[SOLVED] ALSA (snd_pcm_dmix_open) unable to open slave

[Piglou]

Hi,

After a fresh install with lxde-core, lightdm, alsa-utils, alsactl init (alsactl init 0, alsactl init 1) and settings with alsamixer (volume and unmute), here I am.

No sound anymore, and hidden error messages on aplay command lines.
It was working with the complete task-lxde-desktop package : It means that something is missing here but I don't know what.
For gurus here it will probably be obvious but not for me

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root@Asus-Julien:~# cd /usr/share/filezilla/resources
root@Asus-Julien:/usr/share/filezilla/resources# dir
16x16  32x32   cyril		   dropdown.png  lone	      sun	 up.png
20x20  48x48   defaultfilters.xml  finished.wav  minimal      tango	 xrc
24x24  blukis  down.png		   leds.png	 opencrystal  theme.xml
root@Asus-Julien:/usr/share/filezilla/resources# aplay finished.wav 
ALSA lib pcm_dmix.c:1022:(snd_pcm_dmix_open) unable to open slave
aplay: main:722: audio open error: No such file or directory
root@Asus-Julien:/usr/share/filezilla/resources# 

It's a chance I saw it !
It's like GUI software developers aren't aware about any way to give important information to the user ! like everybody's living in a terminal or into a cave
Of course it's useful to be able to design scripts that can handle everything by command lines, but it's not supposed be a good GUI for average users like me

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root@Asus-Julien:/usr/share/filezilla/resources# aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: HDMI [HDA Intel HDMI], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: HDMI [HDA Intel HDMI], device 7: HDMI 1 [HDMI 1]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: HDMI [HDA Intel HDMI], device 8: HDMI 2 [HDMI 2]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: CX20751/2 Analog [CX20751/2 Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
root@Asus-Julien:/usr/share/filezilla/resources# 

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root@Asus-Julien:/usr/share/filezilla/resources# alsactl init 0
Found hardware: "HDA-Intel" "Intel Haswell HDMI" "HDA:80862807,80860101,00100000" "0x8086" "0x2010"
Hardware is initialized using a generic method
root@Asus-Julien:/usr/share/filezilla/resources# alsactl init 1
Found hardware: "HDA-Intel" "Conexant CX20751/2" "HDA:14f1510f,1043178d,00100100" "0x1043" "0x178d"
Hardware is initialized using a generic method

So, what do you think about that ? Where is the missing part ?

Thank you in advance !

[Head_on_a_Stick]

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root@Asus-Julien:/usr/share/filezilla/resources# aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: HDMI [HDA Intel HDMI], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: HDMI [HDA Intel HDMI], device 7: HDMI 1 [HDMI 1]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: HDMI [HDA Intel HDMI], device 8: HDMI 2 [HDMI 2]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: CX20751/2 Analog [CX20751/2 Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
root@Asus-Julien:/usr/share/filezilla/resources# 

Your HDMI output is set the default, you need to set the "Analog" [sic] output as the default.
https://wiki.debian.org/ALSA#Troubleshooting

What drivers are the cards using?

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lspci -knn|grep -iA2 audio

[Piglou]

Hi,

I tried to start my computer with a TV on the HDMI socket but even if I had the picture, the sound problem was the same.

For the link you described, I didn't know what to put as name instead of "snd-trident" and "snd-usb-audio" :

/etc/modprobe.d/sound:

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  options snd-trident index=0
  options snd-usb-audio index=1

Do you have any idea ? I hope this is not "snd_hda_intel" because it's the same for HDMI and PCH
EDIT : I'm now trying with PCH and HDMI
EDIT 2 : Not working !
EDIT 3 : It worked in the past (before reinstalling) on this same computer, just had to unmute the sound card that was already the second one (but it still worked)

For the drivers you asked :

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root@Asus-Julien:/home/jrobin# lspci -knn|grep -iA2 audio
00:03.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor HD Audio Controller [8086:0c0c] (rev 06)
	Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device [8086:2010]
	Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
--
00:1b.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset High Definition Audio Controller [8086:8c20] (rev 05)
	Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device [1043:178d]
	Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
root@Asus-Julien:/home/jrobin# 

Also, I looked after the differences between "lxde-core" and "task-lxde-desktop" but I didn't find anything about the sound that haven't been installed now

[Head_on_a_Stick]

Remove all the files you have created and instead create a file called /etc/modprobe.d/default.conf with this content:

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options snd_hda_intel index=1

Then reboot.

[Piglou]

That's awesome
Thank you !

But how did you know that ?
I'm reading debian wikis, I try to simplify and separate things in order to handle the complexity, forgetting others complicated advices to understand and play things myself, but for inventing such solutions using files I saw nowhere (well in fact the file was not even existing in the disk nor in the wiki !), I'm satisfied because it works, and, at the same time, I'm completely lost, because in front of "2 cards", simply using the one I want is impossible for me without asking for help here (as no card was working I wasn't even aware of cause of the problem)

I hope this can help somebody else looking on Google !
And if you can give me some tips to find this kind of solutions, it would be really great

Thank you very much for all

[Head_on_a_Stick]

Excellent stuff -- you're welcome

how did you know that ?

My AMD laptop has an analogue card and an HDMI card that both use the snd-hda-intel driver and that file works on my system.

I got the trick from the magnificent ArchWiki:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ad ... sound_card

Please add "[SOLVED]" to the title of the thread to help others with this problem.

[CPLANAS1985]

Hello... I'm new to the forum...

I'm trying to run the WeatherSTAR 4000 Simulator on my computer...

But I get this:

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root@CPLANASDTW:~/WeatherSTAR 4000# ./WS4000v4
ALSA lib pcm_dmix.c:1089:(snd_pcm_dmix_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dmix.c:1089:(snd_pcm_dmix_open) unable to open slave

I then looked at my setup and I found this:

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root@CPLANASDTW:~# aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: ALC269VB Analog [ALC269VB Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: Speaker [Logitech USB Speaker], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]
  Subdevices: 0/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

Which is inexplicable because all of the audio on the computer comes through the USB-connected speakers...

I need help... What can I do!?!?

[Scorpion]

I need help... What can I do!?!?

Try what it was said above:

Remove all the files you have created and instead create a file called /etc/modprobe.d/default.conf with this content:
options snd_hda_intel index=1