[solved] no system sound after second restart CMI8788 audio

[Cubby]

Hi,

my sound card is shown in kinfo centre:

Config Options: 0

Installed drivers
Type 10: ALSA emulation

Card config:
C-Media Oxygen HD audo (rev2) at 0xa000, irq 20
MPU-401 UART at 0x330, irq 10

Audio devices:
0: analog (duplex)

Synth Devices: NOT ENABLED IN CONFIG

Midi devices:
1: MPU-401 UART MIDI

Timers:
7: system timer

Mixers:
0: CMI8788
1: mixer10

The above shows, I think, that cmi8788 isn't being used for mixer. When I right click on the audio icon in kicker, and select mixer, it shows Master is selected and at bottom, has the correct mixer as C-Media CMI8788 where the slider bar for "left/right balancing" is.


So, my problem is with ALSA sound output in KDE CE Elyssa. I only found this out this week as I normally do not have my speakers plugged in as they emit an annoying hissing sound due to the poor design of my Altec Lansing speakers. Anyway, a week ago I noticed I had no sound in KDE Mint, so I did a reinstall to see when it occurred. I get system sound with the live CD and I get system sound after the initial reboot upon installation, but after this, I lose system sound upon restart or reboot. I noticed in Adept there were 84 updates, and some of those were kernel updates, module updates, header updates, so I let it get those, but Adept would crash when my dial-up ISP cut me off after 4 hours, and wouldn't remember what I had downloaded and would start from the beginning again. I got annoyed at this (old problem with Adept) and started synaptic as root and let it grab 256 updates, and those included the above mentioned, plus arts. I thought this would help, but I still do not get system sound from Auto Detect, or ALSA. I get system sound if I switch to OSS or threaded open sound of System Sound.

Thanks for looking over the problem. I have onboard audio disabled in BIOS. I had no problems with sound using Mint Gnome Elyssa with KDE apps stacked on top of it.

Regards,
Lisa

[Husse]

I think you may get the problem because you use Synaptic and/or Adept to update your system
We created mintUpdate to help you make safe updates and not include headers and the like for the sake of stability
I see that you have a dial up an that does not make things easier

[Cubby]

Hi Husse,

Thanks so much for the feedback!
The first time I installed Mint KDE Elyssa about two weeks ago, I didn't realize when the sound problem started, and I only used the default settings in Mint Update to fetch updates and that time I had lost ALSA system sound, but didn't know when it exactly happened. I did a reinstall a few days ago, due to my screen resolution problem with nVidia (the other post ) and decided to resintall both KDE Mint and the other distro I have on the second hd, to see when sound was lost. And the what I noticed is I had sound when I tried the live CD and also after the initial installation when you click 'restart', I had system sound then, too, but upon another restart, that is when I lost the sound. I didn't do any updates at that time, but did decide to see if there were any kernel and module updates in Adept to see if this would solve the sound issue. And, as I mentioned I ended up using Synaptic which had many updates, so I decided to let them all get them all. You're right, it took a while.

Since I'm still in the early stages of installation, I can always try another re-install to be for certain when exactly the ALSA system sound was lost, but I'm pretty certain that it was just after the second restart of the system. Then, if it is a bug, I can let them know and it can be solved in the future. I have no problems with this. At least I can get sound when I switch it to OSS or open thread sound.

I appreciate your time!
Regards,
Lisa

*edited to add, that I did a re-install and have restarted Mint KDE several times and cold booted it a couple of times and I still have sound (PCM switch is still set to highest point in kmix). So, I would take a guess that the switch was re-switched when doing an update via Mint Update or as I did the second time, using Synaptic.

[Cubby]

Hi Husse and all,

Turned out to be a simple fix. I switch gets re-switched.

I learned about it after reading this post
http://www.linuxmint.com/forum/viewtopi ... 09&t=18337
and Boo's reply about PCM. I checked out KMIX icon in kicker panel and it is set to Master channel and in "Show Mixer Window" the PCM switch was at bottom (zero output). I simply slid it to the very top and checked system sound. Yes. Restarted system and have system sound.

Thanks so much for your time!

Lisa