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Sound problems in Debian (or LMDE, or PCLinuxOS, or....)

Graphical Environments, Managers, Multimedia & Desktop questions.
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SixString
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Sound problems in Debian (or LMDE, or PCLinuxOS, or....)

#1 Post by SixString »

I just built a new system with a Gigabyte GA-A75M-UD2H FM1 motherboard and an AMD A8-3870 CPU. The board has onboard Intel HDA audio. Trying to get sound to work has been a nightmare. In each case below, I Googled to death, tried umpteen suggestions (make sure Alsamixer or volume control isn't muted, changing configuration files, uninstall/install Pulseaudio, etc.). Nothing has really worked.

1) Mint LMDE (kernel 2.6 and 3.0): Sound worked through the analog out plugs but was very crackly and broken. No sound through HDMI. After an update to kernel 3.0, sound worked fine through the analog ports, but still nothing through HDMI. Also, no sound at all on Flash videos (i.e., YouTube) in the browsers, though it does play WAV files and MP3s. After several days of Googling Flash issues, I gave up.

2) Debian 6.0.3 (kernel 2.6): No sound anywhere. On the media player, the speaker icon is even grayed out, though the files (MP3 or MPEG video) are playing.

3) PCLinuxOS (kernel 2.6): Like LMDE under kernel 2.6, no sound via HDMI and when playing MP3s through the analog outs, I get crackling, broken sound. No sound at all with my browser playing WAVs or Flash.

At this point, I don't even care which distro I end up: just give me sound! Can anyone please help? Thanks.

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Re: Sound problems in Debian (or LMDE, or PCLinuxOS, or....)

#2 Post by dilberts_left_nut »

You don't say which video board you have.

http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php? ... 03#p417439

This article is for NVIDIA HDMI audio, although there is some good info & troubleshooting tips that could help with other hardware too.
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SixString
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Re: Sound problems in Debian (or LMDE, or PCLinuxOS, or....)

#3 Post by SixString »

I'm using the CPU onboard video: Radeon HD 6550D.

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Re: Sound problems in Debian (or LMDE, or PCLinuxOS, or....)

#4 Post by dilberts_left_nut »

Ok, so the details will be a bit different, but the same basic concepts and procedure will be the same.
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SixString
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Re: Sound problems in Debian (or LMDE, or PCLinuxOS, or....)

#5 Post by SixString »

I finally tried Ubuntu 11.10. Sound, flash, all worked out of the box. Don't know what the problems with the other distros are...

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Re: Sound problems in Debian (or LMDE, or PCLinuxOS, or....)

#6 Post by SixString »

I finally tried Ubuntu 11.10. Sound, flash, all worked out of the box. Don't know what the problems with the other distros are...

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grege
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Re: Sound problems in Debian (or LMDE, or PCLinuxOS, or....)

#7 Post by grege »

You are using brand new hardware. It was never going to work with Debian 6 without a lot of mucking about. It all comes down to kernel and Alsa and Pulseaudio versions. You need very new versions of all.

You could run Debian Testing which is now a 3.1 kernel and it should all work. Just install from a Netinst image and let it update in the install process. Also install Gnome-Alsamixer and the Pulseaudio support programs.

LMDE with all the updates applied should also work. You can also install Liquorix kernels to get the latest and greatest.

OR, just keep using Ubuntu.

Murdock
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Re: Sound problems in Debian (or LMDE, or PCLinuxOS, or....)

#8 Post by Murdock »

Nonsense from the replies to the OP's question.
Sound management in Linux----especially with onboard sound devices--- is a giant piece of rhinoceros excrement.
What I usually do is hit the BIOS, disable the onboard, and throw in a $7 Encore 5 channel card. I buy them ten at a time.
I had the same problem yesterday with an Acer Veriton 5600G. I didn't even waste my time opening ALSAMIX. I rebooted, disabled the onboard crap,plugged in the card,booted up and was back in business.
Motherboards made today SUCK and it appears that Linux sound will always suck.

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Re: Sound problems in Debian (or LMDE, or PCLinuxOS, or....)

#9 Post by Murdock »

.........and everyone wonders why Mac is #1 now. :roll:

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Re: Sound problems in Debian (or LMDE, or PCLinuxOS, or....)

#10 Post by craigevil »

I have installed and ran Debian on several desktops, laptops, and a netbook. Not once did I have issues with sound. Other than one time when a package in sid updated and broke DVD sound, but that was fixed the next day.

Shiny new hardware is not going to work using Debian Stable period. Either use Testing or Sid.
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grege
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Re: Sound problems in Debian (or LMDE, or PCLinuxOS, or....)

#11 Post by grege »

I am with Craig. I have installed Debian, LMDE and Ubuntu on a myriad of devices using ALSA and Pulseaudio and using Analog out and spidif and HDMI. The only problems I have had have all been solvable just by getting a newer version of Alsa or a new kernel.

My current desktop is using a Mini-ITX ECS board with an i3, ALC892 audio, running Wheezy/Sid and outputting to a pair of Audioengine 2 speakers. The sound quality is superb. Skype works perfectly with a USB mike.

Like all things Linux you use Google to check Linux compatibility before you buy. It is no use buying first, finding it does not work then carrying on about it in forums.

SixString
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Re: Sound problems in Debian (or LMDE, or PCLinuxOS, or....)

#12 Post by SixString »

Well, congratulations to everyone who doesn't have sound issues. That doesn't really help those of us who do. I did Google before selecting this MB/CPU and found people saying they had no problems with it. That's not my experience, so don't flame me like this is my fault. I've been working on this for 2 weeks now and finally found one (ONE) distro that worked: Ubuntu 11.10. Sadly, since multiple people in this household use this computer (or will, if I ever get it working), I discovered a (common) problem with that distro: it often locks up fast-switching users. But, hey, isn't that LightDM cool? So what if it locks up?

If Ubuntu can properly use all my hardware out of the box, why can no other distro?

It's ridiculous: buying mainstream popular hardware, then adding a current OS to it, and I can't even play a damn CD or watch a movie! I love Linux--been using it for over two years--but sometimes you need an MS in computer science to do something as simple as listen to music or watch YouTube. Clearly, it's still an OS for hobbyists who love getting daily kernel updates, recompiling their own software, and tinkering with configuration files.

FWIW, I put my decade-old copy of XP on a 2nd partition: everything worked out of the box (after installing the drivers): video, sound, flash--even sound through my HDMI.

If I can't finally get this resolved, I'm steeling myself to get Windows 7. But first maybe I'll try adding a separate audio card as suggested above. (As I said--ridiculous.)

SixString
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Re: Sound problems in Debian (or LMDE, or PCLinuxOS, or....)

#13 Post by SixString »

Well, congratulations to everyone who doesn't have sound issues. That doesn't really help those of us who do. I did Google before selecting this MB/CPU and found people saying they had no problems with it. That's not my experience, so don't flame me like this is my fault. I've been working on this for 2 weeks now and finally found one (ONE) distro that worked: Ubuntu 11.10. Sadly, since multiple people in this household use this computer (or will, if I ever get it working), I discovered a (common) problem with that distro: it often locks up fast-switching users. But, hey, isn't that LightDM cool? So what if it locks up?

If Ubuntu can properly use all my hardware out of the box, why can no other distro?

It's ridiculous: buying mainstream popular hardware, then adding a current OS to it, and I can't even play a damn CD or watch a movie! I love Linux--been using it for over two years--but sometimes you need an MS in computer science to do something as simple as listen to music or watch YouTube. Clearly, it's still an OS for hobbyists who love getting daily kernel updates, recompiling their own software, and tinkering with configuration files.

FWIW, I put my decade-old copy of XP on a 2nd partition: everything worked out of the box (after installing the drivers): video, sound, flash--even sound through my HDMI.

If I can't finally get this resolved, I'm steeling myself to get Windows 7. But first maybe I'll try adding a separate audio card as Murdoch suggested above. (As I said--ridiculous.)

SixString
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Re: Sound problems in Debian (or LMDE, or PCLinuxOS, or....)

#14 Post by SixString »

Well, congratulations to everyone who doesn't have sound issues. That doesn't really help those of us who do. I did Google before selecting this MB/CPU and found people saying they had no problems with it. That's not my experience, so don't flame me like this is my fault. I've been working on this for 2 weeks now and finally found one (ONE) distro that worked: Ubuntu 11.10. Sadly, since multiple people in this household use this computer (or will, if I ever get it working), I discovered a (common) problem with that distro: it often locks up fast-switching users. But, hey, isn't that LightDM cool? So what if it locks up?

If Ubuntu can properly use all my hardware out of the box, why can no other distro?

It's ridiculous: buying mainstream popular hardware, then adding a current OS to it, and I can't even play a damn CD or watch a movie! I love Linux--been using it for over two years--but sometimes you need an MS in computer science to do something as simple as listen to music or watch YouTube. Clearly, it's still an OS for hobbyists who love getting daily kernel updates, recompiling their own software, and tinkering with configuration files.

FWIW, I put my decade-old copy of XP on a 2nd partition: everything worked out of the box (after installing the drivers): video, sound, flash--even sound through my HDMI.

If I can't finally get this resolved, I'm steeling myself to get Windows 7. But first maybe I'll try adding a separate audio card as Murdock suggested above. (As I said--ridiculous.)

notthatguy
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Re: Sound problems in Debian (or LMDE, or PCLinuxOS, or....)

#15 Post by notthatguy »

Just the day before yesterday I installed wheezy on a system with that motherboard and I didn't do a single thing to get sound working. Go figure.

notthatguy
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Re: Sound problems in Debian (or LMDE, or PCLinuxOS, or....)

#16 Post by notthatguy »

Murdock wrote: Sound management in Linux----especially with onboard sound devices--- is a giant piece of rhinoceros excrement.
Idiocy! Pure idiocy.

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grege
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Re: Sound problems in Debian (or LMDE, or PCLinuxOS, or....)

#17 Post by grege »

@Sixstring

We go around to the same point again. If Ubuntu works, then just use Ubuntu. If Ubuntu works then Linuxmint 12 will work. I love LMDE, but the reality is that it is not for beginners. LMDE and Debian Wheezy take knowledge and constant maintenance, plus Debian has a philosophy of using only non proprietary drivers. So if you install new hardware and get no sound, and VGA graphics then you have to work at finding the missing firmware and drivers you need. That is just the way it is.

From your posts it appears that Linuxmint 12 will work without you having to do anything. It comes pre-installed with every driver and piece of firmware available, DVD decoder, video and sound decoders, latest flash etc etc. Mint also has lively forums with help with any issue. One tip, do not install the ATI video driver as it will kill Gnome 3. Just use the Gallium driver that will be installed in the beginning. And always do the updates.

If you want easy, out of the box ready, then Linuxmint 12 is for you.
Last edited by grege on 2012-02-06 11:18, edited 1 time in total.

dtl131
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Re: Sound problems in Debian (or LMDE, or PCLinuxOS, or....)

#18 Post by dtl131 »

Ubuntu 11.10 uses Alsa 1.0.24. Debian stable is stuck with Alsa 1.0.21 kernel module unless you use the backport kernel. Do you see the problem with trying to compare ubuntu 11.10 with debian stable (or even testing)? Compare it with sid.

cannae
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Re: Sound problems in Debian (or LMDE, or PCLinuxOS, or....)

#19 Post by cannae »

Do some research next time:

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=a ... _a75&num=4

Ideally you want kernel 3.2, so Ubuntu or any recent testing would be a decent choice. If I were building for Stable, right now with the 2.6 kernel, I'd stick with basic hardware, something like 880G + AMD Athlon/Phenom, not the latest and greatest. Give testing another shot, though.


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