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    [SOLVED] completely broke audio - my fault

    They say curiosity killed the cat. Well, in my case, curiosity killed the linux user (not literally, of course).

    I'm using KDE Neon User Edition on a HP laptop (see my signature for specs). For a while I've had issues with certain audio formats stuttering during playback in certain apps.

    I finally decided to do something about it. Guided by the instructions in this post (note that I used pacmd to get the device buffer info), I changed the "default-fragments" and "default-fragment-size-msec" parameters in /etc/pulse/daemon.conf. It did actually fix the problem I was having - mostly. Instead of constant stuttering I'd just get an occasional glitch instead.

    Spurred on by my success I decided to try tweaking another setting, which the 2nd-last comment in this thread said solved their problem when nothing else did. I added this line to the bottom of etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf:
    Code:
    options snd-hda-intel model=generic
    I just wanted to see what happened. I take full responsibility for the ensuing disaster.

    After restarting, I had no sound at all. Since everything was fine before I edited the alsa-base.conf file, I just undid my changes there and restarted again. But still no sound. I even tried reverting my changes to the pulseaudio config as well, just in case, but it didn't make any difference.

    I've been through all the troubleshooting steps here.

    I tried creating a brand new user, but the new user has no sound either, so it's not just messed up user config.

    Here is the output of lspci -v | grep -A7 -i "audio", which seems normal:
    Code:
    00:1f.3 Audio device: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H HD Audio (rev 31)
       Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Sunrise Point-H HD Audio
       Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 32, IRQ 133
       Memory at 94328000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
       Memory at 94310000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=64K]
       Capabilities: <access denied>
       Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
       Kernel modules: snd_hda_intel
    However aplay, which I know worked before because I used it to test audio while I was fiddling with the pulseaudio config initially, produces no sound even though it says it's playing something.

    I tried to manually load the sound driver using sudo modprobe snd-hda-intel but aplay was still silent.

    Furthermore, pacmd list-sinks produces the following output:
    Code:
    1 sink(s) available.
    * index: 0
       name: <auto_null>
       driver: <module-null-sink.c>
       flags: DECIBEL_VOLUME LATENCY DYNAMIC_LATENCY
       state: SUSPENDED
       suspend cause: IDLE 
       priority: 1000
       volume: front-left: 42597 /  65% / -11.23 dB,   front-right: 42597 /  65% / -11.23 dB
               balance 0.00
       base volume: 65536 / 100% / 0.00 dB
       volume steps: 65537
       muted: no
       current latency: 0.00 ms
       max request: 344 KiB
       max rewind: 344 KiB
       monitor source: 0
       sample spec: s16le 2ch 44100Hz
       channel map: front-left,front-right
                    Stereo
       used by: 0
       linked by: 0
       configured latency: 0.00 ms; range is 0.50 .. 2000.00 ms
       module: 14
       properties:
               device.description = "Dummy Output"
               device.class = "abstract"
               device.icon_name = "audio-card"
    This is obviously wrong. I was getting a huge amount of output before, with lots of information about my sound card. Now it doesn't seem to recognise the sound card.

    As an experiment I tried to run JACK and got the following errors:

    Code:
    18:17:16.350 Statistics reset.
    18:17:16.355 ALSA connection change.
    18:17:16.385 D-BUS: Service is available (org.jackaudio.service aka jackdbus).
    Cannot connect to server socket err = No such file or directory
    Cannot connect to server request channel
    jack server is not running or cannot be started
    JackShmReadWritePtr::~JackShmReadWritePtr - Init not done for 4294967295, skipping unlock
    JackShmReadWritePtr::~JackShmReadWritePtr - Init not done for 4294967295, skipping unlock
    18:17:16.515 ALSA connection graph change.
    18:17:17.438 D-BUS: JACK server could not be started. Sorry
    Cannot connect to server socket err = No such file or directory
    Cannot connect to server request channel
    jack server is not running or cannot be started
    JackShmReadWritePtr::~JackShmReadWritePtr - Init not done for 4294967295, skipping unlock
    JackShmReadWritePtr::~JackShmReadWritePtr - Init not done for 4294967295, skipping unlock
    Sun Mar  5 18:17:17 2017: Starting jack server...
    Sun Mar  5 18:17:17 2017: JACK server starting in realtime mode with priority 10
    Sun Mar  5 18:17:17 2017: self-connect-mode is "Don't restrict self connect requests"
    Sun Mar  5 18:17:17 2017: ERROR: Cannot lock down 82274202 byte memory area (Cannot allocate memory)
    Sun Mar  5 18:17:17 2017: ERROR: control open "hw:0" (No such file or directory)
    Sun Mar  5 18:17:17 2017: ERROR: control open "hw:0" (No such file or directory)
    Sun Mar  5 18:17:17 2017: creating alsa driver ... hw:0|hw:0|1024|2|44100|0|0|nomon|swmeter|-|32bit
    Sun Mar  5 18:17:17 2017: ERROR: control open "hw:0" (No such file or directory)
    Sun Mar  5 18:17:17 2017: ERROR: ALSA: Cannot open PCM device alsa_pcm for playback. Falling back to capture-only mode
    Sun Mar  5 18:17:17 2017: ERROR: Cannot initialize driver
    Sun Mar  5 18:17:17 2017: ERROR: JackServer::Open failed with -1
    Sun Mar  5 18:17:17 2017: ERROR: Failed to open server
    Sun Mar  5 18:17:19 2017: Saving settings to "/home/dbaker/.config/jack/conf.xml" ...
    18:17:25.412 Could not connect to JACK server as client. - Overall operation failed. - Unable to connect to server. Please check the messages window for more info.
    Cannot connect to server socket err = No such file or directory
    Cannot connect to server request channel
    jack server is not running or cannot be started
    JackShmReadWritePtr::~JackShmReadWritePtr - Init not done for 4294967295, skipping unlock
    JackShmReadWritePtr::~JackShmReadWritePtr - Init not done for 4294967295, skipping unlock
    The troubleshooting article suggests purging and reinstalling the sound stack. I would dearly love to do this but when I tried to run sudo apt-get purge linux-sound-base alsa-base alsa-utils libasound2 I got a heap of errors, presumably because of dependencies (I hope it hasn't actually broken anything). So then I just tried sudo apt-get install --reinstall linux-sound-base alsa-base alsa-utils libasound2. I'm now scared to restart in case I've made more of a mess than I think (I'm going to do a backup now just in case).

    I've tried to give as much info as possible but if you need any more I'm happy to provide it.
    Hoping someone can help me recover from the consequences of my recklessness!
    Last edited by dbaker; Mar 05, 2017, 01:39 AM.
    "Stella", HP Pavilion 15-ak006TX: KDE Neon User Edition dual-booted with Windows 10, 8gb RAM, Intel i7-6700HQ CPU, NVIDIA GeForce GTX950M graphics, 2 TB hard drive

    #2
    I went through a similar pain a few years ago, only to discover that I had turned the volume off.
    But, that is obviously not your problem. You might have damaged your hardware. To test, boot from a LiveUSB or LiveCD and run a distro from it, without touching your HD. IF it has sound then your problem is configuration. If not, then hardware.

    BTW, just about everything is now controlled by systemd. You may have muted your sound process. Alsa.restore.service might help.
    "A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.”
    – John F. Kennedy, February 26, 1962.

    Comment


      #3
      Thanks for the reply. I realised there was an easier way to check if it's a hardware problem - I just booted into Windows.
      Unfortunately, no sound there either.
      I took pictures of some relevant system info in Windows. This is the info from the Sound Device section of System Information:
      Click image for larger version

Name:	sound-device.jpg
Views:	1
Size:	28.9 KB
ID:	643466

      That looks ok to me, but there is another section in the System Information app called "problem devices". This is what it contained:
      Click image for larger version

Name:	problem-devices.jpg
Views:	1
Size:	17.2 KB
ID:	643467

      I googled this error and everyone is saying it's a driver issue. This is clearly not the case for me, since it affects both operating systems running on my hardware.

      I'm currently waiting to run some windows diagnostics to see if I can get any more info, but it's insisting on doing a software update first!

      I don't understand what's happened. The computer hasn't sustained any physical damage and it can't be a coincidence that the sound only stopped working after I edited that alsa config file. Is it possible I actually zapped the sound card by changing the driver config? Seems ridiculous.
      Attached Files
      "Stella", HP Pavilion 15-ak006TX: KDE Neon User Edition dual-booted with Windows 10, 8gb RAM, Intel i7-6700HQ CPU, NVIDIA GeForce GTX950M graphics, 2 TB hard drive

      Comment


        #4
        ok so I ran some diagnostics. I forgot that they are actually HP diagnostics not Windows and can be run regardless of the OS installed, see this: http://support.hp.com/au-en/document/c03463381

        I ran an audio check which plays some sounds and asks you to confirm how many were played. The sound worked and played the correct number of sounds! What is going on?!
        "Stella", HP Pavilion 15-ak006TX: KDE Neon User Edition dual-booted with Windows 10, 8gb RAM, Intel i7-6700HQ CPU, NVIDIA GeForce GTX950M graphics, 2 TB hard drive

        Comment


          #5
          YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE THIS.
          After running the diagnostics I rebooted into Linux and guess what? AUDIO IS COMPLETELY FINE.

          I still have no idea what happened and I hope it doesn't happen again. I'm not even sure if the problem is completely resolved so I'll post here again if there are any updates.
          "Stella", HP Pavilion 15-ak006TX: KDE Neon User Edition dual-booted with Windows 10, 8gb RAM, Intel i7-6700HQ CPU, NVIDIA GeForce GTX950M graphics, 2 TB hard drive

          Comment


            #6
            A problem resolves itself. Been there. Done that.
            It was probably caused by a stray voltage or current spike during a power cycle, or perhaps a cosmic ray passed through at that moment.
            It's not uncommon for a diagnostic program to turn on test ports, cycle switches, etc...
            Hope it stays fixed for ya!
            "A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.”
            – John F. Kennedy, February 26, 1962.

            Comment

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