DebuggingSoundProblems

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Revision 11 as of 2006-04-21 23:53:22
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Editor: kotnet-144
Comment: more cleanup
Revision 73 as of 2012-08-30 15:02:02
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Editor: penalvch
Comment: Added = Minimum Requirements for Audio Bugs = due to https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1037820
Deletions are marked like this. Additions are marked like this.
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Do not report problems on this page; use the normal support channels. #### do not move or rename as the Ubuntu Bug Control team uses this page extensively ####
#title Debugging Sound Problems
<<Include(Debugging/Header)>>
||<tablestyle="float:right; font-size: 0.9em; width:30%; background:#F1F1ED; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-position: 98% 0.5ex; margin: 0 0 1em 1em; padding: 0.5em;"><<TableOfContents>>||
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 * Check that sound is unmuted and that the volume is turned up
  * I found it hard to find these controls: its not the "sound" in preferences; click on panel; add to panel; volume controls; speaker icon appears on panel; left click on icon; preferences; played around here and it worked
  * Unmute everything. I had to unmute "Master Surround" even though I only have two speakers, for example.
= Minimum Requirements for Audio Bugs =
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 * Most sound problems are the result of failed hardware detection, so see DebuggingHardwareDetection
 * When reporting a problem, include (in addition to the information requested in DebuggingHardwareDetection):
  * Output of `aplay -l`
 * Here is a good sound troubleshooting page: http://linux.iuplog.com/default.asp?item=94639
 * See also SoundProblemsHoary
 * Test different "Sound Servers": Go to System > Preferences > Multimedia Systems Selector. From there, you can test the different options. For me, there are four different sound servers installed, and only one works. This is probably your problem if you cannot play audio with xine or rhythmbox, but you can with xmms or helix/realplayer.
 * [http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=44753 Howto: Happy ALSA, OSS, ESD, with Duplex - Sound Settings]
First, please make sure all the below mentioned steps are completed, and the results are commented in your report. Failure to do so may delay your bug getting fixed as soon as possible.
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== Useful Tips & Tricks == == How to Report Audio Bugs ==
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You can use aplay to get a list of soundcards configured by alsa Please do not report problems on this page; use the normal support channels instead. See http://www.ubuntu.com/support

If you feel you have encountered a software bug, the way to report it is to run the following terminal command:
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$ aplay -l
aplay: device_list:200: no soundcards found...
ubuntu-bug audio
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The following commands can help to figure out what sound card (chip set) you have (Look for lines that contain 'Multimedia audio controller')
{{{
$ lspci -v
$ lspnp -v
}}}
This will submit a detailed bug report with information about your current system.
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Another usefull script to gather specs about sound-cards and drivers is [http://alsa.opensrc.org/index.php?page=aadebug aadebug]. If the above fails for some reason, you can file a bug report, then upload alsa-info information [[Audio/AlsaInfo|according to these instructions]].
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“A word about compatibility: even though most sound cards are claimed to be SoundBlaster compatible, very few currently sold cards are compatible enough to work with the Linux SoundBlaster driver. “
- http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Sound-HOWTO/x96.html#AEN120
== Preliminary checks ==
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Now figure out which module you need:  1. Is your sound system plugged in and switched on? I spent an hour trying to diagnose a sound issue when the problem was that I had switched off the speakers to answer a phone call and forgot that I had done so. :-(
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 * Go to http://www.alsa-project.org/alsa-doc/
 * Pick the manufacturer, Go
 * With the information provided by previous commands it should be easy to find the right module.
 1. Is your speaker or microphone muted? Check here:
   * [[Audio/CheckForMutedSpeakerVolume|Check for muted speaker]]
   * [[Audio/CheckForMutedMicrophone|Check for muted microphone]]
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To see if this module is available on your system (it usually is) try the following command:
{{{
$ modinfo [modulename]
}}}
This will also list the possible parameters for the module. For example some ISA cards require you to pass isapnp=0 to modprobe.
It may also require the IRQ and IO of the card if that's the case, these can be found in the output of the aadebug script.
== Advanced troubleshooting ==
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Now that you've figured out all this information, lets try loading the module
{{{
#modprobe example
$ sudo modprobe snd_es18xx isapnp=0 port=0x220 mpu_port=0x330 dma1=1 dma2=5 irq=5 fm_port=0x388
}}}
If the basic troubleshooting does not help, here are some additional things to try. However, when trying these steps, remember where you were so you can easily go back in case your problem is not fixed. Also, should you ever need to do anything in this section for your sound to work (for a new installation), you should report a bug using "ubuntu-bug audio".
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If this doesn't return any errors, we can save the parameters.
{{{
$ echo options [module-name] [module-options] >> /etc/modprobe.d/[module-name]
}}}
 1. For mixer problems, you can try controlling the [[Audio/Alsamixer|mixers at ALSA level]].
 1. If your problem is related to your hardware, you might be helped by checking if it is a bug that is already fixed upstream. You can try [[Audio/UpgradingAlsa|upgrading your ALSA drivers]] to the latest snapshot.
 1. If your problem is audio crackling, glitching, or breaking up, and it is hardware specific, you can try applying a [[Audio/PositionReporting|position fix quirk]].
 1. Using very new hardware? [[Audio/HDAGeneric|Here's how to check]] whether your built-in sound card has driver support.
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Now we can test our setup
{{{
#aplay should now list your sound card
root@ubuntu:/etc # aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: ES1878 [ESS AudioDrive ES1878], device 0: ES1878 [ESS AudioDrive ES1878]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
#the speaker should beep
$ /usr/bin/speaker-test
}}}
= Triaging sound bugs =
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== PolypAudio == In general, no-sound/low-sound/headphone-no-sound/no auto-mute/etc. bugs should be:
 * Filed against the '''linux''' source package.
 * Add the '''kernel-sound''' tag
 * '''Subscribe''' (do not assign) the '''Ubuntu-audio''' team (not the ubuntu-audio-dev team)
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Suggested by DanielTChen Only assign bugs to the "alsa-driver" source package if the reporter is using the alsa-source binary package with module-assistant OR is requesting a blacklist or slots/index modification.
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The recommended method is to use the polypaudio daemon (esd replacement) and to leave/set applications to use ESounD output. See the Sound section in /usr/share/doc/mozilla-firefox/README.Debian  * Do not mark bugs as duplicates unless you're 100% sure that both the '''hardware''', '''software''', and '''symptom''' match exactly. Slightly different hardware very often requires slightly different fixes. If in doubt, file a new bug.
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[[Audio/SameHardware|Here's an article]] of how to determine whether you have the same hardware as the original bug reporter.
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= Further Information =
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== Software Mixing ==

A much better way of getting esd to work with non-esd-aware apps is to make alsa use its software mixer.

$ sudo /etc/init.d/alsa-utils stop
$ sudo gedit /var/lib/alsa/asound.state
   (add the following text verbatim to the start of this file)
$ sudo /etc/init.d/alsa-utils start

{{{
  # This text should be added to the beginning of
  # /var/lib/alsa/asound.state. You only need to add
  # it once -- it is saved across reboots.

  pcm.asymed {
        type asym
        playback.pcm dmix
        capture.pcm dsnoop
  }
  pcm.default {
        type plug
        slave.pcm asymed
  }
  pcm.dmix {
        type dmix
        ipc_key 5678293
        ipc_key_add_uid yes
        slave {
                pcm 'hw:0,0'
                period_time 0
                period_size 128
                buffer_size 2048
                format S16_LE
                rate 48000
        }
  }
  pcm.dsnoop {
        type dsnoop
        ipc_key 5778293
        ipc_key_add_uid yes
        slave {
                pcm 'hw:0,0'
                period_time 0
                period_size 128
                buffer_size 2048
                format S16_LE
                rate 48000
        }
  }
}}}

Now as many programs as you want can all use the sound card simultaneously, both the output and the microphone! ESD-aware apps can use ESD, other apps will still work fine.

One notable misfeature of ESD is that it often ruins the A/V sync when playing videos. After setting up the software mixer, you might find it useful to turn esd off altogether (in tthe Sound control panel uncheck "Enable Software Mixing"). Now, especially with GStreamer 0.10, your movies should have perfect A/V sync.

It's a shame that software mixing isn't enabled on Ubuntu by default.

=== More on Software Mixing ===

A problem is the default config is OSS doesn't let 2 apps make sound at the same time. Here is a report of how it was dealt with: Basically get esd to relinquish control of the sound when its not in use. Then add mixing for oss so you can use multiple oss programs at once, like Quake3 and Teamspeak, or in my case, Wolfenstein and Teamspeak

First use section 3 here: http://www.ubuntulinux.org/wiki/RestrictedFormats, then do this: http://alsa.opensrc.org/index.php?page=DmixPlugin
The [[https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-audio-dev|Ubuntu Audio Developer's team]] maintains a set of Audio relevant wiki pages [[Audio|here]].
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Handy links:

http://alsa.opensrc.org/index.php?page=OssEmulation

CategoryDocumentation CategoryCleanup
 
CategoryDocumentation CategoryBugSquad CategoryDebugging

Debugging Central

This page is part of the debugging series — pages with debugging details for a variety of Ubuntu packages.

Minimum Requirements for Audio Bugs

First, please make sure all the below mentioned steps are completed, and the results are commented in your report. Failure to do so may delay your bug getting fixed as soon as possible.

How to Report Audio Bugs

Please do not report problems on this page; use the normal support channels instead. See http://www.ubuntu.com/support

If you feel you have encountered a software bug, the way to report it is to run the following terminal command:

ubuntu-bug audio

This will submit a detailed bug report with information about your current system.

If the above fails for some reason, you can file a bug report, then upload alsa-info information according to these instructions.

Preliminary checks

  1. Is your sound system plugged in and switched on? I spent an hour trying to diagnose a sound issue when the problem was that I had switched off the speakers to answer a phone call and forgot that I had done so. Sad :-(

  2. Is your speaker or microphone muted? Check here:

Advanced troubleshooting

If the basic troubleshooting does not help, here are some additional things to try. However, when trying these steps, remember where you were so you can easily go back in case your problem is not fixed. Also, should you ever need to do anything in this section for your sound to work (for a new installation), you should report a bug using "ubuntu-bug audio".

  1. For mixer problems, you can try controlling the mixers at ALSA level.

  2. If your problem is related to your hardware, you might be helped by checking if it is a bug that is already fixed upstream. You can try upgrading your ALSA drivers to the latest snapshot.

  3. If your problem is audio crackling, glitching, or breaking up, and it is hardware specific, you can try applying a position fix quirk.

  4. Using very new hardware? Here's how to check whether your built-in sound card has driver support.

Triaging sound bugs

In general, no-sound/low-sound/headphone-no-sound/no auto-mute/etc. bugs should be:

  • Filed against the linux source package.

  • Add the kernel-sound tag

  • Subscribe (do not assign) the Ubuntu-audio team (not the ubuntu-audio-dev team)

Only assign bugs to the "alsa-driver" source package if the reporter is using the alsa-source binary package with module-assistant OR is requesting a blacklist or slots/index modification.

  • Do not mark bugs as duplicates unless you're 100% sure that both the hardware, software, and symptom match exactly. Slightly different hardware very often requires slightly different fixes. If in doubt, file a new bug.

Here's an article of how to determine whether you have the same hardware as the original bug reporter.

Further Information

The Ubuntu Audio Developer's team maintains a set of Audio relevant wiki pages here.


CategoryDocumentation CategoryBugSquad CategoryDebugging

DebuggingSoundProblems (last edited 2014-07-26 11:08:14 by penalvch)