on powerbook sound successively quieter until unaudible

[Eric Stokes]

This is a very strange problem. Sounds on my powerbook get quieter the longer
they play, until they are not audible anymore even at max volume. This process
starts again for each new sound. So for short sounds everything is mostly ok,
but for longer sounds (such as the login tune), only the first part can be
heard, and then it fades into nothing. I've filed this against alsa-driver,
because I recompiled 2.6.10 with alsa support build in along with pmac_dma, and
oss_api built in, and the problem goes away. However I am very tentative about
that being the actual problem. With that configuration the alsa init script
fails when calling amixer, so the problem could very well be in the large volume
of code in the alsa init script.

[Eric Stokes (eric-stokes)]

Sorry, forgot machine config

eric@riyoko:~$
Display all 1902 possibilities? (y or n)
eric@riyoko:~$ cat /proc/cpuinfo
processor : 0
cpu : 7455, altivec supported
clock : 667MHz
revision : 2.1 (pvr 8001 0201)
bogomips : 665.60
machine : PowerBook3,4
motherboard : PowerBook3,4 MacRISC2 MacRISC Power Macintosh
detected as : 73 (PowerBook Titanium III)
pmac flags : 0000001b
L2 cache : 256K unified
memory : 1024MB
pmac-generation : NewWorld

[Matt Zimmerman (mdz)]

Very strange indeed; others are using PowerBooks without this problem. What
kind of sounds are you playing, and what program are you using to play them?

[Eric Stokes (eric-stokes)]

(In reply to comment #2)
> Very strange indeed; others are using PowerBooks without this problem. What
> kind of sounds are you playing, and what program are you using to play them?

It effects all sounds, with X/Gnome running or otherwise. Even the standard
terminal beep
is effected. It may very well depend on the type of powerbook. I did not have
this problem
at all in Warty, only when I upgraded to Hoary.

[Daniel T Chen (crimsun)]

ALSA 1.0.9 has extensive fixes to the ppc driver. Are you able to test from
tarball? If not, please wait til the driver, lib, and utils enter Breezy.

[Eric Stokes (eric-stokes)]

(In reply to comment #4)
> ALSA 1.0.9 has extensive fixes to the ppc driver. Are you able to test from
> tarball? If not, please wait til the driver, lib, and utils enter Breezy.

I just upgraded to breezy, and tested. It us currently using alsa 1.09b, and
it appears not to fix the problem.

[Ben Collins (ben-collins)]

You said that you suspect the alsa init script. Can you place "exit 0" at the
top of this script and see if things work after that?

Also, please let me know if this still affects breezy (just so I can make sure
things are still broken before working on fixing it).

[Thomas Hood (jdthood)]

*** Bug 21385 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

[Thomas Hood (jdthood)]

See similar report in https://bugtrack.alsa-project.org/alsa-bug/view.php?id=1010

[Ben Collins (ben-collins)]

This bug has been flagged because it is old and possibly inactive. It may or may
not be fixed in the latest release (Breezy Badger 5.10). It is being marked as
"NEEDSINFO". In two weeks time, if the bug is not updated back to "NEW" and
validated against Breezy, it will be closed.

This is needed in order to help manage the current bug list for the kernel. We
would like to fix all bugs, but need users to test and help with debugging.

If this change was in error for this bug, please respond and make the
appropriate change (or email <email address hidden> if you cannot make the
change).

Thanks for your help.

[Eric Stokes (eric-stokes)]

Hello, I've just installed breezy (and the latest updates), and I can verify
that this is still an issue. Nothing seems to have changed.

[Eric Stokes (eric-stokes)]

As suggested I've tried disabling the alsa init scripts. both /etc/init.d/alsa,
and /etc/init.d/alsa-utils, this does not seem to have any effect.

[Eric Stokes (eric-stokes)]

A bit of additional info. Sounds appear to be normal when headphones are plugged
in. Before they are plugged in, and after they are removed the problem is still
there. I'm not sure quite what this means, but it is interesting.

[Ben Collins (ben-collins)]

If possible, please upgrade to Dapper's 2.6.15-7 kernel. If you do not want to
upgrade to Dapper, then you can also wait for the Dapper Flight 2 CD's, which
are due out within the next few days.

Let me know if this bug still exists with this kernel.

[Eric Stokes (eric-stokes)]

Hello, sorry for the delay. Dapper is indeed dapper! But unfortunatly the bug is still present. :-(

uname -a output
Linux ryouko 2.6.15-18-powerpc #1 Thu Mar 9 14:38:39 UTC 2006 ppc GNU/Linux

I'm willing to pay to get this fixed. Any idea what my best option is? bounty? Buy support from Canonical?

[Eric Stokes (eric-stokes)]

Found it! There is a switch in volume control called DRC (which you need to enable in preferences before it will be shown). By default it is on, if it is turned off the problem is gone. I guess for this model powerbook it should default to off...

[Daniel T Chen (crimsun)]

This problem is similar to the issue with 'SB Live/Audigy Analog/Digital Output Jack' and 'External Amplifier': Some models require it to be muted, others, unmuted.

The best that can be done probably is to amend documentation stating that 'DRC' needs to be toggled if sound is inaudible outright.

[Matt Zimmerman (mdz)]

This bug is targeting dapper, but it is an upstream issue and it doesn't seem feasible to fix in that timeframe, if at all.

[Jonathan Carter (jonathan)]

Did this bug fix make it in time for dapper?

[Timothy Smith (tas50)]

Can someone try this out on Edgy or Feisty beta?

[johonbravo (jonathan-enns)]

Still an Issue on Gutsy.

Quiet & Distorted.

Also I have no DRC options in my Volume Control Switches.

I am using a Gateway laptop with an Intel Celeron M.

When will this bug be fixed? Is there anything I can do to fix it, or a more advanced volume control option?

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Beginning with the Hardy Heron 8.04 development cycle, all open Ubuntu kernel bugs need to be reported against the "linux" kernel package. We are automatically migrating this linux-source-2.6.15 kernel bug to the new "linux" package. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we make this transition. Also, if you would be interested in testing the upcoming Intrepid Ibex 8.10 release, it is available at http://www.ubuntu.com/testing . Please let us know your results. Thanks!

[Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara)]

The Ubuntu Kernel Team is planning to move to the 2.6.27 kernel for the upcoming Intrepid Ibex 8.10 release. As a result, the kernel team would appreciate it if you could please test this newer 2.6.27 Ubuntu kernel. There are one of two ways you should be able to test:

1) If you are comfortable installing packages on your own, the linux-image-2.6.27-* package is currently available for you to install and test.

--or--

2) The upcoming Alpha5 for Intrepid Ibex 8.10 will contain this newer 2.6.27 Ubuntu kernel. Alpha5 is set to be released Thursday Sept 4. Please watch http://www.ubuntu.com/testing for Alpha5 to be announced. You should then be able to test via a LiveCD.

Please let us know immediately if this newer 2.6.27 kernel resolves the bug reported here or if the issue remains. More importantly, please open a new bug report for each new bug/regression introduced by the 2.6.27 kernel and tag the bug report with 'linux-2.6.27'. Also, please specifically note if the issue does or does not appear in the 2.6.26 kernel. Thanks again, we really appreicate your help and feedback.

[kernel-janitor (kernel-janitor)]

This bug report was marked as Confirmed a while ago but has not had any updated comments for quite some time. Please let us know if this issue remains in the current Ubuntu release, http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download . If the issue remains, click on the current status under the Status column and change the status back to "New". Thanks.

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

[Jeremy Foshee (jeremyfoshee)]

Eric,
     I'd be interested to know if you have had an opportunity to test this on the latest Karmic or Lucid.

I look forward to your update.

-JFo

[Jeremy Foshee (jeremyfoshee)]

Setting to Invalid. Please set to new if this issue persists.

-JFo