[FUJITSU AMILO La1703 audio playback] Audio volume extremely low

[Alex Santos]

Hello

Please note: Bug #1225622 reports a similar issue against the same hardware but diffirent Ubuntu software. Additionally, the said bug reports issues related to no sound. Due to symptoms and Ubuntu versions differing I am creating this report.

I will add as much detail as possible. Please contact me if there are steps that I can take to facilitate further.

Symptoms:
After a full clean install there was one symptom, very low sound volume that I could detect with headphones. The fans on this system plus other ambient sound made it difficult to confirm if the same volume of sound was being emitted by the speaker.

The Sound System Settings displayed both the internal speaker and headphone as "Play Sound Through". I would have to do an erase and install of the said OS to verify this with 100% accuracy or startup from the live CD. As quite some time has been exhausted trying to workaround the issue I can't make this claim with complete accuracy.

Workarounds:
Followed Installation Instructions at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Audio/UpgradingAlsa/DKMS and applied oem-audio-hda-daily-lts-raring-dkms_0.201309132333~ubuntu12.04.1_all.deb (302.4 KiB) as per https://code.launchpad.net/~ubuntu-audio-dev/+archive/alsa-daily/+packages.

Interstingly, the above workaround created a secondary issue, Ubuntu Software Center continuosly quit unexpectedly while running a spinng gear of cogwheel. I can't verify if it the secondary issue that I mentioning here is completely related but the error messages would certainly suggest it. I recovered out of it by following the first bullet point in http://askubuntu.com/questions/233389/how-can-i-fix-errors-relating-to-the-launch-of-the-software-center

After fixing the secondary issue with Ubuntu Software Center, I restarted and launched Sound System Settings but the Output tab display nothing in the list. If I plug headphones into the respective jack, the following appears under the Output tab, Headphones, VT8237A/VT8251 HDA Controller. Although the focus of this report is audio out volume leve, plugging a mic also displays the same in the Input tab. The headphones continue to emit sound but it is very low in volume, barely audible.

1)
~$ lsb_release -rd
Description: Ubuntu 12.04.3 LTS
Release: 12.04

-Software- fresh install, ~ 2 days
UBUNTU
Release 12.04 (precise) 32-bit
Kernel Linux 3.8.0-30-generic
GNOME 3.4.2

As reported in the terminal
~$ lspci -v

00:00.0 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M890CE Host Bridge
 Subsystem: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M890CE Host Bridge
 Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 8
 Memory at d0000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=128M]
 Capabilities: <access denied>
 Kernel driver in use: agpgart-amd64

00:00.1 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M890CE Host Bridge
 Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0

00:00.2 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M890CE Host Bridge
 Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0

00:00.3 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M890CE Host Bridge
 Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0

00:00.4 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M890CE Host Bridge
 Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0

00:00.5 PIC: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M890CE I/O APIC Interrupt Controller (prog-if 20 [IO(X)-APIC])
 Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0

00:00.7 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M890CE Host Bridge
 Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0

00:01.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237/8251 PCI bridge [K8M890/K8T800/K8T890 South] (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])
 Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 0
 Bus: primary=00, secondary=01, subordinate=01, sec-latency=0
 Memory behind bridge: d8000000-d8ffffff
 Prefetchable memory behind bridge: c0000000-cfffffff
 Capabilities: <access denied>
 Kernel modules: shpchp

00:02.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8T890 PCI to PCI Bridge Controller (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])
 Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
 Bus: primary=00, secondary=02, subordinate=02, sec-latency=0
 I/O behind bridge: 00001000-00001fff
 Memory behind bridge: 40000000-401fffff
 Prefetchable memory behind bridge: 0000000040200000-00000000403fffff
 Capabilities: <access denied>
 Kernel driver in use: pcieport
 Kernel modules: shpchp

00:03.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8T890 PCI to PCI Bridge Controller (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])
 Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
 Bus: primary=00, secondary=03, subordinate=03, sec-latency=0
 I/O behind bridge: 00002000-00002fff
 Memory behind bridge: 40400000-405fffff
 Prefetchable memory behind bridge: 0000000040600000-00000000407fffff
 Capabilities: <access denied>
 Kernel driver in use: pcieport
 Kernel modules: shpchp

00:0f.0 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237A SATA 2-Port Controller (rev 80) (prog-if 8f [Master SecP SecO PriP PriO])
 Subsystem: Fujitsu Technology Solutions Device 10d9
 Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 21
 I/O ports at 4cb0 [size=8]
 I/O ports at 4ca4 [size=4]
 I/O ports at 4ca8 [size=8]
 I/O ports at 4ca0 [size=4]
 I/O ports at 4c80 [size=16]
 I/O ports at 4400 [size=256]
 Capabilities: <access denied>
 Kernel driver in use: sata_via
 Kernel modules: sata_via

00:0f.1 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C586A/B/VT82C686/A/B/VT823x/A/C PIPC Bus Master IDE (rev 07) (prog-if 8a [Master SecP PriP])
 Subsystem: Fujitsu Technology Solutions Device 10d9
 Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64
 [virtual] Memory at 000001f0 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=8]
 [virtual] Memory at 000003f0 (type 3, non-prefetchable) [size=1]
 [virtual] Memory at 00000170 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=8]
 [virtual] Memory at 00000370 (type 3, non-prefetchable) [size=1]
 I/O ports at 4c90 [size=16]
 Capabilities: <access denied>
 Kernel driver in use: pata_via
 Kernel modules: pata_via

00:10.0 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev a0) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
 Subsystem: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller
 Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 20
 I/O ports at 4c00 [size=32]
 Capabilities: <access denied>
 Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd

00:10.1 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev a0) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
 Subsystem: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller
 Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 22
 I/O ports at 4c20 [size=32]
 Capabilities: <access denied>
 Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd

00:10.2 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev a0) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
 Subsystem: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller
 Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 21
 I/O ports at 4c40 [size=32]
 Capabilities: <access denied>
 Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd

00:10.3 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev a0) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
 Subsystem: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller
 Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 23
 I/O ports at 4c60 [size=32]
 Capabilities: <access denied>
 Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd

00:10.4 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. USB 2.0 (rev 86) (prog-if 20 [EHCI])
 Subsystem: VIA Technologies, Inc. USB 2.0 Controller
 Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 21
 Memory at d9300000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
 Capabilities: <access denied>
 Kernel driver in use: ehci-pci

00:11.0 ISA bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237A PCI to ISA Bridge
 Subsystem: VIA Technologies, Inc. Device 3237
 Flags: medium devsel
 Capabilities: <access denied>
 Kernel modules: i2c-viapro

00:11.7 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237/8251 Ultra VLINK Controller
 Subsystem: VIA Technologies, Inc. Device 337e
 Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64
 Capabilities: <access denied>

00:12.0 Ethernet controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6102 [Rhine-II] (rev 7c)
 Subsystem: Fujitsu Technology Solutions Device 10d9
 Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 23
 I/O ports at 4800 [size=256]
 Memory at d9300400 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
 Capabilities: <access denied>
 Kernel driver in use: via-rhine
 Kernel modules: via-rhine

00:13.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237A Host Bridge (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])
 Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
 Bus: primary=00, secondary=04, subordinate=04, sec-latency=0
 Memory behind bridge: d9000000-d90fffff
 Capabilities: <access denied>
 Kernel modules: shpchp

00:13.1 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237A PCI to PCI Bridge (prog-if 01 [Subtractive decode])
 Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
 Bus: primary=00, secondary=05, subordinate=05, sec-latency=0
 Capabilities: <access denied>

00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration
 Flags: fast devsel
 Capabilities: <access denied>

00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map
 Flags: fast devsel

00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller
 Flags: fast devsel

00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control
 Flags: fast devsel
 Capabilities: <access denied>
 Kernel driver in use: k8temp
 Kernel modules: k8temp

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M890CE/K8N890CE [Chrome 9] (rev 01) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
 Subsystem: Fujitsu Technology Solutions Device 10d9
 Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 10
 Memory at c0000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
 Memory at d8000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16M]
 Expansion ROM at <unassigned> [disabled]
 Capabilities: <access denied>
 Kernel modules: viafb

04:01.0 Audio device: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237A/VT8251 HDA Controller (rev 10)
 Subsystem: Fujitsu Technology Solutions Device 10d9
 Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 17
 Memory at d9000000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
 Capabilities: <access denied>
 Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
 Kernel modules: snd-hda-intel

2) This step is not so clear especially for a new user. I don't know which pkgname to run against the command. As I understand it ALSA is part of the OS install but I don't know enough about UBUNTU as a basic user to say.

3) I expected to be able to here sound come out of the speaker and headphones and be able to raise and lower the volume at will.

4) Headphone volume is full but the sound is barely audible. There is no audible volume coming from the speaker.
---
AlsaVersion: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version k3.8.0-30-generic.
ApportVersion: 2.0.1-0ubuntu17.4
Architecture: i386
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: alex 2289 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/pcmC0D0c: alex 2289 F...m pulseaudio
Card0.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:0 'VT82xx'/'HDA VIA VT82xx at 0xd9000000 irq 17'
   Mixer name : 'VIA VT1708'
   Components : 'HDA:11061708,173410d9,00100500 HDA:10573055,10573055,00100700'
   Controls : 21
   Simple ctrls : 9
CurrentDmesg:
 [ 88.224199] tsc: Marking TSC unstable due to cpufreq changes
 [ 88.224416] Switching to clocksource acpi_pm
 [ 424.805232] type=1400 audit(1379275708.233:29): apparmor="DENIED" operation="open" parent=1 profile="/usr/lib/telepathy/mission-control-5" name="/usr/share/gvfs/remote-volume-monitors/" pid=2511 comm="mission-control" requested_mask="r" denied_mask="r" fsuid=1000 ouid=0
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.04
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 12.04.3 LTS "Precise Pangolin" - Release i386 (20130820.1)
MarkForUpload: True
Package: alsa-driver (not installed)
ProcEnviron:
 TERM=xterm
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.8.0-30.44~precise1-generic 3.8.13.6
Tags: precise running-unity
Uname: Linux 3.8.0-30-generic i686
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
UserGroups: adm cdrom dip lpadmin plugdev sambashare sudo
dmi.bios.date: 02/11/2009
dmi.bios.vendor: Phoenix
dmi.bios.version: 8.8-0023-M008
dmi.board.name: E25
dmi.board.vendor: Inventec
dmi.board.version: Rev 01
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: User Asset Tag
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: FUJITSU SIEMENS
dmi.chassis.version: E25_____
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnPhoenix:bvr8.8-0023-M008:bd02/11/2009:svnFUJITSUSIEMENS:pnAMILOLa1703:pvr1.0:rvnInventec:rnE25:rvrRev01:cvnFUJITSUSIEMENS:ct10:cvrE25_____:
dmi.product.name: AMILO La1703
dmi.product.version: 1.0
dmi.sys.vendor: FUJITSU SIEMENS
---
AlsaVersion: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version k3.8.0-30-generic.
ApportVersion: 2.0.1-0ubuntu17.4
Architecture: i386
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: alex 2289 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/pcmC0D0c: alex 2289 F...m pulseaudio
Card0.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:0 'VT82xx'/'HDA VIA VT82xx at 0xd9000000 irq 17'
   Mixer name : 'VIA VT1708'
   Components : 'HDA:11061708,173410d9,00100500 HDA:10573055,10573055,00100700'
   Controls : 21
   Simple ctrls : 9
CurrentDmesg:
 [ 88.224199] tsc: Marking TSC unstable due to cpufreq changes
 [ 88.224416] Switching to clocksource acpi_pm
 [ 424.805232] type=1400 audit(1379275708.233:29): apparmor="DENIED" operation="open" parent=1 profile="/usr/lib/telepathy/mission-control-5" name="/usr/share/gvfs/remote-volume-monitors/" pid=2511 comm="mission-control" requested_mask="r" denied_mask="r" fsuid=1000 ouid=0
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.04
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 12.04.3 LTS "Precise Pangolin" - Release i386 (20130820.1)
MarkForUpload: True
Package: alsa-driver (not installed)
ProcEnviron:
 TERM=xterm
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.8.0-30.44~precise1-generic 3.8.13.6
Tags: precise running-unity
Uname: Linux 3.8.0-30-generic i686
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
UserGroups: adm cdrom dip lpadmin plugdev sambashare sudo
dmi.bios.date: 02/11/2009
dmi.bios.vendor: Phoenix
dmi.bios.version: 8.8-0023-M008
dmi.board.name: E25
dmi.board.vendor: Inventec
dmi.board.version: Rev 01
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: User Asset Tag
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: FUJITSU SIEMENS
dmi.chassis.version: E25_____
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnPhoenix:bvr8.8-0023-M008:bd02/11/2009:svnFUJITSUSIEMENS:pnAMILOLa1703:pvr1.0:rvnInventec:rnE25:rvrRev01:cvnFUJITSUSIEMENS:ct10:cvrE25_____:
dmi.product.name: AMILO La1703
dmi.product.version: 1.0
dmi.sys.vendor: FUJITSU SIEMENS

[Boshu (boshuboshu)]

Upgrading gentoo-sources from 3.0.6 to newer and stable versions leads to very-very low sound volume. The laptop is a Fujitsu-Siemens Amilo La1703.
Card: HDA VIA VT82XX
Chipset: VIA VT1708

#cat /proc/asound/version
Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version 1.0.24.

#cat /proc/asound/cards
0 [VT82xx ]: HDA-Intel - HDA VIA VT82xx
HDA VIA VT82xx at 0xd9000000 irq 17

#cat /proc/asound/devices
1: : sequencer
2: [ 0- 6]: digital audio playback
3: [ 0- 6]: digital audio capture
4: [ 0- 0]: digital audio playback
5: [ 0- 0]: digital audio capture
6: [ 0- 1]: hardware dependent
7: [ 0- 0]: hardware dependent
8: [ 0] : control
33: : timer

#cat /proc/asound/pcm
00-00: VT1708 Analog : VT1708 Analog : playback 1 : capture 2
00-06: Si3054 Modem : Si3054 Modem : playback 1 : capture 1

With alsamixer I've noticed:
For gentoo-sources-3.0.6 I have "master front" db gain 14.00(maximum value). This is the kernel in use with acceptable sound volume.
For newer gentoo-sources shows "master" db gain 6.75(maximum value)

Maybe the above change of value is the reason why the sound is almost unnoticeable.

[Boshu (boshuboshu)]

Created attachment 316123
emerge --info

emerge --info

[Boshu (boshuboshu)]

Portage 2.1.10.65 (default/linux/amd64/10.0, gcc-4.5.3, glibc-2.14.1-r3, 3.0.6-gentoo x86_64)
=================================================================
System uname: Linux-3.0.6-gentoo-x86_64-Mobile_AMD_Sempron-tm-_Processor_3500+-with-gentoo-2.1
Timestamp of tree: Sun, 24 Jun 2012 06:45:01 +0000
app-shells/bash: 4.2_p20
dev-java/java-config: 2.1.11-r3
dev-lang/python: 2.7.3-r2, 3.1.5, 3.2.3
dev-util/cmake: 2.8.7-r5
dev-util/pkgconfig: 0.26
sys-apps/baselayout: 2.1-r1
sys-apps/openrc: 0.9.8.4
sys-apps/sandbox: 2.5
sys-devel/autoconf: 2.13, 2.68
sys-devel/automake: 1.5, 1.7.9-r1, 1.8.5-r3, 1.9.6-r3, 1.10.3, 1.11.1
sys-devel/binutils: 2.21.1-r1
sys-devel/gcc: 4.4.5, 4.5.3-r2
sys-devel/gcc-config: 1.6
sys-devel/libtool: 2.4-r1
sys-devel/make: 3.82-r1
sys-kernel/linux-headers: 3.1 (virtual/os-headers)
sys-libs/glibc: 2.14.1-r3
Repositories: gentoo kormoc
ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="amd64"
ACCEPT_LICENSE="* -@EULA"
CBUILD="x86_64-pc-linux-gnu"
CFLAGS="-O2 -march=k8 -msse3 -pipe -fomit-frame-pointer -finline-functions"
CHOST="x86_64-pc-linux-gnu"
CONFIG_PROTECT="/etc /usr/share/config /usr/share/gnupg/qualified.txt /var/lib/hsqldb"
CONFIG_PROTECT_MASK="/etc/ca-certificates.conf /etc/dconf /etc/env.d /etc/env.d/java/ /etc/fonts/fonts.conf /etc/gconf /etc/gentoo-release /etc/revdep-rebuild /etc/sandbox.d /etc/terminfo"
CXXFLAGS="-O2 -march=k8 -msse3 -pipe -fomit-frame-pointer -finline-functions"
DISTDIR="/usr/portage/distfiles"
EMERGE_DEFAULT_OPTS="--autounmask=n"
FCFLAGS="-O2 -pipe"
FEATURES="assume-digests binpkg-logs config-protect-if-modified distlocks ebuild-locks fixlafiles news parallel-fetch parse-eapi-ebuild-head protect-owned sandbox sfperms strict unknown-features-warn unmerge-logs unmerge-orphans"
FFLAGS="-O2 -pipe"
GENTOO_MIRRORS="ftp://ftp.romnet.org/gentoo/"
LANG="C"
LDFLAGS="-Wl,-O1 -Wl,--as-needed"
LINGUAS="en_GB"
PKGDIR="/usr/portage/packages"
PORTAGE_CONFIGROOT="/"
PORTAGE_RSYNC_OPTS="--recursive --links --safe-links --perms --times --compress --force --whole-file --delete --stats --human-readable --timeout=180 --exclude=/distfiles --exclude=/local --exclude=/packages"
PORTAGE_TMPDIR="/var/tmp"
PORTDIR="/usr/portage"
PORTDIR_OVERLAY="/var/lib/layman/kormoc"
SYNC="rsync://rsync.ro.gentoo.org/gentoo-portage"
USE="3dnow X a52 aac acl acpi alsa amd64 berkdb bluetooth bzip2 cdr cli cracklib crypt cups cxx dri dvd dvdr fortran gdbm gif gpm iconv ipv6 jpeg jpeg2k mad mmx modules mp3 mpeg mudflap multilib ncurses nls nptl ogg opengl openmp pam pcre png ppds pppd readline rtc session sse sse2 ssl tcpd tiff truetype unicode usb vorbis wmf x264 xorg xv xvid zlib" ALSA_CARDS="ali5451 als4000 atiixp atiixp-modem bt87x ca0106 cmipci emu10k1x ens1370 ens1371 es1938 es1968 fm801 hda-intel intel8x0 intel8x0m maestro3 trident usb-audio via82xx via82xx-modem ymfpci" ALSA_PCM_PLUGINS="adpcm alaw asym copy dmix dshare dsnoop empty extplug file hooks iec958 ioplug ladspa lfloat linear meter mmap_emul mulaw multi null plug rate route share shm softvol" APACHE2_MODULES="actions alias auth_basic authn_alias authn_anon authn_dbm authn_default...

[Mike Pagano (mpagano)]

Is this the latest version you have tested? Can you please test 3.4.4 and then 3.5_rcX and tell me if anything is different?

[Punloh-2 (punloh-2)]

I've hit the same issue with the 3.3.8 kernel and Realtek ALC889A codec.

[Boshu (boshuboshu)]

(In reply to comment #3)
> Is this the latest version you have tested? Can you please test 3.4.4 and
> then 3.5_rcX and tell me if anything is different?

I've installed and tested many gentoo-sources versions because I've hoped somebody else will fill a bug report. :) However that doesn't mean 3.0.6 is the last good working kernel version for this hardware because I didn't had the time to install one or two stable versions imediately after 3.0.6.

Using gentoo-sources 3.4.4 I still have the same problem.
Alsamixer shows "Master [dB gain: 6.75]" and "PCM [dB gain: 14.00, 14.00]" for the maximum values.

I also mention that I verify the sound volume using headphones. The notebook has only one small speaker, which I don't use for obvious reasons.

I'll post the status for >=3.5_rc4 as soon as possible.

[cornix (cornicx)]

i have same problem:

this is my system:
##################

Portage 2.2.0_alpha114_p1 (default/linux/amd64/10.0/desktop, gcc-4.6.3, glibc-2.15-r2, 3.4.4-gentoo x86_64)
=================================================================
System uname: Linux-3.4.4-gentoo-x86_64-Intel-R-_Core-TM-2_Duo_CPU_P9700_@_2.80GHz-with-gentoo-2.1
Timestamp of tree: Sun, 01 Jul 2012 06:30:01 +0000
app-shells/bash: 4.2_p29
dev-java/java-config: 2.1.12
dev-lang/python: 2.7.3-r2, 3.2.3-r1
dev-util/cmake: 2.8.8-r3
dev-util/pkgconfig: 0.26
sys-apps/baselayout: 2.1-r1
sys-apps/openrc: 9999
sys-apps/sandbox: 2.5
sys-devel/autoconf: 2.13, 2.69
sys-devel/automake: 1.9.6-r3, 1.10.3, 1.11.5, 1.12.1
sys-devel/binutils: 2.22-r1
sys-devel/gcc: 4.6.3
sys-devel/gcc-config: 1.7.3
sys-devel/libtool: 2.4.2
sys-devel/make: 3.82-r3
sys-kernel/linux-headers: 3.4 (virtual/os-headers)
sys-libs/glibc: 2.15-r2
Repositories: gentoo mpd science scarabeus luman nikai emacs java-overlay Techwolf mgorny wirelay qt poly-c gnome wine-diablo3 gamerlay-stable lokal
ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="amd64 ~amd64"
ACCEPT_LICENSE="*"
CBUILD="x86_64-pc-linux-gnu"
CFLAGS="-march=core2 -O2 -pipe"
CHOST="x86_64-pc-linux-gnu"
CONFIG_PROTECT="/etc /usr/share/config /usr/share/gnupg/qualified.txt /usr/share/openvpn/easy-rsa /var/lib/hsqldb"
CONFIG_PROTECT_MASK="${EPREFIX}/etc/gconf /etc/ca-certificates.conf /etc/env.d /etc/fonts/fonts.conf
/etc/gconf /etc/gentoo-release /etc/php/apache2-php5.4/ext-active/ /etc/php/cgi-php5.4/ext-active/ /etc/php/cli-php5.4/ext-active/ /etc/revdep-rebuild /etc/sandbox.d /etc/terminfo /etc/texmf/language.dat.d /etc/texmf/language.def.d /etc/texmf/updmap.d /etc/texmf/web2c"
CXXFLAGS="-march=core2 -O2 -pipe"
DISTDIR="/usr/portage/distfiles"
FCFLAGS="-O2 -pipe"
FEATURES="assume-digests binpkg-logs config-protect-if-modified distlocks ebuild-locks fixlafiles news parallel-fetch parse-eapi-ebuild-head preserve-libs protect-owned sandbox sfperms strict unknown-features-warn unmerge-logs unmerge-orphans userfetch xattr"
FFLAGS="-O2 -pipe"
GENTOO_MIRRORS="http://distfiles.gentoo.org"
LANG="de_DE.UTF-8"
LC_ALL=""
LDFLAGS="-Wl,-O1 -Wl,--as-needed"
LINGUAS="de en vi"
MAKEOPTS="-j3"
PKGDIR="/usr/portage/packages"
PORTAGE_CONFIGROOT="/"
PORTAGE_RSYNC_OPTS="--recursive --links --safe-links --perms --times --compress --force --whole-file --delete --stats --human-readable --timeout=180 --exclude=/distfiles --exclude=/local --exclude=/packages"
PORTAGE_TMPDIR="/var/tmp"
PORTDIR="/usr/portage"

it also happens that i only hear one stream. paralell using two sound programm
is not possible. i dont hear the second programm's sound

[Mike Pagano (mpagano)]

Out of curiosity, have you tried listening through headphones? I would like to know if you have volume issue there, also.

When you run alsa mixer, do you see VIA DXS and VIA DXS 1-3?

[Boshu (boshuboshu)]

Linux kernel 3.5-rc5 makes no difference. I have the same low sound output.
Looking in my /lib/modules folder I see the latest entries were:
3.0.6-gentoo, 3.2.1-gentoo-r2, 3.2.12-gentoo, 3.3.8-gentoo, 3.4.4-gentoo and 3.5.0-rc5. Looks like the problem appeared between 3.0.6 and 3.2.1.

With 3.5-rc5 alsamixer shows "Master [dB gain: 6.75]" and "PCM [dB gain: 14.00, 14.00]" for the maximum values, same as with the other non-working kernels.
Until now the only visual differences between 3.0.6 and the rest(values when vertical sliders are at 100):
1)3.0.6 has "master front" dB gain: 14.00 vs. "Master [dB gain: 6.75]" for other versions;
2)3.0.6 has "PCM" dB gain: 0.00 vs. "PCM" dB gain: 14.00 for others.

"Front" and "Headphones" dB gains are 0.00 at maximum values for all kernels(including 3.0.6), so I don't understand why newer kernels need a different than zero value for "PCM".

[Mike Pagano (mpagano)]

ok, thanks for testing. Can you please take this upstream to https://bugtrack.alsa-project.org/alsa-bug/my_view_page.php

[Boshu (boshuboshu)]

I give up. For two days I've been trying to create an account for alsa. I am unable to receive that confirmation mail at
https://bugtrack.alsa-project.org/alsa-bug/signup_page.php

If you're also unable to create a new account to ALSA's bugtracking system then I guess somebody will have to fill not one but two bug reports. :)

[Boshu (boshuboshu)]

Hmmm. I've just installed gentoo-sources-3.5.2(the newest one at this time) and I'm having the same problem. I see the status of the bug has been changed to RESOLVED UPSTREAM.
Can you post which packages, future or already existing in portage, will have to be installed in order to make this hardware usable, or at least the upstream link of the filled bug report?

[Mike Pagano (mpagano)]

Can you please take this upstream to https://bugtrack.alsa-project.org/alsa-bug/my_view_page.php

[Boshu (boshuboshu)]

As I said before. None of the following links work at this time:
https://bugtrack.alsa-project.org/alsa-bug
https://bugtrack.alsa-project.org/alsa-bug/my_view_page.php
https://bugtrack.alsa-project.org/alsa-bug/signup_page.php

I understand that the problem should be fixed upstream, but I disagree with marking the bug resolved, because it's not.
Until alsa doesn't fix their bug tracking system I can't fill any bug reports there. I'm pretty sure you can't do that at this moment either.

PS. http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-p-7124056.html#7124056

[Mike Pagano (mpagano)]

I can't fix your issue with alsa upstream. Nor can I help you any longer.

[Alex Santos (santoscork)]

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[Alex Santos (santoscork)]

Please note. I have added apport-collect to the report and sent it. I apologize if it was sent twice but the terminal produced an error the frst time.

Thank you for understanding and I hope this report help imporve Ubuntu.

Again, if there is anything that I can do to help wth reproducing any issue(s) or if there are further steps that I should take I will be happy to oblige and I sincereyl appreciate your hard efforts in this investigation.

With kindest regards
Alex

[Boshu (boshuboshu)]

I'm the owner of the same laptop model and also the reporter of the same issue on Gentoo. As far as I've seen, starting with kernel 3.11 alsa doesn't even show the volume for the front speaker. It's completely gone. :))

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

  device.profile.name = "analog-stereo"
  device.profile.description = "Analog Stereo"
  device.description = "VT8237A/VT8251 HDA Controller Analog Stereo"
  alsa.mixer_name = "VIA VT1708"
  alsa.components = "HDA:11061708,173410d9,00100500 HDA:10573055,10573055,00100700"
  module-udev-detect.discovered = "1"
  device.icon_name = "audio-card-pci"
 ports:
  analog-output-headphones: Headphones (priority 9000, available: no)
   properties:

 active port: <analog-output-headphones>

Did you use latest alsa driver since VT1708 does not support unsolicited event ?

https://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/tiwai/sound.git/commit/?id=05dc0fc9d01537a66d9a0cffe2e96296d8f4c7ac

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

when you plugged the headphone and the driver return false when it cannot detect headphone

pulseaudio switch to speaker profile and turn off the headphone volume

Control.13 {
iface CARD
name 'Front Headphone Jack'
value false
comment {
access read
type BOOLEAN
count 1
}

http://cgit.freedesktop.org/pulseaudio/pulseaudio/tree/src/modules/alsa/mixer/paths/analog-output-speaker.conf

[Jack Headphone]
state.plugged = no
state.unplugged = unknown

; This profile path is intended to control the speaker, let's mute headphones
; else there will be a spike when plugging in headphones
[Element Headphone]
switch = off
volume = off

[Boshu (boshuboshu)]

   I'm using:
* media-sound/alsa-utils
      Latest version available: 1.0.27.1-r1
      Latest version installed: 1.0.25-r1
* media-libs/alsa-lib
      Latest version available: 1.0.27.1
      Latest version installed: 1.0.25-r1
   As far as I know gentoo uses the in-kernel alsa-driver. There is no distinct package(alsa-driver) in portage. I'm using obsolete versions of the alsa packages due to the fact that when I tried to upgrade them I've had sound issues(probabily the same low sound volume, I don't remember for sure). For me the problem with upgrading the above packages is that the versions I'm using now are no longer in the portage tree, meaning it would be a pain in the ... to revert and make sound work again.
   Regarding the dissapearance of the front speaker volume in kernel 3.11 I can say that I've booted the laptop with the headphones pluged-in but the gnome-alsa-mixer was configured to ignore jack detection. Also I've verified the dissapearace using plain 'alsamixer' command. I didn't tried to boot the laptop with the headphones unplugged to see if the front speaker volume appears. Still, the volume in the headphones was way too low to be usable by me.

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

you have to perform pin fixup for the speaker node 0x1f from [Jack] Line Out at Int to

Pin Default 0x90170110: [Fixed] Speaker at Int N/A
    Conn = Analog, Color = Unknown
    DefAssociation = 0x1, Sequence = 0x0
    Misc = NO_PRESENCE

by early patching or hda-jack-retask

http://git.alsa-project.org/?p=alsa-tools.git;a=blob;f=hdajackretask/README;hb=HEAD

[Alex Santos (santoscork)]

As an FYI (if helpful)

I have tried a new 'test' standard user account but the issue persists.

I have also booted from 12.04.3 live cd.
1) From the live CD Sound System Settings it does display in the output tab headphones and speakers. Considering this, I went to the Sound Effects tab in the Sound Settings and set the Alert volume to full and output volume to 100% but alert sounds are inaudible from the speaker.
2) I plugged in headphones that I know work fine on a mac and the alert sounds are still very low in volume.

Are there further steps I could take that might help towards reaching a resolution?

[Boshu (boshuboshu)]

I don't think it's a pulse related problem because even though I'm a gnome user I don't have poulseaudio installed, it's just plain old, pure(but great) alsa. Also, I would like to make sure that you've noticed the text from the gentoo bug comment:
{
With 3.5-rc5 alsamixer shows "Master [dB gain: 6.75]" and "PCM [dB gain: 14.00, 14.00]" for the maximum values, same as with the other non-working kernels.
Until now the only visual differences between 3.0.6 and the rest(values when vertical sliders are at 100):
1)3.0.6 has "master front" dB gain: 14.00 vs. "Master [dB gain: 6.75]" for other versions;
2)3.0.6 has "PCM" dB gain: 0.00 vs. "PCM" dB gain: 14.00 for others.

"Front" and "Headphones" dB gains are 0.00 at maximum values for all kernels(including 3.0.6), so I don't understand why newer kernels need a different than zero value for "PCM".
}
where 3.0.6 is my last working kernel version and other versions are the ones(newer) that have a low sound volume.

[Alex Santos (santoscork)]

Hello

…which version of Ubuntu desktop did not suffer from this issue?

I would like to ask a short question. I understand that this issue does not enjoy an immediate resolution and I sincerely appreciate that there are good hard working people looking into this.

In the meantime, I would be grateful if any one delegated to this issue could perhaps let me know which version of Ubuntu desktop did not suffer from this issue. I am happy to downgrade on a second partition. Unfortunately for me, sound is one of the reasons I installed Ubuntu,

I hope you can understand and again, I am much obliged to all your attention.

With kindest regards
Alex Santos

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

the volume control from audio output 0x10 was removed and amp in is set to 0 dB
 as ofs = 0x17 but it is strabye that the amp in from another audio output 0x13 is also set to 0 dB

Node 0x17 [Audio Mixer] wcaps 0x20010b: Stereo Amp-In
  Control: name="Mic Playback Volume", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=In, idx=2, ofs=0
  Control: name="Mic Playback Switch", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=In, idx=2, ofs=0
  Amp-In caps: ofs=0x17, nsteps=0x1f, stepsize=0x06, mute=1
  Amp-In vals: [0x17 0x17] [0x80 0x80] [0x96 0x96] [0x80 0x80] [0x80 0x80] [0x17 0x17]
  Connection: 6
     0x10 0x24 0x1d 0x1e 0x21 0x13

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

http://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/tiwai/sound.git/commit/sound/pci/hda/patch_via.c?id=096a885494f6b89a9962c6faf18e1c6092e7919c

it seem that you can find the node of internal Mic from this patc

-static const struct hda_verb vt1708_volume_init_verbs[] = {
- /*
- * Unmute ADC0-1 and set the default input to mic-in
- */
- {0x15, AC_VERB_SET_AMP_GAIN_MUTE, AMP_IN_UNMUTE(0)},
- {0x27, AC_VERB_SET_AMP_GAIN_MUTE, AMP_IN_UNMUTE(0)},
-
-
- /* Unmute input amps (CD, Line In, Mic 1 & Mic 2) of the analog-loopback
- * mixer widget
- */
- /* Amp Indices: CD = 1, Mic1 = 2, Line = 3, Mic2 = 4 */
- {0x17, AC_VERB_SET_AMP_GAIN_MUTE, AMP_IN_UNMUTE(0)},
- {0x17, AC_VERB_SET_AMP_GAIN_MUTE, AMP_IN_UNMUTE(1)},
- {0x17, AC_VERB_SET_AMP_GAIN_MUTE, AMP_IN_UNMUTE(2)},
- {0x17, AC_VERB_SET_AMP_GAIN_MUTE, AMP_IN_UNMUTE(3)},
- {0x17, AC_VERB_SET_AMP_GAIN_MUTE, AMP_IN_UNMUTE(4)},

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

Node 0x1f [Pin Complex] wcaps 0x40010d: Stereo Amp-Out
  Control: name="PCM Playback Volume", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=Out, idx=0, ofs=0
  Control: name="PCM Playback Switch", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=Out, idx=0, ofs=0
  Control: name="Speaker Jack", index=0, device=0
  Amp-Out caps: ofs=0x1b, nsteps=0x1b, stepsize=0x06, mute=1
  Amp-Out vals: [0x1b 0x1b]
  Pincap 0x0000001c: OUT HP Detect
  Pin Default 0x110140f0: [Jack] Line Out at Int Rear
    Conn = 1/8, Color = Green
    DefAssociation = 0xf, Sequence = 0x0
  Pin-ctls: 0x40: OUT
  Connection: 1
     0x17

it should be speaker phantom Jack since internal speaker is always connected

PCM Playback switch is defined in the common path of pulseaudio

http://cgit.freedesktop.org/pulseaudio/pulseaudio/tree/src/modules/alsa/mixer/paths/analog-output.conf.common

[Element PCM]
switch = mute
volume = merge
override-map.1 = all
override-map.2 = all-left,all-right

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

there was a patch

https://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/tiwai/sound.git/commit/sound/pci/hda/patch_via.c?id=bc9b56238eedda865070dcaed6694d65b517c8d6

[ALSA] hda - Fix noise on VT1708 codec
We get quite noisy output on the right channel on VT1708 codec when 24bit samples are used. Suppress the 24bit support until any real fix is found.

seem the limitation seem removed by this patch ALSA: hda - Use generic parser for VIA codec driver

https://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/tiwai/sound.git/commit/sound/pci/hda/patch_via.c?id=b3f6008f2d511133e0f04782c437a13b6865d26b

-static const struct hda_pcm_stream vt1708_pcm_analog_s16_playback = {
- .substreams = 1,
- .channels_min = 2,
- .channels_max = 8,
- /* NID is set in via_build_pcms */
- /* We got noisy outputs on the right channel on VT1708 when
- * 24bit samples are used. Until any workaround is found,
- * disable the 24bit format, so far.
- */
- .formats = SNDRV_PCM_FMTBIT_S16_LE,
- .ops = {
- .open = via_playback_multi_pcm_open,
- .close = via_playback_multi_pcm_close,
- .prepare = via_playback_multi_pcm_prepare,
- .cleanup = via_playback_multi_pcm_cleanup
- },
-};

[Marcus Tomlinson (marcustomlinson)]

This release of Ubuntu is no longer receiving maintenance updates. If this is still an issue on a maintained version of Ubuntu please let us know.

[Marcus Tomlinson (marcustomlinson)]

This issue has sat incomplete for more than 60 days now. I'm going to close it as invalid. Please feel free re-open if this is still an issue for you. Thank you.