[SOLVED] HDMI audio does not work (Z83 mini pc)

[LMNic]

Hi all,
I'm not exactly an expert linux user. I have got a Z83 mini pc (intel inside) and I am not able to activate the audio on the hdmi interface.

Just tried this solution without good results: viewtopic.php?t=274487

This my answer at inxi -Fxz command

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minipc@minipc-Z83-II:~$ inxi -Fxz
System:
  Host: minipc-Z83-II Kernel: 5.4.0-84-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc 
  v: 7.5.0 Desktop: Xfce 4.12.3 Distro: Linux Mint 19.1 Tessa 
  base: Ubuntu 18.04 bionic 
Machine:
  Type: Desktop System: AZW product: Z83 II v: N/A serial: <filter> 
  Mobo: AMI model: Cherry Trail CR serial: <filter> 
  UEFI: American Megatrends v: BT3020 date: 12/12/2016 
CPU:
  Topology: Quad Core model: Intel Atom x5-Z8350 bits: 64 type: MCP 
  arch: Airmont rev: 4 L2 cache: 1024 KiB 
  flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 11520 
  Speed: 480 MHz min/max: 480/1920 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 482 2: 497 
  3: 480 4: 752 
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel Atom/Celeron/Pentium Processor x5-E8000/J3xxx/N3xxx Series 
  PCI Configuration Registers 
  driver: i915 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.19.6 driver: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa 
  resolution: 1680x1050~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel HD Graphics (CHV) v: 4.6 Mesa 20.0.8 
  direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: bytcht-es8316 driver: bytcht-es8316 
  message: bus/chip ids unavailable 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-84-generic 
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet 
  driver: r8169 v: kernel port: e000 bus ID: 01:00.0 
  IF: enp1s0 state: down mac: <filter> 
  Device-2: Atheros AR9271 802.11n type: USB driver: ath9k_htc bus ID: 1-2:3 
  IF: wlx90f6520c2197 state: up mac: <filter> 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 28.91 GiB used: 17.70 GiB (61.2%) 
  ID-1: /dev/mmcblk0 model: NCard size: 28.91 GiB 
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 27.83 GiB used: 17.69 GiB (63.6%) fs: ext4 
  dev: /dev/mmcblk0p2 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 58.0 C mobo: N/A 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Info:
  Processes: 190 Uptime: 7m Memory: 1.87 GiB used: 715.3 MiB (37.3%) 
  Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 7.5.0 Shell: bash v: 4.4.20 
  inxi: 3.0.27 

any help, please?
Thank you.
Nicola

[LMNic]

Really no one with any ideas?
Am I posting the question in the wrong section ?
Thank you!!
Nic

[Aztaroth]

Did you install pavucontrol ?

Mint 19.1 Tessa Release Notes

Sound and microphone issues

If you're facing issues with your microphone or your sound output, please install "pavucontrol".

This will add "PulseAudio Volume Control" to your menu. This application has more configuration options than the default volume control.

https://linuxmint.com/rel_tessa_xfce.php

[LMNic]

Thank you Aztaroth,
yes, pavucontrol is installed. In the "Output Devices" tab I have only the DeepBuffer Playback Port and this "sounds not good" in my opinion. Is it?
Using the hdmi interface the audio channel is managed by graphic interface, is it right? May I look at this part? Graphic driver involved?
Thank you in advance.
Nic

[Aztaroth]

Thank you Aztaroth,
yes, pavucontrol is installed. In the "Output Devices" tab I have only the DeepBuffer Playback Port and this "sounds not good" in my opinion. Is it?
Using the hdmi interface the audio channel is managed by graphic interface, is it right? May I look at this part? Graphic driver involved?
Thank you in advance.
Nic

Graphic driver isn't involved. In fact, HDMI capable means your graphic card has an integrated sound chip. See example of mine

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Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA GK106 [GeForce GTX 645 OEM] driver: nouveau v: kernel 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.8 driver: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa 
  resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: NVE6 v: 4.3 Mesa 20.0.8 
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 8 Series/C220 Series High Definition Audio 
  driver: snd_hda_intel 
  Device-2: NVIDIA GK106 HDMI Audio driver: snd_hda_intel 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-84-generic 

My Nvidia Graphic card also has also an audio driver for its audio HDMI chip.

About your problem, here's another topic with the same kind. It ceases without telling if issue was solved or not, but it's definitely worth reading it, because MrEen is one of the best sound experts of this forum.
viewtopic.php?t=289507

Also, you don't have the native LM19.1 kernel which is 4.15 Did you perform an upgrade of your own ?

[LMNic]

About your problem, here's another topic with the same kind. It ceases without telling if issue was solved or not, but it's definitely worth reading it, because MrEen is one of the best sound experts of this forum.
viewtopic.php?t=289507

I will look and try the solution proposed, the hw is the same I have in my minipc. Thank you for this advice; A couple of days ago I tried to send a PM to MrEen but no answer untill today. He will be busy, I'm sure.

Also, you don't have the native LM19.1 kernel which is 4.15 Did you perform an upgrade of your own ?

Yes, I tried to update the kernel to the last version, just to have a try.
Thank you Aztaroth

[frank84]

Hello LMNic,

I am just a beginner so I don't have any real expertise to offer. However, I will try to help with some suggestions that might lead to some more expert help.

An expert on sound might be able to look at your inxi -Fxz output and see something that clearly needs fixing and then be able to directly tell you how to fix it. But even with my lack of expertise, I would guess this line from your inxi -Fxz output constitutes a red flag:

message: bus/chip ids unavailable

Here is an excerpt from my inxi -Fxz output (below). It shows bus IDs for both of my audio devices. So this leads me to guess that your sound components will need to be more fully identified/recognized by the system for you to make progress on your sound issue. But again, I am just guessing -- without any expertise.

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Audio:
  Device-1: Intel vendor: Dell driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel 
  bus ID: 00:1f.3 
  Device-2: NVIDIA TU106 High Definition Audio vendor: Dell 
  driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 02:00.1 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.11.0-34-generic 

Now, some suggestions that I hope might help:

I believe there may indeed be a better place for you to ask for help. You might want to try posting in the Sound sub-forum.

Clearly MrEen has great expertise on sound issues and has helped many people. But I believe the individuals providing assistance in the forum are almost exclusively helping as volunteers and any particular one of them could be very busy with other things. So if you want to take advantage of some of MrEen's expertise while waiting to hopefully hear from him or other sound experts, you might want to take a look at this website which is linked from MrEen's LM Forum profile page. You could also go to the advanced forum search and search for him by using the "Search for Author" option so you can scan through the titles of his previous posts for some that look like they could be helpful for you.

Finally, since I know how frustrating having no sound can be, I will humor you with the magic-based approach that fixed my lack of sound via HDMI cable one time:

After trying everything I read about in the forum and other places I researched, plus then trying everything else I could think of to get sound to work, I decided to use my USB stick with the LM .ISO burned onto it to launch a new Live Session of LM. My purpose was to test whether the sound might work in the pristine environment of a Live LM session. And it did work -- to my surprise!

I figured that I could infer some useful information from the test, but before I got too far in my thinking, I decided I just had to check if somehow, magically, it might be working now in my regular, full LM installation. So next, I booted back into my fully installed LM distro on my SSD and, LIKE MAGIC , the sound coming from my HDMI cable finally came out of my speakers!

Among desirable things to have, knowledge and skill exist. But there is also magic and luck to be had.

Good Luck!

[opjose]

OP please see this... viewtopic.php?t=332618&start=40

[LMNic]

Hi Frank,
thank you very much for all your advices, I did'nt know MrEen website you linked, for sure I will check it in deep. Next test could be launch a live session, I can try and hope in the "magic and luck"
You are right, "the message: bus/chip ids unavailable" may be an hw problem or something to fix at driver level.
Some more test to do, some more docs to read... thank you!
Have a nice day!

[Aztaroth]

Frank's suggestions make a lot of sense :

message: bus/chip ids unavailable

I noted this but didn't put it in my post in that way. I assumed this had the same reason than the lack of an HDMI sound device.

After trying everything I read about in the forum and other places I researched, plus then trying everything else I could think of to get sound to work, I decided to use my USB stick with the LM .ISO burned onto it to launch a new Live Session of LM. My purpose was to test whether the sound might work in the pristine environment of a Live LM session. And it did work -- to my surprise!

What would also be interesting, if the native kernel is still present, is to select it in the boot option, boot once with it and see if sound works and what an

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inxi -GA

output (only focusing on Graphics and Audio) looks like.
Perhaps 5.4 is too recent a kernel for your hardware.

[LMNic]

Dear all,
I tried to upgrade at LinuxMint 20.2 and the HDMI audio works!
If someone is interested in differences or details hereafter I post the answer at inxi -Fxz

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mini@mini-Z83-II:~$ inxi -Fxz
System:    Kernel: 5.4.0-74-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.3.0 Desktop: Xfce 4.16.0 
           Distro: Linux Mint 20.2 Uma base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:   Type: Desktop System: AZW product: Z83 II v: N/A serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: AMI model: Cherry Trail CR serial: <filter> UEFI: American Megatrends v: BT3020 date: 12/12/2016 
CPU:       Topology: Quad Core model: Intel Atom x5-Z8350 bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Airmont rev: 4 L2 cache: 1024 KiB 
           flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 11520 
           Speed: 674 MHz min/max: 480/1920 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1668 2: 1680 3: 1489 4: 1507 
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel Atom/Celeron/Pentium Processor x5-E8000/J3xxx/N3xxx Integrated Graphics driver: i915 
           v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.9 driver: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa resolution: 1680x1050~60Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel HD Graphics (CHV) v: 4.6 Mesa 20.2.6 direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel HDMI/DP LPE Audio driver: HdmiLpeAudio message: bus/chip ids unavailable 
           Device-2: bytcht-es8316 driver: bytcht-es8316 message: bus/chip ids unavailable 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-74-generic 
Network:   Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet driver: r8169 v: kernel port: e000 
           bus ID: 01:00.0 
           IF: enp1s0 state: down mac: <filter> 
           Device-2: Qualcomm Atheros AR9271 802.11n type: USB driver: ath9k_htc bus ID: 1-3:7 
           IF: wlx90f6520c2197 state: up mac: <filter> 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 28.91 GiB used: 7.53 GiB (26.1%) 
           ID-1: /dev/mmcblk0 model: NCard size: 28.91 GiB 
Partition: ID-1: / size: 27.83 GiB used: 7.52 GiB (27.0%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/mmcblk0p2 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 65.0 C mobo: N/A 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Info:      Processes: 203 Uptime: 6m Memory: 1.87 GiB used: 1.18 GiB (63.2%) Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Compilers: 
           gcc: 9.3.0 Shell: bash v: 5.0.17 inxi: 3.0.38 

Strange thing: either for Device-1 and -2 the bus/chip ids is still unavailable.
Using pavucontrol I can address the audio on HDMI or on the audio out of my minipc.

Thank you for the advices and help!
Nic

[frank84]

Congratulations LMNic!

I hope you are enjoying some good music or videos now that you can hear them.

Be sure to backup your system with Timeshift right away now so you can always return to good sound if anything changes in the future.

[MrEen]

Hi Nicola,

I'm glad you got this sorted out. Notice in your first inxi output the HDMI audio stuff wasn't there but is the last one. That was the source of your trouble and was probably fixed by a newer kernel.

EDIT: Well I was wrong, you're actually using an older kernel now. If your sound disappears again after a kernel update, at least you'll know why.