[HDA-Intel - HD-Audio Generic, playback] USB sound with Rodecaster Pro not working

[nils]

Please see https://askubuntu.com/questions/1229085/ubuntu-with-rodecaster-pro-usb-soundcard/1236257#1236257 for most background.
tl;dr:
- The Rodecaster Pro is a USB audio standard compliant device
- lsusb sees it, but alsa cannot use it
- trying the exact same setup with a Scarlett 2i2 USB device works (with some caveats, see the mentioned post)

Somehow the Rodecaster is ignored by Alsa. I am more than happy to help debug.
Alsa info is at http://alsa-project.org/db/?f=94fd609fa23912ab0a39b67676a026fd163f3f3b and also attached.

nils@blackbox:~/tmp/soundtest$ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: Generic_1 [HD-Audio Generic], device 0: ALC887-VD Analog [ALC887-VD Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: Generic_1 [HD-Audio Generic], device 1: ALC887-VD Digital [ALC887-VD Digital]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: Generic [HD-Audio Generic], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 2: USB [Scarlett 2i2 USB], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
nils@blackbox:~/tmp/soundtest$ arecord --list-devices
**** List of CAPTURE Hardware Devices ****
card 0: Generic_1 [HD-Audio Generic], device 0: ALC887-VD Analog [ALC887-VD Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: Generic_1 [HD-Audio Generic], device 2: ALC887-VD Alt Analog [ALC887-VD Alt Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 2: USB [Scarlett 2i2 USB], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 20.04
Package: alsa-base 1.0.25+dfsg-0ubuntu5
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 5.4.0-29.33-generic 5.4.30
Uname: Linux 5.4.0-29-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: zfs zunicode zavl icp zcommon znvpair
ApportVersion: 2.20.11-0ubuntu27
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC2: nils 90077 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/controlC0: nils 90077 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/controlC1: nils 90077 F.... pulseaudio
CasperMD5CheckResult: skip
CurrentDesktop: KDE
Date: Sat May 9 11:45:20 2020
EcryptfsInUse: Yes
InstallationDate: Installed on 2016-08-23 (1354 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Kubuntu 16.04.1 LTS "Xenial Xerus" - Release amd64 (20160719)
PackageArchitecture: all
SourcePackage: alsa-driver
Symptom: audio
Symptom_AudioUsers: pulse
Symptom_Card: Family 17h (Models 10h-1fh) HD Audio Controller - HD-Audio Generic
Symptom_DevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC2: nils 90077 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/controlC0: nils 90077 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/controlC1: nils 90077 F.... pulseaudio
Symptom_Jack: SPDIF Out, Internal
Symptom_Type: Sound works for some users but not for others
Title: [HDA-Intel - HD-Audio Generic, playback] sound not working for all users
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to focal on 2020-05-09 (0 days ago)
dmi.bios.date: 10/14/2019
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: 5222
dmi.board.asset.tag: Default string
dmi.board.name: PRIME A320M-A
dmi.board.vendor: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
dmi.board.version: Rev X.0x
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: Default string
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: Default string
dmi.chassis.version: Default string
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvr5222:bd10/14/2019:svnSystemmanufacturer:pnSystemProductName:pvrSystemVersion:rvnASUSTeKCOMPUTERINC.:rnPRIMEA320M-A:rvrRevX.0x:cvnDefaultstring:ct3:cvrDefaultstring:
dmi.product.family: To be filled by O.E.M.
dmi.product.name: System Product Name
dmi.product.sku: SKU
dmi.product.version: System Version
dmi.sys.vendor: System manufacturer
mtime.conffile..etc.modprobe.d.alsa-base.conf: 2020-05-09T11:23:29.080704

[nils (internationils)]

askubuntu link was wrong... correct link: https://askubuntu.com/questions/1229085/ubuntu-with-rodecaster-pro-usb-soundcard/1236257#1236257

[nils (internationils)]

[NOTE: Apologies for the paste, but for some reason the answer got deleted from askubuntu (This post is hidden. It was deleted 12 hours ago by fossfreedom♦. ...so much for "freedom" ; ) If someone can tell me why, I would appreciate it. I gave the answer (Rodecaster appears not to be supported) and showed a lot of debugging effort leading to that conclusion.]

I have the same issue... I tried many things, but could not get the Rodecaster working. I did learn quite a bit and got the Scarlett 2i2 working though.

  - lsusb
    Bus 001 Device 002: ID 19f7:0011 RODE Microphones RODECaster Pro
  - ls -al /dev/snd/by-id/
    lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 12 May 6 11:44 usb-RODE_Microphones_RODECaster_Pro_00000000001A-01 -> ../controlC2
  - cat /proc/asound/cards
    2 [Pro ]: USB-Audio - RODECaster Pro
    RODE Microphones RODECaster Pro at usb-0000:01:00.0-3, high speed
  - cat /proc/asound/modules
    0 snd_usb_audio
    1 snd_hda_intel
  - lsmod | grep snd_usb_audio looks OK
  - arecord --list-devices does not show it
  - aplay -L shows usbstream:CARD=Generic HD-Audio Generic USB Stream Output and a lot of other (normal motherboard) devices but nothing with Rode and nothing else USB
  - aplay --device=usbstream
    ALSA lib pcm_usb_stream.c:486:(_snd_pcm_usb_stream_open) Invalid type for card
    aplay: main:828: audio open error: Invalid argument
  - cat /proc/asound/pcm does not show it
  - editing /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf to add these two lines at the end:
    options snd-usb-audio index=0
    options snd-hda-intel index=1 ...but no change after a reboot. Idea from https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/220224/alsa-not-detecting-my-soundcard
  - editing /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf to add options snd slots=snd-usb-audio,snd-hda-intel did not change anything either
  - blacklisting snd_hda_intel in /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-sound.conf by adding blacklist snd_hda_intel to that file (create it if necessary) and rebooting disabled it, but did not help with the USB sound for the Rodecaster
  - pulseaudio -k && sudo alsa force-reload after the changes (instead of a reboot) doesn't change anything either. Note: pulseaudio restarts itself and does not need to be manually restarted (Is there another way to restart the sound system if pulseaudio/ALSA don't work?)

The Answer (as it appears to me at least):

  - The Rodecaster is recognized as a USB device, but somehow not recognized by Alsa
  - I grabbed a Scarlett 2i2 gen3 (https://wiki.linuxaudio.org/wiki/hardware_support)
  - edited /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf to comment out #options snd-usb-audio index=-2 to allow snd-usb-audio to be the first device
  - edited /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf to add options snd slots=snd-usb-audio,snd-hda-intel at the end to have the USB audio before the HDA Intel
  - pulseaudio -k && sudo alsa force-reload to reload the alsa config

Then the Scarlett showed up. Leaving the HDA Intel first did not let the Scarlett show up.

Helpful info:

  - https://www.alsa-project.org/main/index.php/Help_To_Debug ...the alsa-info.sh looks like a fairly complete alsa debugging info summary generator
  - https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingSoundProblems
  - b...

[nils (internationils)]

It works out-of-the-box on a windows 10 machine (both as input and output for MS teams, Skype, etc.) on which I have no admin access, so it seems to work there without extra drivers.

https://www.sweetwater.com/sweetcare/articles/getting-started-with-the-rodecaster-pro/
claims that it is class compliant on a MAC at least: "Before you can use the Rodecaster Pro, you first need to download and install the Rodecaster Pro app, as well as the firmware. The Rodecaster Pro is considered class-compliant on Mac, which means it doesn’t need third-party audio drivers. PC users will need to download ASIO4All <http://asio4all.org/> for proper connectivity. Follow the steps below to get started."

On a Macbook Pro (15inch, 2011) with High Sierra 10.13.6 (won't run Mojave) using Garageband it shows up as a RODECaster Pro Stereo, and works (recording, playback) without a problem. I see two channels (theoretically I should see 14 in a DAW I think?), but it works.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[James Conroy-Finn (j13n)]

I am experiencing the same problem with a RODECaster Pro and (in my case) Arch Linux. The following log output is generated when I connect the RODECaster via USB:

    kernel: usb 2-9.4.2: new high-speed USB device number 20 using xhci_hcd
    kernel: usb 2-9.4.2: New USB device found, idVendor=19f7, idProduct=0011, bcdDevice= 2.10
    kernel: usb 2-9.4.2: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
    kernel: usb 2-9.4.2: Product: RODECaster Pro
    kernel: usb 2-9.4.2: Manufacturer: RODE Microphones
    kernel: usb 2-9.4.2: SerialNumber: 00000000001A
    kernel: hid-generic 0003:19F7:0011.0009: hiddev1,hidraw7: USB HID v1.10 Device [RODE Microphones RODECaster Pro] on usb-0000:00:14.0-9.4.2/input0
    kernel: usb 2-9.4.2: parse_audio_format_rates_v2v3(): unable to retrieve number of sample rates (clock 1)
    kernel: usb 2-9.4.2: parse_audio_format_rates_v2v3(): unable to retrieve number of sample rates (clock 1)
    mtp-probe[4037]: checking bus 2, device 20: "/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb2/2-9/2-9.4/2-9.4.2"
    mtp-probe[4037]: bus: 2, device: 20 was not an MTP device
    systemd-udevd[4043]: controlC4: Process '/usr/bin/alsactl restore 4' failed with exit code 99.
    mtp-probe[4050]: checking bus 2, device 20: "/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb2/2-9/2-9.4/2-9.4.2"
    mtp-probe[4050]: bus: 2, device: 20 was not an MTP device
    pulseaudio[1460]: E: [pulseaudio] module-alsa-card.c: Failed to find a working profile.
    pulseaudio[1460]: E: [pulseaudio] module.c: Failed to load module "module-alsa-card" (argument: "device_id="4" name="usb-RODE_Microphones_RODECaster_Pro_00000000001A-01" card_name="alsa_card.usb-RODE_Microphones_RODECaster_Pro_00000000001A-01" namereg_fail=false tsched=yes fixed_latency_range=no ignore_dB=no deferred_volume=yes use_ucm=yes avoid_resampling=no card_properties="module-udev-detect.discovered=1""): initialization failed.

The RODECaster shows up in the list of cards that ALSA knows about, but PulseAudio can't find a working profile and gives up.

[nils (internationils)]

I posted to the alsa-user list... here is the link to the archive thread:
https://sourceforge.net/p/alsa/mailman/message/37009196/

The only answer I got so far was that the Rodecaster was apparently not completely class compliant. Hopefully someone can find more info.

[Oliver Tacke (otacke)]

It seems this has been addressed and fixed in kernel 5.8 by adding quirk handling to report a fixed sample rate of 48 kHz, please cmp. https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/tree/sound/usb/format.c?h=v5.8#n412