# alsa driver intel8x0 problem

## dimaash

Hi eveyone. I've tried to install alsa drivers on my gentoo box by following steps provided here: http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_ALSA_sound_mixer_aka_dmix. Everything seem to install smoothly and i got no errors. However i just have no sound. I've been trying to Build Support from alsa-driver Package (for kernel 2.6) as described on that wiki above.

Here is what I've done:

My sound card according to 

```
lspci | grep -i audio

00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 02)
```

 So i went on http://www.alsa-project.org/alsa-doc/ to check what driver i needed. Since I have "intel ICH5", i've chosen intel8x0. However in the description of this driver it says:

 *Quote:*   

> description: "Intel 82801AA,82901AB,i810,i820,i830,i840,i845,MX440; SiS 7012; Ali 5455" 

 . So, as you can see there is no 82801EB/ER chipset. Does this mean that intel8x0 is no good for my sound card? Because I haven't found any other driver for my chipset there. Then i added to my /etc/make.conf this: 

```
ALSA_CARDS="intel8x0"
```

and emerged the following:

```
#emerge alsa-lib alsa-driver alsa-oss alsa-utils
```

 Like i said everything went smooth and i edited my /etc/modules.d/alsa and /etc/modules.autoload.d/kernel-2.6 files accordingly. And also added alsasound to rc run levels:

```
#rc-update add alsasound default
```

. (Just like the wiki says). I un-muted everything using alsamixer and when i reboot i see that the module is getting loaded and it says ok. Thus, so far everything is okey. However, if i do 

```
#/etc/init.d/alsasound stop
```

 i get the following: 

```

* Storing ALSA Mixer Levels ...                                                   [ ok ]

* Unloading ALSA ...                                                              [ ok ] 

* Unloading ALSA modules ...                                                      [ !! ]

```

 Which means something is wrong here. But i dont' know what and how to find out what. Please help some1. I appriciate in advance.

----------

## adaptr

The intel-8x0 driver is good for all Intel AC97 chipsets.

Why are you using alsa-driver ?

Just configure the driver in the kernel and you should be good to go.

----------

## dracony

did you unmute your sound with alsamixer ?

it is in some default alsa package, you should probably have it

----------

## dimaash

Yes, i unmuted everything using alsamixer and still no sound. And adaptr, thanks for reply, but compiling it directly into the kernel didnt help (unless i did something wrong). However, when i run lsmod i get the following:

```
Module                  Size  Used by

snd_pcm_oss            47296  - 

snd_mixer_oss          16264  - 

snd_seq_oss            33120  - 

snd_seq_midi_event      5704  - 

snd_seq                50160  - 

snd_seq_device          6804  - 

snd_intel8x0           29252  - 

snd_ac97_codec         90728  - 

snd_ac97_bus            1672  - 

snd_pcm                80100  - 

snd_timer              20780  - 

snd                    46756  - 

soundcore               6976  - 

snd_page_alloc          8112  - 
```

That is not normal is it? (Not used by anything..?) I was getting it with the alsa-driver and when i re-compiled kernel with alsa support and intel driver.

----------

## dracony

is your sound system pluged in (i mean headphones, subwoofer, or whatever you use)?

Did you add alsa to USe when compiling arts?

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!try alsaconf!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

if you use kde, try seting up config center, perhaps its not alsa problem

try newer alsa (helped for my intel card)

try cat /dev/urandom > /dev/sound/dsp you should hear sound

----------

## iamben

to see if you have a driver loaded and working for your sound card, run 'cat /proc/asound/cards'

output should be similar to this: 

```
ben ~ # cat /proc/asound/cards

0 [Live           ]: EMU10K1 - SBLive! Value [CT4871]

                     SBLive! Value [CT4871] (rev.8, serial:0x80321102) at 0xa000, irq 5

ben ~ # 
```

----------

## dimaash

 *Quote:*   

> is your sound system pluged in (i mean headphones, subwoofer, or whatever you use)? 

 

Yes, it is plugged in.

 *Quote:*   

> Did you add alsa to USe when compiling arts?

 

I am not using KDE, i have windowmaker. However, i dont' have alsa in USE flags in /etc/make.conf. Would that be problamatic?

 *Quote:*   

> try cat /dev/urandom > /dev/sound/dsp you should hear sound

 

Already tried that. Dead silence.

 *Quote:*   

> to see if you have a driver loaded and working for your sound card, run 'cat /proc/asound/cards' 

 

This gives me:

```
0 [ICH5           ]: ICH4 - Intel ICH5

                     Intel ICH5 with AD1985 at 0xfebff400, irq 21

```

Looks like it is loaded. By the way, i didnt bother doing The dmix device configuration thing with .asoundrc file. It said on the wiki  ( mentioned above ) that it wasn't obligatory. So i skiped that part. So i guess it might be alsa USE flag that i am missing? If that's the case i remember reading somewhere that i have to somehow tell portage to use that new flag if I decide to add it. Does that make sense?

----------

## iamben

what are you using to test alsa? i recommend using mplayer, its console output is great for debugging

----------

## dimaash

 *Quote:*   

> what are you using to test alsa?

 

I have madplay and alsaplayer. I didn't bother emerging xmms for now cause it would take a while. And since my sound is not working i decided to wait. By the way alsaplayer says: "No stream" when i run it, or when i try to play an mp3. Other than that none of them says something like no sound card detected. I'll try mplayer now.

----------

## dimaash

Damn!   :Confused:   I dont know what is going on here. Everything seems to be okey, yet i have no sound (And it is not my soundcard, cause it works in windows). One little thing that i don't understand tho is when i do:

```
#/etc/init.d/alsasound start
```

 (Assuming that alsasound is not in rc initially) it always tells me that alsa is already running. In other words, say i just recompiled and installed my kernel with alsa and intel driver and cleaned-up rc from the previous mess. Then i reboot and when i manualy start alsasound it says that is already running. If i try to remove it, it says that it is not there. I am confused here.

And another thing, when i run alsaconf for some reason 2 exactly same intel soundcards show up. Could it be that they are in conflict or something?

----------

## iamben

sounds like you might have modules from alsa-driver and the kernel's alsa both.  what would *I* do? unmerge alsa-driver, clear out your whole modules dir (rm -rf /lib/modules/`uname -r`/*, go into menuconfig, enable alsa & the intel8x0 driver *built in* and not modular, then make && make modules_install, then install and boot the new kernel.

fwiw, if your card uses the intel8x0 driver, the default options for the whole sound section in menuconfig are PERFECT.  you need not change anything.  alsa setup really isnt as complicated as some people make it.

while we're on the topic, anyone have any reasons why it would be better to use modules instead of built in?  ever since moving to 2.6 i've wondered why so many people insist on using modules for alsa, all i ever see it do is cause extra confusion.

----------

## dimaash

Dang! iamben, u were right. Building alsa into the kernel as built in worked. I finally got sound!   :Smile:  However, alsamixer settings are all muted by default. I can unmute them and i am trying to store the settings via:

```
alsactl store
```

. But after a reboot it all goes back to mute state. I guess alsactl store thing is when alsa is modular, is that right? So, how can i store those alsamixer settings?

And another thing, if i play alsaplayer (i got sound via madplay) it still says "No Stream". Does this mean i have to edit that .asoundrc file and tweak those sound devices and streams?

----------

## 0oMk0o5i3

Just edit "/etc/conf.d/alsasound" and set the SAVE_ON_STOP variable to yes. That should fix the auto-muting problem.

----------

## dracony

its not all candy.

if you use kernel older then 2.6.10, thay will have old alsa included.

This one doesnt support dmix.

So you wont be able to mix the sounds with alsa, and will have to use some sound demon, and make sure, that your progs support it.

So sometimes you won't be able to play games, if there will be xmms running.

As you see, the problem was with modules, i had a lot problems too.

DOWNLOAD A NEW MODULE DRIVER.

And perhaps nothing worked, because when in menuconfig you didnt just not use alsa, but also didnt eneble sound card support

THIS HAS TO BE EVEN WITH EXTERNAL MODULES

->device drivers -> sound->

<*> Sound card support

----------

## iamben

dmix has been around longer than that... maybe not enabled by default, but its been available for a while.  anyway, 2.6.10 was a while ago so that should be a non-issue.

im not saying the modules way is incredibly difficult, its just more work for noobs.  for intel8x0, you've gotta admit the "touch nothing" method is pretty easy =)  

i do admit though, sometimes the module was is necessary when you need the bleeding edge alsa for a new card.

----------

