Re: [gentoo-user] USB sound

[Michael]

On Tuesday, 28 April 2020 12:32:04 BST tuxic@××××××.de wrote:
> On 04/28 10:43, Peter Humphrey wrote:
> > Morning all,
> >
> > The motherboard sound chip failed, so I bought a USB sound adapter [1].
> > Problem: no sound: firefox says it isn't working and KDE sounds don't
> > 'appear'. I have all the likely-looking options set in the kernel
> > (5.4.28), modules where possible. I've read the Gentoo wiki articles on
> > USB and audio, but they didn't offer any help.
> >
> > The device uses USB-2 and I have it in a USB-2 socket. I get this on
> > plugging it in:
> >
> > $ dmesg -Hw
> > [Apr28 09:49] usb 3-13: new full-speed USB device number 17 using xhci_hcd
> > [  +0.127080] usb 3-13: New USB device found, idVendor=0d8c,
> > idProduct=0014, bcdDevice= 1.00 [  +0.000002] usb 3-13: New USB device
> > strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0 [  +0.000002] usb 3-13:
> > Product: USB Audio Device
> > [  +0.000001] usb 3-13: Manufacturer: C-Media Electronics Inc.
> > [  +0.007851] input: C-Media Electronics Inc. USB Audio Device as
> > /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb3/3-13/3-13:1.3/0003:0D8C:0014.000D/i
> > nput/input20 [  +0.051184] hid-generic 0003:0D8C:0014.000D: input,hidraw4:
> > USB HID v1.00 Device [C-Media Electronics Inc. USB Audio Device] on
> > usb-0000:00:14.0-13/input3
> >
> > Some more diagnostics:
> >
> > # aplay -l
> > **** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
> > card 0: HDMI [HDA ATI HDMI], device 3: Generic Digital [Generic Digital]
> >
> >   Subdevices: 1/1
> >   Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
> >
> > card 2: Device [USB Audio Device], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]
> >
> >   Subdevices: 1/1
> >   Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
> >
> > # arecord -l
> > **** List of CAPTURE Hardware Devices ****
> > card 1: USB [HD Webcam USB], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]
> >
> >   Subdevices: 1/1
> >   Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
> >
> > card 2: Device [USB Audio Device], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]
> >
> >   Subdevices: 1/1
> >   Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
> >
> > # lsusb -t | grep -i audio
> >
> >     |__ Port 6: Dev 3, If 2, Class=Audio, Driver=snd-usb-audio, 480M
> >     |__ Port 6: Dev 3, If 3, Class=Audio, Driver=snd-usb-audio, 480M
> >     |__ Port 13: Dev 17, If 0, Class=Audio, Driver=snd-usb-audio, 12M
> >     |__ Port 13: Dev 17, If 1, Class=Audio, Driver=snd-usb-audio, 12M
> >     |__ Port 13: Dev 17, If 2, Class=Audio, Driver=snd-usb-audio, 12M
> >
> > # lsmod | grep snd
> > snd_usb_audio         233472  0
> > snd_hwdep              16384  1 snd_usb_audio
> > snd_usbmidi_lib        28672  1 snd_usb_audio
> > snd_rawmidi            32768  1 snd_usbmidi_lib
> > snd_seq_device         16384  1 snd_rawmidi
> > mc                     40960  4
> > videodev,snd_usb_audio,videobuf2_v4l2,videobuf2_common
> > snd_hda_codec_generic    77824  1
> > snd_hda_intel          28672  0
> > snd_intel_nhlt         16384  1 snd_hda_intel
> > snd_hda_codec         122880  2 snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_hda_intel
> > snd_hda_core           73728  3
> > snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec snd_pcm
> > 98304  4 snd_hda_intel,snd_usb_audio,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_core snd_timer
> >              32768  1 snd_pcm
> > snd                    81920  10
> > snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_seq_device,snd_hwdep,snd_hda_i> soundcore
> >        16384  1 snd
> >
> > Why those Intel modules? The built-in Intel device is switched off in the
> > BIOS.
> >
> > Can anyone point me in the right direction?
> >
> > 1.  The device is a 'Sabrent USB External Stereo Sound Adapter'; The blurb
> > at amazon.co.uk includes Linux in its list of OSes. I bought it via
> > https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Sabrent-External-Adapter-Windows-AU-MMSA/dp/B0
> > 0IRVQ0F8/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=usb+sound&qid=1588065420&sr=8-3
> Hi Peter,
>
> not long ago I had fallen over a very similiar effect.
> What cured the problem here was to reboot into the BIOS and  to
> disable the AUDIO device.
>
> Cheers!
> Meino

Or, if you need to use all 3, or in this case 2 working devices use /etc/
asound.conf to set the preferred default card without altering BIOS settings:

defaults.pcm.card 2;
defaults.ctl.card 2;

As per wiki page, FF may also need specifying 'rate 48000' for alsa to 
resample FF's output when feeding it to the card.