Sound incredibly quiet, alsamixer broken after kernel upgrade

[covox]

I'm currently running Feisty on a Toshiba Satellite A100, which uses the snd-hda-intel ALSA driver. After upgrading from 2.6.20-8-generic to 2.6.20-9-generic, the sound is an order of magnitude quieter; turning both the hardware and software volume controls up to maximum gives a barely-audible whisper. When viewing alsamixer, several sliders are missing or inactive, including the "master" slider (which merely has an on/mute switch instead of an adjustable sound level).

From what I can see, the 2.6.20-12 upgrade still contains the broken driver. Aside from the odd crackle when using SDL_mixer/OpenAL applications, 2.6.20-8 had no problems handling the sound card.

[Matthew Nuzum (newz)]

I'm having this problem too. I'm using 2.6.20-12.

uname -a
Linux matts-laptop 2.6.20-12-generic #2 SMP Wed Mar 21 20:55:46 UTC 2007 i686 GNU/Linux

[covox (covox)]

Additional information is added as per the DebuggingSoundProblems FAQ.

[Michael Greifeneder (mikegr)]

I have the same problem on a IBM Thinkpad X41.

[Matthew Nuzum (newz)]

output of cat /proc/asound/card0/codec*

Codec: Realtek ALC861
Address: 0
Vendor Id: 0x10ec0861
Subsystem Id: 0x11791205
Revision Id: 0x100300
Default PCM:
    rates [0x140]: 48000 96000
    bits [0xe]: 16 20 24
    formats [0x1]: PCM
Default Amp-In caps: N/A
Default Amp-Out caps: ofs=0x00, nsteps=0x00, stepsize=0x00, mute=1
Node 0x03 [Audio Output] wcaps 0x405: Stereo Amp-Out
  Amp-Out caps: N/A
  Amp-Out vals: [0x00 0x00]
  Power: 0x0
Node 0x04 [Audio Output] wcaps 0x405: Stereo Amp-Out
  Amp-Out caps: N/A
  Amp-Out vals: [0x00 0x00]
  Power: 0x0
Node 0x05 [Audio Output] wcaps 0x405: Stereo Amp-Out
  Amp-Out caps: N/A
  Amp-Out vals: [0x00 0x00]
  Power: 0x0
Node 0x06 [Audio Output] wcaps 0x405: Stereo Amp-Out
  Amp-Out caps: N/A
  Amp-Out vals: [0x00 0x00]
  Power: 0x0
Node 0x07 [Audio Output] wcaps 0x605: Stereo Digital Amp-Out
  Amp-Out caps: N/A
  Amp-Out vals: [0x00 0x00]
  Power: 0x0
Node 0x08 [Audio Input] wcaps 0x10051b: Stereo Amp-In
  Amp-In caps: ofs=0x02, nsteps=0x0d, stepsize=0x0b, mute=1
  Amp-In vals: [0x00 0x00] [0x00 0x00] [0x00 0x00] [0x00 0x00] [0x00 0x00] [0x00 0x00]
  PCM:
    rates [0x140]: 48000 96000
    bits [0x2]: 16
    formats [0x1]: PCM
  Power: 0x0
  Connection: 6
     0x0d* 0x0c 0x0f 0x10 0x11 0x15
Node 0x09 [Vendor Defined Widget] wcaps 0xf00000: Mono
Node 0x0a [Vendor Defined Widget] wcaps 0xf00000: Mono
Node 0x0b [Pin Complex] wcaps 0x400581: Stereo
  Pincap 0x081f: OUT HP Detect
  Pin Default 0x01014110: [Jack] Line Out at Ext Rear
    Conn = 1/8, Color = Green
  Pin-ctls: 0x40: OUT
  Power: 0x0
  Connection: 1
     0x16
Node 0x0c [Pin Complex] wcaps 0x400581: Stereo
  Pincap 0x0837: IN OUT Detect
  Pin Default 0x9983012e: [Fixed] Line In at Int ATAPI
    Conn = ATAPI, Color = Unknown
  Pin-ctls: 0x20: IN
  Power: 0x0
  Connection: 1
     0x19
Node 0x0d [Pin Complex] wcaps 0x400581: Stereo
  Pincap 0x08337: IN OUT Detect
  Pin Default 0x01a19920: [Jack] Mic at Ext Rear
    Conn = 1/8, Color = Pink
  Pin-ctls: 0x24: IN
  Power: 0x0
  Connection: 1
     0x18
Node 0x0e [Pin Complex] wcaps 0x400581: Stereo
  Pincap 0x0817: OUT Detect
  Pin Default 0x411111f0: [N/A] Speaker at Ext Rear
    Conn = 1/8, Color = Black
  Pin-ctls: 0x40: OUT
  Power: 0x0
  Connection: 1
     0x19
Node 0x0f [Pin Complex] wcaps 0x400581: Stereo
  Pincap 0x0833f: IN OUT HP Detect
  Pin Default 0x411111f0: [N/A] Speaker at Ext Rear
    Conn = 1/8, Color = Black
  Pin-ctls: 0xc0: OUT HP
  Power: 0x0
  Connection: 1
     0x1a
Node 0x10 [Pin Complex] wcaps 0x400581: Stereo
  Pincap 0x0833f: IN OUT HP Detect
  Pin Default 0x411111f0: [N/A] Speaker at Ext Rear
    Conn = 1/8, Color = Black
  Pin-ctls: 0x24: IN
  Power: 0x0
  Connection: 1
     0x1b
Node 0x11 [Pin Complex] wcaps 0x400001: Stereo
  Pincap 0x0863: IN
  Pin Default 0x99330121: [Fixed] CD at Int ATAPI
    Conn = ATAPI, Color = Unknown
  Pin-ctls: 0x00:
Node 0x12 [Pin Complex] wcaps 0x400301: Stereo Digital
  Pincap 0x0810: OUT
  Pin Default 0x411111f0: [N/A] Speaker at Ext Rear
    Conn = 1/8, Color = Black
  Pin-ctls: 0x40: OUT
  Connection: 1
     0x07
Node 0x13 [Vendor Defined Widget] wcaps 0xf00000: Mono
Node 0x14 [Audio Mixer] wcaps 0x20010b: Stereo Amp-In
  Amp-In cap...

[covox (covox)]

Problem is still there with kernel 2.6.20-14.

[Matthew Nuzum (newz)]

Same for me.

This command crimsun gave me does work but it needs to be run after every reboot:
kill $(lsof -t /dev/dsp* /dev/audio* /dev/mixer* /dev/snd/*) ; sudo modprobe -r $(lsmod |grep ^snd |awk '{print $1}') && sudo modprobe snd-hda-codec && sudo modprobe snd-hda-intel model=auto

[Daniel T Chen (crimsun)]

As I just mentioned to Matthew in #ubuntu-kernel a few minutes ago, please note the status of this bug report - it's marked "Fix Committed" presently. The changeset was emailed to Ben; it hasn't been merged into his public git tree on hera.kernel.org/git/ yet. When a fixed kernel containing this changeset is available, it will be marked "Fix Released".

Note however that KernelFreeze is past, and the core kernel team is only considering critical regressions. Since there is an easily applicable workaround in place for this issue, I have no idea if this changeset will actually be merged for Feisty. It's not my call.

[covox (covox)]

Aha. Cheers for the clarification :)

[Dave Gilbert (ubuntu-treblig)]

Same symptom (& fixed by reloading modules) on Toshiba Equium A100-306

[Dave Gilbert (ubuntu-treblig)]

Can someone provide a link to the patch that has been commited (or a tag to checkout); I'd just be interested in trying it to see if it fixes it for me.

Dave

[Hajiki (clausvalka)]

I need a fix!!!

[Garoth (garoth)]

Yeah. The problem persists with kernel 20-15 on my laptop too.

I'd like to add that in my case, the sound is quiet, but if I turn my little scroll wheel to max, I can hear things pretty alright. However, the gnome volume slider does not seem to do anything at all to increase or decrease the volume. Even on muted it does not prevent the sound.

Please ignore Hajiki. I'm sure he's just frustrated.

[andzejek (andzejek)]

step 1- install:
alsa-driver-1.0.14rc3
alsa-lib-1.0.14rc3
alsa-utils-1.0.14rc2

step 2-
sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base

and at the bottom of your page you have to add:

options snd-hda-intel model=auto

on my, a100-906 works fine :)

[Garoth (garoth)]

Neat, thanks for the information -- didn't try it, but it sounds like the cat's meow -- just a newer version of alsa and config.

[Daniel T Chen (crimsun)]

A "better" fix for this symptom was applied upstream in hg.

[sailor1702 (f-lamosa)]

Well, this fix does help, but it is not a final solution. My audio was
unusable (I had to turn the volume down all the way to stop the screeching)
and with this "fix" I can at least use the audio provided the volume is not
too high (adjusting the volume with the flywheel on my notebook).

On 4/26/07, andzejek <email address hidden> wrote:
>
> step 1- install:
> alsa-driver-1.0.14rc3
> alsa-lib-1.0.14rc3
> alsa-utils-1.0.14rc2
>
> step 2-
> sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base
>
> and at the bottom of your page you have to add:
>
> options snd-hda-intel model=auto
>
> on my, a100-906 works fine :)
>
> --
> Sound incredibly quiet, alsamixer broken after kernel upgrade
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/92171
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of a duplicate bug.
>

[Thomas Keene (eneekmot)]

My console asks me for a install path. What should that be?

>step 1- install:
>alsa-driver-1.0.14rc3
>alsa-lib-1.0.14rc3
>alsa-utils-1.0.14rc2
>
>step 2-
>sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base
>
>and at the bottom of your page you have to add:
>
>options snd-hda-intel model=auto
>
>on my, a100-906 works fine :)

[Thomas Keene (eneekmot)]

I can't figure out how to get any of the fixes posted here to work. Could someone post step-by-step instructions please?

[Daniel T Chen (crimsun)]

Thomas, please open a support ticket (https://answers.launchpad.net) instead of using this bug report to ask for assistance. I'm happy to help you with the support ticket; just email me the ticket # clearly in the subject.

[Thomas Keene (eneekmot)]

https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/6493

Daniel T Chen <email address hidden> wrote: Thomas, please open a support ticket (https://answers.launchpad.net)
instead of using this bug report to ask for assistance. I'm happy to
help you with the support ticket; just email me the ticket # clearly in
the subject.

--
Sound incredibly quiet, alsamixer broken after kernel upgrade
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/92171
You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
of a duplicate bug.

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[justo_yo (justo-yo)]

I have a toshiba satellite p105 s6024 and this solution has not worked for me. PLEASE HELP.
I have no sound at all.

laptop:~$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/PM/GMS/940GML and 945GT Express Memory Controller Hub (rev 03)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 02)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 02)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 2 (rev 02)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 3 (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI #1 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI #2 (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI #3 (rev 02)
00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI #4 (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev e2)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801GBM (ICH7-M) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 02)
00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801GBM/GHM (ICH7 Family) Serial ATA Storage Controller IDE (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 02)
03:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection (rev 02)
0a:04.0 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCIxx12 Cardbus Controller
0a:04.1 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Texas Instruments PCIxx12 OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller
0a:04.2 Mass storage controller: Texas Instruments 5-in-1 Multimedia Card Reader (SD/MMC/MS/MS PRO/xD)
0a:04.3 Generic system peripheral [0805]: Texas Instruments PCIxx12 SDA Standard Compliant SD Host Controller
0a:08.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation PRO/100 VE Network Connection (rev 02)

[covox (covox)]

Good news everyone! It appears that kernel image 2.6.20.16.28.1 finally has (amongst other things) several patches related to fixing ALC861 problems. My Toshiba now plays sound at the correct volume straight off the bat. Thanks Daniel!

[Daniel T Chen (crimsun)]

Thanks for the feedback.

[Thomas Keene (eneekmot)]

Same here. It works just fine now.

[Matthew Nuzum (newz)]

Just today this problem resurfaced.

For all of the Gutsy release cycle, I've had to run this script to get sound to work after booting:
kill $(lsof -t /dev/dsp* /dev/audio* /dev/mixer* /dev/snd/*)
sudo modprobe -r $(lsmod |grep ^snd |awk '{print $1}')
sudo modprobe snd-hda-codec
sudo modprobe snd-hda-intel model=auto
aplay /usr/share/sounds/startup.wav

(the snd-hda-codec line gives an error in Gutsy, but it was needed in feisty beta)

uname -a
Linux matts-laptop 2.6.22-11-generic #1 SMP Fri Sep 7 05:07:05 GMT 2007 i686 GNU/Linux

asoundconf list
Names of available sound cards:
Intel

[Matthew Nuzum (newz)]

more info:

tail -2 /proc/asound/oss/sndstat
Mixers:
0: Realtek ALC861

cat /etc/asound.conf ~/.asoundrc*
cat: /etc/asound.conf: No such file or directory
cat: /home/matt/.asoundrc*: No such file or directory

cat /proc/interrupts
           CPU0 CPU1
  0: 5327259 1032 IO-APIC-edge timer
  1: 23723 144 IO-APIC-edge i8042
  8: 5 0 IO-APIC-edge rtc
  9: 3833 7 IO-APIC-fasteoi acpi
 12: 642622 18 IO-APIC-edge i8042
 14: 594285 26 IO-APIC-edge libata
 15: 81795 44 IO-APIC-edge libata
 16: 132 0 IO-APIC-fasteoi ohci1394
 17: 790282 400 IO-APIC-fasteoi uhci_hcd:usb4, i915@pci:0000:00:02.0
 18: 438559 168 IO-APIC-fasteoi uhci_hcd:usb3, yenta, tifm_7xx1, sdhci:slot0, ipw3945
 19: 63 0 IO-APIC-fasteoi uhci_hcd:usb1, ehci_hcd:usb5
 20: 0 0 IO-APIC-fasteoi uhci_hcd:usb2
 21: 4807 1 IO-APIC-fasteoi HDA Intel
220: 3722 2 PCI-MSI-edge eth0
NMI: 0 0
LOC: 410839 2071931
ERR: 0
MIS: 0

amixer
Simple mixer control 'Master',0
  Capabilities: pswitch
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Mono:
  Front Left: Playback [on]
  Front Right: Playback [on]
Simple mixer control 'PCM',0
  Capabilities: pvolume
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 255
  Mono:
  Front Left: Playback 180 [71%] [-15.00dB]
  Front Right: Playback 180 [71%] [-15.00dB]
Simple mixer control 'Front Mic',0
  Capabilities: cswitch cswitch-joined cswitch-exclusive
  Capture exclusive group: 0
  Capture channels: Mono
  Mono: Capture [off]
Simple mixer control 'Line',0
  Capabilities: cswitch cswitch-joined cswitch-exclusive
  Capture exclusive group: 0
  Capture channels: Mono
  Mono: Capture [off]
Simple mixer control 'CD',0
  Capabilities: cswitch cswitch-joined cswitch-exclusive
  Capture exclusive group: 0
  Capture channels: Mono
  Mono: Capture [off]
Simple mixer control 'Mic',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pswitch cswitch cswitch-joined cswitch-exclusive
  Capture exclusive group: 0
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Capture channels: Mono
  Limits: Playback 0 - 23
  Mono: Capture [on]
  Front Left: Playback 13 [57%] [3.00dB] [off]
  Front Right: Playback 13 [57%] [3.00dB] [off]
Simple mixer control 'Capture',0
  Capabilities: cvolume cswitch
  Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Capture 0 - 13
  Front Left: Capture 0 [0%] [-6.00dB] [off]
  Front Right: Capture 0 [0%] [-6.00dB] [off]
Simple mixer control 'Mixer',0
  Capabilities: cswitch cswitch-joined cswitch-exclusive
  Capture exclusive group: 0
  Capture channels: Mono
  Mono: Capture [off]
Simple mixer control 'Caller ID',0
  Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Mono
  Mono: Playback [off]
Simple mixer control 'Digital',0
  Capabilities: cvolume
  Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Capture 0 - 120
  Front Left: Capture 60 [50%] [0.00dB]
  Front Right: Capture 60 [50%] [0.00dB]
Simple mixer control 'Off-hook',...

[Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara)]

Now that the 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon release of Ubuntu is out, we were wondering if this is still an issue? Could you please download and try the new version of Ubuntu from http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download and report back your results. Can you also make sure you have linux-backports-modules installed? Thanks again and we appreciate your help and feedback.

[leejay (ljdizzo)]

Yes it works, I downloaded and installed Gutsy and it all worked after
the install. Thank you.

On Nov 12, 2007 8:06 PM, Leann Ogasawara <email address hidden> wrote:
> Now that the 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon release of Ubuntu is out, we were
> wondering if this is still an issue? Could you please download and try
> the new version of Ubuntu from http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download
> and report back your results. Can you also make sure you have linux-
> backports-modules installed? Thanks again and we appreciate your help
> and feedback.
>
> ** Changed in: linux-source-2.6.22 (Ubuntu)
> Status: New => Incomplete
>
>
> --
> Sound incredibly quiet, alsamixer broken after kernel upgrade
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/92171
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of a duplicate bug.
>

[sailor1702 (f-lamosa)]

Can't say....the windows managers are not working with the new version.

Even M$ isn't this bad....

7.04 - broken sound system
7.10 - windows managers fail.....

I am afraid of any new upgrades.

On 11/13/07, Leann Ogasawara <email address hidden> wrote:
>
> Now that the 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon release of Ubuntu is out, we were
> wondering if this is still an issue? Could you please download and try
> the new version of Ubuntu from http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download
> and report back your results. Can you also make sure you have linux-
> backports-modules installed? Thanks again and we appreciate your help
> and feedback.
>
> ** Changed in: linux-source-2.6.22 (Ubuntu)
> Status: New => Incomplete
>
> --
> Sound incredibly quiet, alsamixer broken after kernel upgrade
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/92171
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of a duplicate bug.
>

[jpippy (jpearce-clarion)]

Just installed 7.10 Gusty Gibbon on a Toshiba Satellite A105 from scratch -- and the problem persists.

[sailor1702 (f-lamosa)]

I managed to get around the problems with the x-server and the display (on
the Toshiba Satellite A100) and I now also have the problem.
----- Original Message -----
From: "jpippy" <email address hidden>
To: <email address hidden>
Sent: Wednesday, January 16, 2008 7:02 AM
Subject: [Bug 92171] Re: Sound incredibly quiet,alsamixer broken after
kernel upgrade

Just installed 7.10 Gusty Gibbon on a Toshiba Satellite A105 from
scratch -- and the problem persists.

--
Sound incredibly quiet, alsamixer broken after kernel upgrade
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/92171
You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
of a duplicate bug.

[Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara)]

And do you have the linux-backports-modules package installed? Also, the Hardy Heron Alpha series was recently released. Alpha2 and subsequent releases contain an updated version of the kernel. You can download and try the new Hardy Heron Alpha release from http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/hardy/ . You should be able to then test the new kernel via the LiveCD. Please verify if this issue still exists and report back your results. General information regarding the release can also be found here: http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/ .

[sailor1702 (f-lamosa)]

I had some of them installed. But apparently not the right one.

Still, I think that having to "fix" things in the last two releases to make
some parts of the system work correctly (I also had to fix the GDM
configuration font to get the correct font in the log-in window and the
title bars) is not impressing my colleagues or my supervisors at the
university who are heavily attached to Windows.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Leann Ogasawara" <email address hidden>
To: <email address hidden>
Sent: Saturday, January 26, 2008 12:48 AM
Subject: [Bug 92171] Re: Sound incredibly quiet,alsamixer broken after
kernel upgrade

And do you have the linux-backports-modules package installed? Also,
the Hardy Heron Alpha series was recently released. Alpha2 and
subsequent releases contain an updated version of the kernel. You can
download and try the new Hardy Heron Alpha release from
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/hardy/ . You should be able to then
test the new kernel via the LiveCD. Please verify if this issue still
exists and report back your results. General information regarding the
release can also be found here: http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/ .

--
Sound incredibly quiet, alsamixer broken after kernel upgrade
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/92171
You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
of a duplicate bug.

[Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara)]

Hi sailor1702,

So it seems that after installing the correct linux-backports-modules package your issue is resolved? I'll assume this is the case and will be closing this bug report. Regarding the other issues you've ran into, would you care to open a new bug report for each issue? We really do appreciate it. Thanks.

[Vipa^ (vipatus)]

Hello, I have this same problem. I have Ubuntu 8.10 beta with latest updates. And this happened also in openSuse 11.0.
The kernel is 2.6.27-4 if I remember correctly.

I have a desktop computer and the motherboard is the notorious Abit AB9 Pro. Ubuntu 8.10 beta is the first one work on that MB in my PC. So GJ for that -b