Loss of sound devices (/dev/dsp /dev/mixer /dev/sequencer /dev/midi)

[Craig A. Eddy]

Binary package hint: linux-image-2.6.15-23-386

HARDWARE -
Tyan mother board
Pentium PIII, 750 CPU
Creative Labs SoundBlaster Live! (driver - emu10k1)

PROBLEM - (Symptoms positive and negative)
Sound not operating.
Alsa mixer and Gnome mixer both reporting that there is no sound device installed.
No modules apparently installed.

SOLUTION -
Went to the Alsa web site, found my particular sound card, downloaded 3 packages and followed the directions on the page INCLUDING running ./snddevices. ReBoot. Sound now operating.

CONCLUSION -
The Ubuntu alsa packages, when installed, are not completing the operation of installing the sound devices (/dev/dsp /dev/mixer /dev/sequencer /dev/midi). This is fatal to the operation of sound on a GNU/Linux system. This is a particularly obnoxious problem considering that the sound was operating prior to the upgrade to this particular kernel (this also occurred on a clean install on a separate partition). Which particular package was responsible for the lack of sound devices I have no way of determining. However, since ./snddevices would not operate/could not be found until AFTER I had done ./compile ./make ./make install on the three packages, I have to conclude that something in the packages that Synaptic offered was lacking the appropriate programs/functions.

TO REPRODUCE -
On the above hardware, update to linux-image-2.6.15-23-386. Sound that had been working satisfactorily PRIOR TO update suddenly no longer exists.

COMMENT -
This is the second time that an updated image has destroyed the sound on my computer. I would have thought that, after the first time, it would have been fixed.

[Sebastian Rode (sebastian-ro-deactivatedaccount)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. You reported this bug a while ago and there hasn't been any activity in it recently. We were wondering is this still an issue for you? Can you try with latest updates or the Ubuntu release? Thanks in advance.

[Craig A. Eddy (tyche-deactivatedaccount)]

 Sebastian Rode,
Thanks for your response. And yes, this was a while ago. Since then I have upgraded both equipment and distribution. I am currently running a Dell Inspiron 530N that came with Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Faun) 32 bit installed. That has since been upgraded to Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon) 64 bit. With this machine, there have been no sound issues. Current kernel is 2.6.22-14-generic. This machine does NOT have the Creative Labs (SoundBlaster) sound card. For a more complete view of the specs for this maching, see the article on Groklaw.net: http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20070725085521830. Thanks again for your concern.

[Sebastian Rode (sebastian-ro-deactivatedaccount)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. This particular bug is a duplicate of bug 94333, so it is being marked as such. Please look at the other bug report to see if there is any missing information that you can provide. Additionally any further discussion regarding the bug should occur in the other report because this bug provide more informations. Feel free to continue to report any other bugs you may find.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Beginning with the Hardy Heron 8.04 development cycle, all open Ubuntu kernel bugs need to be reported against the "linux" kernel package. We are automatically migrating this linux-source-2.6.15 kernel bug to the new "linux" package. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we make this transition. Also, if you would be interested in testing the upcoming Intrepid Ibex 8.10 release, it is available at http://www.ubuntu.com/testing . Please let us know your results. Thanks!