Red Hat Bugzilla – Bug 497557
Sound is too faint [1028:022f]
Last modified: 2009-05-19 20:10:06 EDT
Description of problem: I installed Fedora 11 snapshot on my laptop. The sound is much too faint, so I need to set the volume to the maximum. I ran « alsamixer -c0 » and set the « Front » mixer to the maximum (that was the only one that wasn't to the maximum already, except for « PC Beep » which is to the minimum, and if that's what I think it is, that's much better this way). Now it is much better, the volume control in Gnome actually has a sense. :) Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable): alsa-utils-1.0.19-4.fc11.x86_64 Additional info: My sound card is: # lspci -s 00:1b.0 00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller (rev 02) # lspci -s 00:1b.0 -vn 00:1b.0 0403: 8086:284b (rev 02) Subsystem: 1028:022f Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 21 Memory at fe9fc000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K] Capabilities: <access denied> Kernel driver in use: HDA Intel Kernel modules: snd-hda-intel I tried to run « alsactl init » and then both the « Front » and « PCM » mixers are not to the maximum, which make sound almost inaudible even with the « Master » mixer set to the maximum. This also returns the following message: # alsactl init Unknown hardware: "HDA-Intel" "SigmaTel STAC9228" "HDA:14f12c06,14f1000f,00100000 HDA:10951392,1028022f,00100000 HDA:83847616,1028022f,00100201" "" "" Hardware is initialized using a guess method From this message and the lspci output, I tried messing with the « /lib/alsa/init/hda file to see if I could control it. I added the following lines which seemed relevant from the informations above: CARDINFO{mixername}=="SigmaTel STAC9228", \ ATTR{subsystem_vendor}=="0x8086", ATTR{subsystem_device}=="0x284b", \ GOTO="Dell Inspiron 1525" And then: LABEL="Dell Inspiron 1525" # playback CTL{reset}="mixer" CTL{name}="PCM Playback Volume", CTL{value}="0dB,0dB" CTL{name}="Front Playback Volume", CTL{value}="0dB,0dB" RESULT="true", EXIT="return" I had no luck, « alsactl init » always returned the same error message about an « unknown hardware » and the « Front » and « PCM » mixers were reset to the same value as before trying to configure them.
The reason your attempted fix worked is you used the wrong IDs. As the message in fact indicates it's looking for the subsystem IDs, not the main vendor / device ones. The subsystem IDs, as noted in your lspci output, are 1028:022f (so the values in your fix should be: ATTR{subsystem_vendor}=="0x1028", ATTR{subsystem_device}=="0x022f", \ -- Fedora Bugzappers volunteer triage team https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/BugZappers
er, obviously I mean "the reason your attempted fix failed" :) -- Fedora Bugzappers volunteer triage team https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/BugZappers
Created attachment 341808 [details] /tmp/alsa-info.txt as required by the tracker bug
Created attachment 341809 [details] amixer_before.txt as required by the tracker bug
Created attachment 341810 [details] amixer_after.txt as required by the tracker bug Note that after running « alsactl init » The « Master » channel was not at maximum. However, even when setting at 100%, sound is too faint. After messing with the mixers, setting the « Master » mixer to 100% makes sound too loud, but at least it has a meaning: I can make sound faint or loud if I desire. Before that, I had to choose between too faint or inaudible.
Here are the files requested in the tracker bug. As for the full context, it's a laptop with only 2 built-in speakers. I'll try to play again with the /lib/alsa/init/hda file as per the informations Adam provided in comment #1.
I tried: CARDINFO{mixername}=="SigmaTel STAC9228", \ ATTR{subsystem_vendor}=="0x1028", ATTR{subsystem_device}=="0x022f", \ GOTO="Dell Inspiron 1525" As well as: CARDINFO{mixername}=="HDA-Intel", \ ATTR{subsystem_vendor}=="0x1028", ATTR{subsystem_device}=="0x022f", \ GOTO="Dell Inspiron 1525" Neither worked, still getting the « unknown hardware » message :-/ What I find weird is that in the message, the last two fields are supposed to represent the subsystem_vendor and subsystem_device. This can be seen in /lib/alsa/init/00main: ERROR="Unknown hardware: \"$cardinfo{driver}\" \"$cardinfo{mixername}\" \"$cardinfo{components}\" \"$attr{subsystem_vendor}\" \"$attr{subsystem_device}\"\n" (seems like the definition of the error message) However, in the message I get, both of those fields are empty. Could it be that « alsactl init » doesn't manage to get those values, and so it fails the test in the /lib/alsa/init/hda file ?
well, then I'm not sure what's wrong, but we now definitely have enough info for someone smarter to be able to look at it :) -- Fedora Bugzappers volunteer triage team https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/BugZappers
According to CONFIG{sysfs_device} initialization, the attributes are read from /sys/class/sound/controlC0/device tree. Does this directory exist on your system?
It does: # ll /sys/class/sound/controlC0/device lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 0 avril 29 20:42 /sys/class/sound/controlC0/device -> ../../card0 And then: # ll /sys/class/sound/card0/ total 0 drwxr-xr-x. 3 root root 0 avril 29 19:49 controlC0 lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 0 avril 29 21:53 device -> ../../../0000:00:1b.0 drwxr-xr-x. 3 root root 0 avril 29 21:53 hwC0D0 drwxr-xr-x. 3 root root 0 avril 29 21:53 hwC0D1 drwxr-xr-x. 3 root root 0 avril 29 21:53 hwC0D2 -rw-r--r--. 1 root root 4096 avril 29 21:53 id -r--r--r--. 1 root root 4096 avril 29 21:53 number drwxr-xr-x. 3 root root 0 avril 29 21:53 pcmC0D0c drwxr-xr-x. 3 root root 0 avril 29 21:53 pcmC0D0p drwxr-xr-x. 3 root root 0 avril 29 21:53 pcmC0D3p drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 0 avril 29 21:53 power lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 0 avril 29 21:53 subsystem -> ../../../../../class/sound -rw-r--r--. 1 root root 4096 avril 29 21:53 uevent
The sysfs tree was changed in recent kernels. I updated the alsactl tool now. The patch is here: http://git.alsa-project.org/?p=alsa-utils.git;a=commitdiff;h=94ac54bff1e15e69c7c722695c3b259a3bb5c6c0 It will be in alsa-utils-1.0.20 (and I'll update Fedora packages ASAP aftter 1.0.20 release). Please, change 00main to for your testing purposes: CONFIG{sysfs_device}="/class/sound/card$cardinfo{card}/device" Also, do not forget to test and initialize Microphone input on your platform to some safe value.
Works fine with this change of configuration, now « alsactl init » doesn't complain and sets the mixers to the values I added in the /lib/alsa/init/hda file :) About input, I don't really know how to test it. It seems like my laptop has an integrated speaker (which I didn't even know ^^). « alsamixer -c0 » lists the following capture channels: # those 3 are mixers with a « volume bar » - Capture (set to 100% by default) - Capture 1 (set to 0 by default) - Capture 2 (set to 0 by default) # those 3 are only switches allowing me to choose # between « Mic », « Front Mic » and « Line » # all set to « Mic » by default - Input Source - Input Source 1 - Input Source 2 # those 3 are mixers with a « volume bar » # all set to 0 by default - Mux - Mux 1 - Mux 2 Messing with the entries « 1 » and/or « 2 » doesn't seem to do anything. « Capture » is already set to 100% by default, and when I yell at my laptop, then playback what I recorded with output volume to maximum, I can hear a faint whisper of what I yelled. If I set « Mux » to something above 0, then I hear way better what I recorded, but there's too much noise. So I guess input is already well set... Should I also try with external mic (webcam) ? (just to be sure, the line you asked me to modify for testing purpose will not be necessary with the latest alsa-utils when it's out right ?)
Can you re-test with alsa-utils 1.0.20 and confirm the current status of this bug? It's available from rawhide (real rawhide, f12) or f11 updates-candidates, currently. Or directly via koji: http://koji.fedoraproject.org/koji/buildinfo?buildID=102232
I already have alsa-utils 1.0.20, and I'm on F11 (moved on it from Rawhide), and I didn't take it in Koji or in the updates candidates. Is it normal ? o_O $ rpm -q alsa-utils alsa-utils-1.0.20-2.fc11.x86_64 When it updated, the lines I had modified (see above) disappeared, I guess that's because it's not a %config file so it was replaced. Now, when I boot my computer, the Front and PCM mixers are at 100%, which allows me to listen to music nicely and use the gnome-volume-control mixer :) If I run « alsactl init », I get the following: # alsactl init Unknown hardware: "HDA-Intel" "SigmaTel STAC9228" "HDA:14f12c06,14f1000f,00100000 HDA:10951392,1028022f,00100000 HDA:83847616,1028022f,00100201" "0x1028" "0x022f" Hardware is initialized using a guess method /usr/share/alsa/init/default:51: control element not found /usr/share/alsa/init/default:52: missing closing brace for format /usr/share/alsa/init/default:52: error parsing CTL attribute /usr/share/alsa/init/default:52: invalid rule Still the « unknown hardware » message, lots of weird errors, but the mixers in alsamixer are still at 100%, which is fine. So basically, some scary messages but sound is great !
Same thing with today's update and alsa-utils-1.0.20-3.fc11.x86_64, except that the weird messages disappeared: # alsactl init Unknown hardware: "HDA-Intel" "SigmaTel STAC9228" "HDA:14f12c06,14f1000f,00100000 HDA:10951392,1028022f,00100000 HDA:83847616,1028022f,00100201" "0x1028" "0x022f" Hardware is initialized using a guess method If I knew anything about audio, I'd say the bug is fixed :)
Yes, it seems like it is. Thanks for the report. (I'm hoping to get the updated alsa-utils into F11 GA, btw.)