Pulseaudio: incoherent muting of ALSA channels (mutes master, headphone and speaker, but unmutes only master)

[Darko Veberic]

with certain audio hardware (those where alsamixer shows separate "headphone" and "speaker" channels) pressing of the mute button on laptop keyboards causes mute of all three channels: master, headphone and speaker. unfortunately, pressing the button again to unmute (or deselecting mute in the xfce audio mixer panel applet) unmutes only the master channel, leaving headphone and speaker muted. there is no other way than opening alsamixer in a terminal (or open mixer controls from the applet) and manually clicking the two remaining channels to unmute.

Update: another workaround when using xfce4-mixer (or Xfce Audio Mixer in panel): Choose Playback:...(PulseAudio Mixer) instead of (Alsa mixer) as sound card in properties.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 13.10
Package: xfce4-volumed 0.2.0-0ubuntu1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.11.0-13.20-generic 3.11.6
Uname: Linux 3.11.0-13-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: wl
ApportVersion: 2.12.5-0ubuntu2.1
Architecture: amd64
Date: Mon Nov 25 22:33:06 2013
InstallationDate: Installed on 2013-11-07 (17 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 13.10 "Saucy Salamander" - Release amd64 (20131016.1)
MarkForUpload: True
SourcePackage: xfce4-volumed
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[Horst Schirmeier (horst)]

Another annoying property of this bug: Simply reducing the volume to zero isn't a workaround, as xfce4-volumed acts just like when pressing the "mute" button in this case (and, again, doesn't unmute headphone and PCM after increasing the volume).

[Darko Veberic (darko-veberic-kit)]

it seems this is not directly related to the xfce-volumed per se but happens also with the alsamixer in console. for example on my current PC (ub13.10): muting master mutes all of these: Master, Headphone, Speaker and PCM while unmuting Master unmutes only Master... this bug should probably be upgraded to alsa/pulse bug...

[Horst Schirmeier (horst)]

Good observation, same here! Actually, I'm seeing this in Ubuntu 13.10's default window manager, too. This isn't an xfce4 issue at all. I don't know how to decide whether ALSA or Pulseaudio is the culprit.

My audio device: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) HD Audio Controller (rev 03).

[Darko Veberic (darko-veberic-kit)]

@horst
mine is Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 04)

[Steve Dodier-Lazaro (sidi)]

This is a bug occurring between GStreamer and Pulse. The bug triagers would need one of the OPs to uninstall Pulse and check if it still happens, at the very least, to know if it's a sound card config issue / bug in GStreamer or if it's an issue with Pulse.

[Horst Schirmeier (horst)]

Steve, uninstalling Pulse resolves the issue for me. Pushing the "mute" button (or muting Master in alsamixer) only mutes the Master channel now; unmuting works as expected.

[Steve Dodier-Lazaro (sidi)]

Thanks for your check Horst. I've re-directed the bug at the Pulseaudio Ubuntu packagers so they can have a look at it.

[Darko Veberic (darko-veberic-kit)]

comments to the summary:
- i have in total 8 notebooks and PCs where this symptom shows up, so i would not say this is only on "some" systems
- i never install xubuntu, all my installations are vanilla ubuntu with most of the kde and xfce packages installed additionally later

[Horst Schirmeier (horst)]

Vanilla Ubuntu AMD64 here, too.

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

it mainly depend on the number of volume controls and mute switches in the hda codec

you have to post the output of alsa-info.sh

1) Two channels hda codec (e.g. ad1984, ...)
2) Four channels hda codecs which support 2+2 (e.g alc26x, ad1983,.. )
3) Six channels hda codecs (e.g. ad1986, alc66x,..).
4)Eight channels hda codecs(e.g vt1708s, ....)
5)10 channels hda codecs support 7.1+2 (e.g alc88x, ad1988, ....)

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

check whether any volume controls/switches are not present in those .conf files

http://cgit.freedesktop.org/pulseaudio/pulseaudio/tree/src/modules/alsa/mixer/paths

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=70865

http://www.alsa-project.org/db/?f=2511d529b16298e39ca4d5e5db2daf94bba8a794

Line out and Internal speaker of a business destop share "PCM Playback Volume"

Node 0x03 [Audio Output] wcaps 0x405: Stereo Amp-Out
  Control: name="Headphone Playback Volume", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=Out, idx=0, ofs=0

Node 0x04 [Audio Output] wcaps 0x405: Stereo Amp-Out
  Control: name="PCM Playback Volume", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=Out, idx=0, ofs=0

[Darko Veberic (darko-veberic-kit)]

on this system muting master mutes master and pcm, unmuting master unmutes master only...

[Darko Veberic (darko-veberic-kit)]

on this system muting master mutes master, headphone, speaker, but unmute master unmutes only master...

[Darko Veberic (darko-veberic-kit)]

on this system muting master mutes master, headphone, speaker, pcm, but unmute master unmutes master only...

[Horst Schirmeier (horst)]

On this machine, muting Master mutes Master+Headphone+PCM, unmute Master unmutes Master only.

[Horst Schirmeier (horst)]

Raymond, you suggested to "check whether any volume controls/switches are not present in those .conf files" -- what should I take from my system (look at alsamixer's controls? dig into my alsa-info.txt?) to compare to those pulseaudio config files? I'd happily debug this, but I'm not sure how to proceed yet.

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

http://cgit.freedesktop.org/pulseaudio/pulseaudio/tree/src/modules/alsa/mixer/paths/analog-output.conf.common

element pcm only exist in analog-output.conf.common
but switch = mute
try change mute to on

[Element PCM]
switch = mute
volume = merge
override-map.1 = all
override-map.2 = all-left,all-right

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

Your alc221 are similar to https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=70865

internal speaker has it own volume control but headphone and line out share pcm playback volume control

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

https://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/tiwai/sound.git/commit/?id=5ccc618fee67f0f0b2122dd4b32a02fd2b6a1569

+ * AD1984A = AD1884A + digital-mic

0x20Analog Mixer
Mixes individually gainable analog inputs

0x21Mixer Output Atten
Attenuates the analog mixer output to drive the port mixers

pcm playback volume is the volume control input from audio output 0x03 / 0x04 into the analog mixer

Node 0x20 [Audio Mixer] wcaps 0x20010b: Stereo Amp-In
  Control: name="PCM Playback Volume", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=In, idx=5, ofs=0
  Control: name="PCM Playback Switch", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=In, idx=5, ofs=0
  Control: name="Mic Playback Volume", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=In, idx=0, ofs=0
  Control: name="Mic Playback Switch", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=In, idx=0, ofs=0
  Control: name="Internal Mic Playback Volume", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=In, idx=1, ofs=0
  Control: name="Internal Mic Playback Switch", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=In, idx=1, ofs=0
  Control: name="Dock Mic Playback Volume", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=In, idx=4, ofs=0
  Control: name="Dock Mic Playback Switch", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=In, idx=4, ofs=0
  Amp-In caps: ofs=0x17, nsteps=0x1f, stepsize=0x05, mute=1
  Amp-In vals: [0x0d 0x0d] [0x80 0x80] [0x80 0x80] [0x80 0x80] [0x80 0x80] [0x97 0x97] [0x97 0x97]
  Connection: 7
     0x14 0x15 0x16 0x1a 0x25 0x03 0x04
Node 0x21 [Audio Selector] wcaps 0x30010d: Stereo Amp-Out
  Control: name="Master Playback Volume", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=Out, idx=0, ofs=0
  Control: name="Master Playback Switch", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=Out, idx=0, ofs=0
  Amp-Out caps: ofs=0x1f, nsteps=0x1f, stepsize=0x05, mute=1
  Amp-Out vals: [0x1b 0x1b]
  Connection: 1
     0x20

you can record what you are playing when you select 0x20 as the input source similar to

https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=70011

Node 0x0c [Audio Selector] wcaps 0x30010d: Stereo Amp-Out
  Control: name="Capture Volume", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=Out, idx=0, ofs=0
  Control: name="Capture Switch", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=Out, idx=0, ofs=0
  Amp-Out caps: ofs=0x27, nsteps=0x36, stepsize=0x05, mute=1
  Amp-Out vals: [0x2f 0x2f]
  Connection: 6
     0x14 0x15* 0x16 0x20 0x25 0x17

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

try live CD first to find out you still get sound instead of upgrade

one of the problem is there are pulseaudio dock Mic.conf but no dock line out .conf in pulseaudio paths

do your notebook have line out at extra rear or it is dock station line out

Node 0x12 [Pin Complex] wcaps 0x40058d: Stereo Amp-Out
  Control: name="Dock Playback Switch", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=Out, idx=0, ofs=0
  Amp-Out caps: ofs=0x00, nsteps=0x00, stepsize=0x00, mute=1
  Amp-Out vals: [0x80 0x80]
  Pincap 0x0001001f: OUT HP EAPD Detect Trigger ImpSense
  EAPD 0x0:
  Pin Default 0x01014010: [Jack] Line Out at Ext Rear
    Conn = 1/8, Color = Green
    DefAssociation = 0x1, Sequence = 0x0
  Pin-ctls: 0xc0: OUT HP
  Unsolicited: tag=37, enabled=1
  Power states: D0 D3
  Power: setting=D0, actual=D0
  Connection: 1
     0x0a

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

using hda-emu

 the Master Playback Volume at node 0x21 change to "PCM playback Volume"
and "Dock playback Swtich" change to "PCM playback Switch"

Node 0x03 [Audio Output] wcaps 0x405: Stereo Amp-Out
  Control: name="Speaker Playback Volume", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=Out, idx=0, ofs=0
  Device: name="AD1984A Analog", type="Audio", device=0

Node 0x04 [Audio Output] wcaps 0x405: Stereo Amp-Out
  Control: name="Headphone Playback Volume", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=Out, idx=0, ofs=0
  Device: name="AD1984A Alt Analog", type="Audio", device=1

Node 0x11 [Pin Complex] wcaps 0x40018d: Stereo Amp-Out
  Control: name="Headphone Playback Switch", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=Out, idx=0, ofs=0
  Control: name="Headphone Jack", index=0, device=0

Node 0x12 [Pin Complex] wcaps 0x40058d: Stereo Amp-Out
  Control: name="PCM Playback Switch", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=Out, idx=0, ofs=0
  Control: name="Line Out Jack", index=0, device=0
  Pin Default 0x01014010: [Jack] Line Out at Ext Rear
    Conn = 1/8, Color = Green
    DefAssociation = 0x1, Sequence = 0x0

Node 0x16 [Pin Complex] wcaps 0x40058d: Stereo Amp-Out
  Control: name="Speaker Playback Switch", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=Out, idx=0, ofs=0
  Control: name="Speaker Phantom Jack", index=0, device=0

Node 0x20 [Audio Mixer] wcaps 0x20010b: Stereo Amp-In
  Control: name="Mic Playback Volume", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=In, idx=0, ofs=0
  Control: name="Mic Playback Switch", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=In, idx=0, ofs=0
  Control: name="Internal Mic Playback Volume", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=In, idx=1, ofs=0
  Control: name="Internal Mic Playback Switch", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=In, idx=1, ofs=0
  Control: name="Line Playback Volume", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=In, idx=4, ofs=0
  Control: name="Line Playback Switch", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=In, idx=4, ofs=0
  Amp-In caps: ofs=0x17, nsteps=0x1f, stepsize=0x05, mute=1
  Amp-In vals: [0x80 0x80] [0x80 0x80] [0x80 0x80] [0x80 0x80] [0x80 0x80] [0x17 0x17] [0x80 0x80]
  Connection: 7
     0x14 0x15 0x16 0x1a 0x25 0x03 0x04
Node 0x21 [Audio Selector] wcaps 0x30010d: Stereo Amp-Out
  Control: name="PCM Playback Volume", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=Out, idx=0, ofs=0
  Amp-Out caps: ofs=0x1f, nsteps=0x1f, stepsize=0x05, mute=1
  Amp-Out vals: [0x00 0x00]
  Connection: 1
     0x20

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

for Codec: IDT 92HD71B7X
the situation is almost the same three output pin complexes share two audio output volume controls

you can enable "loopback mixing" so that the driver use the analog mixer node 0x17

Node 0x0a [Pin Complex] wcaps 0x400181: Stereo
  Control: name="Headphone Jack", index=0, device=0
  Pincap 0x0000001c: OUT HP Detect
  Pin Default 0x0421101f: [Jack] HP Out at Ext Right
    Conn = 1/8, Color = Black
    DefAssociation = 0x1, Sequence = 0xf
  Pin-ctls: 0xc0: OUT HP
  Unsolicited: tag=01, enabled=1
  Connection: 3
     0x10 0x11* 0x17

Node 0x0d [Pin Complex] wcaps 0x400181: Stereo
  Control: name="Speaker Phantom Jack", index=0, device=0
  Pincap 0x00000014: OUT Detect
  Pin Default 0x90170110: [Fixed] Speaker at Int N/A
    Conn = Analog, Color = Unknown
    DefAssociation = 0x1, Sequence = 0x0
    Misc = NO_PRESENCE
  Pin-ctls: 0x40: OUT
  Unsolicited: tag=00, enabled=0
  Connection: 3
     0x10* 0x11 0x17

Node 0x0f [Pin Complex] wcaps 0x400181: Stereo
  Control: name="Dock Line Out Jack", index=0, device=0
  Pincap 0x00000014: OUT Detect
  Pin Default 0x23011050: [Jack] Line Out at Sep Left
    Conn = 1/8, Color = Black
    DefAssociation = 0x5, Sequence = 0x0
  Pin-ctls: 0x40: OUT
  Unsolicited: tag=02, enabled=1
  Connection: 3
     0x10* 0x11 0x17

Node 0x10 [Audio Output] wcaps 0xd0c05: Stereo Amp-Out R/L
  Control: name="PCM Playback Volume", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=Out, idx=0, ofs=0
  Control: name="PCM Playback Switch", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=Out, idx=0, ofs=0
  Device: name="92HD71B7X Analog", type="Audio", device=0
  Amp-Out caps: N/A
  Amp-Out vals: [0x6d 0x6d]
  Converter: stream=8, channel=0
  Power states:
  Power: setting=D0, actual=D0
  Delay: 13 samples

Node 0x11 [Audio Output] wcaps 0xd0c05: Stereo Amp-Out R/L
  Control: name="Headphone Playback Volume", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=Out, idx=0, ofs=0
  Control: name="Headphone Playback Switch", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=Out, idx=0, ofs=0
  Amp-Out caps: N/A
  Amp-Out vals: [0x6d 0x6d]
  Converter: stream=8, channel=0
  Power states:
  Power: setting=D0, actual=D0
  Delay: 13 samples

Node 0x17 [Audio Mixer] wcaps 0x20010b: Stereo Amp-In
  Control: name="Dock Mic Playback Volume", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=In, idx=3, ofs=0
  Control: name="Dock Mic Playback Switch", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=In, idx=3, ofs=0
  Control: name="Mic Playback Volume", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=In, idx=3, ofs=0
  Control: name="Mic Playback Switch", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=In, idx=3, ofs=0
  Amp-In caps: ofs=0x17, nsteps=0x1f, stepsize=0x05, mute=1
  Amp-In vals: [0x80 0x80] [0x80 0x80] [0x80 0x80] [0x00 0x00] [0x80 0x80]
  Connection: 5
     0x10 0x11 0x27 0x1a 0x1b

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

unfortunately stereo mix input is automatically disabled when automic is automatically selected for notebook

https://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/tiwai/sound.git/tree/Documentation/sound/alsa/HD-Audio.txt

so you cannot record what you are playing unless you disable the automic and enable add_stereo_mix_input by early patching if your are using a notebook

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

 HP EliteBook 8730w

autoconfig: line_outs=1 (0x12/0x0/0x0/0x0/0x0) type:line
   speaker_outs=1 (0x16/0x0/0x0/0x0/0x0)
   hp_outs=1 (0x11/0x0/0x0/0x0/0x0)
   mono: mono_out=0x0
   inputs:
     Mic=0x14
     Internal Mic=0x15
     Line=0x1c

==> Best config: lo_type=0, wired=1, mio=1
multi_outs = 12/0/0/0 : 3/0/0/0 (type LO)
  out path: depth=5 :03:20:21:0a:12
hp_outs = 11/0/0/0 : 4/0/0/0
  hp path: depth=4 :04:22:07:11
spk_outs = 16/0/0/0 : 3/0/0/0
  spk path: depth=4 :03:0f:0b:16
  mix path: depth=5 :03:20:21:07:11
  mix path: depth=5 :03:20:21:0b:16

the driver seem ignore that speaker can connect to 0x21 too
when loopback mixing is enbled

enabled internal mic playback volume may cause feedback if internal mic and internal speaker are close enough

this may be why the driver do not create master playback volume at node 0x21

https://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/tiwai/sound.git/commit/?id=5ccc618fee67f0f0b2122dd4b32a02fd2b6a1569

-static const struct snd_kcontrol_new ad1984a_touchsmart_mixers[] = {
- HDA_CODEC_VOLUME("Master Playback Volume", 0x21, 0x0, HDA_OUTPUT),

-static const struct snd_kcontrol_new ad1984a_precision_mixers[] = {
- HDA_CODEC_VOLUME("Master Playback Volume", 0x21, 0x0, HDA_OUTPUT),

[Horst Schirmeier (horst)]

Raymond, are your latest comments still related to this bug? I'm not sure how to act on these.

Regarding your comment 13 and comment 20: changing "switch" from "mute" to "on" under [Element PCM] in /usr/share/pulseaudio/alsa-mixer/paths/analog-output.conf.common (see below) did have an effect -- pressing the "mute" button now only mutes Master and Headphone (not PCM anymore), pressing it again only unmutes Master. Changing the same for [Element Headphone] in /usr/share/pulseaudio/alsa-mixer/paths/analog-output-headphones.conf fixes the Headphone mixer behaviour for me, too.

[Element PCM]
#switch = mute
switch = on

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

HP Compaq Pro 6300 MT

Codec: Realtek ALC221

autoconfig: line_outs=1 (0x14/0x0/0x0/0x0/0x0) type:line
   speaker_outs=1 (0x17/0x0/0x0/0x0/0x0)
   hp_outs=1 (0x21/0x0/0x0/0x0/0x0)
   mono: mono_out=0x0
   inputs:
     Mic=0x1a
     Line=0x1b

==> lo_type=0, wired=0, mio=0, badness=0x112
multi_outs = 14/0/0/0 : 2/0/0/0 (type LO)
  out path: depth=3 :02:0c:14
hp_outs = 21/0/0/0 : 3/0/0/0
  hp path: depth=3 :03:0d:21
spk_outs = 17/0/0/0 : 2/0/0/0
  spk path: depth=3 :02:0f:17

seem the best cfg is headphone and line out use different audio outputs (which support multistreaming) rather than the following

==> restoring best_cfg
==> Best config: lo_type=0, wired=1, mio=1
multi_outs = 14/0/0/0 : 3/0/0/0 (type LO)
  out path: depth=3 :03:0d:14
hp_outs = 21/0/0/0 : 3/0/0/0
  hp path: depth=3 :03:0d:21
spk_outs = 17/0/0/0 : 2/0/0/0
  spk path: depth=3 :02:0f:17

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

cd /usr/share/pulseaudio/mixer/paths

grep -ir "Element Dock" *

you will find that there is only Dock mic but no element for Dock Playback Switch

Node 0x12 [Pin Complex] wcaps 0x40058d: Stereo Amp-Out
  Control: name="Dock Playback Switch", index=0, device=0

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/sb/CS-034206.htm

for desktop to support multistreaming

headphone and line out must use different audio output and different volume control

in this case , internal speaker of business desktop is better share volume control with line out

there is a bug in function indep_hp_possibel() hda/hda_generic.c which return true when line out and headphone share the same audio output

 /* assume no path conflicts unless aamix is involved */
 if (!spec->mixer_nid || !is_nid_contained(path, spec->mixer_nid)) {
  return true;
 }

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

> changing "switch" from "mute" to "on" under [Element PCM] in /usr/share/pulseaudio/alsa-mixer/paths/analog-output.conf.common (see below) did have an effect -- pressing the "mute" button now only mutes Master and Headphone (not PCM anymore), pressing it again only unmutes Master. Changing the same for [Element Headphone] in /usr/share/pulseaudio/alsa-mixer/paths/analog-output-headphones.conf fixes the Headphone mixer behaviour for me, too.

[Element PCM]
 #switch = mute
 switch = on

it is because the master switch mute/unmute the mixer output to all output pins but pcm playback switch mute/unmute the audio output into this mixer

the latest alsa driver always set unmute this switch and set to 0dB instead of let user to control

[Horst Schirmeier (horst)]

I still don't get it. So this is a Pulseaudio bug, not correctly working with the "latest alsa driver"?

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

you have to post output of

pactl list

and pulseaudio verbose log

in theory, here should be three output ports

dock line out, headphone and speaker

internal speaker is selected when both line out and headphone are not plugged

control.21 {
  iface CARD
  name 'Dock Line Out Jack'
  value false
  comment {
   access read
   type BOOLEAN
   count 1
  }
 }
 control.22 {
  iface CARD
  name 'Headphone Jack'
  value false
  comment {
   access read
   type BOOLEAN
   count 1
  }
 }
 control.23 {
  iface CARD
  name 'Speaker Phantom Jack'
  value true
  comment {
   access read
   type BOOLEAN
   count 1
  }
 }

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

http://www.idt.com/products/audio-products/high-definition-hd-audio-codecs/92hd71b-four-channel-hd-audio-codec

Codec: IDT 92HD71B7X does not have any mute switch at the pin complex

the driver just set pin ctl to 0 to mute the speaker when headphone is plugged

this mean that pulseaudio cannot find any speaker playback switch to mute/unmute the speaker when headphone is plugged

Simple mixer control 'Headphone',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pswitch
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 127
  Mono:
  Front Left: Playback 127 [100%] [0.00dB] [on]
  Front Right: Playback 127 [100%] [0.00dB] [on]
Simple mixer control 'PCM',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pswitch
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 127
  Mono:
  Front Left: Playback 127 [100%] [0.00dB] [on]
  Front Right: Playback 127 [100%] [0.00dB] [on]

[Horst Schirmeier (horst)]

Note that this bug report is *not* about headphone or line-out being plugged, it's only about muting/unmuting Master, and muting Headphone+Speaker but only unmuting Master. As I said (comment #28), correcting /usr/share/pulseaudio/alsa-mixer/paths/analog-output.conf.common and /usr/share/pulseaudio/alsa-mixer/paths/analog-output-headphones.conf fixes the problem for me.

Which part of "pactl list" is relevant?

[Darko Veberic (darko-veberic-kit)]

@Raymond
i am puzzled by your posts. from your telegraphic style i can not decipher whether this are instructions to us how to fix the issue or is it notes for developers to do it in future releases...

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

the case are different if you have laptop with different codecs,

pulseaudio require driver to provide jack detection control since ubuntu 12.04

  Control: name="Headphone Jack", index=0, device=0

  iface CARD
  name 'Headphone Jack'
  value false
  comment {
   access read
   type BOOLEAN
   count 1
  }

your ad1984a are not using latest alsa driver and does not have headphone jack and mic jack detection control

post

pactl list

for your laptop with different codec

[Horst Schirmeier (horst)]

I'm not using an AD1984A; alsamixer tells me it's an IDT 92HD71B7X. It worked fine until and including Ubuntu 13.04, and broke with 13.10. Note that my "pactl list" output (see attachment) is generated *after* fixing the Pulseaudio config files (see my earlier comments). I can repeat the procedure on a pristine Pulseaudio setup if necessary.

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

> Which part of "pactl list" is relevant?

the relevant point is

1) how do pulseaudio know which volume control should be used when the volume control is shared by two or more pin complexes

2) whether "PCM playback volume" and "PCM playback Switch" is slave of virtual "Master playback volume" and "Master playback switch" or not ?

3) whether headphone jack detection control is available since it determine that availability of headphone jack and mute speaker path

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

for laptop with docking station

both the headphone jack and dock station line out/headphone jack are used to determine whether the speaker is mute or not

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

you have to follow up the pulseaudio bug upstream if your need to use the dock station

if you Don' t need the dock station and you are using latest alsa driver

  you can use hdajackretask to change [Jack] of the dock headphone/line out Jack to [n/a], the driver will be able to create the two volume and swirches controls for headphone and speaker

[Horst Schirmeier (horst)]

I intermittently use a docking station. The problem, however, shows up both with and without being docked.

And to again put things clear, nonexistent volume/switches for Headphone and Speaker are not the issue here (and I don't believe for Darko either). All usual controls (Master, Headphone, PCM, Mic, Beep, ...) are available and can be individually muted/unmuted. The only problem is, that muting Master also mutes Headphone + PCM (the mixer controls switch to "MM" in alsamixer!), but unmuting Master does not unmute Headphone + PCM (they stay at "MM" in alsamixer, while Master moves to "OO" again).

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

if you look at 92HD71b block diagram, the mute switch at dac0 does not affect the headphone which use dac1

this mean that both pcm playback volume switch of your laptop is not suitable defined in

.include analog-output.conf.common

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

http://git.alsa-project.org/?p=alsa-lib.git;a=blob;f=src/conf/cards/HDA-Intel.conf;hb=HEAD

for those without hardware volume control with name "PCM", the softvol plugin "PCM playback volume" is common to all path when the application use "front" device

[Horst Schirmeier (horst)]

This problem persists on Ubuntu 14.04. It might be a good idea to fix this before this LTS version is released. Raymond, any idea what we could do to get this forward?

[Horst Schirmeier (horst)]

This is a summary of the Ubuntu bug reported at <https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xfce4-volumed/+bug/1254884>. It already has a duplicate at <https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xfce4-volumed/+bug/1258782>.

With certain audio hardware (those where alsamixer shows separate "headphone" and "speaker" channels) pressing of the mute button on laptop keyboards causes mute of all three channels: master, headphone and speaker. Pressing the button again to unmute unmutes only the master channel, leaving headphone and speaker muted.

Workaround: There is no other way than opening alsamixer in a terminal (or open mixer controls from the applet) and manually clicking the two remaining channels to unmute.

Details:

- We already tracked this down not to be an issue with ALSA or xfce4-volumed: The problem also occurs using a different window manager, and it disappears when deinstalling PulseAudio.

- This issue has already been seen on "Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) HD Audio Controller (rev 03)" (Dell Latitude E6400) and "Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 04)".

- This issue appeared with Ubuntu 13.10 (AMD64), and persists in 14.04. I don't know which PulseAudio versions were involved.

- "Raymond" in the original bug report flooded the discussion with lots of technical information I do not know how to act upon. Maybe you do.

- In comments #15 to #18 on <https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xfce4-volumed/+bug/1254884> we posted the "alsa-info" for a few systems with similar symptoms.

- In comment #28 I successfully implemented a fix (or workaround?) for the problem on my machine:

----
[...] changing "switch" from "mute" to "on" under [Element PCM] in /usr/share/pulseaudio/alsa-mixer/paths/analog-output.conf.common (see below) did have an effect -- pressing the "mute" button now only mutes Master and Headphone (not PCM anymore), pressing it again only unmutes Master. Changing the same for [Element Headphone] in /usr/share/pulseaudio/alsa-mixer/paths/analog-output-headphones.conf fixes the Headphone mixer behaviour for me, too.

[Element PCM]
#switch = mute
switch = on
----

[Horst Schirmeier (horst)]

I forwarded this to the PulseAudio bug tracker: https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=79911

[Tanu Kaskinen (tanuk)]

I suppose this has nothing to do with GStreamer. Can you reproduce this simpy by muting and unmuting the sink with pactl? The command to use is "set-sink-mute", see man pactl for details.

Changing "switch = mute" to "switch = on" is not a proper fix. "switch = mute" means that the switch state should follow the sink mute state, so unmuting the sink in pulseaudio should unmute the switch in alsa too.

[Horst Schirmeier (horst)]

No, I cannot reproduce the behavior with "pactl set-sink-mute 0 toggle". Running this once mutes "Master", "Headphone" and "PCM" in alsamixer. Running this a second time correctly unmutes all three.

[Tanu Kaskinen (tanuk)]

Ok, then I guess xfce4-volumed is accessing alsa directly, instead of doing the muting through pulseaudio.

Explanation for the inconsistency between muting and unmuting: xfce4-volumed sets the Master switch to muted. PulseAudio notices that something happened in the alsa mixer, and sees that one of the switches is muted, so PulseAudio concludes that the device is muted and sets the internal device state to mute. While setting the internal state, pulseaudio also mutes the rest of the switches marked as "switch = mute", including PCM. When xfce4-volumed unmutes the Master switch, PulseAudio again notices that something happened, but since the PCM switch is still muted, PulseAudio concludes that the device is still muted and does nothing.

xfce4-volumed should be changed to talk to pulseaudio instead of accessing the alsa mixer directly.

[Tanu Kaskinen (tanuk)]

Or another solution would be to change pulseaudio so that it caches the alsa mixer state, so when one switch is unmuted, pulseaudio would be able to figure out that unmuting happened. Without caching this is not possible, because the only notification we get from alsa is that "something changed".

But from architecture point of view I think there should be only one component that is controlling the alsa mixers, and that component should be pulseaudio, so changing xfce4-volumed makes more sense than changing pulseaudio to cope with other components fiddling with the alsa mixers.

[Horst Schirmeier (horst)]

As I said in the description: We think we tracked this down not to be an issue with ALSA or xfce4-volumed. The problem also occurs using a different window manager (I tried it with Unity IIRC), and it disappears when deinstalling PulseAudio.

I may be drawing wrong conclusions here, though. Please instruct me on which experiments to conduct to gather more information.

[Tanu Kaskinen (tanuk)]

Unmuting via pulseaudio works fine, so whatever does the unmuting when you press the mute button on your laptop is, with very very high probability, not using pulseaudio.

I had a look at xfce4-volumed code, and it seems to rely on GstMixer. xfce4-volumed doesn't seem to care about the mixer implementation, it will just use the first mixer implementation that it finds. That might very well be an implementation based on alsa, not pulseaudio.

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

you need to log the changes of alsa playback volume and switch made by pulseaudio when it switch path

only the driver know which control belong to the audio path of headphone, line out and speaker for business desktop, notebook or home desktop

https://launchpadlibrarian.net/166342784/alsa-info.txt.q27ddho7BC

Node 0x0a [Pin Complex] wcaps 0x400181: Stereo
  Control: name="Headphone Jack", index=0, device=0
  Pincap 0x0000001c: OUT HP Detect
  Pin Default 0x0421101f: [Jack] HP Out at Ext Right
    Conn = 1/8, Color = Black
    DefAssociation = 0x1, Sequence = 0xf
  Pin-ctls: 0xc0: OUT HP
  Unsolicited: tag=01, enabled=1
  Connection: 3
     0x10 0x11* 0x17

Node 0x0d [Pin Complex] wcaps 0x400181: Stereo
  Control: name="Speaker Phantom Jack", index=0, device=0
  Pincap 0x00000014: OUT Detect
  Pin Default 0x90170110: [Fixed] Speaker at Int N/A
    Conn = Analog, Color = Unknown
    DefAssociation = 0x1, Sequence = 0x0
    Misc = NO_PRESENCE
  Pin-ctls: 0x40: OUT
  Unsolicited: tag=00, enabled=0
  Connection: 3
     0x10* 0x11 0x17

Node 0x0f [Pin Complex] wcaps 0x400181: Stereo
  Control: name="Dock Line Out Jack", index=0, device=0
  Pincap 0x00000014: OUT Detect
  Pin Default 0x23011050: [Jack] Line Out at Sep Left
    Conn = 1/8, Color = Black
    DefAssociation = 0x5, Sequence = 0x0
  Pin-ctls: 0x40: OUT
  Unsolicited: tag=02, enabled=1
  Connection: 3
     0x10* 0x11 0x17
Node 0x10 [Audio Output] wcaps 0xd0c05: Stereo Amp-Out R/L
  Control: name="PCM Playback Volume", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=Out, idx=0, ofs=0
  Control: name="PCM Playback Switch", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=Out, idx=0, ofs=0
  Device: name="92HD71B7X Analog", type="Audio", device=0
  Amp-Out caps: N/A
  Amp-Out vals: [0x6d 0x6d]
  Converter: stream=8, channel=0
  Power states:
  Power: setting=D0, actual=D0
  Delay: 13 samples
Node 0x11 [Audio Output] wcaps 0xd0c05: Stereo Amp-Out R/L
  Control: name="Headphone Playback Volume", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=Out, idx=0, ofs=0
  Control: name="Headphone Playback Switch", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=Out, idx=0, ofs=0
  Amp-Out caps: N/A
  Amp-Out vals: [0x6d 0x6d]
  Converter: stream=8, channel=0
  Power states:
  Power: setting=D0, actual=D0
  Delay: 13 samples

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

Created attachment 101077
pcm_playback_switch need to be on instead of mute

as pcm playback switch is regarded by pulseaudio as common to all paths, it should be on instead of mute

[Tanu Kaskinen (tanuk)]

I don't follow. PulseAudio uses PCM for all paths, but why does that imply that PCM should not be muted when the sink is muted?

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

https://launchpadlibrarian.net/178486562/PulseList.txt

e.g hda codec cs4213 has only one hardware volume control for both headphone and speaker

when did pulseaudio setup those control which is common To all paths ?

[Tanu Kaskinen (tanuk)]

When the port changes from headphones to speakers, for example, alsa mixer is updated at that point to reflect the previously saved state of the speakers port.

[Horst Schirmeier (horst)]

BTW, I'm seeing this on a Dell Latitude E4300, too. (Not surprising, as it's also using a 82801I.)

What else do you need to fix this?

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

http://mailman.alsa-project.org/pipermail/alsa-devel/2014-October/082334.html

 pcm volume of some hda codecs seem to be renamed but the name of ac97 codecs are unlikely to be changed

[Horst Schirmeier (horst)]

Raymond, your comment is, again, very cryptic. How is this related to my problem, what am I supposed to do about it, and what needs to be changed to fix the issue?

I'm not into PulseAudio details, so please tell me exactly what to do (if the comment was directed to me at all, and not rather another PulseAudio developer). For example, if I am supposed to provide log output, tell me how to enable logging (for the particular tool/daemon), where to find the log file, and what action I need to trigger to provoke something interesting to be logged (e.g., press the "mute" button twice).

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

you have to follow if your dell e430 use stac9200 which is a two channel hda codec

http://mailman.alsa-project.org/pipermail/alsa-devel/2014-October/083128.html

[Horst Schirmeier (horst)]

I don't think the Dell Latitude E4300 has a stac9200. Again, if you talk about some funny ALSA or PulseAudio details, please tell me on what information to provide here, and how to gather it. I'm just *guessing* the output of "aplay -l" or alsamixer may be relevant here (is it?):

$ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 0: 92HD71B7X Analog [92HD71B7X Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

alsamixer says "Card: HDA Intel" and "Chip: Intel Cantiga HDMI".

[Horst Schirmeier (horst)]

And, just to reiterate my initial bug report (as you're pointing me to an ALSA mailing list thread):

"- We already tracked this down not to be an issue with ALSA or xfce4-volumed: The problem also occurs using a different window manager, and it disappears when deinstalling PulseAudio."

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

it is because your notebook have speaker, headphone and dock line out with two audio output

david 's patch is to change "pcm" to "speaker+LO" for those with 2+2 HDA codec and three ports

for those notebook with dock headphone, you need to follow up with Tiwai

Node 0x10 [Audio Output] wcaps 0xd0c05: Stereo Amp-Out R/L
  Control: name="PCM Playback Volume", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=Out, idx=0, ofs=0
  Control: name="PCM Playback Switch", index=0, device=0
    ControlAmp: chs=3, dir=Out, idx=0, ofs=0
  Device: name="92HD71B7X Analog", type="Audio", device=0
  Amp-Out caps: N/A
  Amp-Out vals: [0x6d 0x6d]
  Converter: stream=8, channel=0
  Power states:
  Power: setting=D0, actual=D0
  Delay: 13 samples

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

for those two channel ac97 codec and some for channel ac97 codec

ac97 analog mixer have many input : DAC, mic , line in, CD, Aux,

pcm playback volume/switch control the DAC input to AC97 analog mixer

ac97 analog mixer has it own ouput volume controls which are master playback volume/switch and mono playback

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

for those hda codecs which have ac97 like analog mixer (e.g. ad1986a, vt1708,...)

the alsa driver already removed the corresponding "PCM" playback volume and playback switch when those codec use hda_generic.c to create the controls

it use set volume to 0dB and unmute without creating any control

the remaing hda codecs are those without analog mixer need change of control name to indicate whether it is shared by two or more ports

http://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/pulseaudio-discuss/2014-November/022241.html

[Horst Schirmeier (horst)]

What are you saying? That the core reason for the bug is known and worked on? Or do you need more input from me to analyze the issue?

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

you need to add some code in alsa-sink.c or alsa-util.c to log all the mute switch/volume events when pulseaudio change those alsa playback switch/volume to prove the mute of pcm playback switch is done by pulseaudio instead of driver or other alsa application

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

You need to log e->alsa_name and value of b for snd_mixer_selem_set_playback_switch_all in

http://cgit.freedesktop.org/pulseaudio/pulseaudio/tree/src/modules/alsa/alsa-mixer.c

static int element_set_switch(pa_alsa_element *e, snd_mixer_t *m, bool b) {
    snd_mixer_elem_t *me;
    snd_mixer_selem_id_t *sid;
    int r;

    pa_assert(m);
    pa_assert(e);

    SELEM_INIT(sid, e->alsa_name);
    if (!(me = snd_mixer_find_selem(m, sid))) {
        pa_log_warn("Element %s seems to have disappeared.", e->alsa_name);
        return -1;
    }

    if (e->direction == PA_ALSA_DIRECTION_OUTPUT)
        r = snd_mixer_selem_set_playback_switch_all(me, b);
    else
        r = snd_mixer_selem_set_capture_switch_all(me, b);

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

and log the path name

int pa_alsa_path_set_mute(pa_alsa_path *p, snd_mixer_t *m, bool muted) {
    pa_alsa_element *e;

    pa_assert(m);
    pa_assert(p);

    if (!p->has_mute)
        return -1;

    PA_LLIST_FOREACH(e, p->elements) {

        if (e->switch_use != PA_ALSA_SWITCH_MUTE)
            continue;

        if (element_set_switch(e, m, !muted) < 0)
            return -1;
    }

    return 0;
}

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

this mean that when pulseaudio switch from path A to path B, the mute switch which is common to both path should not set to PA_ALSA_SWITCH_MUTE

this also imply those elements in output.common should not set to PA_ALSA_SWITCH_MUTE

you should send your patch to pulseaudio-discuss mailing list for review

[julian boruta (julianmboruta)]

i have faced this problem before, the problem comes when xfce4-mixer ,xfce4-volumed and pulseaudio are installed at the same time.

Xfce4-mixer doesnt need pulseaudio at all because of ALSA, you need to remove it with:

"sudo apt-get remove pulseaudio pulseaudio-alsa"

[Raymond (superquad-vortex2)]

seem new bug as the driver already changed by this patch, this create a Line out playback volume when the computer only have speaker and header

https://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/tiwai/sound.git/commit/sound/pci/hda/hda_generic.c?id=3abb4f4d0e7aaad0d12004b5057f4486a688752b

[Jarno Suni (jarnos)]

I noticed that the number of channels muted at once may depend on the port chosen in pavucontrol's Output Devices tab. In my system, if I choose "Headphones (plugged in)", muting affects only to ALSA tracks called Master and Headphone. If I choose another port, muting affects to Master, Headphone and Speaker.

$ lsb_release -r
Release: 14.04
$ lspci|grep Audio
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller (rev 02)

[Jarno Suni (jarnos)]

Please note, that if you use Indicator Plugin or pavucontrol to unmute, it also unmutes several channels.

[Jarno Suni (jarnos)]

(In reply to Raymond from comment #26)
> seem new bug as the driver already changed by this patch, this create a Line
> out playback volume when the computer only have speaker and header
>
> https://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/tiwai/sound.git/commit/sound/
> pci/hda/hda_generic.c?id=3abb4f4d0e7aaad0d12004b5057f4486a688752b

Yes, different bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1433568

[Jarno Suni (jarnos)]

Suggestion in the last paragraph: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/pulseaudio/+bug/1436269/comments/5

[Jarno Suni (jarnos)]

Update: another workaround when using xfce4-mixer (or Xfce Audio Mixer in panel): Choose Playback:...(PulseAudio Mixer) instead of (Alsa mixer) as sound card in properties.

[Horst Schirmeier (horst)]

(In reply to Jarno Suni from comment #30)
> Update: another workaround when using xfce4-mixer (or Xfce Audio Mixer in
> panel): Choose Playback:...(PulseAudio Mixer) instead of (Alsa mixer) as
> sound card in properties.

Confirmed. This works around the symptoms for me. Thanks!

[Horst Schirmeier (horst)]

The newly added workaround ("xfce4-mixer (or Xfce Audio Mixer in panel): Choose Playback:...(PulseAudio Mixer) instead of (Alsa mixer) as sound card in properties") fixes the symptoms for me.