Ubuntu 12.04 - no more OSS sound

[Seb@OSS]

Hi All,

after upgrading Ubuntu to 12.04 release, I' m no more able to hear sound (on Youtube videos, mp3 files...). I hear sound only playing on VLC (after telling it to use OSS in some preferences settings).
Of course before upgrading I had no problems with OSS with all sound applications.

The osstest output sounds correctly; attached the OSSMIX output and then OSSINFO -v3.

I have two sound cards: one on motherboard, and Sound Blaster Live! on PCI slot (that I wish to be the default one).

Maybe I have to tell the system to use OSS and the right card.
In the system audio setting I only see 'Output dummy'.

Anyone can help me?
Thank you

[cesium]

Perhaps the /dev/dsp symlink isn't right? Try running 'sudo ossdevlinks -v -r' and then setting it up manually (see here). If that doesn't work, please do attach the ossinfo and ossmix outputs (which somehow dropped off, or at least I can't see them).

[Seb@OSS]

Thank you for the answer,
I tried to do 'sudo ossdevlinks -v -r' and then setting up manually (i.e. sudo ln -sf /dev/oss/oss_sblive0/pcm0 /dev/dsp , "vmixctl attach" before 'exit 0' line in soundon.user and "vmix_no_autoattach=1" line to the $OSSLIBDIR/conf/osscore.conf file)
but I cannot hear sound on default ubuntu applications (like Rhythmbox).

I don't succeed in uploading the txt outputs of ossmix and ossinfo.
I paste it...


OSSMIX:

Selected mixer 0/SB Live (TR28023)
Known controls are:
line [<leftvol>:<rightvol>] (currently 32:32)
line.rec ON|OFF (currently ON)
mic <monovol> (currently 0)
mic.rec ON|OFF (currently OFF)
cd [<leftvol>:<rightvol>] (currently 75:75)
cd.rec ON|OFF (currently OFF)
igain [<leftvol>:<rightvol>] (currently 75:75)
aux1 [<leftvol>:<rightvol>] (currently 32:32)
aux1.rec ON|OFF (currently OFF)
phone [<leftvol>:<rightvol>] (currently 0:0)
phone.rec ON|OFF (currently OFF)
autorese ON|OFF (currently ON)
spkmode <FRONT|SURR|FRONT+SURR|DISCRETE> (currently FRONT+SURR)
pcm.main <monovol> (currently 100)
pcm.front <monovol> (currently 100)
pcm.side <monovol> (currently 100)
pcm.c/l <monovol> (currently 100)
pcm5 [<leftvol>:<rightvol>] (currently 100:100)
vol [<leftvol>:<rightvol>] (currently 80:80)
equalizer.prescale <monovol> (currently 100)
equalizer.lo <monovol> (currently 128)
equalizer.mid <monovol> (currently 128)
equalizer.hi <monovol> (currently 128)
equalizer.xhi <monovol> (currently 128)
equalizer.bypass ON|OFF (currently OFF)
front.spdif <monovol> (currently 100)
front.digcd <monovol> (currently 100)
front.ac97 <monovol> (currently 0)
front.pcm <monovol> (currently 100)
front.aux <monovol> (currently 100)
front.vol [<leftvol>:<rightvol>] (currently 100:100)
surr.spdif <monovol> (currently 0)
surr.digcd <monovol> (currently 0)
surr.ac97 <monovol> (currently 0)
surr.pcm <monovol> (currently 100)
surr.aux <monovol> (currently 0)
surr.vol [<leftvol>:<rightvol>] (currently 100:100)
record.spdif <monovol> (currently 100)
record.digcd <monovol> (currently 100)
record.ac97 <monovol> (currently 100)
record.pcm <monovol> (currently 0)
record.aux <monovol> (currently 100)
record.vol [<leftvol>:<rightvol>] (currently 100:100)








OSSINFO:

Version info: OSS 4.2 (b 2006/201202060645) (0x00040100)
Platform: Linux/i686 3.2.0-24-generic #38-Ubuntu SMP Tue May 1 16:21:07 UTC 2012 (seba-A7N8X-X)

Number of audio devices: 5
Number of audio engines: 5
Number of MIDI devices: 1
Number of mixer devices: 1


Device objects
0: osscore0 OSS core services
1: oss_sblive0 SB Live interrupts=61920 (62003)
2: oss_usb0 USB audio core services

MIDI devices (/dev/midi*)
0: SB Live external MIDI (MIDI port 1 of device object 1)
Device file /dev/oss/oss_sblive0/mid0, Legacy device /dev/midi00
Modes: IN/OUT , Available for use
Caps:
Minimum latency: Not indicated
Device handle: PCI80271102-0000:01:08.0-md01


Mixer devices
0: SB Live (TR28023) (Mixer 0 of device object 1)
Device file /dev/oss/oss_sblive0/mix0, Legacy device /dev/mixer0
Priority: 2
Caps:
Device handle: PCI80271102-0000:01:08.0-mx01
Device priority: 2


Audio devices
SB Live main /dev/oss/oss_sblive0/pcm0 (device index 0)
Legacy device /dev/dsp0
Caps: DUPLEX TRIGGER MMAP
Modes: IN/OUT
Engine 1: 0/SB Live main
Available for use
Input formats (0x00000010):
AFMT_S16_LE - 16 bit signed little endian
Output formats (0x00000418):
AFMT_U8 - 8 bit unsigned
AFMT_S16_LE - 16 bit signed little endian
AFMT_AC3 - AC3 (Dolby Digital) encoded audio
Device handle: PCI80271102-0000:01:08.0-au01
Related mixer dev: 0
Sample rate source: 0
Preferred channel configuration: Not indicated
Supported number of channels (min - max): 1 - 2
Native sample rates (min - max): 8000 - 48000 (8000,11025,16000,22050,24000,32000,44100,48000)
HW Type: Not indicated.
Minimum latency: Not indicated

SB Live front out /dev/oss/oss_sblive0/pcm1 (device index 1)
Legacy device /dev/dsp1
Caps: TRIGGER MMAP
Modes: OUTPUT
Out engine 1: 1/SB Live front out
Available for use
Input formats (0x00000010):
AFMT_S16_LE - 16 bit signed little endian
Output formats (0x00000418):
AFMT_U8 - 8 bit unsigned
AFMT_S16_LE - 16 bit signed little endian
AFMT_AC3 - AC3 (Dolby Digital) encoded audio
Device handle: PCI80271102-0000:01:08.0-au02
Related mixer dev: 0
Sample rate source: 0
Preferred channel configuration: Not indicated
Supported number of channels (min - max): 1 - 2
Native sample rates (min - max): 8000 - 48000 (8000,11025,16000,22050,24000,32000,44100,48000)
HW Type: Not indicated.
Minimum latency: Not indicated

SB Live side out /dev/oss/oss_sblive0/pcm2 (device index 2)
Legacy device /dev/dsp2
Caps: TRIGGER MMAP
Modes: OUTPUT
Out engine 1: 2/SB Live side out
Available for use
Input formats (0x00000010):
AFMT_S16_LE - 16 bit signed little endian
Output formats (0x00000418):
AFMT_U8 - 8 bit unsigned
AFMT_S16_LE - 16 bit signed little endian
AFMT_AC3 - AC3 (Dolby Digital) encoded audio
Device handle: PCI80271102-0000:01:08.0-au03
Related mixer dev: 0
Sample rate source: 0
Preferred channel configuration: Not indicated
Supported number of channels (min - max): 1 - 2
Native sample rates (min - max): 8000 - 48000 (8000,11025,16000,22050,24000,32000,44100,48000)
HW Type: Not indicated.
Minimum latency: Not indicated

SB Live center/lfe out /dev/oss/oss_sblive0/pcm3 (device index 3)
Legacy device /dev/dsp3
Caps: TRIGGER MMAP
Modes: OUTPUT
Out engine 1: 3/SB Live center/lfe out
Available for use
Input formats (0x00000010):
AFMT_S16_LE - 16 bit signed little endian
Output formats (0x00000418):
AFMT_U8 - 8 bit unsigned
AFMT_S16_LE - 16 bit signed little endian
AFMT_AC3 - AC3 (Dolby Digital) encoded audio
Device handle: PCI80271102-0000:01:08.0-au04
Related mixer dev: 0
Sample rate source: 0
Preferred channel configuration: Not indicated
Supported number of channels (min - max): 1 - 2
Native sample rates (min - max): 8000 - 48000 (8000,11025,16000,22050,24000,32000,44100,48000)
HW Type: Not indicated.
Minimum latency: Not indicated

SB Live 5.1 output device /dev/oss/oss_sblive0/pcm4 (device index 4)
Legacy device /dev/dsp4
Caps: TRIGGER MMAP
Modes: OUTPUT
Out engine 1: 4/SB Live 5.1 output device
Available for use
Input formats (0x00000010):
AFMT_S16_LE - 16 bit signed little endian
Output formats (0x00000010):
AFMT_S16_LE - 16 bit signed little endian
Device handle: PCI80271102-0000:01:08.0-au05
Related mixer dev: -1
Sample rate source: 1
Preferred channel configuration: MULTICH
Supported number of channels (min - max): 2 - 6
Native sample rates (min - max): 8000 - 48000
HW Type: Not indicated.
Minimum latency: Not indicated


Nodes
/dev/dsp -> /dev/oss/oss_sblive0/pcm0
/dev/dsp_in -> /dev/oss/oss_sblive0/pcm0
/dev/dsp_out -> /dev/oss/oss_sblive0/pcm0
/dev/dsp_ac3 -> /dev/oss/oss_sblive0/pcm0
/dev/dsp_mmap -> /dev/oss/oss_sblive0/pcm0
/dev/dsp_multich -> /dev/oss/oss_sblive0/pcm4

[cesium]

OK. Two ideas:

A) Looking at the output, vmix isn't attached now to anywhere. You probably forgot to chmod +x the soundon.user file? Anyhow, you may wish to revert these changes.

B) Maybe default Ubuntu apps fail because they try to use Pulseaudio and Pulse isn't set up? See here how to fix it.

[thomassisson]

I was trying to find a satisfactory sound solution because PulseAudio sets the maximum volume to midrange on my computer. After installing OSS4, I discovered that the server could not start and certain functions like soundon and soundoff are missing. Here is what I discovered while searching the internet.

Canonical/Ubuntu has chosen to disable OSS support in their kernels and ignore any bugs filed against OSS4 packages. If you're considering using OSS4, you should probably use another Linux distro like Arch Linux. This page remains for historical/reference reasons.

See OpenSound - Community Ubuntu Documentation for details.

I signed up here just to post this. I hope it is at least helpful, if not a solution.

[igorzwx]

I was trying to find a satisfactory sound solution because PulseAudio sets the maximum volume to midrange on my computer. After installing OSS4, I discovered that the server could not start and certain functions like soundon and soundoff are missing. Here is what I discovered while searching the internet.

Canonical/Ubuntu has chosen to disable OSS support in their kernels and ignore any bugs filed against OSS4 packages. If you're considering using OSS4, you should probably use another Linux distro like Arch Linux. This page remains for historical/reference reasons.

See OpenSound - Community Ubuntu Documentation for details.

I signed up here just to post this. I hope it is at least helpful, if not a solution.

1. If "soundon and soundoff are missing", this simply means that OSS4 was not installed.

Code: Select all

$ whereis soundon
soundon: /usr/sbin/soundon /usr/share/man/man1/soundon.1.gz

2. OSS4 does not have any server inside. OSS4 is not a "sound server".

A sound server is software that manages the use of and access to audio devices, most notably, the soundcard. It usually runs as a background process. The term could also apply to a complete computer which is in a server role, dedicated to audio streaming or a networked or stand-alone appliance for playing sounds and sound files. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_server

For example, PulseAudio is a sound server. Have you already removed it?
If not, you may try this: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/OpenS ... PulseAudio

3. OSS4 usually works with Ubuntu. Although, of course, certain soundcards are not supported.

You may type on terminal:

Code: Select all

$ lspci -vnn

and post the result.

CONCLUSION: (1) You have not installed OSS4. (2) You have ALSA, and you are trying, perhaps, to use ALSA emulation of OSS. It does not work, because certain ALSA modules are not loaded.

To make it clear, type on terminal:

Code: Select all

$ lsmod | grep snd
$ lsmod | grep oss

If you want to know how to load ALSA modules, you may read the ALSA manual of Arch Linux: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ad ... are_loaded
If you have problems with ALSA, you may better ask for help on ALSA forum.