Acer TravelMate 6293 - no s/pdif (iec958) anymore since Ubuntu 12.04 LTS

[Hagen]

Since upgrading to Precise the IEC958 setting is missing when opening 'alsamixer', resulting in no S/PDIF output signal at all. Prior to that, it was possible to add the ALC267/268 module option "snd-hda-intel model=zepto" to forcible activate the S/PDIF support, but this parameter has been vanished with kernel version 3.2.x. When installing a 3.0.x kernel (from Ubuntu 11.10) it works again.
---
ApportVersion: 2.12.1-0ubuntu2
Architecture: i386
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: ubuntu 2704 F.... pulseaudio
                      ubuntu 4506 F.... pulseaudio
CasperVersion: 1.336
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 13.10
LiveMediaBuild: Ubuntu 13.10 "Saucy Salamander" - Alpha i386 (20130829)
MachineType: Acer TravelMate 6293
MarkForUpload: True
Package: linux (not installed)
PccardctlIdent:
 Socket 0:
   no product info available
PccardctlStatus:
 Socket 0:
   no card
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=de_DE
 TERM=xterm
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 LANG=de_DE.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcFB: 0 inteldrmfb
ProcKernelCmdLine: noprompt cdrom-detect/try-usb=true file=/cdrom/preseed/hostname.seed boot=casper initrd=/casper/initrd.lz quiet splash -- maybe-ubiquity
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.11.0-4.9-generic 3.11.0-rc7
PulseList:
 Error: command ['pacmd', 'list'] failed with exit code 1: Home directory not accessible: Permission denied
 No PulseAudio daemon running, or not running as session daemon.
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-restricted-modules-3.11.0-4-generic N/A
 linux-backports-modules-3.11.0-4-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.113
Tags: saucy
Uname: Linux 3.11.0-4-generic i686
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
UserGroups:

dmi.bios.date: 04/02/09
dmi.bios.vendor: Acer
dmi.bios.version: V1.25
dmi.board.asset.tag: Tag 12345
dmi.board.name: TravelMate 6293
dmi.board.vendor: Acer
dmi.board.version: Not Applicable
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: Acer
dmi.chassis.version: N/A
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAcer:bvrV1.25:bd04/02/09:svnAcer:pnTravelMate6293:pvr03:rvnAcer:rnTravelMate6293:rvrNotApplicable:cvnAcer:ct10:cvrN/A:
dmi.product.name: TravelMate 6293
dmi.product.version: 03
dmi.sys.vendor: Acer

[Ubuntu Foundations Team Bug Bot (crichton)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. It seems that your bug report is not filed about a specific source package though, rather it is just filed against Ubuntu in general. It is important that bug reports be filed about source packages so that people interested in the package can find the bugs about it. You can find some hints about determining what package your bug might be about at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/FindRightPackage. You might also ask for help in the #ubuntu-bugs irc channel on Freenode.

To change the source package that this bug is filed about visit https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/1051947/+editstatus and add the package name in the text box next to the word Package.

[This is an automated message. I apologize if it reached you inappropriately; please just reply to this message indicating so.]

[Brad Figg (brad-figg)]

This bug is missing log files that will aid in diagnosing the problem. From a terminal window please run:

apport-collect 1051947

and then change the status of the bug to 'Confirmed'.

If, due to the nature of the issue you have encountered, you are unable to run this command, please add a comment stating that fact and change the bug status to 'Confirmed'.

This change has been made by an automated script, maintained by the Ubuntu Kernel Team.

[Joseph Salisbury (jsalisbury)]

Would it be possible for you to test the latest upstream kernel? Refer to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelMainlineBuilds . Please test the latest v3.6 kernel[0] (Not a kernel in the daily directory) and install both the linux-image and linux-image-extra .deb packages.

Once you've tested the upstream kernel, please remove the 'needs-upstream-testing' tag. Please only remove that one tag and leave the other tags. This can be done by clicking on the yellow pencil icon next to the tag located at the bottom of the bug description and deleting the 'needs-upstream-testing' text.

If this bug is fixed in the mainline kernel, please add the following tag 'kernel-fixed-upstream'.

If the mainline kernel does not fix this bug, please add the tag: 'kernel-bug-exists-upstream'.

If you are unable to test the mainline kernel, for example it will not boot, please add the tag: 'kernel-unable-to-test-upstream'.
Once testing of the upstream kernel is complete, please mark this bug as "Confirmed".

Thanks in advance.

[0] http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v3.6-rc6-quantal/

[Hagen (crater)]

Ok, tested with 3.6.0-030600rc6-generic but without success (i.e. no s/pdif out signal). Switching back to 3.0.0.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Hagen, could you please confirm this issue exists with the latest development release of Ubuntu? ISO images are available from http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/daily-live/current/ . If the issue remains, could you please run the following command in the development release from a Terminal (Applications->Accessories->Terminal), as it will automatically gather and attach updated debug information to this report:

apport-collect -p linux <replace-with-bug-number>

Also, could you please test the latest upstream kernel available following https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelMainlineBuilds ? It will allow additional upstream developers to examine the issue. Please do not test the daily folder, but the one all the way at the bottom. Once you've tested the upstream kernel, please comment on which kernel version specifically you tested. If this bug is fixed in the mainline kernel, please add the following tags:
kernel-fixed-upstream
kernel-fixed-upstream-VERSION-NUMBER

where VERSION-NUMBER is the version number of the kernel you tested. For example:
kernel-fixed-upstream-v3.11-rc4

This can be done by clicking on the yellow circle with a black pencil icon next to the word Tags located at the bottom of the bug description. As well, please remove the tag:
needs-upstream-testing

If the mainline kernel does not fix this bug, please add the following tags:
kernel-bug-exists-upstream
kernel-bug-exists-upstream-VERSION-NUMBER

As well, please remove the tag:
needs-upstream-testing

If you are unable to test the mainline kernel, please comment as to why specifically you were unable to test it and add the following tags:
kernel-unable-to-test-upstream
kernel-unable-to-test-upstream-VERSION-NUMBER

Once testing of the upstream kernel is complete, please mark this bug's Status as Confirmed. Please let us know your results. Thank you for your understanding.

[Hagen (crater)]

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[Hagen (crater)]

Issue still persists, tested with Live CD (Linux ubuntu 3.11.0-4-generic #9-Ubuntu SMP) as well as latest mainline kernel (v3.11-rc7-saucy).

[Hagen (crater)]

Just updated my BIOS to v1.41 and tested again with v3.11-rc7-saucy, but no change, actually.

(Please note that I'm on vacation as of tomorrow till mid-September.)

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for linux (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]

[Hagen (crater)]

# sudo dmidecode -s bios-version && sudo dmidecode -s bios-release-date
V1.41
05/26/10

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Hagen, could you please test the latest mainline kernel via http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v3.12-rc7-saucy/ and advise to the results?

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

alc268 only has one digital out , try hda-jack-retask to fixup the pin default to [Jack] spdif out at ext rear

Node 0x1e [Pin Complex] wcaps 0x400380: Mono Digital
  Pincap 0x00000010: OUT
  Pin Default 0x411111f0: [N/A] Speaker at Ext Rear
    Conn = 1/8, Color = Black
    DefAssociation = 0xf, Sequence = 0x0
    Misc = NO_PRESENCE
  Pin-ctls: 0x40: OUT
  Unsolicited: tag=00, enabled=0
  Connection: 1
     0x06

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

https://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/tiwai/sound.git/commit/?id=d8897da379f96c562b17af65496b37c5ac18dcdb

send email to the author to add back the pin fixup of node 0x1e for your TravelMate 6293

[Hagen (crater)]

I installed hda-jack-retask as suggested and got it working with the default kernel (3.2.0-55-generic), finally! The created files have been slightly modified (cleaned up), so the workaround looks as follows:

$ cat /etc/modprobe.d/hda-jack-retask.conf
# This file was added by the program 'hda-jack-retask'.
# If you want to revert the changes made by this program, you can simply erase this file and reboot your computer.
options snd-hda-intel patch=hda-jack-retask.fw

$ cat /lib/firmware/hda-jack-retask.fw
[codec]
0x10ec0268 0x10250139 0

[pincfg]
0x1e 0x014b1180

With that config, pin 0x1e will be connected to S/PDIF out - et voilà. Thanks a lot for pointing this out, Raymond!

I also wrote a mail to the author to have it fixed in a future kernel release.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for linux (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Hagen, did Takashi respond to your e-mail? If so, what were the results?

[Hagen (crater)]

Yes, a patch has been created:

https://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/tiwai/sound.git/commit/?id=24eff328f65c8ef352c90b6adb7c2f39eb94205d

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Hagen, thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. However, I am closing it because the bug has been fixed in the latest development version of Ubuntu - Trusty Tahr as per http://kernel.ubuntu.com/git?p=ubuntu/ubuntu-trusty.git;a=commit;h=f6f4696d9e961214753b882d89d5d004c810ca81 .

This is a significant bug in Ubuntu. If you need a fix for the bug in previous versions of Ubuntu, please perform as much as possible of the SRU Procedure [1] to bring the need to a developer's attention.

[1]: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/StableReleaseUpdates#Procedure