Soundblaster Audigy 2 NX USB Sound

Atmchicago · 07-13-2004, 04:57 PM

Greetings,

I've got a Soundblaster Audigy 2 NX USB Soundcard plugged into my laptop's USB. I can't get it to do anything - the sound always comes from the internal soundcard/speakers, and I don't know how to switch. Additionally, the card's mute button is permanently lit, even though it is connected. I've looked on these forums and tried googling my way around, but there just isn't that much information on how to get it working. But I have read that it is supported.

Running Slackware 10, kernel 2.6.7, 8k stacks.

At boot, the following comes up: (this also is in dmesg)

Code:

usbcore: deregistering driver audio
usbaudio: unregister dsp 14,3
usbaudio: unregister mixer 14,0
usbaudio: unregister mixer 14,16
usbaudio: unregister mixer 14,32
usbaudio: unregister mixer 14,48
usbaudio: device 2 audiocontrol interface 0 has 1 input and 1 output AudioStreaming interfaces
usbaudio: valid input sample rate 32000
usbaudio: device 2 interface 2 altsetting 1: format 0x80000010 sratelo 32000 sratehi 32000 attributes 0x00
usbaudio: device 2 interface 2 altsetting 2 unsupported channels 2 framesize 3
usbaudio: valid input sample rate 44100
usbaudio: device 2 interface 2 altsetting 3: format 0x80000010 sratelo 44100 sratehi 44100 attributes 0x00
usbaudio: device 2 interface 2 altsetting 4 unsupported channels 2 framesize 3
usbaudio: valid input sample rate 48000
usbaudio: device 2 interface 2 altsetting 5: format 0x80000010 sratelo 48000 sratehi 48000 attributes 0x00
usbaudio: device 2 interface 2 altsetting 6 unsupported channels 2 framesize 3
usbaudio: valid input sample rate 96000
usbaudio: device 2 interface 2 altsetting 7: format 0x80000010 sratelo 96000 sratehi 96000 attributes 0x00
usbaudio: device 2 interface 2 altsetting 8 unsupported channels 2 framesize 3
usbaudio: valid output sample rate 22050
usbaudio: device 2 interface 1 altsetting 1: format 0x80000010 sratelo 22050 sratehi 22050 attributes 0x00
usbaudio: device 2 interface 1 altsetting 2 format not supported
usbaudio: device 2 interface 1 altsetting 3 format not supported
usbaudio: valid output sample rate 48000
usbaudio: device 2 interface 1 altsetting 4: format 0x80000010 sratelo 48000 sratehi 48000 attributes 0x00
usbaudio: device 2 interface 1 altsetting 5 unsupported channels 2 framesize 3
usbaudio: valid output sample rate 96000
usbaudio: device 2 interface 1 altsetting 6: format 0x80000010 sratelo 96000 sratehi 96000 attributes 0x00
usbaudio: device 2 interface 1 altsetting 7 unsupported channels 2 framesize 3
usbaudio: device 2 interface 1 altsetting 8 unsupported channels 4 framesize 2
usbaudio: device 2 interface 1 altsetting 9 unsupported channels 4 framesize 2
usbaudio: device 2 interface 1 altsetting 10 unsupported channels 4 framesize 3
usbaudio: device 2 interface 1 altsetting 11 unsupported channels 6 framesize 2
usbaudio: device 2 interface 1 altsetting 12 unsupported channels 6 framesize 2
usbaudio: device 2 interface 1 altsetting 13 unsupported channels 6 framesize 3
usbaudio: device 2 interface 1 altsetting 14 unsupported channels 8 framesize 2
usbaudio: device 2 interface 1 altsetting 15 unsupported channels 8 framesize 2
usbaudio: registered dsp 14,3
usbaudio: constructing mixer for Terminal 19 type 0x0301
usbaudio: warning: found 2 of 8 logical channels.
usbaudio: no idea what's going on..., contact linux-usb-devel@lists.sourceforge.net
usbaudio: feature unit 28: OSS mixer interface does not support more than 2 channels
usbaudio: registered mixer 14,0
usbaudio: constructing mixer for Terminal 20 type 0x0302
usbaudio: warning: found 2 of 8 logical channels.
usbaudio: no idea what's going on..., contact linux-usb-devel@lists.sourceforge.net
usbaudio: mixer path revisits unit 18
usbaudio: selector unit 31: ignoring channel 2
usbaudio: registered mixer 14,16
usbaudio: constructing mixer for Terminal 24 type 0x0602
usbaudio: warning: found 2 of 8 logical channels.
usbaudio: no idea what's going on..., contact linux-usb-devel@lists.sourceforge.net
usbaudio: mixer path revisits unit 1
usbaudio: selector unit 29: ignoring channel 2
usbaudio: mixer path revisits unit 4
usbaudio: selector unit 29: ignoring channel 3
usbaudio: registered mixer 14,32
usbaudio: constructing mixer for Terminal 15 type 0x0101
usbaudio: mixer path revisits unit 4
usbaudio: feature unit 6 source has no channels
usbaudio: mixer path revisits unit 7
usbaudio: feature unit 8 source has no channels
usbaudio: feature unit 18 source has no channels
usbaudio: registered mixer 14,48
usb_audio_parsecontrol: usb_audio_state at f628be48
usbcore: registered new driver audio
drivers/usb/class/audio.c: v1.0.0:USB Audio Class driver

The "no idea what's going on" makes me wonder if I know what's going on

Here is my lsmod:

Code:

root@purplehaze:~/linux-2.6.7# lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by
fglrx                 215012  9
ds                     14148  4
intel_agp              17372  1
snd_intel8x0           30472  1
snd_ac97_codec         67204  1 snd_intel8x0
snd_mpu401_uart         6208  1 snd_intel8x0
firmware_class          7808  0
yenta_socket           18496  0
pcmcia_core            56004  2 ds,yenta_socket
ndiswrapper            74816  0
agpgart                28072  1 intel_agp
snd_usb_audio          68576  0
snd_rawmidi            20580  2 snd_mpu401_uart,snd_usb_audio
audio                  46592  0

I barely know anything about ALSA configuration (such as .asoundrc) - the whole thing seems poorly documented/hard to understand for an alsa

like me.

I tried running Knoppix, and it was a little different - the little ksoundmix applet in the taskbar asked me which device I wanted, so I assume it was a step further. But the card was still muted...

Here's my lspci just in case it helps.

Code:

root@purplehaze:~/linux-2.6.7# lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corp. 82855PM Processor to I/O Controller (rev 21)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corp. 82855PM Processor to AGP Controller (rev 21)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801DB (ICH4) USB UHCI #1 (rev 03)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801DB (ICH4) USB UHCI #2 (rev 03)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801DB (ICH4) USB UHCI #3 (rev 03)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801DB (ICH4) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 03)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corp. 82801BAM/CAM PCI Bridge (rev 83)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corp. 82801DBM LPC Interface Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corp. 82801DBM (ICH4) Ultra ATA Storage Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corp. 82801DB/DBM (ICH4) SMBus Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corp. 82801DB (ICH4) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.6 Modem: Intel Corp. 82801DB (ICH4) AC'97 Modem Controller (rev 03)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc RV350 [Mobility Radeon 9600 M10]
02:00.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): VIA Technologies, Inc. IEEE 1394 Host Controller (rev 80)
02:01.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10)
02:02.0 Network controller: Intel Corp.: Unknown device 4220 (rev 05)
02:03.0 CardBus bridge: ENE Technology Inc CB1410 Cardbus Controller (rev 01)

So any ideas how to save me from the horribly tinny laptop speakers?

Thanks.

-atm

Atmchicago · 07-15-2004, 01:32 PM

Have to bump this thread, didn't get any replies yet. It can't be that hard to get usb soundcards working under Linux!

Atmchicago · 07-17-2004, 01:10 PM

I renamed the onboard sound's drivers so that it couldn't find them, thinking that maybe it loads them first, preventing the USB from being loaded. To a certain extent I was right. Now, the little kmixer kicker applet gives the option between two USB devices. Both have a main, cdrom, and mic control. KMix shows both of them too.

But when I try to launch alsamixer, I get the following error:

Code:

alsamixer: function snd_ctl_open failed for default: No such device

(emphasis mine)

Where can I set the device for default?

burkey · 08-12-2004, 05:55 AM

Did you or anyone ever get this working? because I just borrowed one to test and have not as yet got it working.

I am on SuSE 9.1 Pro.

Atmchicago · 08-12-2004, 01:14 PM

Yeah, I did finally get it working, although it wasn't obvious. You have to be sure you have modularized sound support. Then, you have to rename/get rid of/not load the module called 'sound' (if I remember right) because it prevents the USB driver from taking control of the sound. If you have an integrated sound (like a laptop) then you also have to make sure you disable that. If I didn't make myself clear, ask again and I'll try to do a better job. But it does work!

burkey · 08-12-2004, 06:39 PM

ahh ok, cool. Thanks for posting back your results, I am sure that will save me a lot of time!

TheOverseer · 08-17-2004, 01:36 PM

Atmchicago, I am a newbie on linux

(learning it for school and to get rid of windows since it's evil

)
Can you go in more details on the steps to installing the audigy 2 NX on linux.
How do you make your sound modularized?
Where are the sound drivers usually put? Is that /dev/dsp?
I have a laptop...how to you take off onboard sound?
Does the remote control for the sound card work?

I appreciate any help you can give.
The Overseer

Atmchicago · 08-17-2004, 02:16 PM

When I was talking about making sound modularized, I meant in the menus for compiling yourself a kernel. If you haven't compiled your own kernel before, I suggest you do it, as it helps you in the learning process. Otherwise, your stock redhat/suse/whatever kernel problably has it modularized anyway. When you compile the kernel you can choose to enable, disable, or build as module. Modules give you more flexibility.

Drivers are stored in the form of *.ko module files in /lib/modules/{kernel-version}/kernel/...

The easy way for me to do it was to rename /lib/modules/2.6.7/kernel/drivers/usb/audio.ko (I think that's the one, this is coming from memory) to audio.ko-bak. The audio.ko tries to take control of the sound away from you and doesn't let you use the external card. I also commented out /lib/modules/2.6.7/kernel/sound/drivers/pci/intel-8x0.ko to intel-8x0.bak. (once again, I think that's where it is). I'm not sure if you have to do that or not, but if you don't care about the onboard sound then that will certainly do the trick.

As for the remote control: the power button to turn it off and on does, but I think most of the functions are based on software for windows. Since Creative sucks and didn't write any software for Linux, I don't think you can adjust the volume or things like that for the time being via remote. Have to use alsamixer or the like.

Hope that helps.

TheOverseer · 08-17-2004, 02:28 PM

thx alot, now all I have to do is learn how to compile the kernel

I have been reading about it so it shouldn't be too hard
When I come back from my vacation I am going to tackle the problem and post my results

thx again
really appreciate it

The Overseer

TheOverseer · 08-17-2004, 03:17 PM

hey I have been fiddling with what you have told me, I did everything except recompiling the kernel. Alsamixer sees the Audigy 2 NX but when I play something, it crackeling and I can't get 5.1 sound

Atmchicago · 08-17-2004, 04:18 PM

The crackeling happens because by default the sound is at 44100hz, and you want it at 48000hz. If you use KDE, it's easy to change that - do it in the arts configuration. You can also add it in your .asoundrc file - but that's a real pain in the ass, and I'm still messing with it myself.

As for the 5.1, technically you should only get sound in your rear speakers if you play a 5.1 surround sound file. I think the Alsa website has some you can download to test. If you want to mirror your front speakers to your rear ones, there is supposed to be a way to do that. I tried to but didn't have a 'net connection on my laptop so I have to wait a few more days. I'll keep this posted when I get that working.

TheOverseer · 08-17-2004, 05:09 PM

what if I use WineHQ and use the windows drivers?
will it only work for program that is runned in the emulator? (I am assuming yes but I want to make sure)
If it's only in the emulator, all I really need is to install winamp and powerdvd and I should be fine to listen to a true surround sound while still in linux. Right?

Atmchicago · 08-17-2004, 07:43 PM

Using windows drivers is trickier than just using wine. You can try running the software through it though. Mplayer and Xine both say they support 5.1 surround, so you probably won't have to install winamp.

X2O · 08-24-2004, 11:15 PM

I am using Mandrake 9.2 and if my Audigy 2 NX USB is turn on... my entire system stalled.

Do I have to install the driver or something else? Where can I get the driver?

Atmchicago · 08-25-2004, 09:36 AM

Well if I turn it off my keyboard freezes.

The driver is in the linux kernel. It's called snd-usb-audio. If you know how to compile your own kernels, then you know how to enable it. Otherwise, check on how to compile your kernels.