Solved: No sound (internal) asus eeepc (realtek ALC269vb)

[mr_y82]

Ok guys, so I am new to Salix, but not to Linux... I am ok in the terminal, but not brilliant (I need google and smart folks like you to help me navigate). I am trying to get an Asus EeePC ready to donate to a friend who has faced a lot of misfortune... I settled on Salix spontaneously (because I prefer rolling distros) and everything is working brilliantly apart from the sound, which does not work from the internal speakers, but the headphone jack works fine. Researching the audio card (Realtek ALC269VB) revealed others have had this problem, in Salix and other distros.... i.e. viewtopic.php?f=16&t=3123

This is what I have done... I apologize for the length ahead of time...

1) Followed directions here, checking with alsamixer first and everything looked normal: https://docs.salixos.org/wiki/No_sound_ ... r_speakers

a) did not see an .asoundrc file, so I created “/etc/modprobe.d/snd-hda-intel.conf” and entered:

options snd-hda-intel model=auto

reboot = same problem

b)Installed the kernel source
but it did not create folder or file: /usr/src/linux/Documentation/sound/alsa/HD-Audio-Models.txt

c) So, I googled the file (https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentatio ... Models.txt), but did not understand what I should use in "model=x" (x being name from .txt file); unlike the example in the "step 1 link," which had computer models listed, my search of the .txt for "ALC269" was found 3 times, but I did not see a name I thought should replace x:

ALC22x/23x/25x/269/27x/28x/29x (and vendor-specific ALC3xxx models)
======
laptop-amic Laptops with analog-mic input
laptop-dmic Laptops with digital-mic input
alc269-dmic Enable ALC269(VA) digital mic workaround
alc271-dmic Enable ALC271X digital mic workaround
inv-dmic Inverted internal mic workaround
headset-mic Indicates a combined headset (headphone+mic) jack
headset-mode More comprehensive headset support for ALC269 & co
headset-mode-no-hp-mic Headset mode support without headphone mic
lenovo-dock Enables docking station I/O for some Lenovos
hp-gpio-led GPIO LED support on HP laptops
dell-headset-multi Headset jack, which can also be used as mic-in
dell-headset-dock Headset jack (without mic-in), and also dock I/O
alc283-dac-wcaps Fixups for Chromebook with ALC283
alc283-sense-combo Combo jack sensing on ALC283
tpt440-dock Pin configs for Lenovo Thinkpad Dock support

2) Since I did not know what to use in the file I created above, I went on to this to see if it would help, even though it did not appear to be the problem: https://docs.salixos.org/wiki/How_to_de ... _Alsa_card

a) I did not see “ALSA sound card" in my system menu, so I made sure “salixtools-gtk” was installed, which it is, so I am not sure why it is not in the menu, but I created /etc/profile.d/alsa.sh with vi and added:

#!/bin/sh
default_alsa_card=Intel
export ALSA_CARD=$default_alsa_card
export ALSA_PCM_CARD=$default_alsa_card
export ALSA_CTL_CARD=$default_alsa_card

b) I made it executable:

chmod +x /etc/profile.d/alsa.sh

I rebooted again and still no luck... I think it was at this point that th
the volume indicator began jumping up and down from 50-100%, but no
sound actually came out of internal speakers (headphone jack still working).

3) As a kinda futile step before asking for help, I installed
dolphin-plugins from KDE repository (because the person in the first
link above said some KDE tool for Dolphin had magically fixed his, and
that was the closest thing I could find... lol…).
Reboot=same.

4) I then followed the same thread and created asound.rc as follows:

pcm.!default {
type hw
card 1
}

ctl.!default {
type hw
card 1
}

Rebooted and still no luck... I’m at a loss and about to test Manjaro on it to see if it works… I’d love to save this installation of Salix if anyone thinks they can help!? Thanks!!!

[gapan]

There have been some changes in 14.2 and some of those things are not up to date. Pulseaudio is the default soundserver now and because of that there is no "ALSA sound card" tool in the menu. So I would first undo everything in your /etc/profile.d/alsa.sh and asound.rc files.

You could also try

Code: Select all

options snd-hda-intel model=generic

in your /etc/modprobe.d/snd-hda-intel.conf file and see if that works. If not, revert it back to "auto". I don't see any other options being relevant in your case.

But it may be easier than that. Start playing something and open "PulseAudio Volume Control" from the menu. You have to keep something playing in the background for some options to show up. It may be that you only have to enable some output device that is now disabled. I know I have separate outputs for headphones and HDMI audio output and have to switch between the two. If that is the case, there is a way to make it output to both in the same time, but let's see first.

[mimosa]

I'll just add that I have had trouble getting used to the PA volume control interface. Some things are not intuitive at first, but I'm sure they will become so as we get used to it. Come to think of it, Alsa wasn't always terribly intuitive either.

What gapan said about having something playing to see more options is a good example. Things got a lot easier for me after I realised that.

I still do find if I don't have my (USB) headphones plugged in at boot, I can't find them anywhere to turn them on, if I plug them in later. I'm sure I'm missing something and it is intended to be "plug and play".

[djemos]

@mr_y82 Check IDs with:

Code: Select all

cat /proc/asound/card0/id
cat /proc/asound/card1/id

Then do something like

Code: Select all

options snd-hda-intel id=SB,HDMI index=0,1

and reboot

It could be

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options snd-hda-intel id=SB index=1 

or

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options snd-hda-intel id=SB_1 index=1 

and reboot

[mr_y82]

Thanks djemos.

"cat /proc/asound/card0/id" = "Intel"
"cat /proc/asound/card1/id" = "No such file or directory"... Is that ok?

There have been some changes in 14.2 and some of those things are not up to date. Pulseaudio is the default soundserver now and because of that there is no "ALSA sound card" tool in the menu. So I would first undo everything in your /etc/profile.d/alsa.sh and asound.rc files.

You could also try

Code: Select all

options snd-hda-intel model=generic

in your /etc/modprobe.d/snd-hda-intel.conf file and see if that works. If not, revert it back to "auto". I don't see any other options being relevant in your case.

But it may be easier than that. Start playing something and open "PulseAudio Volume Control" from the menu. You have to keep something playing in the background for some options to show up. It may be that you only have to enable some output device that is now disabled. I know I have separate outputs for headphones and HDMI audio output and have to switch between the two. If that is the case, there is a way to make it output to both in the same time, but let's see first.

Thank you! I did check with pulse audio volume control before posting... It showed both Chromium and Firefox appearing to play with internal speakers, but no actual sound.

I deleted my .asoundrc file after creating it and it failing to work, I will delete alsa.sh too, before trying your suggestion.

[mr_y82]

Some good news guys, I did gapan's "generic" suggestion after undoing my previous "work," and on a reboot the sound is working normally!

The new catch you might ask? I tried to play .mp3 and realized I need codec, so I tried the included installer in the multimedia menu and got this error:

"There was an error connecting to one of the repositories.
Make sure you have a working internet connection and
the right sources specified in /etc/slapt-get/slapt-getrc."

I do have a working connection and here are the contents of said file; I (of course) have no idea if that is ll good to go or not...

# Working directory for local storage/cache.
WORKINGDIR=/var/slapt-get

# Exclude package names and expressions.
# To exclude pre and beta packages, add this to the exclude:
# [0-9\_\.\-]{1}pre[0-9\-\.\-]{1}
EXCLUDE=^aaa_elflibs,^aaa_base,^devs,^glibc.*,^kernel-.*,^rootuser-settings,^zzz-settings.*,-x86_64-

# The Slackware repositories, including dependency information
SOURCE=http://salix.hostingxtreme.com/i486/sla ... /:OFFICIAL
SOURCE=http://salix.hostingxtreme.com/i486/sla ... /:OFFICIAL

# The Salix repository
SOURCE=http://salix.hostingxtreme.com/i486/14.2/:PREFERRED
# And the Salix extra repository
SOURCE=http://salix.hostingxtreme.com/i486/ext ... /:OFFICIAL

# Local repositories
# SOURCE=file:///var/www/packages/:CUSTOM

Further suggestions from those who just saved the current Salix install on this eeePC? I am happy to be rescuing it!


EDIT: Gapan, a search for salix repository multimedia codecs directed me to your page: https://github.com/gapan?tab=repositories
...and I can see your dog a lot better there... cute dog! I see you have a codecs tool... Is that relevant to my new codec problem?

[mimosa]

Try selecting a different mirror:

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sudo reposetup

though what you have ought to work. Also, you should probably take the opportunity to do a general package upgrade if (as is perhaps the case) you haven't yet - this should just pop up automatically from the applet.

[mr_y82]

mimosa,

Most excellent! There was no applet prompting an update, so I ran "sudo slapt-get -u" and then the codecs downloaded just fine! Since that worked I did not run the "reposetup" command (no need to now, right?)

Mp3s are now playing in Exaile, but Parole Media Player still gives the error (I don't care so much as Exaile works fine, but thought I'd toss it out here anyway):
"GStreamer backend error
Could not initialize Xv output"

I remember having a backend error or two when I was a kid, but my dad threatening "a swift kick in the a$$" always solved the problem!

You guys seem to have a great community! Thanks so much for the patient support from all; I may have to migrate one of my other machines to Salix as I will be giving this one away next week!

Cheers!