[Natty] Realtek ALC888 0x10ec0888 - mic not functional

[Lucio M Nicolosi]

Binary package hint: gnome-media

Description: Ubuntu 11.04
Release: 11.04
gnome-sound-recorder 2.32.0
After testing Sound Recorder and Skype with Natty 64 and observing that microphone doesn' t work, burned the last Natty ISO and ran LIve CD and tested again. Problem exists with CD Live on April 27. On Maverick 64 (and previous releases) on the same hardware the same microphone works perfectly. (NVidia motherboard based Desktop Computer - standard mic on mic input)

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.04
Package: gnome-media 2.32.0-0ubuntu7
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.38-8.42-generic 2.6.38.2
Uname: Linux 2.6.38-8-generic x86_64
Architecture: amd64
Date: Wed Apr 27 05:28:05 2011
ExecutablePath: /usr/bin/gnome-sound-recorder
LiveMediaBuild: Ubuntu 11.04 "Natty Narwhal" - Release amd64 (20110426)
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=en_US:en
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: gnome-media
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
XsessionErrors:
 (gnome-sound-recorder:5275): GStreamer-CRITICAL **: gst_implements_interface_cast: assertion `gst_element_implements_interface (GST_ELEMENT (from), iface_type)' failed
 (gnome-sound-recorder:5275): GStreamer-CRITICAL **: gst_implements_interface_cast: assertion `gst_element_implements_interface (GST_ELEMENT (from), iface_type)' failed
 (gnome-sound-recorder:5275): GStreamer-CRITICAL **: gst_implements_interface_cast: assertion `gst_element_implements_interface (GST_ELEMENT (from), iface_type)' failed

[Lucio M Nicolosi (lmnicolosi)]

!!HDA-Intel Codec information
!!---------------------------
--startcollapse--

Codec: Realtek ALC888
Address: 0
AFG Function Id: 0x1 (unsol 1)
Vendor Id: 0x10ec0888
Subsystem Id: 0x10ec0000
Revision Id: 0x100001

Codec: Nvidia MCP77/78 HDMI
Address: 3
AFG Function Id: 0x1 (unsol 0)
Vendor Id: 0x10de0002
Subsystem Id: 0x10de0101
Revision Id: 0x100000

alsa-info.sh printout attached

[Lucio M Nicolosi (lmnicolosi)]

Printout of alsa-info.txt on the same hardware but on functional Maverick 64 install.

[Lucio M Nicolosi (lmnicolosi)]

From my discussions at <email address hidden>:
>>>
>>> from hardinfo (functional Maverick 64):
>>>
>>> Loaded Modules:
>>> snd_hda_codec_nvhdmi NVIDIA HDMI HD-audio codec
>>> snd_hda_codec_realtek Realtek HD-audio codec
>>>
>> from hardinfo (disfunctional Natty):
>>
>> Loaded Modules:
>> snd_hda_codec_hdmi HDMI HD-audio codec
>> snd_hda_codec_realtek Realtek HD-audio codec
>>
>> At least a difference...
>>
> Maybe:
> <https://launchpad.net/+search?field.text=snd_hda_codec_nvhdmi+%2Bnatty&field.actions.search=Search>

[octavio bernal quiroz (poisonman-1)]

Hi.

I'm using Linux 2.6.38-8.generic kernel with ubuntu 11.04 64 bit version with AMD64 X2, and I'm having the same problem.
My microphone doesn't work with skype, or the sound recorder, Is this bug active? or was fixed?

[Lucio M Nicolosi (lmnicolosi)]

Octavio,

This bug has just been reported for Natty (2011-04-27). I'll stick to Maverick 64 until this issue is resolved.

[octavio bernal quiroz (poisonman-1)]

Hi Lucio.

I only want to say that now my microphone is working. After several time I discover that the problem was alsamixer.

Scenario:

When I installed the new Ubuntu 11.04 I discovered that my microphone wasn't working. The first thing that I did was to change the settings of sound preferences in the sound icon in the top bar. After that my microphone didn't work yet. So I decided to modify alsamixer. In alsamixer I was wonder why I had only a few options, when in other versions of ubuntu I had more......After long time of research I discover that using TAB button I can get the other options in Alsamixer and I discovered finally my "capture" bar. I put my capture bar in 100 and now I have my microphone working.

So I guess was my fault....but I'm not a new user, think about hundreds of non tech users..it will be very hard to discover that.

Sorry for my english is not very good, I know.....just to let you know I'm using NVIDIA video card and NVIDIA recommender private drivers.

Thanks

[Lucio M Nicolosi (lmnicolosi)]

Octavio, check the sound quality you get, microphone volume at 100% should cause some distortion. Anyway, I fiddled with alsamixer (terminal) but could not find anything wrong. Gracias for the intervention, I was starting to feel a little lonely over here, but sure, the developers must be having a lot of work with the new release.

[David Henningsson (diwic)]

@Lucio, you might have run into bug 771739

[Lucio M Nicolosi (lmnicolosi)]

David,

Tried your modified nvidia.conf from bug 771739. Restarted the system and noticed options (internal mic, front mic, rear mic) previously available at Maverick are back. Tested Sound Recorder with each one, switching options on Sound Preferences and opening Sound Recorder at each time. Noticed, as expected, that internal or front mic don't work since it is a desktop and the mic connector is at the back. If set to rear mic some sound can be heard. Moved the input and output volume controls up and down and couldn't find a way to obtain a decent capture, just a lot of white noise and a distant whisper. Noticed however that increasing the output volume leads easily to saturation, in a way much different of the 10.10 behavior. Even the default output sound at startup sounds "cracked", It seems that I'm not facing bug 771739 only. My tests with alsamixer showed similar results.

Are these codecs much different? Is there a way to load Maverick's alsa driver into Natty? Although the volume levels at Maverick are modest (no amplified speakers), alsa works perfectly on this very hardware.

Maverick: snd_hda_codec_nvhdmi NVIDIA HDMI HD-audio codec
Natty: snd_hda_codec_hdmi HDMI HD-audio codec

[Amit (amhpro)]

I had this problem after natty upgrade and skype reinstall also. Changed sound preference input audio to Analog now and it is working now ( earlier was automatic front panel mic )

[Lucio M Nicolosi (lmnicolosi)]

Updated to proposed kernel today (2.6.38-9)and tested the sound system again. To use the right terminology, options at Input connector are: Rear Microphone, Analog Line-in, Front Microphone. Front and Line-In are mute, no device connected. Since I could see changes on the input level with Sound Recorder, depending on the volume level, decided to reinstall Skype and let it control the Mic level. There's actual recording but the level of the voice signal is much lower than the white noise. Observed that if Mic is on, the output volume cannot be set above 80% without output distortion. Playback from a sound file is normal.

[Lucio M Nicolosi (lmnicolosi)]

Problem solved. What happened? I don't know.

Puzzled with the fact that I was the only guy in Ubuntu Natty planet
with a crashed sound, decided to give another try.

This time, instead of zsync-inc my .iso sources from
cdimage.ubuntu.com , zsync-ed from the actual Natty release in nearest
mirror (it shouldn't make any difference since I started seriously
testing Natty Beta just after the final release on April 28 - but, in
fact, there was a slight difference, less than .5%). Then burned a USB
stick from within the current and buggy Natty test install, instead of
using the Maverick application .

Booted from the USB stick in "test Ubuntu" mode, completely updated the
stick from the standard source, checked the microphone and of course it
didn't work.

Opened alsamixer in a terminal screen, because of
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/pulseaudio/+bug/771739 -
and enabled the rear mic - standard in my system.

Tested the Sound Recorder again and "voilà" it works! This time without
the serious distortions observed before.

Installed Natty on HD again, (third or fourth time) now from this
special stick, tested sound and it works, updated (almost 200 Mb in
file updates up to now) and it works, installed Skype and it still
works, enabled NVidia last video driver, rebooted and Unity is there,
and I still don't like it but at least the sound works.

What really happened? I really don't know, but somehow it is was
"magically" solved. I guess David Henningsson will be
happy to know or perhaps a bit intrigued, like me.

[Lucio M Nicolosi (lmnicolosi)]

In the last message (#13) instead of: "just after the final release" please understand: "just before the final release".

[Gadi Cohen (gadicc)]

Is this definitely a Raltek codec issue? There have been a few reports of no mic since upgrading to Natty... personally I'm also using hda-intel but with the IDT 92HD73C1X5 codec. Besides for the title, this bug report is still the most relevant bug report for me.

I eventually worked this out... gnome-volume-control (aka sound preferences) doesn't set things up correctly. Running alsamixer from a terminal is required (thanks to all those above who suggested this). My inputs will probably be different from the Realtek users, but these are the settings and my observations (from left to right, after pressing F4 for Capture settings):

Mic: 0 (makes no difference)
* Capture: 0 (volume makes no difference), MUST be set to capture (press space)
Capture 1: 0 (volume makes no difference), "capture" on this one makes no difference
* Input source: MUST be set to Internal Mic 1
Input source 1: makes no difference
Internal mic: makes no difference
* Internal mic 1: affects mic volume

"Capture" (not Capture 1) and Internal Mic (not Capture 1) affect the volume level shown in gnome-volume-control, but obviously have no impact on the actual mic volume.

Of course, this is all with my laptop's built in mic... I haven't tried plugging in an external mic. I've tried all the Input -> Connector Settings in gnome-volume-control but none of them set things up right (all 3 options give no sound). Besides volume problems (of the mic) when trying to use gnome-volume-control, the bigger issue is that when selecting 'Internal Microphone' from the list, it sets 'Input Source' to 'Internal Mic' instead of 'Internal Mic 1'.

Hope this helps other people too.