Latest kernel update to "5.4.0-53-generic" = Internal audio, USB webcam no longer working

[Pelle Rivberg]

This seems to be a persistent problem that has been around a few kernel versions earlier (see i.e.: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux-signed/+bug/1881757 ).

After yesterday's apt update to 5.4.0-53-generic (amd64), my USB webcam (Logitech c930) as well as my internal audio (Intel HDA) stopped working altogether. All I get is a dummy audio output from the list of devices, and the webcam is not working either.

I can still see my pre-existing audio devices with

--------------------------------------------
'lspci | grep Audio':
--------------------------------------------
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset High Definition Audio (rev 05)
01:00.1 Audio device: NVIDIA Corporation GP104 High Definition Audio Controller (rev a1)
--------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------
'inxi -SA' reports this:
--------------------------------------------
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 5 Series/3400 Series High Definition Audio driver: N/A
  Device-2: NVIDIA GP104 High Definition Audio driver: N/A
--------------------------------------------
(The #2 NVIDIA one being the video card's audio option, which I don't use, but it's not listed as being available either.)

However, i.e. 'pacmd -list-cards' says:
--------------------------------------------
0 card(s) available.
--------------------------------------------

There's been plenty of similar instances of this error in 20.04.x and it has been tried to have been solved in threads such as:

#1 https://askubuntu.com/questions/1258510/only-dummy-output-sound-in-ubuntu-20-04-after-reboot-broken-driver-modul

#2 https://www.linuxuprising.com/2018/06/fix-no-sound-dummy-output-issue-in.html

From #2, if I try:
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'lsmod | grep snd_hda_intel'

(That displays no results at all.)
--------------------------------------------

However, this one does bring results:

'lspci -nnk | grep -A2 Audio'
--------------------------------------------
00:1b.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset High Definition Audio [8086:3b56] (rev 05)
 DeviceName: Intel(R) High Definition Audio Device
 Subsystem: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset High Definition Audio [8086:0034]
 Kernel modules: snd_hda_intel
00:1c.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 1 [8086:3b42] (rev 05)
--
01:00.1 Audio device [0403]: NVIDIA Corporation GP104 High Definition Audio Controller [10de:10f0] (rev a1)
 Subsystem: NVIDIA Corporation GP104 High Definition Audio Controller [10de:11a3]
 Kernel modules: snd_hda_intel
--------------------------------------------

I've been trying all the available fixes at the forementioned url #2 to no avail, and also been trying to revert them, to no avail.

I've been trying to run ALSA's configuration and it seems that the ALSA modules are not loading.

Also been trying out various fix proposals from people who've had the same issue, but no luck on that frontier. Anyway, now I'm stuck with no webcam, no audio. Any suggestions?

Thanks.

[Pelle Rivberg (rivpelle)]

Judging from 'dmesg', it seems that there's something amiss with the moduels included in the latest kernel update; for the audio, during boot-up, there's this:

[ 5.857193] soundcore: version magic '5.4.0-52-generic SMP mod_unload ' should be '5.4.0-53-generic SMP mod_unload '

and for the webcam:

[ 5.897814] videodev: Linux video capture interface: v2.00
[ 5.920217] uvcvideo: Found UVC 1.00 device Logitech Webcam C930e (046d:0843)
[ 5.922925] uvcvideo 2-1.4.4:1.0: Entity type for entity Processing 3 was not initialized!
[ 5.922929] uvcvideo 2-1.4.4:1.0: Entity type for entity Extension 6 was not initialized!
[ 5.922931] uvcvideo 2-1.4.4:1.0: Entity type for entity Extension 8 was not initialized!
[ 5.922933] uvcvideo 2-1.4.4:1.0: Entity type for entity Extension 9 was not initialized!
[ 5.922935] uvcvideo 2-1.4.4:1.0: Entity type for entity Extension 10 was not initialized!
[ 5.922936] uvcvideo 2-1.4.4:1.0: Entity type for entity Extension 11 was not initialized!
[ 5.922938] uvcvideo 2-1.4.4:1.0: Entity type for entity Extension 12 was not initialized!
[ 5.922940] uvcvideo 2-1.4.4:1.0: Entity type for entity Extension 13 was not initialized!
[ 5.922942] uvcvideo 2-1.4.4:1.0: Entity type for entity Camera 1 was not initialized!

---

I wonder what else should I grep from 'dmesg' to help hunt the bug down. There's some kind of a screw-up with the libraries as for the kernel/firmware updates, that's all I can tell with my level of understanding. Hope someone can help me out on this one.

[Pelle Rivberg (rivpelle)]

Okay, so my "solution" to this problem was to just enable short-term distribution support in the Software Updater, and to update to Ubuntu 20.10, the kernel is now ' 5.8.0-29-generic x86_64 ' and it actually recognizes the whole 5.1 audio system instead of just stereo audio.

Although this might not be the ideal solution for everyone, at least it solved _this_ issue. I'm kinda worried, though, that the underlying cause for this (as reported by so many) will remain unsolved.

Oh well, the only way is forward.

[Simon Iremonger (ubuntu-iremonger)]

@rivpelle
There are quite a lot of Audio-fixes in Kernel 5.4.0-59-generic which is coming to 20.04LTS imminently, changelog here:-

https://paste.ubuntu.com/p/vdw94dvHTy/

Additionally, it seems from focal-proposed packages, linux-generic-hwe-20.04 is about to cause install of 5.8.0-34-generic, on LTS ubuntu 20.04 -- i.e. support installing 5.8 kernel for hwe (new hardware enablement).

Ideally, when 20.04.2 ubuntu image comes out next month, you can test booting this on your system (from DVD or USB etc, no need to install) and confirm the issue is fixed and then close the bug-report.

Note your 20.10 will need to be updated to 21.04 and then 21.10 then 22.04 to remain supported (or, you may choose to re-install 20.04.2 at some point).

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[Durga madhaba Rath (durga88)]

 7446.610760] USB Video Class driver (1.1.1)
[ 7461.313217] usb 1-1: 3:1: cannot get freq at ep 0x82
[ 7463.017338] usb 1-1: 3:1: cannot get freq at ep 0x82
[ 7469.563231] usb 1-1: timeout: still 10 active urbs on EP #82

unable to access my usb webcam.