Ubuntu
alsa-driver package

Sound Card Not Seen by Ubuntu; No Sound

Asked by Domingo Pastor Bernardo on 2010-01-03

Hello
I am new to Linux, old to computers, and worked with Unix many moons ago (1980's)
Loaded Ubuntu 9.10 onto an old, but working Dell Precision 410 computer that has Windows 2000 and the sound works perfectly

Ubuntu works great except the sound card is not seen at all.
It is a Crystal Audio WDM card (at least that is what Windows says) and yes it is a motherboard card.
No, I don't have a need for a super duper sound card. I just want to hear the occasional beep or the warning sound
Anyway, this is so simple it should work, and the whole point of this exercise is to see if I want to use Ubuntu or not for the new computers I am getting for my business.

OK, so I am patching here the results from some of the stuff I've seen on other posts.

domi@ubuntu-evelyn:~$ asoundconf list
asoundconf: command not found

domi@ubuntu-evelyn:~$ aplay --list-devices
aplay: device_list:223: no soundcards found...

domi@ubuntu-evelyn:~$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX Host bridge (rev 03)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX AGP bridge (rev 03)
00:07.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ISA (rev 02)
00:07.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 IDE (rev 01)
00:07.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 USB (rev 01)
00:07.3 Bridge: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ACPI (rev 02)
00:0d.0 Communication controller: ESS Technology ES2838/2839 SuperLink Modem (rev 01)
00:11.0 Ethernet controller: 3Com Corporation 3c905B 100BaseTX [Cyclone]
00:13.0 PCI bridge: Digital Equipment Corporation DECchip 21152 (rev 03)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV5 [RIVA TNT2/TNT2 Pro] (rev 11)

domi@ubuntu-evelyn:~$ wget -O alsa-info.sh http://212.20.107.51/alsa-info.sh
--2010-01-03 14:30:43-- http://212.20.107.51/alsa-info.sh
Connecting to 212.20.107.51:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 302 Found
Location: http://git.alsa-project.org/?p=alsa-driver.git;a=blob_plain;f=utils/alsa-info.sh [following]
--2010-01-03 14:30:43-- http://git.alsa-project.org/?p=alsa-driver.git;a=blob_plain;f=utils/alsa-info.sh
Resolving git.alsa-project.org... 212.20.107.51
Reusing existing connection to 212.20.107.51:80.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: unspecified [text/plain]
Saving to: `alsa-info.sh'

[ <=> ] 26,584 46.0K/s in 0.6s

2010-01-03 14:30:45 (46.0 KB/s) - `alsa-info.sh' saved [26584]

domi@ubuntu-evelyn:~$ bash alsa-info.sh --pastebin
ALSA Information Script v 0.4.58
--------------------------------

This script visits the following commands/files to collect diagnostic
information about your ALSA installation and sound related hardware.

  dmesg
  lspci
  lsmod
  aplay
  amixer
  alsactl
  /proc/asound/
  /sys/class/sound/
  ~/.asoundrc (etc.)

See 'alsa-info.sh --help' for command line options.

cat: /proc/asound/version: No such file or directory
grep: /proc/asound/cards: No such file or directory
cat: /proc/asound/cards: No such file or directory
cat: /proc/asound/modules: No such file or directory
ls: cannot access /dev/snd/*: No such file or directory
grep: /proc/asound/cards: No such file or directory
/sbin/alsactl: save_state:1502: No soundcards found...
cat: /tmp/alsa-info.qaxkGL8MJa/alsactl.tmp: No such file or directory
Automatically upload ALSA information to pastebin? [y/N] : y
Uploading information to www.pastebin.ca ... Done!

Your ALSA information is located at http://pastebin.ca/1736507

Please inform the person helping you.

Then I did the next step in the troubleshooting page:

domi@ubuntu-evelyn:~$ cat /proc/asound/cards; sudo rm /etc/asound.conf; sudo rm -r ~/.pulse ~/.asound* ;sudo rm ~/.pulse-cookie; sudo aptitude install paman gnome-alsamixer libasound2-plugins padevchooser libsdl1.2debian-pulseaudio; aplay -l; sudo lshw -C sound; sudo lshw -short;ls -lart /dev/snd; cat /dev/sndstat; lspci -nn; sudo which alsactl; sudo fuser -v /dev/dsp /dev/snd/* ; dpkg -S bin/slmodemd; sudo /etc/init.d/sl-modem-daemon status; lsmod | grep snd
cat: /proc/asound/cards: No such file or directory
[sudo] password for domi:
rm: cannot remove `/etc/asound.conf': No such file or directory
rm: cannot remove `/home/domi/.asound*': No such file or directory
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Reading extended state information
Initializing package states... Done
Writing extended state information... Done
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  gnome-alsamixer libgconfmm-2.6-1c2{a} libglademm-2.4-1c2a{a} libsdl1.2debian-pulseaudio padevchooser paman paprefs{a} pavucontrol{a} pavumeter{a}
  pulseaudio-module-gconf{a} pulseaudio-module-zeroconf{a}
The following packages will be REMOVED:
  libsdl1.2debian-alsa{a} linux-headers-2.6.31-14{u} linux-headers-2.6.31-14-generic{u}
0 packages upgraded, 11 newly installed, 3 to remove and 2 not upgraded.
Need to get 729kB of archives. After unpacking 78.5MB will be freed.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n/?] y
Writing extended state information... Done
Get:1 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/universe gnome-alsamixer 0.9.7~cvs.20060916.ds.1-2 [53.7kB]
Get:2 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/main libgconfmm-2.6-1c2 2.24.0-2 [31.4kB]
Get:3 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/main libglademm-2.4-1c2a 2.6.7-2 [21.7kB]
Get:4 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/universe pavumeter 0.9.3-1ubuntu1 [29.2kB]
Get:5 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/universe pavucontrol 0.9.8+git20090701-0ubuntu2 [120kB]
Get:6 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/universe paman 0.9.4-1ubuntu2 [92.2kB]
Get:7 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/main pulseaudio-module-gconf 1:0.9.19-0ubuntu4 [13.1kB]
Get:8 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/main pulseaudio-module-zeroconf 1:0.9.19-0ubuntu4 [20.2kB]
Get:9 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/universe paprefs 0.9.8+git20090825-0ubuntu2 [111kB]
Get:10 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/universe padevchooser 0.9.3-2ubuntu4 [20.2kB]
Get:11 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/universe libsdl1.2debian-pulseaudio 1.2.13-4ubuntu4 [216kB]
Fetched 729kB in 2s (278kB/s)
(Reading database ... 153782 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing linux-headers-2.6.31-14-generic ...
Removing linux-headers-2.6.31-14 ...
dpkg: libsdl1.2debian-alsa: dependency problems, but removing anyway as you requested:
libsdl1.2debian depends on libsdl1.2debian-alsa (= 1.2.13-4ubuntu4) | libsdl1.2debian-all (= 1.2.13-4ubuntu4) | libsdl1.2debian-esd (= 1.2.13-4ubuntu4) | libsdl1.2debian-oss (= 1.2.13-4ubuntu4) | libsdl1.2debian-nas (= 1.2.13-4ubuntu4) | libsdl1.2debian-pulseaudio (= 1.2.13-4ubuntu4); however:
  Package libsdl1.2debian-alsa is to be removed.
  Package libsdl1.2debian-all is not installed.
  Package libsdl1.2debian-esd is not installed.
  Package libsdl1.2debian-oss is not installed.
  Package libsdl1.2debian-nas is not installed.
  Package libsdl1.2debian-pulseaudio is not installed.
Removing libsdl1.2debian-alsa ...
Processing triggers for libc-bin ...
ldconfig deferred processing now taking place
Selecting previously deselected package gnome-alsamixer.
(Reading database ... 136010 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking gnome-alsamixer (from .../gnome-alsamixer_0.9.7~cvs.20060916.ds.1-2_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package libgconfmm-2.6-1c2.
Unpacking libgconfmm-2.6-1c2 (from .../libgconfmm-2.6-1c2_2.24.0-2_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package libglademm-2.4-1c2a.
Unpacking libglademm-2.4-1c2a (from .../libglademm-2.4-1c2a_2.6.7-2_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package pavumeter.
Unpacking pavumeter (from .../pavumeter_0.9.3-1ubuntu1_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package pavucontrol.
Unpacking pavucontrol (from .../pavucontrol_0.9.8+git20090701-0ubuntu2_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package paman.
Unpacking paman (from .../paman_0.9.4-1ubuntu2_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package pulseaudio-module-gconf.
Unpacking pulseaudio-module-gconf (from .../pulseaudio-module-gconf_1%3a0.9.19-0ubuntu4_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package pulseaudio-module-zeroconf.
Unpacking pulseaudio-module-zeroconf (from .../pulseaudio-module-zeroconf_1%3a0.9.19-0ubuntu4_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package paprefs.
Unpacking paprefs (from .../paprefs_0.9.8+git20090825-0ubuntu2_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package padevchooser.
Unpacking padevchooser (from .../padevchooser_0.9.3-2ubuntu4_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package libsdl1.2debian-pulseaudio.
Unpacking libsdl1.2debian-pulseaudio (from .../libsdl1.2debian-pulseaudio_1.2.13-4ubuntu4_i386.deb) ...
Processing triggers for man-db ...
Processing triggers for desktop-file-utils ...
Setting up gnome-alsamixer (0.9.7~cvs.20060916.ds.1-2) ...

Setting up libgconfmm-2.6-1c2 (2.24.0-2) ...

Setting up libglademm-2.4-1c2a (2.6.7-2) ...

Setting up pavumeter (0.9.3-1ubuntu1) ...

Setting up pavucontrol (0.9.8+git20090701-0ubuntu2) ...

Setting up paman (0.9.4-1ubuntu2) ...

Setting up pulseaudio-module-gconf (1:0.9.19-0ubuntu4) ...
Setting up pulseaudio-module-zeroconf (1:0.9.19-0ubuntu4) ...
Setting up paprefs (0.9.8+git20090825-0ubuntu2) ...

Setting up padevchooser (0.9.3-2ubuntu4) ...

Setting up libsdl1.2debian-pulseaudio (1.2.13-4ubuntu4) ...

Processing triggers for libc-bin ...
ldconfig deferred processing now taking place
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Reading extended state information
Initializing package states... Done
Writing extended state information... Done

aplay: device_list:223: no soundcards found...
H/W path Device Class Description
=========================================================
system Precision WorkStation 410 MT
/0 bus Motherboard
/0/0 memory 64KiB BIOS
/0/400 processor Pentium III (Katmai)
/0/400/700 memory 32KiB L1 cache
/0/400/701 memory 512KiB L2 cache
/0/401 processor Pentium III (Katmai)
/0/401/702 memory 32KiB L1 cache
/0/401/703 memory 512KiB L2 cache
/0/1000 memory 448MiB System Memory
/0/1000/0 memory 64MiB DIMM DRAM Synchronous
/0/1000/1 memory 128MiB DIMM DRAM Synchronous
/0/1000/2 memory 128MiB DIMM DRAM Synchronous
/0/1000/3 memory 128MiB DIMM DRAM Synchronous
/0/100 bridge 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX Host bridge
/0/100/1 bridge 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX AGP bridge
/0/100/1/0 display NV5 [RIVA TNT2/TNT2 Pro]
/0/100/7 bridge 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ISA
/0/100/7.1 scsi0 storage 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 IDE
/0/100/7.1/0 /dev/sda disk 13GB IBM-DJNA-371350
/0/100/7.1/0/1 /dev/sda1 volume 12GiB Windows FAT volume
/0/100/7.1/1 /dev/sdb disk 40GB Maxtor 4D040H2
/0/100/7.1/1/1 /dev/sdb1 volume 15GiB Windows FAT volume
/0/100/7.1/1/2 /dev/sdb2 volume 22GiB Extended partition
/0/100/7.1/1/2/5 /dev/sdb5 volume 21GiB Linux filesystem partition
/0/100/7.1/1/2/6 /dev/sdb6 volume 988MiB Linux swap / Solaris partition
/0/100/7.1/2 /dev/cdrom1 disk CD-Writer+ 8000
/0/100/7.1/3 /dev/cdrom disk SCSI CD-ROM
/0/100/7.2 bus 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 USB
/0/100/7.3 bridge 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ACPI
/0/100/d communication ES2838/2839 SuperLink Modem
/0/100/11 eth0 network 3c905B 100BaseTX [Cyclone]
/0/100/13 bridge DECchip 21152
ls: cannot access /dev/snd: No such file or directory
cat: /dev/sndstat: No such file or directory
00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX Host bridge [8086:7190] (rev 03)
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)
00:07.2 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 USB [8086:7112] (rev 01)
00:07.3 Bridge [0680]: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ACPI [8086:7113] (rev 02)
00:0d.0 Communication controller [0780]: ESS Technology ES2838/2839 SuperLink Modem [125d:2838] (rev 01)
00:11.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: 3Com Corporation 3c905B 100BaseTX [Cyclone] [10b7:9055]
00:13.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Digital Equipment Corporation DECchip 21152 [1011:0024] (rev 03)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: nVidia Corporation NV5 [RIVA TNT2/TNT2 Pro] [10de:0028] (rev 11)
/sbin/alsactl
Cannot stat /dev/dsp: No such file or directory
Cannot stat /dev/dsp: No such file or directory
Cannot stat /dev/snd/*: No such file or directory
Cannot stat /dev/snd/*: No such file or directory
dpkg: *bin/slmodemd* not found.
sudo: /etc/init.d/sl-modem-daemon: command not found
domi@ubuntu-evelyn:~$

which looks very interesting and very confusing, but I believe that it still says no sound card.

anyway, then I did the next step

domi@ubuntu-evelyn:~$ pavucontrol

(pavucontrol:2855): Gtk-CRITICAL **: gtk_main_quit: assertion `main_loops != NULL' failed

which did not look promising, but I carry on:

domi@ubuntu-evelyn:~$ gnome-alsamixer

(gnome-alsamixer:2865): GLib-GObject-CRITICAL **: g_type_instance_get_private: assertion `instance != NULL && instance->g_class != NULL' failed
Segmentation fault

The mixer just came up with a blank screen and quit when I tried to do sound card properties

So I carried on:

Step 8 of the troubleshooting procedure: Correct, there is no sound at all, on any device, on any program, on speakers, on headphones

Step 9: Sound does work on Windows 2000 and it is set to max. I have no special function keys to turn on/off the speakers

Step 10: Yes, the user is a member of
pulse
pulse-access
audio
video

user groups

The output of pastebin is not being very friendly, but I was able to finally get it.
The link is http://pastebin.ca/1736507

!!################################
!!ALSA Information Script v 0.4.58
!!################################

!!Script ran on: Sun Jan 3 19:31:32 UTC 2010

!!Linux Distribution
!!------------------

Ubuntu 9.10 \n \l DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 9.10"

!!DMI Information
!!---------------

Manufacturer: Dell Computer Corporation
Product Name: Precision WorkStation 410 MT

!!Kernel Information
!!------------------

Kernel release: 2.6.31-16-generic
Operating System: GNU/Linux
Architecture: i686
Processor: unknown
SMP Enabled: Yes

!!ALSA Version
!!------------

Driver version:
Library version: 1.0.20
Utilities version: 1.0.20

!!Loaded ALSA modules
!!-------------------

!!Sound Servers on this system
!!----------------------------

Pulseaudio:
Installed - Yes (/usr/bin/pulseaudio)
Running - Yes

ESound Daemon:
Installed - Yes (/usr/bin/esd)
Running - No

!!Soundcards recognised by ALSA
!!-----------------------------

!!PCI Soundcards installed in the system
!!--------------------------------------

!!Advanced information - PCI Vendor/Device/Susbsystem ID's
!!--------------------------------------------------------

!!Modprobe options (Sound related)
!!--------------------------------

snd-atiixp-modem: index=-2
snd-intel8x0m: index=-2
snd-via82xx-modem: index=-2
snd-usb-audio: index=-2
snd-usb-us122l: index=-2
snd-usb-usx2y: index=-2
snd-usb-caiaq: index=-2
snd-cmipci: mpu_port=0x330 fm_port=0x388
snd-pcsp: index=-2
snd-hda-intel: power_save=10 power_save_controller=N

!!Loaded sound module options
!!--------------------------

!!ALSA Device nodes
!!-----------------

!!Aplay/Arecord output
!!------------

APLAY

aplay: device_list:223: no soundcards found...

ARECORD

arecord: device_list:223: no soundcards found...

!!Amixer output
!!-------------

!!Alsactl output
!!-------------

--startcollapse--
--endcollapse--

!!All Loaded Modules
!!------------------

Module
ecb
binfmt_misc
sha256_generic
aes_i586
aes_generic
cbc
dm_crypt
iptable_filter
ip_tables
x_tables
ppdev
parport_pc
i2c_piix4
lp
shpchp
dell_wmi
parport
psmouse
serio_raw
dcdbas
usbhid
floppy
3c59x
mii
intel_agp
agpgart