No sound on Compaq Armada 1750 running Debian 7

colinetsegers · 09-13-2013, 05:56 AM

Some time ago I decided to try Linux on a Compaq Armada 1750 featuring 384Mb RAM.
Excellent little laptop though a bit heavy. I tried different Linux distributions with general success, except for the sound.
Were tested:
- PCLinuxOS LXDE
- Puppy 5.x.x
- Slacko 5.5 PAE
- Debian 6 Squeeze
- Debian 7 Wheezy
Some other systems either, but if all these versions worked relatively well, NONE gave me the sound I so badly want.
Afterwards I reluctantly tried Windows 2000 and XP. Both these Windows systems activated the sound with no further problem, and believe me, this Armada 1750 model has a very good sound equipment, which is why I want to use it.
So, why isn't any of these Linux systems able to activate the sound, and most important: how can this be fixed? At the moment the laptop is running Debian 7 Wheezy, installed with the Net Install cd and completely up to date.
Thanks on forehand,
Paul

cascade9 · 09-13-2013, 06:27 AM

Sure its a Compaq Armada 1750? From the spec sheet I can find, its limited to 192MB-

http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/q.../10012_div.PDF

http://www.server-unit.ru/manhtml/10012.html

http://www.crucial.com/upgrade/HP+-+...-upgrades.html

Quote:

Originally Posted by colinetsegers

this Armada 1750 model has a very good sound equipment, which is why I want to use it.

Umm.....now I'm really not sure if this is an Armada 1750. All that has is 'Compaq Premier Sound for enhanced stereo audio, including integrated 16-bit Sound Blaster Pro-compatible stereo audio'. Which is not what I would have called 'very good' even when it was new (1999).

Can you post your lspci and lshw output?

colinetsegers · 09-13-2013, 09:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cascade9

Sure its a Compaq Armada 1750? From the spec sheet I can find, its limited to 192MB-

http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/q.../10012_div.PDF

http://www.server-unit.ru/manhtml/10012.html

http://www.crucial.com/upgrade/HP+-+...-upgrades.html

Umm.....now I'm really not sure if this is an Armada 1750. All that has is 'Compaq Premier Sound for enhanced stereo audio, including integrated 16-bit Sound Blaster Pro-compatible stereo audio'. Which is not what I would have called 'very good' even when it was new (1999).

Can you post your lspci and lshw output?

Well man, except in the improbable case of a constructor labeling his machines with another brand than his own, yes, no doubt: "COMPAQ Armada 1750" written in big letters,
384Mb Ram (I added myself the second chip), Mobile Pentium II, about 330MHz processor, 6333/T/6400/D/0/3. I qualifie the sound as excellent just by comparison to any other laptop, old or new, because of the good loudspeakers. No direct need for an external HiFi equipment when travelling, but this is anyway not the point: I'd like to have sound. Curiously the system "beeps" do work, and sound tests result in a mere plain "click".

What do you mean with "lspci" and "lshw"? Loudspeaker caracteristics I guess. In any case, the system(s) (I tried many) do not even notice the presence of a sound card... My guess is the driver is missing. Windows and/or Compaq protected copyright driver maybe? I noticed some people on this forum having had the same problem with the same laptop without finding out how to fix it.

Thanks for the links. I checked the PDF document. The drawing fits clearly the machine I have, but some details differ: mine doesn't feature a modem, supports more RAM (maximum 384Mb: 128Mb chip + 256Mb chip), supports a hard drive of till at least 80Gb (I use one), but the rest of the description seems to fit.

Kind regards, Paul

colinetsegers · 09-13-2013, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cascade9

Sure its a Compaq Armada 1750? From the spec sheet I can find, its limited to 192MB-

After having double checked what I did I really added a 256Mb chip in the only one available slot, but the motherboard carries a RAM chip of only 64Mb. So, total RAM is actually 320Mb (confirmed after having checked and working very well), not 384Mb, but still more than the announced limit of 192Mb. This to be honest, although not really important because Debian Wheezy runs smoothly, and the problem is only the missing sound.
Kind regards, Paul

rokytnji · 09-13-2013, 02:48 PM

Might help. might not.

http://www.debianhelp.co.uk/sound.htm

My quick sound test in AntiX before I open Alsa Mixer. First make sure my username is in audio group. So as root in terminal.

Code:

adduser your_user_name audio

Reboot. Then do a sound test.

Code:

speaker-test

If speakers hiss. Then next is in terminal

Code:

alsamixer

adjust everything to what you want.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuEEEHcHxEE

Shadow_7 · 09-13-2013, 04:10 PM

Sound Blaster,
Sound Blaster 16/Pro

According to the spec sheet. Man that's an old box. And I thought my 7+yo gear was ancient.

You might try to modprobe the sound module.

# modprobe snd-sb16
$ cat /proc/asound/cards
$ alsamixer -c 0
$ speaker-test -c 2
# alsactl store

I have an old laptop, not quite that old. But it fails to load the snd-intel8x0 driver for it's soundcard at boot. Just add it to /etc/modules or do it manually each boot. Creative labs was not a big supporter of linux in those early days. I don't know if that's ever changed. Like windows, I stopped using their products long ago.

rokytnji · 09-13-2013, 04:38 PM

Quote:

What do you mean with "lspci"

On my old Laptop

Code:

$ lspci -knn
00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation 82830M/MG/MP Host Bridge [8086:3575] (rev 04)
	Subsystem: IBM ThinkPad A/T/X Series [1014:021d]
	Kernel driver in use: agpgart-intel
00:01.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82830M/MP AGP Bridge [8086:3576] (rev 04)
00:1d.0 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801CA/CAM USB Controller #1 [8086:2482] (rev 02)
	Subsystem: IBM ThinkPad A/T/X Series [1014:0220]
	Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1d.1 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801CA/CAM USB Controller #2 [8086:2484] (rev 02)
	Subsystem: IBM ThinkPad A/T/X Series [1014:0220]
	Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1d.2 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801CA/CAM USB Controller #3 [8086:2487] (rev 02)
	Subsystem: IBM ThinkPad A/T/X Series [1014:0220]
	Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1e.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge [8086:2448] (rev 42)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation 82801CAM ISA Bridge (LPC) [8086:248c] (rev 02)
	Kernel driver in use: lpc_ich
00:1f.1 IDE interface [0101]: Intel Corporation 82801CAM IDE U100 Controller [8086:248a] (rev 02)
	Subsystem: IBM ThinkPad A/T/X Series [1014:0220]
	Kernel driver in use: ata_piix
00:1f.3 SMBus [0c05]: Intel Corporation 82801CA/CAM SMBus Controller [8086:2483] (rev 02)
	Subsystem: IBM ThinkPad A/T/X Series [1014:0220]
	Kernel driver in use: i801_smbus
00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller [0401]: Intel Corporation 82801CA/CAM AC'97 Audio Controller [8086:2485] (rev 02)
	Subsystem: IBM ThinkPad A30/A30p/T23 [1014:0222]
	Kernel driver in use: snd_intel8x0
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: S3 Inc. SuperSavage IX/C SDR [5333:8c2e] (rev 05)
	Subsystem: IBM ThinkPad T23 [1014:01fc]
02:00.0 CardBus bridge [0607]: Texas Instruments PCI1420 PC card Cardbus Controller [104c:ac51]
	Subsystem: IBM ThinkPad T23 [1014:023b]
	Kernel driver in use: yenta_cardbus
02:00.1 CardBus bridge [0607]: Texas Instruments PCI1420 PC card Cardbus Controller [104c:ac51]
	Subsystem: IBM ThinkPad T23 [1014:023b]
	Kernel driver in use: yenta_cardbus
02:02.0 Communication controller [0780]: LSI Corporation L56xM+S [Mars-2] WinModem 56k [11c1:0449] (rev 01)
	Subsystem: AMBIT Microsystem Corp. IBM ThinkPad T23 [1468:0410]
02:08.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Intel Corporation 82801CAM (ICH3) PRO/100 VE (LOM) Ethernet Controller [8086:1031] (rev 42)
	Subsystem: IBM ThinkPad A/T/X Series [1014:0209]
	Kernel driver in use: e100
03:00.0 USB controller [0c03]: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller [1106:3038] (rev 62)
	Subsystem: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller [1106:3038]
	Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
03:00.2 USB controller [0c03]: VIA Technologies, Inc. USB 2.0 [1106:3104] (rev 65)
	Subsystem: VIA Technologies, Inc. USB 2.0 [1106:3104]
	Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
03:00.3 FireWire (IEEE 1394) [0c00]: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6306/7/8 [Fire II(M)] IEEE 1394 OHCI Controller [1106:3044] (rev 80)
	Kernel driver in use: firewire_ohci
07:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Ralink corp. RT2561/RT61 802.11g PCI [1814:0301]
	Subsystem: Belkin F5D7010 v6000 Wireless G Notebook Card [1799:701e]
	Kernel driver in use: rt61pci

relevant snip

Quote:

00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller [0401]: Intel Corporation 82801CA/CAM AC'97 Audio Controller [8086:2485] (rev 02)
Subsystem: IBM ThinkPad A30/A30p/T23 [1014:0222]
Kernel driver in use: snd_intel8x0

This kind of info help others help you.

colinetsegers · 09-14-2013, 02:27 AM

Many thanks to all of you having answered. I'm going to work on your interesting indications and report the result(s) later.
Kind regards, Paul

colinetsegers · 09-14-2013, 10:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cascade9

Can you post your lspci and lshw output?

Quote:

Originally Posted by rokytnji

On my old Laptop
Code:
$ lspci -knn

This is what I get with "lspci -knn", but no result with "lshw":

root@armada:/home/paul# lspci -knn
00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX Host bridge [8086:7190] (rev 03)
Subsystem: Compaq Computer Corporation Armada 1750 Laptop System Chipset [0e11:0500]
Kernel driver in use: agpgart-intel
00:01.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX AGP bridge [8086:7191] (rev 03)
00:07.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ISA [8086:7110] (rev 02)
00:07.1 IDE interface [0101]: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 IDE [8086:7111] (rev 01)
Kernel driver in use: ata_piix
00:07.2 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 USB [8086:7112] (rev 01)
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:07.3 Bridge [0680]: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ACPI [8086:7113] (rev 02)
00:11.0 CardBus bridge [0607]: Texas Instruments PCI1225 [104c:ac1c] (rev 01)
Subsystem: Compaq Computer Corporation Armada E500 [0e11:b121]
Kernel driver in use: yenta_cardbus
00:11.1 CardBus bridge [0607]: Texas Instruments PCI1225 [104c:ac1c] (rev 01)
Subsystem: Compaq Computer Corporation Armada E500 [0e11:b121]
Kernel driver in use: yenta_cardbus
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI 3D Rage LT Pro AGP-133 [1002:4c42] (rev dc)
Subsystem: Compaq Computer Corporation 3D Rage LT Pro (Compaq Armada 1750) [0e11:b10e]
02:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Atheros Communications Inc. AR5212/AR5213 Wireless Network Adapter [168c:0013] (rev 01)
Subsystem: Global Sun Technology Inc Device [16ab:7103]
Kernel driver in use: ath5k

Quote:

Originally Posted by rokytnji

Might help. might not.

http://www.debianhelp.co.uk/sound.htm

Meanwhile I'm studying the content of that link and installed some of the adviced Alsa stuff. I need some time to digest all this ;o)
Thanks and kind regards, Paul

colinetsegers · 09-14-2013, 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rokytnji

Might help. might not.

Code:

speaker-test

If speakers hiss. Then next is in terminal

Code:

alsamixer

adjust everything to what you want.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuEEEHcHxEE

This is what I get:
bash: lshw : commande introuvable
root@armada:/home/paul# lspci | grep audio
root@armada:/home/paul# speaker-test

speaker-test 1.0.25

Le périphérique de lecture est default
Les paramètres du flux sont 48000Hz, S16_LE, 1 canaux
Utilisation de 16 octaves de 'pink noise'
La fréquence est 48000Hz (demandée 48000Hz)
L'intervalle de la taille du tampon est de 192 à 2097152
L'intervalle de la taille de la période est de 64 à 699051
Taille max. de tampon 2097152 utilisée
Périodes = 4
was set period_size = 524288
was set buffer_size = 2097152
0 - Avant Gauche
Temps par période = 11,685334
0 - Avant Gauche
Temps par période = 11,805833
0 - Avant Gauche
Temps par période = 11,834096
0 - Avant Gauche
Temps par période = 11,795275
0 - Avant Gauche
Temps par période = 11,830598
0 - Avant Gauche
Temps par période = 11,802422
0 - Avant Gauche
Temps par période = 11,795604
0 - Avant Gauche
Temps par période = 11,830922
0 - Avant Gauche
Temps par période = 11,794017
0 - Avant Gauche
Temps par période = 11,825980
0 - Avant Gauche
Temps par période = 11,789389
0 - Avant Gauche
Temps par période = 11,384569
0 - Avant Gauche
Temps par période = 11,407085
0 - Avant Gauche
Temps par période = 11,402440
0 - Avant Gauche
Temps par période = 11,771282
0 - Avant Gauche
Temps par période = 11,416181
0 - Avant Gauche
Temps par période = 11,759693
0 - Avant Gauche
Temps par période = 11,861917
0 - Avant Gauche

No idea what this ultimately means, but the speakers DO hiss...
So, up for "alsamixer" command. I'll tell later if this helped.

Many thanks and kind regards,
Paul

colinetsegers · 09-14-2013, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shadow_7

Sound Blaster,
Sound Blaster 16/Pro

You might try to modprobe the sound module.

# modprobe snd-sb16
$ cat /proc/asound/cards
$ alsamixer -c 0
$ speaker-test -c 2
# alsactl store

I have an old laptop, not quite that old. But it fails to load the snd-intel8x0 driver for it's soundcard at boot. Just add it to /etc/modules or do it manually each boot.

Thanks for the suggestion, but "modprobe snd-sb16" doesn't seem to do anything. I also tried to add "snd-intel8x0" to the /etc/modules, and still no change, even after reboot. The speakers only hiss instead of giving any usable sound. Maybe I missed something, but it was worth a go.
Thanks, Paul

Shadow_7 · 09-14-2013, 01:03 PM

If the speakers hissed, then you have a sound driver and an audible mixer level. Or broken speakers that hiss with or without a computer.

The snd-intel8x0 example was specific to my hardware, not yours. Sorry for the confusion. You would probably use snd-sb16, but might not have to if your sound is working.

$ speaker-test -c 2
(this does a pink noise for 2 channels, that will alternate between left and right channel)
(mostly useful to figure out if you have your earbuds in backwards, or if your speakers have cables that can be easily reversed.)
(use ^C aka Cntrl+C key combonation to terminate that application)

$ alsamixer
(F1 key for help while in this mixer)
(ESC key to exit help and/or the mixer)
(It's not the only mixer available in linux, just be aware of that)

Once you have a working driver and it sounds like you do, you have other configuration choices to use or just be aware about. As some applications may not default to the configuration that you are using. Which can be mildly frustrating if you are unaware of them or why your configuration isn't playing by your desires. Pulseaudio is one of the more common configurations by default these days, and you'll want to use pavucontrol to adjust it's settings.

$ pavucontrol

It might not matter much on that hardware, but on newer hardware you have multiple soundcards in a lot of cases. The one for the motherboard, the one for the video card, one probably comes for your webcam, and on and on and on. That is why I suggested:

$ cat /proc/asound/cards

If there's a soundcard or soundcards, and a working driver, they will be listed there in almost all cases. You should note that in most cases with multiple soundcards, that the first entry listed under 0 is the assumed default output. Unless otherwise configured.

The "user" will have to be in the "audio" group to use the soundcard. And in the case of a pulseaudio configuration, also in the "pulse" and maybe "pulse-access" groups.

$ groups

Just some things to be aware of.

colinetsegers · 09-14-2013, 03:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shadow_7

If the speakers hissed, then you have a sound driver and an audible mixer level. Or broken speakers that hiss with or without a computer.

$ speaker-test -c 2
(this does a pink noise for 2 channels, that will alternate between left and right channel)
(mostly useful to figure out if you have your earbuds in backwards, or if your speakers have cables that can be easily reversed.)
(use ^C aka Cntrl+C key combonation to terminate that application)

This test works well: the loudspeakers only hiss alternatingly left and right.

Quote:

$ alsamixer
(F1 key for help while in this mixer)
(ESC key to exit help and/or the mixer)
(It's not the only mixer available in linux, just be aware of that)

Alsamixer shows up without problems, and in spite of some adjustments problem not solved.

Quote:

$ pavucontrol

Nothing happens.

Quote:

$ cat /proc/asound/cards

I get this:
root@armada:/home/paul# cat /proc/asound/cards
0 [ES1869 ]: ES1869 - ESS AudioDrive ES1869
ESS AudioDrive ES1869 at 0x220, irq 5, dma1 1, dma2 5

Useful maybe to remember that Windows 2000 and XP have no problems with the sound, which excludes hardware failure.
Many thanks in any case, your help is much appreciated,
Paul

Shadow_7 · 09-14-2013, 11:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by colinetsegers

This test works well: the loudspeakers only hiss alternatingly left and right.

So you have a driver and it works. May I ask what application you are expecting to hear sound from, but are not hearing it from?

Quote:

Originally Posted by colinetsegers

root@armada:/home/paul# cat /proc/asound/cards
0 [ES1869 ]: ES1869 - ESS AudioDrive ES1869
ESS AudioDrive ES1869 at 0x220, irq 5, dma1 1, dma2 5

This means that you have a loaded driver and it's identified your hardware as supported by that driver. So it's a configuration issue. Or a setting in the application(s) you are trying to use that have made assumptions not applicable to your configuration.

Linux differs a lot from windows in that it is setup to be based on permissions. And unlike windows, the permissions are not set to anybody can do anything at all times, like the default windows configuration is in a lot of cases. You have to tell it, userX has permission to use the soundcard.

So back to basics. # in most examples represent root access. And $ represents can and should be run as a user. Most things should be done as a user. Except in admin situations.

$ groups
(as my user)
userX : userX cdrom audio video games pulse pulse-access

# groups userX
(alternatively gives the same result as a different user)

So the question I don't recall seeing an answer to is "is the user in the audio group"? If they are not and you are trying to access the soundcard as that user, then you don't have permission to use the soundcard. As root you can change the groups with "usermod" or by editing the /etc/group file directly. Admin wise you "should" use usermod. This permission configuration is normally the primary fail, when there is a driver and it is known to work (as root, but not as a user). You can run speaker-test as root and as the user and if you don't get the same result, there's your problem. If you change the group permission, you will need to relogin or reboot to make them be in effect.

colinetsegers · 09-15-2013, 01:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shadow_7

So you have a driver and it works. May I ask what application you are expecting to hear sound from, but are not hearing it from?

Audacity, Avidemux, default video player, etc. Any application that should play sound instead of emitting a hiss.

Quote:

So back to basics. # in most examples represent root access. And $ represents can and should be run as a user. Most things should be done as a user. Except in admin situations.

$ groups
(as my user)
paul@armada:~$ groups
paul cdrom floppy audio dip video plugdev netdev scanner bluetooth

Quote:

# groups userX
(alternatively gives the same result as a different user)

root@armada:/home/paul# groups paul
paul : paul cdrom floppy audio dip video plugdev netdev scanner bluetooth

Quote:

So the question I don't recall seeing an answer to is "is the user in the audio group"?

I guess the answer is "yes".

Quote:

You can run speaker-test as root and as the user and if you don't get the same result, there's your problem. If you change the group permission, you will need to relogin or reboot to make them be in effect.

As root I get the left-right hiss.
As user just the same result:
paul@armada:~$ speaker-test -c 2

speaker-test 1.0.25

Le périphérique de lecture est default
Les paramètres du flux sont 48000Hz, S16_LE, 2 canaux
Utilisation de 16 octaves de 'pink noise'
La fréquence est 48000Hz (demandée 48000Hz)
L'intervalle de la taille du tampon est de 96 à 1048576
L'intervalle de la taille de la période est de 32 à 349526
Taille max. de tampon 1048576 utilisée
Périodes = 4
was set period_size = 262144
was set buffer_size = 1048576
0 - Avant Gauche
1 - Avant Droit
Temps par période = 12,372476
0 - Avant Gauche
1 - Avant Droit

Basically same result, and always that annoying useless hiss...

Many thanks and kind regards,
Paul