Only first 20% of the volume slider works

Bug #571987 reported by Robin Sheat
10
This bug affects 2 people
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
pulseaudio (Ubuntu)
Expired
Undecided
Unassigned

Bug Description

Binary package hint: pulseaudio

In Karmic, the volume slider worked correctly. Now in Lucid pulse is setting PCM to 100%, and the first 20% of the volume applet slider controls 100% of the 'front' channel. This means that you can't get much granularity in the control and it's very easy to have it far too loud.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.04
Package: pulseaudio 1:0.9.22~0.9.21+stable-queue-32-g8478-0ubuntu14
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.32-21.32-generic 2.6.32.11+drm33.2
Uname: Linux 2.6.32-21-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
AlsaVersion: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version 1.0.21.
Architecture: amd64
ArecordDevices:
 **** List of CAPTURE Hardware Devices ****
 card 0: SB [HDA ATI SB], device 0: VT1708S Analog [VT1708S Analog]
   Subdevices: 2/2
   Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
   Subdevice #1: subdevice #1
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: robin 1778 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/pcmC0D0p: robin 1778 F...m pulseaudio
Card0.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:0 'SB'/'HDA ATI SB at 0xf7ff4000 irq 16'
   Mixer name : 'VIA VT1708S'
   Components : 'HDA:11060397,104383b7,00100000'
   Controls : 28
   Simple ctrls : 16
Date: Fri Apr 30 13:42:16 2010
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=nl_NL:nl
 PATH=(custom, user)
 LANG=nl_NL.utf8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: pulseaudio
dmi.bios.date: 07/17/2009
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: 0503
dmi.board.asset.tag: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.board.name: M2A74-AM
dmi.board.vendor: ASUSTeK Computer INC.
dmi.board.version: Rev X.0x
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: Asset-1234567890
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: Chassis Manufacture
dmi.chassis.version: Chassis Version
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvr0503:bd07/17/2009:svnSystemmanufacturer:pnSystemProductName:pvrSystemVersion:rvnASUSTeKComputerINC.:rnM2A74-AM:rvrRevX.0x:cvnChassisManufacture:ct3:cvrChassisVersion:
dmi.product.name: System Product Name
dmi.product.version: System Version
dmi.sys.vendor: System manufacturer

Revision history for this message
Robin Sheat (eythian) wrote :
Revision history for this message
David Henningsson (diwic) wrote :

Please check this: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingSoundProblems/KarmicCaveats#Volume%20range%20anomalies (that section applies to Lucid as well) and report back whether it worked or not.

Changed in pulseaudio (Ubuntu):
status: New → Incomplete
tags: added: regression-release
Revision history for this message
Robin Sheat (eythian) wrote :

Adding 'ignore_dB=1' caused the volume to be fixed, and pa couldn't change it at all. Adding control=PCM caused there to be no sound produced. So, neither were fixes.

Changed in pulseaudio (Ubuntu):
status: Incomplete → New
Revision history for this message
Robin Sheat (eythian) wrote :

Oh, by 'volume to be fixed' I mean 'unchangable', not 'repaired'.

Revision history for this message
David Henningsson (diwic) wrote :

Hmm. How about this:
1) First, change all levels at alsamixer (i e alsamixer -c0 in a terminal) to a setting that you like.
2) Figure out which one of the alsamixer controls you would like to have pulseaudio control for you.
3) Add that control (PCM, Master Front, Headphones etc) to the pulseaudio configuration file (and restart pulseaudio).
4) If you don't have any sound at this point, go to alsamixer again and figure out why.

Revision history for this message
Robin Sheat (eythian) wrote :

I can't, in alsamixer with pulseaudio, I can't modify PCM. It jitters between 100 and 97, whenever it flicks from 97 to 100, 'front' goes down a notch. Note that changing front from 0 to 100 is a good range, but that only corresponds to about 20% in the pulseaudio slider.

A combination that almost works is only adding control=PCM. Now I can use alsamix to put front up high, and pa modifies the PCM, giving me the whole range correctly. However, as soon as I launch pavucontrol, it mutes everything.

Oh, but changing that to control 'Front' does seem to work, and pavucontrol doesn't cause it to mute. So now it's working more correctly. I wonder why it was doing strange things previously...

Thanks.

Revision history for this message
Robin Sheat (eythian) wrote :

(Clarification: when pavucontrol causes everything to mute, above, it's not actually muting the alsa channels: it just causes no sound to come out, and no amount of playing with the volume gets it back.)

Revision history for this message
ngc2997 (ngc2997-deactivatedaccount) wrote :

Same problem here (VT1708S); both suggestions from the Ubuntu Wiki mentioned above don't work. After deleting ~/.pulse/default.pa (i.e., resetting everything to default), trying to change the volume by media keys or the panel applet has no effect at all anymore. Seems there is something severely broken on Lucid, at least for VT1708S in combination with alsa and pulse. *sigh*

Revision history for this message
Daniel T Chen (crimsun) wrote :

Please test linux-backports-modules-alsa-lucid-generic.

Revision history for this message
ngc2997 (ngc2997-deactivatedaccount) wrote :

Well, actually I've just tested linux-backports-modules-alsa-lucid-generic, but to no effect - neither media keys nor the volume panel applet change any channel at all. Installing the package also had a strange side-effect; seems it removed the network manager applet from the panel and replaced it by a black square with no function. Uninstalling the package brought back the network manager, but still volume control does no longer control alsa channels, rendering the applet (as well as the media keys on my keyboard) completely useless.

Revision history for this message
ngc2997 (ngc2997-deactivatedaccount) wrote :

Sorry for the confusion - but please forget about my comment #10. I actually missed that manipulating settings in ~/.pulse/default.pa had silently changed the output device without giving me notice. With the correct device, control=PCM does the trick and restores proper function of the volume control applet. Thanks for your patience.

Revision history for this message
Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt) wrote :

Thank you for reporting this bug to Ubuntu.
Ubuntu 10.04 (lucid) reached end-of-life on May 9, 2013.

See this document for currently supported Ubuntu releases:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Releases

Please upgrade to the latest version and re-test.

Changed in pulseaudio (Ubuntu):
status: New → Incomplete
Revision history for this message
Launchpad Janitor (janitor) wrote :

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

Changed in pulseaudio (Ubuntu):
status: Incomplete → Expired
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