No sound on Asus M4N78 Pro with HDA NVidia

[aviram]

The Asus M4N78 Pro motherboard has an HDMI interface but I got no sound through it. It also has an analog output but didn't try this one much. I want HDMI.

Some commands output:
-----------------------------------------------------
# aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 0: VT1708S Analog [VT1708S Analog]
  Subdevices: 2/2
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
  Subdevice #1: subdevice #1
card 0: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 3: NVIDIA HDMI [NVIDIA HDMI]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
-----------------------------------------------------
# aplay -L
default:CARD=NVidia
    HDA NVidia, VT1708S Analog
    Default Audio Device
front:CARD=NVidia,DEV=0
    HDA NVidia, VT1708S Analog
    Front speakers
surround40:CARD=NVidia,DEV=0
    HDA NVidia, VT1708S Analog
    4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=NVidia,DEV=0
    HDA NVidia, VT1708S Analog
    4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=NVidia,DEV=0
    HDA NVidia, VT1708S Analog
    5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=NVidia,DEV=0
    HDA NVidia, VT1708S Analog
    5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71:CARD=NVidia,DEV=0
    HDA NVidia, VT1708S Analog
    7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
hdmi:CARD=NVidia,DEV=0
    HDA NVidia, NVIDIA HDMI
    HDMI Audio Output
null
    Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)
-----------------------------------------------------

Apparently Asus released some drivers as patches to Alsa and to fix it you just have to incorporate the patch. Check http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=lco8LZWTqWIhdLmv under Download->Linux->Drivers

Using Ubuntu 9.04 i386 with all updates, and there it goes some more info about my system:

# dpkg -l alsa* linux-image-2.6* nvidia*
Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge/Hold
| Status=Not/Inst/Cfg-files/Unpacked/Failed-cfg/Half-inst/trig-aWait/Trig-pend
|/ Err?=(none)/Hold/Reinst-required/X=both-problems (Status,Err: uppercase=bad)
||/ Name Version Description
+++-==========================================-=========================================-============================================
un alsa <none> (no description available)
ii alsa-base 1.0.18.dfsg-1ubuntu8 ALSA driver configuration files
ii alsa-firmware-loaders 1.0.18-1ubuntu2 ALSA software loaders for specific hardware
un alsa-oss <none> (no description available)
ii alsa-utils 1.0.18-1ubuntu11 ALSA utilities
un linux-image-2.6 <none> (no description available)
ii linux-image-2.6.28-11-generic 2.6.28-11.42 Linux kernel image for version 2.6.28 on x86
ii linux-image-2.6.28-14-generic 2.6.28-14.47 Linux kernel image for version 2.6.28 on x86
un nvidia-173-kernel-source <none> (no description available)
ii nvidia-173-modaliases 173.14.16-0ubuntu1 Modaliases for the NVIDIA binary X.Org drive
un nvidia-177-kernel-source <none> (no description available)
ii nvidia-180-kernel-source 180.44-0ubuntu1 NVIDIA binary kernel module source
ii nvidia-180-libvdpau 180.44-0ubuntu1 Video Decode and Presentation API for Unix
ii nvidia-180-modaliases 180.44-0ubuntu1 Modaliases for the NVIDIA binary X.Org drive
un nvidia-71-kernel-source <none> (no description available)
ii nvidia-71-modaliases 71.86.08-0ubuntu1 Modaliases for the NVIDIA binary X.Org drive
un nvidia-96-kernel-source <none> (no description available)
ii nvidia-96-modaliases 96.43.10-0ubuntu1 Modaliases for the NVIDIA binary X.Org drive
ii nvidia-common 0.2.11 Find obsolete NVIDIA drivers
un nvidia-glx <none> (no description available)
un nvidia-glx-173 <none> (no description available)
un nvidia-glx-177 <none> (no description available)
ii nvidia-glx-180 180.44-0ubuntu1 NVIDIA binary Xorg driver
un nvidia-glx-71 <none> (no description available)
un nvidia-glx-96 <none> (no description available)
un nvidia-glx-envy <none> (no description available)
un nvidia-glx-legacy <none> (no description available)
un nvidia-glx-legacy-envy <none> (no description available)
un nvidia-glx-new <none> (no description available)
un nvidia-glx-new-envy <none> (no description available)
un nvidia-glx-src <none> (no description available)
un nvidia-kernel-source <none> (no description available)
un nvidia-kernel-source-envy <none> (no description available)
un nvidia-kernel-src <none> (no description available)
un nvidia-legacy-kernel-source <none> (no description available)
un nvidia-legacy-kernel-source-envy <none> (no description available)
un nvidia-new-kernel-source <none> (no description available)
un nvidia-new-kernel-source-envy <none> (no description available)
ii nvidia-settings 180.25-0ubuntu1 Tool of configuring the NVIDIA graphics driv

Thank you

[Victor Vargas (kamus)]

Have you tried to run alsamixer in your terminal and unmuted all your IEC958 channels (remember increase your volume levels)?

Regards

[Jeremy Foshee (jeremyfoshee)]

This bug report was marked as Incomplete and has not had any updated comments for quite some time. As a result this bug is being closed. Please reopen if this is still an issue in the current Ubuntu release http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download . Also, please be sure to provide any requested information that may have been missing. To reopen the bug, click on the current status under the Status column and change the status back to "New". Thanks.

[This is an automated message. Apologies if it has reached you inappropriately; please just reply to this message indicating so.]

[aviram (avibrazil)]

I'm now on 10.04 with all updates and still no sound from HDMI. I also get silence from regular analog output while I see Rythmbox playing some Internet radio or Boxee playing any movie, Shoutcast radio etc.

HDMI audio works on Windows.

I don't have any IEC958 channel on alsamixer. I'm attaching a screenshot for you to see.

This is my production home media center [and many other home server things] and can't live with Windows anymore. Must switch to some Linux flavor and audio is the last missing part. Please help.

[aviram (avibrazil)]

Also, there is no clear way to specify the default audio output to use, but this is more a UI problem. The screenshot shows Sound Preferences channel selection. Is this the "profile" (what is this?) I'm currently configuring or the selection of the channels the audio is going to be captured and delivered?

[aviram (avibrazil)]

I was able to make it work on Fedora 13. Unfortunately no success on Ubuntu.

Steps on Fedora 13 (maybe it works on Ubuntu too, I have no way to test it anymore):

1. Run alsamixer on the console or terminal window and explicitly select the NVidia device pressing F6
2. Press F5 to show all input and output channels
3. Use arrows to go to the far right (probably outside your terminal window) and see the SPDIF devices
4. Select each and everyone of your SPDIF devices and press "M" so they'll be on "00" status
5. Make sure the Master volume (first bar on the left) is also not muted using the up arrow to increase volume to the maximum

Audio comes out through HDMI.

[maarten (info-maartenabbring)]

Yes. This does it for me on Ubuntu 10.04 as well! You're a true hero of trial and error!

Can anyone use this information to make audio over HDMI work always, and not just if you figured out this workaround?

[Victor Vargas (kamus)]

Have you tried to test if this issue is still occuring in latest release of Ubuntu Maverick (development) Alpha 3?

[Brad Figg (brad-figg)]

This bug is missing log files that will aid in dianosing the problem. From a terminal window please run:

apport-collect 406613

and then change the status of the bug back to 'New'.

If, due to the nature of the issue you have encountered, you are unable to run this command, please add a comment stating that fact and change the bug status to 'Confirmed'.

This change has been made by an automated script, maintained by the Ubuntu Kernel Team.

[Brad Figg (brad-figg)]

This bug was filed against a series that is no longer supported and so is being marked as Won't Fix. If this issue still exists in a supported series, please file a new bug.

This change has been made by an automated script, maintained by the Ubuntu Kernel Team.