 SMP Fri Dec 12 16:48:28 UTC 2008 i686
> > > > GNU/Linux
> > > > ==
> > > > $ groups
> > > > robert dialout cdrom floppy audio video plugdev netdev powerdev
> > > > ==
> > > >
> > > > $ lspci -v
> > > > ...
> > > > 02:00.0 Multimedia audio controller: C-Media Electronics Inc CM8738
> > > > (rev 10)
> > > > Subsystem: C-Media Electronics Inc CMI8738/C3DX PCI Audio
> > > > Device Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 209
> > > > I/O ports at b800 [size=256]
> > > > Capabilities: <access denied>
> > > > ==
> > > > $ cat /proc/asound/cards
> > > > 0 [CMI8738 ]: CMI8738 - C-Media PCI CMI8738
> > > > C-Media PCI CMI8738 (model 37) at 0xb800, irq 209
> > > > [ ... snip ...]
> > >
> > > Hi Robert.
> > >
> > > Well the cards being detected according to /proc/asound/cards, and you're
> > > a member of the audio group. The card is supported with the alsa driver
> > > 1.0.16, which comes with Lenny, see below.
> > >
> > > Module snd-cmipci
> > > -----------------
> > >
> > > Module for C-Media CMI8338/8738/8768/8770 PCI sound cards.
> > >
> > > mpu_port - port address of MIDI interface (8338 only):
> > > 0x300,0x310,0x320,0x330 = legacy port,
> > > 0 = disable (default)
> > > fm_port - port address of OPL-3 FM synthesizer (8x38 only):
> > > 0x388 = legacy port,
> > > 1 = integrated PCI port (default on 8738),
> > > 0 = disable
> > > soft_ac3 - Software-conversion of raw SPDIF packets (model 033
> > > only) (default = 1)
> > > joystick_port - Joystick port address (0 = disable, 1 = auto-detect)
> > >
> > > This module supports autoprobe and multiple cards.
> > >
> > > The power-management is supported.
> > >
> > > You may just need to open alsamixer in Gnomes terminal, and check the
> > > sound levels, or for any controls that may be muted. the "M" key toggles
> > > the mute/unmute.
> > >
> > > Running the command, "speaker-test" , without the quotes, should give you
> > > some pink noise output from your speakers (CTRL +C to quit speaker-test),
> > > if all the levels are ok, and nothing is muted that should be unmuted.
> > > The usual controls that need to be up are, Master, PCM, Front, CD.
> > >
> > > I don't use Gnome, but KDE, but it's worth right clicking on Gnomes
> > > volume control (top right), and see if anythings muted. I'm not sure if
> > > it's a right or left click, but there should also be a button for the
> > > mixer there as well.
> > >
> > > Sorry for the lack of info, but it's getting a bit late here in
> >
> > northern
> >
> > > france, and I'm about to crash out.
> >
> > Many thanks Nigel, I hope you slept well :-)
> >
> > First, Gnome Volume Control looks OK. (Master, PCM, Line-in, CD and PC
> > Speaker are all unmuted, with sliders at the top. Microphone is muted,
> > but I don't have a microphone connected anyway.)
> >
> > I've never used alsamixer before -- here is what I see:
> > PCM, Line, CD, Phone = 100, 100, unmuted
> > Synth = 100, 100, muted
> > Master = 100, 100 (**but no mute/unmute box is shown**)
> > 3D Contr = unmuted (but no volume box is shown)
> >
> > And speaker-test gives following **error messages**:
> > ==
> > speaker-test 1.0.13
> >
> > Playback device is default
> > Stream parameters are 48000Hz, S16_LE, 1 channels
> > Using 16 octaves of pink noise
> > ALSA lib pcm_dmix.c:864:(snd_pcm_dmix_open) unable to open slave
> > Playback open error: -16,Device or resource busy
> > [... repeated until I hit Ctrl-C]
> > ===
> >
> > Next I listed open files (after reading
> > http://www.debianhelp.org/node/12012 ):
> > ==
> > $ lsof -w | egrep 'snd|dsp|NAME'
> > COMMAND PID USER ... NODE NAME
> > esd 3169 robert ... 5675 /dev/dsp
> > mixer_app 3241 robert ... 5685 /dev/snd/controlC0
> > ==
> > and killed the 'esd' process.
> > Then I tried speaker-test again:
> > ==
> > speaker-test 1.0.13
> >
> > Playback device is default
> > Stream parameters are 48000Hz, S16_LE, 1 channels
> > Using 16 octaves of pink noise
> > Rate set to 48000Hz (requested 48000Hz)
> > Buffer size range from 2048 to 16384
> > Period size range from 1024 to 1024
> > Using max buffer size 16384
> > Periods = 4
> > was set period_size = 1024
> > was set buffer_size = 16384
> > 0 - Front Left
> > Time per period = 2.664647
> > 0 - Front Left
> > Time per period = 2.985804
> > 0 - Front Left
> > Time per period = 2.985816
> > 0 - Front Left
> > Time per period = 2.985820
> > ==
> > ... but I still can't hear any sound.
> >
> > Has anyone any further ideas?
> >
> > Thank you very much,
> > Robert
>
> Hi Robert.
>
> I'd try unmuting that synth control. Strange name as it is, it does have
> control over sound output. Pull the slider down a bit before unmuting it,
> just in case your ears get damaged.
>
> If that does work, you may have to disable ESD in Gnomes audio settings,
> otherwise it may grab /dev/dsp, preventing other audio apps playing directly
> through alsa. I get the same with KDE's aRts soundserver.
>
> Nigel.
>
>
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