# C-Media Oxygen HD CMI8788 snd-virtuoso

## far0k

I have spent some time getting the snd-virtuoso ALSA module built in preparation for my ASUS Xonar arriving shortly.  As per Clemens's wiki page linked to below the driver has had a re write and the latest fixes are only currently available in the ALSA Hg repository:

http://www.alsa-project.org/main/index.php/User:ClemensLadisch

What I did:

I modified media-sound/alsa-driver/alsa-driver-9999.ebuild to include virtuoso (change this to oxygen for all cards except Xonar (or add both..)) in the IUSE_CARDS section:

...

IUSE_CARDS="virtuoso...

I then copied this to my local portage overlay and named it alsa-driver-99999.ebuild and also took a copy of portage's media-sound/alsa-headers/alsa-headers-9999.ebuild to my local alsa-headers-99999.ebuild.

I then added ALSA_CARDS="virtuoso" to my make.conf and added media-sound/alsa-headers ** and media-sound/alsa-driver ** to my package.keywords.

I then spent a lot of time trying to build the hr ALSA against various gentoo kernels (2.6.22* - 2.6.23*) with no luck.  In the end I tried linux-2.6.24-rc6-git12 and the modules built first time.

As per the wiki linked to I have replace the files CMI8788.conf and aliases.conf in /usr/share/alsa/cards/.

The modules are loaded fine and I am waiting for the card to arrive along with some new headphones.

I will let you know how it sounds!

Following the alsa-driver section of this guide should fill in the blanks if my notes do not make much seance! http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/alsa-guide.xml

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## chix4mat

Have you received the card and tested it out yet? I have a PCI-E version of the Xonar and have been unable to get it functioning. KMix shows PCM as the lone volume control and no sound emits whatsoever. I'd be interested in knowing whether or not you have yours working yet.

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## far0k

Hi chix4mat

My output is working fine at the moment although I still need to have a play around to get the mic/line in going.  Check what your alsamixer says... It should report:

Card: Asus AV200

Chip: AV200

and have 4 PCMs controls, one Mic Boost, IEC958, Analog Loopback and Stereo Upmixing.

If it does not I would run alsaconf again or check your /etc/modules.d/alsa to make sure it is correctly configured.

You should see snd_virtuoso in your lsmod if all is configured correctly.

I will let you know when I get input working.

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## chix4mat

Hi far0k, 

As it turns out, I am an idiot and forgot to plug in the 4-pin power connector to the card. I have one PCM control in KMix, along with CD/Mic/AUX under Input and Line/Mic Boost/IEC958 under Switches. Do you have the PCI version? I am just curious why you have more than one PCM control. 

Not too concerned  right now though as the sound is superb as is right now. I only have cheap headphones (better ones en route) and can't believe the difference. It's good to know that Linux users have choice in sound cards now, haha.

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## far0k

I forgot the PCIe version needed power to convert from PCI to PCIe.  I got sound input working.  It turned out that "Gnome ALSA Mixer" shows the Mic/Line switch which alsamixer does not.  Switched it over to mic and now that is working fine.

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## chix4mat

Ahh good to hear. I had no idea that different mixers would read things differently... good to know. I checked out ALSA Mixer and it detected all four PCM dials... so KMix doesn't seem like the ideal choice either.

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## far0k

Yer it is quite strange.  gnome-alsamixer seem to be the man.  It covers all the switches and levels that I expected to see so am going to stick with that for now.  I will keep an eye on the ALSA hr for any new oxygen/virtuoso bits and see how they effect various mixes.

The overall experience of using the ASUS Xonar has been good.  The sound is great I don't get any noise like I did with my old Realtek ALC885 when on high volumes and the +20db Mic boots (i dont know if this is a sound card thing but it was not there with Realtek ALC885 drivers) sorted out my quite in game voice chat.

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## Vash63

Thanks, this worked for me. Got the Razer card on woot last week for $50, kind of sad to see that the stand-alone ALSA is no longer updated in portage considering none of the gentoo-sources releases have the latest version.

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## far0k

The drivers for these cards is part of ALSA 1.0.16 witch will be included in linux-2.6.25.  If you have a Xonar DX (the new pci-e low profile one) you will still need to use the Hr as this driver is in beta.

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## gaga

Hi

I just buy a Asus Xonar D2 and I have some problem to use it 

First I compile a 2.6.25 kernel with the module virtuoso and after I reboot the system, I load it into the kernel. But my soundcard isn't detected instead of the module is inserting fine ! (no erreur message or something else)

I try to use the alsa-driver tarballs from here, and it's exactly the same ! (I follow this howto)

there is nothing in the outpout of "dmesg"

I think the outpout lspci is courius : 

 *Quote:*   

> 
> 
> PCI brigde PLX technology, Inc, PEX 8111 PCI Express-to-PCI (rev21)
> 
> 

 

do you have that too ? for me it's the only thing which report my soundcart.....

I'm desesperate !  what's wrong ????

(excuse my bad English, I'm a french)

Any help will be greatly appreciate !

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## gaga

re

finally it's working fine !  I just reboot my system after I compile the modules and it's okay !

yepeeeee !

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## far0k

Just a quick update on this.  It looks like newer versions of 2.6.25 gentoo-sources do not have the virtuoso module.  You can however use the alsa-driver-1.0.16 ebuild which has the virtuoso USE flag much like the customer hr ebuild at the start of the topic.

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## onlinepancakes

 *Quote:*   

> I have a Asus Xonar DX (PCI-Express)
> 
>  *Quote:*   pie ~ # alsamixer 
> 
> alsamixer: function snd_ctl_open failed for default: No such file or directory
> ...

 

EDIT: I got it working. I had to do what the first poster had to do. Virtuoso in 1.0.16 wont work. You have to modify the 9999.ebuild by adding virtuoso to get it to work.

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## flacvest

Hi All!,

I have the Auzentech X-Meridian and want to know how to install sound drivers for it and the HD Intel onboard sound, hopefully at the same time. I have miserably failed at comprehending and following all tutorials about this subject... completely lost on the ebuild thing for the Xonar... Can somebody please lend a hand?

Lost,

 :Embarassed: 

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## epsilon72

When are we going to get snd_oxygen (also for 8788) in-kernel support?  I've been using the 1.0.16 driver for a while now.

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## flacvest

HI, 

I'm confused by a few things from following this guide: http://www.alsa-project.org/main/index.php/Matrix:Module-oxygen

When I do the "insert modules" commands, The terminal keeps... going. It doesn't return a prompt. Is that signs of a problem???

Also, when I do the "alsamixer" command I get this confusing output from the terminal, and before you yell at me, I DO plan on getting PulseAudio and ALSA working on my box, eventually with the mbeq LADSPA plugin.

Here's the terminal output:

whimsy alsa-utils-1.0.17rc1 # alsamixer

ALSA lib control.c:874:(snd_ctl_open_conf) Cannot open shared library /usr/lib/alsa-lib/libasound_module_ctl_pulse.so

alsamixer: function snd_ctl_open failed for default: No such file or directory

What do I do next?!?! Pls assist, I'm compleeeetly Lost.

Best,

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## far0k

 *epsilon72 wrote:*   

> When are we going to get snd_oxygen (also for 8788) in-kernel support?  I've been using the 1.0.16 driver for a while now.

 

It was in for a short period of time at the start of 2.6.25 but in the latest gentoo-sources seems to have gone.  Maybe check vanilla-sources... I think we will see it back soon with quite a few changes in 1.0.17 of ALSA and whatever version of linux merges with that.

 *flacvest wrote:*   

> HI, 
> 
> I'm confused by a few things from following this guide: http://www.alsa-project.org/main/index.php/Matrix:Module-oxygen
> 
> When I do the "insert modules" commands, The terminal keeps... going. It doesn't return a prompt. Is that signs of a problem???
> ...

 

This looks like a PulseAudio issue rather then an oxygen issue.  Does your onboard should cards work?  I would try dumping your PulseAudio USE flags and see if it is still bust.  The easiest way to get the driver working in gentoo at the moment is using the 1.0.16 ebuild that is in portage rather then following the generic ALSA guide.

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## flacvest

Well, I unmerged PulseAudio completely, and have followed the generic guide on the ALSA site to get the testing drivers installed. I manage to get the modules for snd-oxygen and snd-hda-intel recognized, but get hung up at how to configure and where the configuration file IS in GENTOO (Not Debian as listed in the guide as being /etc/whatever.conf... ANY Ideas?)

Where I get lost is how I should configure the sound cards so that snd-hda-intel gets picked up as auxilliary, and snd-oxygen as primary. Once I get that going, I plan on following the guide for the Digital Audio Workstation portage overlay and implementing PulseAudio with the mbeq LADSPA plugin as a global equalizer with the alsa driver but first I need to get the X-Meridian recognized and working in ALSA for all other applications that barf all over pulse and need pure ALSA.

See these guides for interesting Audio goodness:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=4938447 (I am a Xubuntu Refugee and this is how I got it working on Xubuntu. Honestly the clearest most seperated sound I have ever heard in my life. I cried. Highly reccomended by Yours Truly.)

Also:

http://proaudio.tuxfamily.org/wiki/index.php?title=DAW_Digital_Audio_Workstation

http://forums.techgage.com/showthread.php?t=2927

These are where I got my information. I am NEW to Gentoo and have been with *buntus for a Year and a Halfish... Gentoo is SO MUCH BETTER (but different!) than the Debianish systems.

UGH I need help. So Ok, I did dump the pulseaudio from the /etc/make.conf USE flags for the time being.

Could you guys (or gals, no sexism here) lend a hand as to how to proceed? 

The reason I want to use the the testing ALSA drivers is that the snd-oxygen module is nearly 100% complete according to Clemens Ladisch the author of the driver, and I want my X-Meridian as functional as possible.

Yours Ever So Gratefully,

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## Lubomir

 *far0k wrote:*   

>  *epsilon72 wrote:*   When are we going to get snd_oxygen (also for 8788) in-kernel support?  I've been using the 1.0.16 driver for a while now. 
> 
> It was in for a short period of time at the start of 2.6.25 but in the latest gentoo-sources seems to have gone.  Maybe check vanilla-sources... I think we will see it back soon with quite a few changes in 1.0.17 of ALSA and whatever version of linux merges with that.
> 
> 

 

In what version was that inside? I will take that then. In the 2.6.25-gentoo-r5 i get that mistakes with snd_ctl_open - no such file or directory.

EDIT: Oh, sorry. I load oxygen instead of virtuoso. Now everything works with the actual gentoo-sources kernel.

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## flacvest

I'm using Porthole inside Xfce4.4.2

I unmasked the alsa-drivers 1.0.16 ebuild which is supposed to have snd-oxygen support.

I read a bug report stating that the IUSE doesn't enable oxygen ??? don't know what IUSE flags are yet...

Anyway, I am unable to emerge alsa-drivers-1.0.16.

I have the Auzentech X-Meridian soundcard. ALSA is NOT in the kernel, but soundcard support is.

Can anybody render assistance? I'm really out of my league with these soundcard issues.

On the plus side, I have a working system again! Yay to everyone that helped with that!

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## flacvest

oxygen, in this case an Auzentech X-Meridian, doesn't show in alsamixer, only the hda-intel shows... confused ?#$%^&

ANY hints would be helpful.

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## flacvest

I wish I knew what I was missing. This is just an update. I will happily go looking through the docs to see if I can fix it myself.

On the plus side, a recompile of the alsa-driver-1.0.17 with my /etc/make.conf set to: ALSA_CARDS="oxygen" allowed for the alsamixer to show the oxygen card.

What's befuddling me is that I've raised the volume from mute, added the card to the modules autostart file, and rebooted, oh I also saved the alsa mixer levels after rebooting and checking alsamixer again.

Will update with further progress.

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## flacvest

I can be SUCH a _tard_ (I am not hating, just self-deprecating)... Anyway The reason is, I have a many many ported soundcard and well erm um put the miniplug in the WRONG HOLE! ugh!

I hope your sound issues are that simple. 

But getting the alsa-driver1.0.17 ebuild and following the docs

see here:

http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/alsa-guide.xml

made MY Auzentech X-Meridian (C-Media CMI-8788 snd-oxygen) card Sing!

Now I get to do the PulseAudio and LADSPA-mbeq thing.... I'll chime in with my blog's page on that when I have it correctly configured.

Namaste,

 :Embarassed: 

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