HDAudio woes

[keantoken]

Attached is a screenshot of my mixer. I can get playback to work, but I can't record anything. Recently I tried several things and now I have even more options. A wiki entry I read said to mess with the "middle" section, but as you can see there are several "middle" sections. Why can't someone make a program to just randomize mixer controls so I can just keep pressing a button and eventually get the right config? That might actually help. Surely a program could be faster at this?

[igorzwx]

Attached is a screenshot of my mixer. I can get playback to work, but I can't record anything. Recently I tried several things and now I have even more options. A wiki entry I read said to mess with the "middle" section, but as you can see there are several "middle" sections. Why can't someone make a program to just randomize mixer controls so I can just keep pressing a button and eventually get the right config? That might actually help. Surely a program could be faster at this?

"input3-mux" might be a kind of "modem", for example:

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$ ossinfo
Mixer devices
0: High Definition Audio STAC9205 (Mixer 0 of device object 1)

Audio devices
HD Audio play front               /dev/oss/oss_hdaudio0/pcm0  (device index 0)
HD Audio play rear                /dev/oss/oss_hdaudio0/pcm1  (device index 1)
HD Audio play modem-out           /dev/oss/oss_hdaudio0/pcm2  (device index 2)
HD Audio rec rec1-mux             /dev/oss/oss_hdaudio0/pcmin0  (device index 3)
HD Audio rec rec2-mux             /dev/oss/oss_hdaudio0/pcmin1  (device index 4)
HD Audio rec modem-out            /dev/oss/oss_hdaudio0/pcmin2  (device index 5)

Nodes
  /dev/dsp -> /dev/oss/oss_hdaudio0/pcm0
  /dev/dsp_in -> /dev/oss/oss_hdaudio0/pcm0
  /dev/dsp_out -> /dev/oss/oss_hdaudio0/pcm0
  /dev/dsp_mmap -> /dev/oss/oss_hdaudio0/pcm0
  /dev/dsp_multich -> /dev/oss/oss_hdaudio0/pcm0

Recently I tried several things and now I have even more options.

You may better restore the initial state with "less options".

Have you studied the OSS4 manual in ArchWiki?
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Open_Sound_System

[keantoken]

Here is the output from ossinfo:

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$ ossinfo
Version info: OSS 4.2 (b 2005/201108051838) (0x00040100) TRIAL
Platform: Linux/i686 2.6.38-13-generic #53-Ubuntu SMP Mon Nov 28 19:23:39 UTC 2011 (ubuntu)

Number of audio devices:   13
Number of audio engines:   21
Number of MIDI devices:      0
Number of mixer devices:   2


Device objects
0: osscore0 OSS core services
1: oss_audigyls0 AudigyLS interrupts=754 (754)
2: oss_hdaudio0 Intel HD Audio interrupts=10464 (10464)
    HD Audio controller Intel HD Audio
    Vendor ID    0x8086284b
    Subvendor ID 0x80862111
    **** Warning: Diagnostic mode enabled (hdaudio_snoopy) ****
     Codec  2: STAC9227X (0x83847618/0x80862111)
3: oss_usb0 USB audio core services

MIDI devices (/dev/midi*)

Mixer devices
0: AudigyLS Mixer (Mixer 0 of device object 1)
1: High Definition Audio STAC9227X (Mixer 0 of device object 2)

Audio devices
AudigyLS front                    /dev/oss/oss_audigyls0/pcm0  (device index 0)
AudigyLS center/lfe               /dev/oss/oss_audigyls0/pcm1  (device index 1)
AudigyLS surround                 /dev/oss/oss_audigyls0/pcm2  (device index 2)
AudigyLS 5.1 output               /dev/oss/oss_audigyls0/pcm3  (device index 3)
HD Audio play front:2:2           /dev/oss/oss_hdaudio0/pcm0  (device index 4)
HD Audio play center/LFE:2:3      /dev/oss/oss_hdaudio0/pcm1  (device index 5)
HD Audio play rear:2:4            /dev/oss/oss_hdaudio0/pcm2  (device index 6)
HD Audio play side:2:5            /dev/oss/oss_hdaudio0/pcm3  (device index 7)
HD Audio play spdif-out:2:30      /dev/oss/oss_hdaudio0/spdout0  (device index 8)
HD Audio rec input1-mux:2:7       /dev/oss/oss_hdaudio0/pcmin0  (device index 9)
HD Audio rec input2-mux:2:8       /dev/oss/oss_hdaudio0/pcmin1  (device index 10)
HD Audio rec input3-mux:2:9       /dev/oss/oss_hdaudio0/pcmin2  (device index 11)
HD Audio rec spdifin:2:32         /dev/oss/oss_hdaudio0/spdin0  (device index 12)

Nodes
  /dev/dsp -> /dev/oss/oss_hdaudio0/pcm0
  /dev/dsp_in -> /dev/oss/oss_audigyls0/pcm0
  /dev/dsp_out -> /dev/oss/oss_audigyls0/pcm0
  /dev/dsp_ac3 -> /dev/oss/oss_audigyls0/pcm0
  /dev/dsp_mmap -> /dev/oss/oss_audigyls0/pcm0
  /dev/dsp_multich -> /dev/oss/oss_audigyls0/pcm3

And here it is with snoopy disabled:

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$ ossinfo
Version info: OSS 4.2 (b 2005/201108051838) (0x00040100) TRIAL
Platform: Linux/i686 2.6.38-13-generic #53-Ubuntu SMP Mon Nov 28 19:23:39 UTC 2011 (ubuntu)

Number of audio devices:   13
Number of audio engines:   21
Number of MIDI devices:      0
Number of mixer devices:   2


Device objects
0: osscore0 OSS core services
1: oss_audigyls0 AudigyLS
2: oss_hdaudio0 Intel HD Audio interrupts=10385 (10385)
    HD Audio controller Intel HD Audio
    Vendor ID    0x8086284b
    Subvendor ID 0x80862111
     Codec  2: STAC9227X (0x83847618/0x80862111)
3: oss_usb0 USB audio core services

MIDI devices (/dev/midi*)

Mixer devices
0: AudigyLS Mixer (Mixer 0 of device object 1)
1: High Definition Audio STAC9227X (Mixer 0 of device object 2)

Audio devices
AudigyLS front                    /dev/oss/oss_audigyls0/pcm0  (device index 0)
AudigyLS center/lfe               /dev/oss/oss_audigyls0/pcm1  (device index 1)
AudigyLS surround                 /dev/oss/oss_audigyls0/pcm2  (device index 2)
AudigyLS 5.1 output               /dev/oss/oss_audigyls0/pcm3  (device index 3)
HD Audio play front               /dev/oss/oss_hdaudio0/pcm0  (device index 4)
HD Audio play center/LFE          /dev/oss/oss_hdaudio0/pcm1  (device index 5)
HD Audio play rear                /dev/oss/oss_hdaudio0/pcm2  (device index 6)
HD Audio play side                /dev/oss/oss_hdaudio0/pcm3  (device index 7)
HD Audio play spdif-out           /dev/oss/oss_hdaudio0/spdout0  (device index 8)
HD Audio rec input1-mux           /dev/oss/oss_hdaudio0/pcmin0  (device index 9)
HD Audio rec input2-mux           /dev/oss/oss_hdaudio0/pcmin1  (device index 10)
HD Audio rec input3-mux           /dev/oss/oss_hdaudio0/pcmin2  (device index 11)
HD Audio rec spdifin              /dev/oss/oss_hdaudio0/spdin0  (device index 12)

Nodes
  /dev/dsp -> /dev/oss/oss_hdaudio0/pcm0
  /dev/dsp_in -> /dev/oss/oss_audigyls0/pcm0
  /dev/dsp_out -> /dev/oss/oss_audigyls0/pcm0
  /dev/dsp_ac3 -> /dev/oss/oss_audigyls0/pcm0
  /dev/dsp_mmap -> /dev/oss/oss_audigyls0/pcm0
  /dev/dsp_multich -> /dev/oss/oss_audigyls0/pcm3

Maybe someone could make a program that plays a tone, so the user can hook their card up in loopback mode, and the program will blitz through mixer settings and autodetect the tone to identify working mixer settings.

I have tried inspecting the recording with baudline, which reveals many interesting things, such as interference from multiple simultaneous clocks running, such as 96Khz and 44.1Khz and even the IMD product of 51.9KHz (96khz-44.1khz)! Amazing! But unfortunately it hasn't helped me...

[igorzwx]

Maybe someone could make a program that plays a tone, so the user can hook their card up in loopback mode, and the program will blitz through mixer settings and autodetect the tone to identify working mixer settings.

You may try (on Arch LiveCD) a program like this:

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$ ossrecord -vl - | ossplay -
Recording wav: Speed 48000Hz 16 bits Stereo
- [        ..] 18.00 secs VU --

[keantoken]

I have been using ossrecord, and looking a the noise in the recording. So far I have found one setting that look promising, but I haven't found any jack for it. I have just discovered my onboard sound also has a connector for my front panel with more jacks, so I will start testing those.

[igorzwx]

I have been using ossrecord, and looking a the noise in the recording. So far I have found one setting that look promising, but I haven't found any jack for it. I have just discovered my onboard sound also has a connector for my front panel with more jacks, so I will start testing those.

Read "man ossrecord" and try Archiso-live. It is now available for download:

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http://godane.wordpress.com/2011/01/05/archiso-live-20110104-release/

The manual is here: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3933#p17316

[cesium]

Can you paste the output of 'ossmix -a' here? Also, you can try setting hdaudio_noskip=7 for extra mixer controls...

[igorzwx]

Also, you can try setting hdaudio_noskip=7 for extra mixer controls...

He already tried, see the screenshot.

[keantoken]

I already did the noskip=7 thing.

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$ ossmix -a
Selected mixer 1/High Definition Audio STAC9227X
Known controls are:
jack.fp-green.mode <front|center/LFE|input> (currently front)
jack.pink.mode <front|center/LFE|input> (currently input)
jack.blue.mode <center/LFE|input> (currently center/LFE)
jack.blue.center/lfe [<leftvol>:<rightvol>] (currently 76.4:76.4 dB)
jack.green.mode <front|input> (currently front)
jack.green.front [<leftvol>:<rightvol>] (currently 61.4:61.4 dB)
jack.internal.mode1 <rear|input> (currently rear)
jack.internal.rear [<leftvol>:<rightvol>] (currently 76.4:76.4 dB)
jack.internal.mode2 <side|input> (currently side)
jack.internal.side [<leftvol>:<rightvol>] (currently 77.1:77.1 dB)
jack.internal.mode3 <rear|input> (currently rear)
jack.internal.mode4 <center/LFE|input> (currently center/LFE)
jack.gray.mode <spdif-out|adat|input1-mux|input2-mux|input3-mux> (currently spdif-out)
record.input1-mux.input1-mux1 [<leftvol>:<rightvol>] (currently 0.0:0.0 dB)
record.input1-mux.input1-mux2 <rear|cd|mic|center/LFE|rear|center/LFE> (currently mic)
record.input1-mux [<leftvol>:<rightvol>] (currently 0.0:0.0 dB)
record.input1-mux.mute ON|OFF (currently ON)
record.input2-mux.input2-mux1 [<leftvol>:<rightvol>] (currently 0.0:0.0 dB)
record.input2-mux.input2-mux2 <rear|cd|mic|center/LFE|rear|center/LFE> (currently mic)
record.input2-mux [<leftvol>:<rightvol>] (currently 0.0:0.0 dB)
record.input2-mux.mute ON|OFF (currently ON)
record.input3-mux.input3-mux1 [<leftvol>:<rightvol>] (currently 29.9:29.9 dB)
record.input3-mux.input3-mux2 <rear|cd|mic|center/LFE|rear|center/LFE> (currently mic)
record.input3-mux [<leftvol>:<rightvol>] (currently 0.0:0.0 dB)
record.input3-mux.mute ON|OFF (currently OFF)
misc.headphone [<leftvol>:<rightvol>] (currently 76.4:76.4 dB)
misc <-28.-8dB|-19.-2dB|-9.-6dB|0.0dB> (currently -28.-8dB)
vmix1-enable ON|OFF (currently ON)
vmix1-rate <decimal value> (currently 192000) (Read-only)
vmix1-channels <Stereo|Multich> (currently Stereo)
vmix1-src <Fast|High|OFF> (currently High)
vmix1-outvol <monovol> (currently 25.0 dB)
vmix1-invol <monovol> (currently 25.0 dB)
vmix1.pcm17 [<leftvol>:<rightvol>] (currently 25.0:25.0 dB)
vmix1.pcm18 [<leftvol>:<rightvol>] (currently 25.0:25.0 dB)
vmix1.pcm19 [<leftvol>:<rightvol>] (currently 25.0:25.0 dB)
vmix1.pcm20 [<leftvol>:<rightvol>] (currently 25.0:25.0 dB)

I plugged in the front panel jack and the front panel microphone jack works. I wish I could get the rear mic working, as I suspect it will have less interference. On the other hand, I suspect most of the interference is the volatile mix of several simultaneous samplerate clocks, which should have been turned off in hardware when not in use, and I think this affects every jack.

[igorzwx]

There is also another problem. If you plug headphones into the mic jack, they may work better.
Otherwise, you may get "clicks". I have this effect with Dell Latitude D531.
Such problems, i.e., "clicks with OSS4", (for other notebooks) had been reported on the Russian Ubuntu forum in 2009.

[keantoken]

I do get clicks. I think it is from some power saving feature, turning off the sound. I don't know if headphone would help, my experience is that the clicks are worse on headphones. I can even hear the clicks of my mouse moving between pixels... Sometimes I can hear this even on speakers.

[igorzwx]

I do get clicks. I think it is from some power saving feature, turning off the sound. I don't know if headphone would help, my experience is that the clicks are worse on headphones. I can even hear the clicks of my mouse moving between pixels... Sometimes I can hear this even on speakers.

It does not matter, headphones or "external speakers". With Intel HDA, you can use "mic jack" as "headphone jack", and other way round. Although of course, it may not always work with buggy Linux drivers.

[keantoken]

Is there any possibility of me getting all my jacks to work right? I'm trying to get line-in, but all I can get is the microphone which distorts badly at line volumes. I don't see much logic in the mixer controls.

[igorzwx]

Is there any possibility of me getting all my jacks to work right? I'm trying to get line-in, but all I can get is the microphone which distorts badly at line volumes. I don't see much logic in the mixer controls.

The ritual of "trial and error" may work wonders, if it is correctly performed.

Troubleshooting HDAudio devices
Understanding why problems arise
If you have a HDAudio sound device, it is very likely that you will have to adjust some mixer settings before your sound works.
HDAudio devices are very powerful in the sense that they can contain a lot of small circuits (called widgets) that can be adjusted by software at any time. These controls are exposed to the mixer, and they can be used, for example, to turn the earphone jack into a sound input jack instead of a sound output jack.
However, there is a side effect, mainly because the HDAudio standard is more flexible than it perhaps should be, and because the vendors often only care to get their official drivers working.
Then, when using HDAudio devices, you often find disorganized mixer controls, that does not work at all by default, and you are forced to try every mixer control combination, until it works.
How to solve
Open ossxmix and try to change every mixer control...
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/OS ... io_devices