pcspkr requires rmmod and modprobe to function

Bug #398161 reported by Azure
68
This bug affects 12 people
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
linux (Ubuntu)
Won't Fix
Undecided
Unassigned

Bug Description

When I boot, the PC speaker beep is completely silent.

lsmod shows that pcspkr is loaded, and I must rmmod and modprobe it to enable the sound.

ProblemType: Bug
Architecture: amd64
Date: Sat Jul 11 09:40:36 2009
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.10
HibernationDevice: RESUME=/dev/mapper/c--68--40--176--142-swap_1
MachineType: OEM OEM
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
Package: linux-image-2.6.31-2-generic 2.6.31-2.17
ProcCmdLine: root=/dev/mapper/c--68--40--176--142-root ro quiet splash
ProcEnviron:
 SHELL=/bin/zsh
 PATH=(custom, user)
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.31-2.17-generic
RelatedPackageVersions: linux-backports-modules-2.6.31-2-generic N/A
SourcePackage: linux
Uname: Linux 2.6.31-2-generic x86_64
dmi.bios.date: 09/06/2007
dmi.bios.vendor: Phoenix Technologies, LTD
dmi.bios.version: 6.00 PG
dmi.board.name: IP35 PRO(P35+ICH9R)
dmi.board.vendor: http://www.abit.com.tw/
dmi.board.version: 1.x (BIOS:10)
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: OEM
dmi.chassis.version: OEM
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnPhoenixTechnologies,LTD:bvr6.00PG:bd09/06/2007:svnOEM:pnOEM:pvrOEM:rvnhttp//www.abit.com.tw/:rnIP35PRO(P35+ICH9R):rvr1.x(BIOS10):cvnOEM:ct3:cvrOEM:
dmi.product.name: OEM
dmi.product.version: OEM
dmi.sys.vendor: OEM

Revision history for this message
Azure (azure-umich) wrote :
Revision history for this message
Jussi (jussi-lahtinen-gmail) wrote :

Confirmed, only way to get pc speaker to work.
Problematic when system doesn't have other speakers.

P5Q-E, Ubuntu 9.10 64bit

Changed in linux (Ubuntu):
status: New → Confirmed
Revision history for this message
Drutten2 (drutten2) wrote :

I got this problem with an 32-bit system also.

Revision history for this message
ZelinskiyIS (ivze) wrote :

Workaround:
1) leave pcspkr module blacklisted in "/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf"
2) insert "modprobe pcspkr" somewhere so that it is called at boot time.
That worked for me, tested by "beep" utility. Motherboard: M2A-VM (for x86_64)

Revision history for this message
Aryeh Gregor (simetrical+launchpad) wrote :

rmmod followed by modprobe seems to be the only way it works for me. I only reboot for distribution upgrades and (sometimes) hardware updates, so it's often a couple months since I rebooted and I forget to do this. So it's kind of a problem for me, because I use system beep for my alarm clock. I've now tried adding this to /etc/rc.local:

rmmod pcspkr || true
modprobe pcspkr || true
rmmod pcspkr || true
modprobe pcspkr || true

(twice just in case that's necessary) and made sure it's executable. I guess I'll see if that works next time I reboot.

Revision history for this message
Yaniv Aknin (yaniv-aknin) wrote :

I've tested the workaround as described in comment #5 (I did a single rmmod/modprobe cycle, no need for two), it works, but is clunky.

Revision history for this message
Josh (majik) wrote :

sudo modprobe pcspkr

...worked for me in 10.10.

Revision history for this message
Bjørn Panyella Pedersen (bjopp) wrote :

Same problem (no beep) here using kubuntu 10.10 (Linux golem 2.6.35-28-generic #50-Ubuntu SMP Fri Mar 18 18:42:20 UTC 2011 x86_64 GNU/Linux).

Everything worked fine in 10.04. I fixed the blacklist issue noted by That Bum (https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/beep/+question/130004) and rebooted but it did not help. Alsamixer shows beep to be unmuted and at full volume. Beep runs without errors but no sound.
Also tried 'modprobe pcspkr' as suggested by Bobmoe (https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/beep/+bug/144022) to no avail.
running 'lsmod | grep pcspkr' shows pcspeakers are loaded.
running 'rmmod pcspkr' and 'modprobe pcspkr' reloaded pcspkrs but does not help.

Revision history for this message
Brad Figg (brad-figg) wrote : Unsupported series, setting status to "Won't Fix".

This bug was filed against a series that is no longer supported and so is being marked as Won't Fix. If this issue still exists in a supported series, please file a new bug.

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

Changed in linux (Ubuntu):
status: Confirmed → Won't Fix
Revision history for this message
Daniel Richard G. (skunk) wrote :

This issue appears to be fixed in the Natty 2.6.38-10-generic kernel. Commenting out the "pcspkr" line in /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf (and rebooting) is enough to enable the speaker, without needing the extra rmmod+modprobe.

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