No sound on ASUS Xonar DGX Soundcard (16.04)

[Valentin Crone]

Hello,
On Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Alpha), with the latest package updates (28/02/2015), Linux 4.4 and PulseAudio 8.0, I can't play any sound on my ASUS Xonar DGX. Tested with the app to test speakers, Firefox, VLC, and checked with pavucontrol, the progress bar indicate that a sound is played on the card, but no sound on the speakers.

I report this bug because it works on the same version with the integrated card of my motherboard. (ASUS H87-PLUS)

On Ubuntu 14.04 (PulseAudio 4.0), the sound work correctly (with all defaults params)

The speakers connected are the Logitech Z9600 (by 3 jacks), and I precise that they are correctly plugged in, etc..., it works when I connect it to the integrated sound card of my motherboard (and if I use Ubuntu 14.04 LTS)

I don't know if it's a normal development bug, but in doubt I report it.
Thank you,
Valentin Crône

[Valentin Crone (va-crone)]

28/02/2016*
Sorry ;)

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[Valentin Crone (va-crone)]

On Ubuntu 15.10, the bug is present with Linux 4.2.0-16 and PulseAudio 6.0 (tested now, with a fresh iso)
I discover this now, because I daily use Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (because it's a LTS version), and now I see that because I will upgrade to 16.04 LTS when the final version will be available.

[Valentin Crone (va-crone)]

The same problem on Ubuntu 15.04 with PulseAudio 6.0 and Linux 3.19

[Valentin Crone (va-crone)]

Ok, now I have tested with Ubuntu 14.10: Pulseaudio 4.0, Linux 3.16, same problem, so because the PulseAudio version is the same between Ubuntu 14.04 and Ubuntu 14.10 it seem it's a bug in the kernel module snd-oxygen :(

It's a regression from Linux 3.13 to Linux 3.16 → 4.4....

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

https://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/tiwai/sound.git/log/sound/pci/oxygen?qt=grep&q=dg%28x%29

[Valentin Crone (va-crone)]

"2014-01-29 Change the order of elements in the output select control. This will reduce the number of relay switches. Change 'put' function to call the oxygen_update_dac_routing() function. Otherwise multichannel playback does not work. Also there is a new function to apply settings, this prevents from duplicating the code. Signed-off-by: Roman Volkov <email address hidden> Signed-off-by: Clemens Ladisch <email address hidden>"

This is the cause of the problem, it seem that PulseAudio not recognize the Speaker output.
On Ubuntu 14.04 LTS PulseAudio set the output on "Speakers"
But on Ubuntu 14.10 + the output "Speakers" doesn't exist.

In alsamixer:
Ubuntu 14.04: Speakers, Headphone, Headphone FP
Ubuntu 14.10 → 16.04: Stereo Headphone, Stereo Headphone FP, Multichannel

If I manually set "Multichannel" in alsamixer, I can play sound, but PulseAudio show only "Analog headphone" (in Pavucontrol), so the output persist on "Stereo Headphone FP" and no sound is played on the speakers. (And the output Multichannel is not set by default)
Thank you,
Valentin Crône

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

https://cgit.freedesktop.org/pulseaudio/pulseaudio/commit/src/modules/alsa?id=527078523815587bfd021bc1d10782403e9b3e84

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[Valentin Crone (va-crone)]

Expired?
This bug is always in Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, no changes between the alpha and the final release....

[CPKS (c-1)]

Fresh install of 16.04 on hardware that ran 14.04 faultlessly. 14.04 has sound, 16.04 not. The problem seems not to be at the driver level: the same drivers (snd_hda_intel, snd_oxygen) are allocated to the same hardware devices as seen whith lshw -C sound. In the sound settings, the output devices are Digital Output (S/PDIF), Analogue Output and Headphones. There is no setting for speakers.

[CPKS (c-1)]

Grateful thanks to Valentin Crone for the workaround. I ran alsamixer in the terminal, selected Analog Output by right-arrowing and then Multichannel by up-arrowing, and now my sound works. I doubt whether this would ever occur to the non-technical user! It deserves to be more widely known.

[Valentin Crone (va-crone)]

The problem of this "solution" is that is temporary, because on each boot you need to set manually the output on alsamixer (because pulseaudio can't change it)

The driver developer Clemens Ladisch said me that it's because of a difference between the name of the output purposed by the driver and the name that pulseaudio search.

The driver said "Multichannel", but PulseAudio search about "Speakers", so he didn't found the right output.
This bug is because the output was renamed in the driver.

A simple name update in pulseaudio will fix the problem normally.

And for the workarround, thanks Clemens Ladisch :)

[Joshua (njj)]

Is this bug fixed now or does it still exist in 16.04.1?

[Geokimbo (kfrankcombe)]

Yes. On a Dell t610. Same symptoms as above. Soundcard works fine on CentOS 6 live so hardware is OK

[Geokimbo (kfrankcombe)]

I just realised my Yes was a ambiguous. Yes it still exists and has not been fixed on 16.04.1.

[Geokimbo (kfrankcombe)]

It appears to be fixed now though, either that or the alsamixer fix is now sticky. If it doesn't work out of the box then do an update and if that doesn't work try the alsamixer fix and it should then continue to work after reboot.

[Rob Glenn (glennra12)]

I just completed a fresh install of Ubuntu 16.04 with a brand new Asus Xonar DGX. I can confirm the bug exists and also that the alsamixer workaround is sticky across reboots. While the current workaround is much better than nothing, I' d like a way to have sound on both speakers and headphones at once, the alsamixer solution appears to offer a one-or-the-other switch but not both. Anyone figure out a solution for this?

[TheMixtureMedia (mpmckinnon)]

Hi there it looks like this bug still works with Ubuntu 17.10 after a few installs. I had to go into alsamixer and make the multi channel change to get it to work. It sucks because the audio works fine with built in audio just not with the Ausus Xonar.