Re: [gentoo-user] After yrs of silence... I need sound

[Joshua Murphy <poisonbl@gmail.com>]

On Sun, Sep 6, 2009 at 5:41 PM, Harry Putnam<reader@newsguy.com> wrote:
> I've gone literally for yrs with no sound on my desktop machines.... I
> rarely find a need for it.
>
> But now I'm trying to take some online courses and find trying to work
> on windows machine when coding and other sorts of editor intensive
> stuff is involved... I really feel much more adept on linux.
>
> Anyway cutting to the chase... its been so long since I even looked
> into gettting sound working.. I'm sort of stunned at the realization I
> have no clue at all as to how to get started.
>
> I hoped to avoid reading acres of documentation.  Starting way at the
> bottom etc etc.
>
> Hoping some kind sole will take the time to provide a brief outline
> off the top of there head... how to get started and cut right to the
> chase in an hour or two.
>
> My setup is profile x86/2008.0
> On this architecture and kernel <past the `-r1' is my own versioning
> Linux reader 2.6.30-gentoo-r1_rdr_5 #6 [...]i686 Intel(R) Celeron(R)
>  CPU 3.06GHz GenuineIntel GNU/Linux
> I try to keep within a week or two being up to date most of the time.
>
> I've got speakers hooked up at back of the machine in the `green'
> hole.
>
> I get nothing sound wise when attempting to play a music or video
> file.
>
> Neither do I see any errors:  mplayer some.wav from a cmdprompt shows
> the file playing... but I'm hearing nothing.
>
> Below are a few chunks of info that hopefully will be useful to
> someone diagnostically:
>
> My kernel has also enabled pci sound devices/:
>  <M>   (Creative) Ensoniq AudioPCI 1370
>  <M>   (Creative) Ensoniq AudioPCI 1371/1373
>
> lspci -vv shows this item:
>
>  00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER
>   (ICH5/ICH5R) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 02)
>
>   Subsystem: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. 865PE Neo2-V
>   (MS-6788) Mainboard
>
>   Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr-
>   Stepping- SERR- FastB2B- DisINTx-
>
>   Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort-
>   <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- INTx-
>
>   Latency: 0
>   Interrupt: pin B routed to IRQ 12
>   Region 0: I/O ports at dc00 [size=256]
>   Region 1: I/O ports at d800 [size=64]
>   Region 2: Memory at febffa00 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=512]
>   Region 3: Memory at febff900 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
>   Capabilities: <access denied>
>   Kernel driver in use: Intel ICH
>   Kernel modules: snd-intel8x0

Well... here we go then, the order I check things myself:

1) Drivers. According to your lspci output there, your kernel already
has the drivers for the card
--
Kernel driver in use: Intel ICH
--
and so that's covered.

2) Are the needed channels muted? Once you unmute them, assuming
alsa-utils is installed and the alsa service is started, the volumes
and muted/unmuted state should be saved between reboots (configurable
in /etc/conf.d/).

3) ... I rarely get this far.

-- 
Poison [BLX]
Joshua M. Murphy