"Master Mono" (actually LFE) is not controlled by default

[Stephen Warren]

On my laptop, Alsa Mixer and the gnome panel volume control applet show two channels which both control different subsets of the laptop's built-in speakers; Master and "Master Mono". I think Master controls the smaller speakers and "Master Mono" the larger/bass speakers.

By default, the gnome volume control applet (and also the dedicated volume keys on my laptop) only control Master, and ignore "Master Mono". This leaves "Master Mono" set at a high volume all the time, which sounds crap.

To WAR this issue, in Gnome, I go to System -> Preferences -> Sound, and change the selection in the list box under "Default Mixer Tracks" to include both Master and "Master Mono". Now the volume applet and volume keys
control both channels, which works great.

This should be automatic (part of the volume control applet, or the driver, or ...); I shouldn't have to configure this myself.

Attaching output from "amixer -c0".
---
AlsaVersion: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version 1.0.21.
Architecture: i386
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: swarren 1849 F.... pulseaudio
Card0.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:0 'ICH6'/'Intel ICH6 with STAC9750,51 at irq 16'
   Mixer name : 'SigmaTel STAC9750,51'
   Components : 'AC97a:83847650'
   Controls : 38
   Simple ctrls : 24
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.04
Package: alsa-base 1.0.22.1+dfsg-0ubuntu3
PackageArchitecture: all
ProcEnviron:
 PATH=(custom, user)
 LANG=en_US.utf8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.32-19.28-generic 2.6.32.10+drm33.1
Tags: lucid
Uname: Linux 2.6.32-19-generic i686
UserGroups: Domain Users Power Users Users adm admin cdrom dialout lpadmin plugdev sambashare
dmi.bios.date: 09/19/2005
dmi.bios.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.bios.version: A05
dmi.board.name: 0MD541
dmi.board.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.chassis.type: 8
dmi.chassis.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnDellInc.:bvrA05:bd09/19/2005:svnDellInc.:pnInspiron9300:pvr:rvnDellInc.:rn0MD541:rvr:cvnDellInc.:ct8:cvr:
dmi.product.name: Inspiron 9300
dmi.sys.vendor: Dell Inc.

[Stephen Warren (srwarren)]

FYI, this is in Ubuntu 9.04 - Jaunty.
HW is Dell Inspiron 9300

Launchpad doesn't have as many required fields as the Bugzilla I'm used to...

[Stephen Warren (srwarren)]

This issue is still present in Lucid live 1/31 daily.

The only difference is that in Lucid daily, the Master Mono channel is initially muted and set to zero volume, so at least any sound played isn't overly loud and distorted; just missing the bass portions.

[Stephen Warren (srwarren)]

Oh, and when I reported this in Fedora on fedora-devel, somebody said they didn't believe my laptop actually has a 3rd speaker specifically for bass/mono output; it does because I just found it due to having "Master" turned down to zero and "Master Mono" turned up. It's on the bottom of the laptop!

[Stephen Warren (srwarren)]

Oh, and what's worse is that in Lucid (and perhaps Karmic too) the "Sound Preferences" app no longer has a method to bind "Master" and "Master Mono" together, so this issue can't be worked around; I basically just have to pretend I don't have that 3rd speaker.

[Daniel T Chen (crimsun)]

In Lucid, please use apport-collect -p alsa-base 369036

[Stephen Warren (srwarren)]

Architecture: i386
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: swarren 2114 F.... pulseaudio
Card0.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:0 'ICH6'/'Intel ICH6 with STAC9750,51 at irq 16'
   Mixer name : 'SigmaTel STAC9750,51'
   Components : 'AC97a:83847650'
   Controls : 38
   Simple ctrls : 24
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.10
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
Package: alsa-base 1.0.20+dfsg-1ubuntu5
PackageArchitecture: all
ProcEnviron:
 SHELL=/bin/bash
 PATH=(custom, user)
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.31-17.54-generic
Uname: Linux 2.6.31-17-generic i686
UserGroups: Domain Users Power Users Users adm admin cdrom dialout lpadmin plugdev sambashare

[Stephen Warren (srwarren)]

I collected the data in Karmic rather than Lucid; apport-collect doesn't seem to work correctly on the Lucid CD right now. Hopefully that's OK; the HW obviously isn't any different...

[Brad Figg (brad-figg)]

The latest development release of Ubuntu is entering Beta. Please
consider taking the time to download the latest live-image from
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/lucid and see if this issue still
exists.

If the issue does still exist; in a terminal (Applications->Accessories->Terminal)
please execute the following command:
    apport-collect -p alsa-driver 369036

[Daniel T Chen (crimsun)]

(Actually, yes, it makes a difference that you ran it under Karmic. Please reproduce it using the Beta 1 or most current Lucid live cd, and rerun apport-collect as Brad recommended.)

[Stephen Warren (srwarren)]

Recall that it's not possible to collect this information in Lucid; apport-collect doesn't work there (I filed a bug on this, and it hasn't been marked fixed. It's not reasonable for me to download an entire ISO just to find out whether it actually has been fixed and simply the bug wasn't updated).

[Stephen Warren (srwarren)]

apport information

[Stephen Warren (srwarren)]

apport information

[Stephen Warren (srwarren)]

apport information

[Stephen Warren (srwarren)]

apport information

[Stephen Warren (srwarren)]

apport information

[Stephen Warren (srwarren)]

apport information

[Stephen Warren (srwarren)]

apport information

[Stephen Warren (srwarren)]

apport information

[Stephen Warren (srwarren)]

apport information

[Stephen Warren (srwarren)]

apport information

[Stephen Warren (srwarren)]

apport information

[Daniel T Chen (crimsun)]

So there are a couple ways to "WAR" in Lucid:

1) set enable-lfe-remixing = yes (and uncomment) in /etc/pulse/daemon.conf;
2) make sure Master Mono is unmuted prior to GNOME session login

[Stephen Warren (srwarren)]

> 1) set enable-lfe-remixing = yes (and uncomment) in /etc/pulse/daemon.conf;

I believe that option affects something unrelated to this bug.

If have no problem with getting an audio signal sent to the LFE speaker; I haven't noticed any application/configuration/... where sound isn't sent there as expected.

The only issue is the volume control on that speaker is defaulted low/zero/muted (don't recall which) so I simply can't hear the sounds being sent there. When I simply adjust the "Master Mono" volume control, the LFE speaker works fine.

(Perhaps the HW is extracting the LFE signal from the stereo signal sent to the main two speakers itself, so it doesn't need SW to concoct a 3rd channel explicitly for the LFE; that'd seem far more likely to work than expecting SW to come up with a non-standard 2.1 signal.)

> 2) make sure Master Mono is unmuted prior to GNOME session login

Do you have any tips how to do that? If "Master Mono" is unmuted, does that mean the regular volume control will suddenly start changing the "Master Mono" volume too, or are you just recommending setting "Master Mono" to something unmuted and say mid-range volume and leaving it there?

Thanks.

[Daniel T Chen (crimsun)]

Not at all LFE wiring on codecs are equal. I agree that it may be unrelated,
but we can't deduce that from your hw without actually trying it.

Yes, the second suggestion was interpreted correctly.

On May 15, 2010 10:50 PM, "Stephen Warren" <email address hidden> wrote:

> 1) set enable-lfe-remixing = yes (and uncomment) in
/etc/pulse/daemon.conf;

I believe that option affects something unrelated to this bug.

If have no problem with getting an audio signal sent to the LFE speaker;
I haven't noticed any application/configuration/... where sound isn't
sent there as expected.

The only issue is the volume control on that speaker is defaulted
low/zero/muted (don't recall which) so I simply can't hear the sounds
being sent there. When I simply adjust the "Master Mono" volume control,
the LFE speaker works fine.

(Perhaps the HW is extracting the LFE signal from the stereo signal sent
to the main two speakers itself, so it doesn't need SW to concoct a 3rd
channel explicitly for the LFE; that'd seem far more likely to work than
expecting SW to come up with a non-standard 2.1 signal.)

> 2) make sure Master Mono is unmuted prior to GNOME session login

Do you have any tips how to do that? If "Master Mono" is unmuted, does
that mean the regular volume control will suddenly start changing the
"Master Mono" volume too, or are you just recommending setting "Master
Mono" to something unmuted and say mid-range volume and leaving it
there?

Thanks.

--
"Master Mono" (actually LFE) is not controlled by default
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/369036
You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu
Audio Team, which is subscribed to alsa-driver in ubuntu.

Status in “alsa-driver” package in Ubuntu: Confirmed

Bug description:
On my laptop, Alsa Mixer and the gnome panel volume control applet show two
channels which both control different subsets of the laptop's built-in
speakers; Master and "Master Mono". I think Master controls the smaller
speakers and "Master Mono" the larger/bass speakers.

By default, the gnome volume control applet (and also the dedicated volume
keys on my laptop) only control Master, and ignore "Master Mono". This
leaves "Master Mono" set at a high volume all the time, which sounds crap.

To WAR this issue, in Gnome, I go to System -> Preferences -> Sound, and
change the selection in the list box under "Default Mixer Tracks" to include
both Master and "Master Mono". Now the volume applet and volume keys
control both channels, which works great.

This should be automatic (part of the volume control applet, or the driver,
or ...); I shouldn't have to configure this myself.

Attaching output from "amixer -c0".
---
AlsaVersion: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version 1.0.21.
Architecture: i386
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: swarren 1849 F.... pulseaudio
Card0.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:0 'ICH6'/'Intel ICH6 with STAC9750,51 at irq 16'
  Mixer name : 'SigmaTel STAC9750,51'
  Components : 'AC97a:83847650'
  Controls : 38
  Simple ctrls : 24
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.04
Package: alsa-base 1.0.22.1+dfsg-0ubuntu3
PackageArchitecture: all
ProcEnviron:
 PATH=(custom, ...

[Stephen Warren (srwarren)]

Adding "set enable-lfe-remixing = yes" to the pulse daemon configuration doesn't make any sound come out the LFE, nor does it make my hard volume keys or the gnome volume applet control the "Master Mono" channel (as viewed by alsamixer).

[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.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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