Ubuntu
alsa-driver package

No soundcard detected after deleting latest kernel

Asked by Ixchel

I upgraded Ubuntu 16.04.3 to the latest kernel (I think it was 4.13) but I needed an older kernel, so I tried to make 4.10.0-42-generic default again. Someone suggested to delete the latest kernel. I did it but then I has as output Dummy Output in the audio settings.
I tried this out:

sudo apt-get remove --purge alsa-base
sudo apt-get remove --purge pulseaudio
sudo apt-get install alsa-base
sudo apt-get install pulseaudio
sudo alsa force-reload

but it didn't work, and the audio settings in the system tray where gone, so I tried again to install alsa and pulseaudio:

sudo apt-get install alsa-base* indicator-sound* libcanberra-pulse* osspd* osspd-pulseaudio* pulseaudio* pulseaudio-module-bluetooth* pulseaudio-module-x11* unity-control-center* unity-control-center-signon*

I have the audio settings back, but still no soundcard is recognized

http://www.alsa-project.org/db/?f=9ac53aa8e812d6bdf88f1026d76712e1909a4e6e

When I put:

sudo lshw -c sound

I have as output that for both Intel and nvidia are UNCLAIMED

When I put:

alsamixer

I have as output no such file or directory

When I put:

pacmd list-cards

I have as output 0 card(s) available.

When I put:

lsmod | grep "snd"

I don't have any output

when I put:

modprobe snd_hda_intel

I have as output modprobe: FATAL: Module snd_hda_intel not found in directory /lib/modules/4.10.0-42-generic

This is my Alsa information after running the info script:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

!!################################
!!ALSA Information Script v 0.4.64
!!################################

!!Script ran on: Fri Feb 9 23:57:55 UTC 2018

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

Ubuntu 16.04.3 LTS \n \l DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 16.04.3 LTS" NAME="Ubuntu" ID=ubuntu ID_LIKE=debian PRETTY_NAME="Ubuntu 16.04.3 LTS" HOME_URL="http://www.ubuntu.com/" SUPPORT_URL="http://help.ubuntu.com/" BUG_REPORT_URL="http://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/" UBUNTU_CODENAME=xenial

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

Manufacturer: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
Product Name: Z270X-UD5
Product Version: Default string
Firmware Version: F4
Board Vendor: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
Board Name: Z270X-UD5-CF

!!ACPI Device Status Information
!!---------------

/sys/bus/acpi/devices/ACPI000C:00/status 15
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/INT33A1:00/status 15
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/INT340E:00/status 15
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/INT3F0D:00/status 15
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/LNXPOWER:00/status 1
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/LNXPOWER:01/status 1
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/LNXPOWER:02/status 1
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/LNXPOWER:03/status 1
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/LNXPOWER:04/status 1
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/LNXPOWER:05/status 1
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/LNXPOWER:06/status 1
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/LNXPOWER:07/status 1
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/LNXPOWER:08/status 1
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/LNXPOWER:09/status 1
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/LNXPOWER:0a/status 1
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/LNXPOWER:0b/status 1
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/LNXPOWER:0c/status 1
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/LNXPOWER:0d/status 1
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/LNXPOWER:0e/status 1
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/LNXPOWER:0f/status 1
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/LNXPOWER:10/status 1
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/LNXPOWER:11/status 1
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/LNXPOWER:12/status 1
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/LNXPOWER:13/status 1
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/LNXPOWER:14/status 1
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/LNXPOWER:15/status 1
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/LNXPOWER:16/status 1
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/MSFT0101:00/status 15
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/PNP0103:00/status 15
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/PNP0501:00/status 15
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/PNP0501:01/status 15
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/PNP0C02:02/status 15
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/PNP0C02:04/status 3
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/PNP0C02:06/status 3
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/PNP0C04:00/status 31
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/PNP0C0C:00/status 15
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/PNP0C0E:00/status 11
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/PNP0C0F:00/status 9
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/PNP0C0F:01/status 9
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/PNP0C0F:02/status 9
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/PNP0C0F:03/status 9
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/PNP0C0F:04/status 9
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/PNP0C0F:05/status 9
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/PNP0C0F:06/status 9
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/PNP0C0F:07/status 9
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/device:6c/status 15
/sys/bus/acpi/devices/device:78/status 11

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

Kernel release: 4.10.0-42-generic
Operating System: GNU/Linux
Architecture: x86_64
Processor: x86_64
SMP Enabled: Yes

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

Driver version:
Library version: 1.1.0
Utilities version: 1.1.0

!!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
!!--------------------------------------

00:1f.3 Audio device: Intel Corporation Device a2f0
01:00.1 Audio device: NVIDIA Corporation Device 10f1 (rev a1)

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

00:1f.3 0403: 8086:a2f0
 Subsystem: 1458:a182
--
01:00.1 0403: 10de:10f1 (rev a1)
 Subsystem: 3842:6161

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

snd_pcsp: index=-2
snd_usb_audio: index=-2
snd_atiixp_modem: index=-2
snd_intel8x0m: index=-2
snd_via82xx_modem: index=-2
snd_atiixp_modem: index=-2
snd_intel8x0m: index=-2
snd_via82xx_modem: index=-2
snd_usb_audio: index=-2
snd_usb_caiaq: index=-2
snd_usb_ua101: index=-2
snd_usb_us122l: index=-2
snd_usb_usx2y: index=-2
snd_cmipci: mpu_port=0x330 fm_port=0x388
snd_pcsp: index=-2
snd_usb_audio: index=-2

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

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

crw-rw---- 1 root audio 116, 1 Feb 9 17:55 /dev/snd/seq
crw-rw---- 1 root audio 116, 33 Feb 9 17:55 /dev/snd/timer

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

APLAY

aplay: device_list:268: no soundcards found...

ARECORD

arecord: device_list:268: no soundcards found...

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

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

--startcollapse--
--endcollapse--

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

Module
evdi
dm_crypt
kvm_intel
kvm
irqbypass
nvidia_uvm
crct10dif_pclmul
crc32_pclmul
ghash_clmulni_intel
pcbc
aesni_intel
input_leds
aes_x86_64
crypto_simd
glue_helper
cryptd
video
acpi_pad
binfmt_misc
cuse
parport_pc
ppdev
lp
parport
autofs4
hid_generic
usbhid
hid
nvidia_drm
nvidia_modeset
nvidia
drm_kms_helper
e1000e
igb
syscopyarea
sysfillrect
dca
sysimgblt
fb_sys_fops
ptp
pps_core
ahci
drm
i2c_algo_bit
libahci

!!ALSA/HDA dmesg
!!--------------

Question information

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Status:
Solved
For:
Ubuntu alsa-driver Edit question
Assignee:
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Solved by:
Manfred Hampl
Solved:
Last query:
Last reply:
Revision history for this message
Manfred Hampl (m-hampl) said : 		#1

Do you have the package linux-image-extra-4.10.0-42-generic installed? (version number has to be the same as your current kernel)

Revision history for this message
Ixchel (im-info1) said : 		#2

yes, I also reinstalled the image, image-extra and headers of 4.10.0-42

Revision history for this message
Manfred Hampl (m-hampl) said : 		#3

Does the command "sudo modprobe snd_hda_intel" still produce the error message "FATAL: Module snd_hda_intel not found ..."?

Revision history for this message
Ixchel (im-info1) said : 		#4

I already checked, and did '--purge reinstall' but it did not reinstalled it because it was not installed. So I tried to install it and this message came out:

Error! The dkms.conf for this module includes a BUILD_EXCLUSIVE directive which
does not match this kernel/arch. This indicates that it should not be built.
Error! The dkms.conf for this module includes a BUILD_EXCLUSIVE directive which
does not match this kernel/arch. This indicates that it should not be built.

Revision history for this message
Ixchel (im-info1) said : 		#5

and if I put:

dkms status

this is the output:

bbswitch, 0.8, 4.10.0-42-generic, x86_64: installedError! Could not locate dkms.conf file.
File: does not exist.

Revision history for this message
Manfred Hampl (m-hampl) said : 		#6

I think you have to rethink the whole problem and your attempt to solve it first.

You have Ubuntu 16.04, and apparently have opted to install the HWE kernel (a backport of the kernel version from the newer Ubuntu releases to the latest LTS version). This had the 4.10 kernel series, and recently has been changed to the 4.13 series. The 4.10 kernel series was abandoned in the context of spectre and meltdown vulnerabilities.

What you now try is installing an unsupported and outdated version of the kernel.

Question: Why do you think that you need the obsolete 4.10 kernel, and what is wrong with the 4.13 family?
Could the original kernel for xenial (4.4) be an option for you?

Revision history for this message
Ixchel (im-info1) said : 		#7

I need it for some application I am working on.
Precisely because of the spectre and meltdown vulnerabilities I upgraded it in the first place, but as I have mentioned above, I need tie 4.10 version for an application..

Revision history for this message
Manfred Hampl (m-hampl) said : 		#8

The 4.10 version is not supported any more.
What is the problem with the 4.13 kernel family that your application does not work with it?

Revision history for this message
Ixchel (im-info1) said : 		#9

Ok, I was thinking about it. Let's forget the application for a moment.

If I upgrade again to the latest kernel, it would solve the problem?

Revision history for this message
Manfred Hampl (m-hampl) said : 		#10

I cannot give a promise, but I expect that a correct installation of the 4.13 kernel will bring back sound.

Just as a preliminary test, what is the output of
apt-get --simulate install --install-recommends linux-generic-hwe-16.04

Revision history for this message
Ixchel (im-info1) said : 		#11

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following additional packages will be installed:
  linux-headers-4.13.0-32 linux-headers-4.13.0-32-generic
  linux-headers-generic-hwe-16.04 linux-image-4.13.0-32-generic
  linux-image-extra-4.13.0-32-generic linux-image-generic-hwe-16.04
Suggested packages:
  fdutils linux-tools
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  linux-generic-hwe-16.04 linux-headers-4.13.0-32
  linux-headers-4.13.0-32-generic linux-headers-generic-hwe-16.04
  linux-image-4.13.0-32-generic linux-image-extra-4.13.0-32-generic
  linux-image-generic-hwe-16.04
0 upgraded, 7 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Inst linux-image-4.13.0-32-generic (4.13.0-32.35~16.04.1 Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-updates, Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-security [amd64])
Inst linux-image-extra-4.13.0-32-generic (4.13.0-32.35~16.04.1 Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-updates, Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-security [amd64])
Inst linux-image-generic-hwe-16.04 (4.13.0.32.52 Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-updates, Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-security [amd64])
Inst linux-headers-4.13.0-32 (4.13.0-32.35~16.04.1 Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-updates, Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-security [all])
Inst linux-headers-4.13.0-32-generic (4.13.0-32.35~16.04.1 Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-updates, Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-security [amd64])
Inst linux-headers-generic-hwe-16.04 (4.13.0.32.52 Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-updates, Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-security [amd64])
Inst linux-generic-hwe-16.04 (4.13.0.32.52 Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-updates, Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-security [amd64])
Conf linux-image-4.13.0-32-generic (4.13.0-32.35~16.04.1 Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-updates, Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-security [amd64])
Conf linux-image-extra-4.13.0-32-generic (4.13.0-32.35~16.04.1 Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-updates, Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-security [amd64])
Conf linux-image-generic-hwe-16.04 (4.13.0.32.52 Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-updates, Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-security [amd64])
Conf linux-headers-4.13.0-32 (4.13.0-32.35~16.04.1 Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-updates, Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-security [all])
Conf linux-headers-4.13.0-32-generic (4.13.0-32.35~16.04.1 Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-updates, Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-security [amd64])
Conf linux-headers-generic-hwe-16.04 (4.13.0.32.52 Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-updates, Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-security [amd64])
Conf linux-generic-hwe-16.04 (4.13.0.32.52 Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-updates, Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-security [amd64])

Revision history for this message
Best Manfred Hampl (m-hampl) said : 		#12

You see that among others linux-image-4.13.0-32-generic and linux-image-extra-4.13.0-32-generic will be installed. If all other sound packages (alsa, pulseaudio, ...) are still functional, then this should bring back sound.

Revision history for this message
Ixchel (im-info1) said : 		#13

great, thank you very much!

Revision history for this message
Ixchel (im-info1) said : 		#14

Thanks Manfred Hampl, that solved my question.