Re: [gentoo-dev] ALSA and kernel 2.6.1-gentoo-r1 and /etc/init.d/alsasound

[Brad House]

This should NOT have been posted to gentoo-dev.
This should go to gentoo-users.

do NOT use alsa-driver for 2.6 kernels!
Use ONLY the in-kernel sound drivers, unmerge
alsa-driver!
The in-kernel alsa is much more up to date anyhow,
and gentoo-dev-sources has later Alsa pulls.
Just compile all sound drivers as modules, emerge hotplug,
and  rc-update add hotplug default
It will auto-load whatever module is appropriate for your
soundcard on boot.

It should just work, you can use alsasound if you wish, but
all it will accomplish is saving your volume settings, hotplug
should take care of the module loading.

-Brad

> Hi All-
>
> (To the developers, though this may be a long post and it may initially
> appear to be appropriate for strictly the user list, I'm pretty sure
> there is an important point for you near the bottom (about the
> script /etc/init.d/alsasound).  I'm not a developer, so I'm not certain
> that you'll find it noteworthy, and so if I'm wrong, my apologies for
> sending this cc to the developer's list.  Also, is there a list archive?
> I considered searching for this subject in a list archive, but didn't see
> one listed on http://www.gentoo.org/main/en/lists.xml)
>
> I'm following the thread "Alsa & 2.6.1" on gentoo-user since it seems to
> be related, but my issues are slightly different---or maybe I just have
> more detail than I see described in that thread, not sure.  This may be a
> long post, so I offer apologies for that in advance.
>
> Anyway, I've been using the Gentoo Linux ALSA Guide, but it clearly
> distinguishes between the kernel versions 2.4 and 2.5/2.6.  I see (from
> the Gentoo Guide) that much of the ALSA code is already in 2.6.x.
>
> I've noted that the Guide describes setting up ALSA with a 2.4.x kernel,
> and it seems to be that the instructions for doing so with a 2.6.x kernel
> would probably be different, in light of the presence of ALSA in the 2.6
> kernel, but I'm not sure exactly how they should differ.
>
> Anyway, my first specific problem comes when following the "ALSA modules"
> section of the guide.  I've grep'd my /proc/pci file and also done lspci
> with the following relevant output:
> ======================================
> # grep audio /proc/pci
>     Multimedia audio controller: PCI device 10de:006a (nVidia Corporation
> (rev 161).
>
> # lspci | grep audio
> 00:06.0 Multimedia audio controller: nVidia Corporation nForce2 AC97 Audio
> Controler (MCP) (rev a1)
> ======================================
>
> This is an Asus A7N8X motherboard, with onboard 6 channel audio that the
> motherboard docs describe as a "Realtek ALC650 6CH with built-in HP
> amplifier".  I didn't find such a device in the ALSA Soundcard Matrix
> linked to from the Gentoo Guide, but I did find in the Matrix
> what /proc/pci and lspci show.  There's only one Nvidia device ("nForce")
> in the Matrix, and since I seem to have nForce2 (output from lspci), I
> thought it would be the appropriate entry for me to use.  The Matrix
> mentions the module: snd-intel8x0 as being associated with this device.
>
> So, following the Gentoo Guide, I did a:
> # env ALSA_CARDS='intel8x0' emerge alsa-driver
>
> Now, I'm not really sure if this step is required since I did build
> modular ALSA support with my 2.6.1 kernel build, but I tried it anyway
> and it failed with error listed here:
>
> =============================================
> In file included from
> /var/tmp/portage/alsa-driver-0.9.8/work/alsa-driver-0.9.8/include/sound/driver.h:42,
>                  from
> /var/tmp/portage/alsa-driver-0.9.8/work/alsa-driver-0.9.8/alsa-kernel/core/oss/rate.c:22,
>                  from rate.c:2:
> /var/tmp/portage/alsa-driver-0.9.8/work/alsa-driver-0.9.8/include/adriver.h:42:31:
> linux/modversions.h: No such file or directory
> make[3]: *** [fastdep] Error 1
> make[3]: Leaving directory
> `/var/tmp/portage/alsa-driver-0.9.8/work/alsa-driver-0.9.8/acore/oss'
> make[2]: *** [_sfdep_oss] Error 2
> make[2]: Leaving directory
> `/var/tmp/portage/alsa-driver-0.9.8/work/alsa-driver-0.9.8/acore'
> make[1]: *** [dep] Error 1
> make[1]: Leaving directory
> `/var/tmp/portage/alsa-driver-0.9.8/work/alsa-driver-0.9.8'
> make: *** [include/sndversions.h] Error 2
>
> !!! ERROR: media-sound/alsa-driver-0.9.8 failed.
> !!! Function src_compile, Line 64, Exitcode 2
> !!! Parallel Make Failed
>
> =============================================
>
> As is clear here, I do seem to have the file, but apparently the make is
> not finding it where it resides:
> # locate modversions.h
> /usr/src/linux-2.6.1-gentoo-r1/include/config/modversions.h
>
> FWIW:
> # cat /usr/src/linux-2.6.1-gentoo-r1/include/config/modversions.h
> #define CONFIG_MODVERSIONS 1
>
> The following is the relevant portion of my kernel .config file.  I was
> being lazy when I built it and didn't look up the particular sound
> hardware that I had and instead just built all likely devices as modules,
> thinking that I'd only insmod the one that I needed.  This detail may be
> important because when I do an lsmod now (after following the steps in
> the Gentoo Guide), I see what looks like ALL of the sound device modules
> (that I built) loaded into the kernel.  Perhaps not surprisingly, this
> seems to be causing lots of problems in and of itself.  So, my
> kernel .config file (Sound portions):
>
> =============================================
>
> #
> # Sound
> #
> CONFIG_SOUND=y
>
> #
> # Advanced Linux Sound Architecture
> #
> CONFIG_SND=m
> CONFIG_SND_SEQUENCER=m
> CONFIG_SND_SEQ_DUMMY=m
> CONFIG_SND_OSSEMUL=y
> CONFIG_SND_MIXER_OSS=m
> CONFIG_SND_PCM_OSS=m
> CONFIG_SND_SEQUENCER_OSS=y
> CONFIG_SND_RTCTIMER=m
> # CONFIG_SND_VERBOSE_PRINTK is not set
> # CONFIG_SND_DEBUG is not set
>
> #
> # Generic devices
> #
> CONFIG_SND_DUMMY=m
> CONFIG_SND_VIRMIDI=m
> CONFIG_SND_MTPAV=m
> CONFIG_SND_SERIAL_U16550=m
> CONFIG_SND_MPU401=m
>
> #
> # PCI devices
> #
> CONFIG_SND_ALI5451=m
> CONFIG_SND_AZT3328=m
> CONFIG_SND_CS46XX=m
> # CONFIG_SND_CS46XX_NEW_DSP is not set
> CONFIG_SND_CS4281=m
> CONFIG_SND_EMU10K1=m
> CONFIG_SND_KORG1212=m
> CONFIG_SND_NM256=m
> CONFIG_SND_RME32=m
> CONFIG_SND_RME96=m
> CONFIG_SND_RME9652=m
> CONFIG_SND_HDSP=m
> CONFIG_SND_TRIDENT=m
> CONFIG_SND_YMFPCI=m
> CONFIG_SND_ALS4000=m
> CONFIG_SND_CMIPCI=m
> CONFIG_SND_ENS1370=m
> CONFIG_SND_ENS1371=m
> CONFIG_SND_ES1938=m
> CONFIG_SND_ES1968=m
> CONFIG_SND_MAESTRO3=m
> CONFIG_SND_FM801=m
> CONFIG_SND_ICE1712=m
> CONFIG_SND_ICE1724=m
> CONFIG_SND_INTEL8X0=m
> CONFIG_SND_SONICVIBES=m
> CONFIG_SND_VIA82XX=m
> CONFIG_SND_VX222=m
>
> #
> # ALSA USB devices
> #
> CONFIG_SND_USB_AUDIO=m
>
> #
> # Open Sound System
> #
> CONFIG_SOUND_PRIME=m
> CONFIG_SOUND_BT878=m
> CONFIG_SOUND_CMPCI=m
> # CONFIG_SOUND_CMPCI_FM is not set
> # CONFIG_SOUND_CMPCI_MIDI is not set
> # CONFIG_SOUND_CMPCI_JOYSTICK is not set
> # CONFIG_SOUND_CMPCI_CM8738 is not set
> CONFIG_SOUND_EMU10K1=m
> # CONFIG_MIDI_EMU10K1 is not set
> CONFIG_SOUND_FUSION=m
> CONFIG_SOUND_CS4281=m
> CONFIG_SOUND_ES1370=m
> CONFIG_SOUND_ES1371=m
> CONFIG_SOUND_ESSSOLO1=m
> CONFIG_SOUND_MAESTRO=m
> # CONFIG_SOUND_MAESTRO3 is not set
> CONFIG_SOUND_ICH=m
> CONFIG_SOUND_SONICVIBES=m
> CONFIG_SOUND_TRIDENT=m
> CONFIG_SOUND_MSNDCLAS=m
> CONFIG_MSNDCLAS_INIT_FILE="/etc/sound/msndinit.bin"
> CONFIG_MSNDCLAS_PERM_FILE="/etc/sound/msndperm.bin"
> CONFIG_SOUND_MSNDPIN=m
> CONFIG_MSNDPIN_INIT_FILE="/etc/sound/pndspini.bin"
> CONFIG_MSNDPIN_PERM_FILE="/etc/sound/pndsperm.bin"
> CONFIG_SOUND_VIA82CXXX=m
> # CONFIG_MIDI_VIA82CXXX is not set
> CONFIG_SOUND_OSS=m
> CONFIG_SOUND_TRACEINIT=y
> # CONFIG_SOUND_DMAP is not set
> # CONFIG_SOUND_AD1816 is not set
> # CONFIG_SOUND_AD1889 is not set
> CONFIG_SOUND_SGALAXY=m
> CONFIG_SOUND_ADLIB=m
> CONFIG_SOUND_ACI_MIXER=m
> CONFIG_SOUND_CS4232=m
> CONFIG_SOUND_SSCAPE=m
> CONFIG_SOUND_GUS=m
> CONFIG_SOUND_GUS16=y
> CONFIG_SOUND_GUSMAX=y
> CONFIG_SOUND_VMIDI=m
> CONFIG_SOUND_TRIX=m
> CONFIG_SOUND_MSS=m
> CONFIG_SOUND_MPU401=m
> CONFIG_SOUND_NM256=m
> CONFIG_SOUND_MAD16=m
> # CONFIG_MAD16_OLDCARD is not set
> CONFIG_SOUND_PAS=m
> CONFIG_SOUND_PSS=m
> # CONFIG_PSS_MIXER is not set
> CONFIG_SOUND_SB=m
> CONFIG_SOUND_AWE32_SYNTH=m
> CONFIG_SOUND_WAVEFRONT=m
> CONFIG_SOUND_MAUI=m
> CONFIG_SOUND_YM3812=m
> CONFIG_SOUND_OPL3SA1=m
> CONFIG_SOUND_OPL3SA2=m
> CONFIG_SOUND_YMFPCI=m
> # CONFIG_SOUND_YMFPCI_LEGACY is not set
> CONFIG_SOUND_UART6850=m
> CONFIG_SOUND_AEDSP16=m
> # CONFIG_SC6600 is not set
> # CONFIG_AEDSP16_MSS is not set
> # CONFIG_AEDSP16_SBPRO is not set
> # CONFIG_AEDSP16_MPU401 is not set
> CONFIG_SOUND_TVMIXER=m
> CONFIG_SOUND_KAHLUA=m
> CONFIG_SOUND_ALI5455=m
> CONFIG_SOUND_FORTE=m
> CONFIG_SOUND_RME96XX=m
> CONFIG_SOUND_AD1980=m
>
> =============================================
>
> So, continuing with this saga, the very first part of the instructions in
> the Gentoo Guide (energe alsa-driver) fail for me.  Maybe it's not
> necessary?
>
> But as I mentioned above, I now have other problems too.
>
> What I did to get where I am now was simply follow the Gentoo Guide,
> specifically:
>
> "ALSA modules"
> env ALSA_CARDS='intel8x0' emerge alsa-driver
> (I also edited my /etc/make.conf and added ALSA_CARDS="intel8x0" in case
> this would influence the loading of modules, but no help there)
>
>
> "Configuration of ALSA"
> # emerge alsa-utils (no apparent problems here)
>
> modified the file "/etc/modules.d/alsa" as directed in the Guide (with
> changes for my soundcard module of course)
>
> # modules-update (no apparent problems here, though it took a long time)
>
> Verified that /etc/devfsd.conf looked as described in the Guide.
>
> "Starting ALSA"
> # rc-update add alsasound boot
>
> Although the next step in the Guide is to run
> # /etc/init.d/alsasound start
> I never did that manually.  Instead, I rebooted (for various reasons that
> I won't bother listing here) which apparently ran that script
> automatically because of my previous rc-update add alsasound boot
> command.
>
> # /etc/init.d/alsasound status
> status: started
>
> I stopped following the Guide here because of this problem with about 50
> sound modules being loaded into my kernel.  Clearly, this is a problem
> and I'm not sure how to solve it.
>
> It looks to me like the script /etc/init.d/alsa automatically loads all
> modules that it finds in the output of "modprobe -c | grep snd.* | grep
> pci:" (see line 50-59 from that script quoted below) and that's quite
> alot in my case because of all the modules that I built.
>
> ================================================
> 50   ebegin "Loading ALSA drivers"
> 51
> 52   # I really dislike this and would like to tidy it up.
> 53   # Anyone running 2.4 + alsa-driver willing to help me?
> 54
> 55   DRIVERS="$(modprobe -c | grep snd.* | grep pci: | awk '{ print $3 }'
> | uniq)"
> 56   if [ -z "${DRIVERS}" ] ; then
> 57           # Fallback on older modprobe syntax
> 58           DRIVERS="$(/sbin/modprobe -c | grep -E
> "^[[:space:]]*alias[[:space:]]+snd-card-[[:digit:]]" | awk '{print $3}')"
> 59   fi
>
> ================================================
>
> So, my real issues I think are just these two:
> 1) How to configure ALSA while using 2.6.1 kernel (Gentoo Guide doesn't
> seem to work in my case)
> 2) How to get only one PCI sound device module loaded via the
> script /etc/init.d/alsasound even though I have many available to load.
> Must I rebuild my kernel and just not build modules for any sound devices
> except those that I have installed?
>
> Maybe this last is a question for developers.
>
> Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
>
> -Kevin
>
> --
> gentoo-dev@g.o mailing list
>
>
>


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