On 20/07/07, Matan Ziv-Av <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
On Fri, 20 Jul 2007, Amos Shapira wrote:
> My Dimension 520 desktop comes with an ICH8 and so far I haven't got
around
> to investigate how to make sound work on Debian Etch. I just connected
the
> audio cable to the new monitor and tried to play something and it didn't
> work.
Are you sure this is not a simple mute issue?
When I try to run "alsamixer" I get:
$ sudo alsamixer
alsamixer: function snd_mixer_load failed: Invalid argument
I've upgraded to alsa-base 1.0.14 from Lenny ("testing") and at some stage
xfmedia managed to play something but I suspect it was through OSS. Since
then I upgraded a few more alsa-related packages (apt pinning to "Etch"
means that I have to pro-actively search and upgrade later version coming
from "Lenny") and executed alsaconf to try to make it work (I later learned
that alsaconf is deprecated) and xfmedia stopped working too. I rebooted the
system and made sure that card isn't muted and volume isn't zero.
Every time I run alsamixer another line like the following is emitted by the
kernel:
hda_codec: num_steps = 0 for NID=0x17
Googling around for this error so far haven't turned useful info (except
that alsaconf shouldn't be used).
Here is what "lspci -vvv" gives on this device, the "unknown device" is a
> bit discouraging:
>
> 00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio
> Controller (rev 02)
> Subsystem: Dell Unknown device 01dd
ALSA does support ICH8 audio. But your system is not known (at least in
latest release, 1.0.14).
Some "close" systems are known (0x01d6, 0x01d8), and all Dells appear to
use Sigmatel codec, with reference configuration.
You might add support for your system by merely editing file
sound/pci/hda/patch_sigmatel.c
changing 0x01ce to 0x01dd (assuming you use a new enough kernel).
You might also upgrade to ALSA 1.0.14, without replacing kernel.
That's what I did (using packages from Lenny - 1.0.140-1) and so far no joy.
So the bottom line is encouraging since xfmedia managed to play something -
so the card works and the loudspeakers are connected correctly. I just have
to find the right combination now.
Any other thought on this?
Thanks very much for your help.
--Amos
