F10 - No sound on my OQO

[Nigel Henry]

On Friday 05 December 2008 17:27, Robert Moskowitz wrote:
> Nigel Henry wrote:

> > I notice that alsa-driver is version 1.0.17, but you have alsa lib
> > 1.0.18rc3, and alsa-utils 1.0.18. I don't yet have F10 installed to
> > compare, but did you upgrade the alsa libs, and alsa utils?
> >
> > You could disable pulseaudio, with a yum remove alsa-plugins-pulseaudio.
> > I don't think it will change anything regarding the card being detected,
> > but it's worth a reboot after removing that package just to see.
> >
> > Also open a terminal, su to root and run, tail -f /var/log/messages, then
> > open another terminal, and su to root, and run the following commands.
> > modprobe -r snd-hda-intel
> > modprobe snd-hda-intel
> >
> > See for any messages, and if modprobe snd-hda-intel complains.
>
> No messages from the modprobes. But the modprobe snd-hda-intel did not
> create a /etc/modprobe.conf nor did it update any file in /etc/modprobe.d/
>
> tailing messages showed:
>
> Dec 5 11:04:01 oqo4 gnome-session[2267]: WARNING: Application
> 'libcanberra-login-sound.desktop' failed to register before timeout
> Dec 5 11:04:03 oqo4 pulseaudio[2636]: pid.c: Stale PID file, overwriting.
> Dec 5 11:19:29 oqo4 kernel: HDA Intel 0000:02:01.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 17
> (level, low) -> IRQ 17
> Dec 5 11:19:30 oqo4 kernel: ALSA sound/pci/hda/hda_intel.c:609:
> hda_intel: azx_get_response timeout, switching to polling mode: last
> cmd=0x000f0000
> Dec 5 11:19:31 oqo4 kernel: ALSA sound/pci/hda/hda_intel.c:616:
> hda_intel: azx_get_response timeout, switching to single_cmd mode: last
> cmd=0x000f0000
> Dec 5 11:19:31 oqo4 kernel: __ratelimit: 4 callbacks suppressed
> Dec 5 11:19:31 oqo4 kernel: ALSA sound/pci/hda/hda_intel.c:1232:
> hda-intel: no codecs initialized
> Dec 5 11:19:31 oqo4 kernel: HDA Intel 0000:02:01.0: PCI INT A disabled
>
> Working on disabling pulseaudio.

Hi Robert.

Sorry about being slow to reply. I've been busy pulling my hair out with a 
sound problem of my own.

With reference to the azx timeout messages above, I found something in the 
ALSA-Configuration.txt file, as below.

<quote>
 NB: If you get many "azx_get_response timeout" messages at
    loading, it's likely a problem of interrupts (e.g. ACPI irq
    routing).  Try to boot with options like "pci=noacpi".  Also, you
    can try "single_cmd=1" module option.  This will switch the
    communication method between HDA controller and codecs to the
    single immediate commands instead of CORB/RIRB.  Basically, the
    single command mode is provided only for BIOS, and you won't get
    unsolicited events, too.  But, at least, this works independently
    from the irq.  Remember this is a last resort, and should be
    avoided as much as possible...
    
    MORE NOTES ON "azx_get_response timeout" PROBLEMS:
    On some hardwares, you may need to add a proper probe_mask option
    to avoid the "azx_get_response timeout" problem above, instead.
    This occurs when the access to non-existing or non-working codec slot
    (likely a modem one) causes a stall of the communication via HD-audio
    bus.  You can see which codec slots are probed by enabling
    CONFIG_SND_DEBUG_VERBOSE, or simply from the file name of the codec
    proc files.  Then limit the slots to probe by probe_mask option.
    For example, probe_mask=1 means to probe only the first slot, and
    probe_mask=4 means only the third slot.
<end quote>

Trying pci=noacpi is no problem, just append the kernel line in Grubs menu 
when you boot.

To try the module options, add them just one at a time, to the 
file /etc/modprobe.conf . If that file doesn't exist, just create it. 
Examples below.

options snd-hda-intel single_cmd=1
options snd-hda-intel probe_mask=1

You could also try specifying what should be the default model option for the 
STAC9200 codec, which is ref (reference board). I see that for the 1.0.14 
alsa driver, there is only this model option listed for STAC9200, but for the 
1.0.17 alsa driver, there are several, as below.

<quote>
STAC9200
   ref  Reference board
   dell-d21 Dell (unknown)
   dell-d22 Dell (unknown)
   dell-d23 Dell (unknown)
   dell-m21 Dell Inspiron 630m, Dell Inspiron 640m
   dell-m22 Dell Latitude D620, Dell Latitude D820
   dell-m23 Dell XPS M1710, Dell Precision M90
   dell-m24 Dell Latitude 120L
   dell-m25 Dell Inspiron E1505n
   dell-m26 Dell Inspiron 1501
   dell-m27 Dell Inspiron E1705/9400
   gateway Gateway laptops with EAPD control
   panasonic Panasonic CF-74
<end quote>

Again don't have more than one options line uncommented at a time, 
in /etc/modprobe.conf. Useage as below.

options snd-hda-intel model=ref

All the best.

Nigel.