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Boot Sound Volume Set to Zero, Realtek ALC888, GA-EP31-DS3L

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tortise at paradise

Feb 26, 2010, 11:53 AM

Post #1 of 11 (1914 views)
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Boot Sound Volume Set to Zero, Realtek ALC888, GA-EP31-DS3L

I've not been able to find any leads how to turn my default boot sound to 0dB, instead its always muted and slid right down
following boot. Nothing seems to save it up. I've tried sudo alsamixer but that is also is reset.

This problem seems related to the chips on this motherboard, as the problem does not exist with similar frontends that used single
core Pentium 3000's.

Using Mythbuntu 9.10. I've set the sliders in mytthtv settings General sound up to 100% and using alsa default.

In restarting one has to go to the volume slider top right and slide it up to get sound, it doesn't seem to matter what one does in
the mixer. WAF on this is dogmatic about it.(!)

The only related file I can find is /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf however there is nothing obvious there.

There seem to be no alsa logs running.

Any leads would be appreciated.

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kevin at familyross

Feb 26, 2010, 1:08 PM

Post #2 of 11 (1839 views)
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Re: Boot Sound Volume Set to Zero, Realtek ALC888, GA-EP31-DS3L [In reply to]

> From: Tortise
> Sent: Friday, February 26, 2010 11:53 AM
>
> I've not been able to find any leads how to turn my default boot sound
> to 0dB, instead its always muted and slid right down
> following boot. Nothing seems to save it up. I've tried sudo
> alsamixer but that is also is reset.
>
> This problem seems related to the chips on this motherboard, as the
> problem does not exist with similar frontends that used single
> core Pentium 3000's.
>
> Using Mythbuntu 9.10. I've set the sliders in mytthtv settings General
> sound up to 100% and using alsa default.
>
> In restarting one has to go to the volume slider top right and slide it
> up to get sound, it doesn't seem to matter what one does in
> the mixer. WAF on this is dogmatic about it.(!)
>
> The only related file I can find is /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf
> however there is nothing obvious there.
>
> There seem to be no alsa logs running.
>
> Any leads would be appreciated.

On shutdown it's supposed to run "alsactl store", and on startup "alsactl
restore". Can you run those manually (as root), and does it produce the
expected results?

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tortise at paradise

Feb 26, 2010, 3:23 PM

Post #3 of 11 (1837 views)
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Re: Boot Sound Volume Set to Zero, Realtek ALC888, GA-EP31-DS3L [In reply to]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Kevin Ross" <kevin [at] familyross>
To: "'Discussion about mythtv'" <mythtv-users [at] mythtv>
Sent: Saturday, February 27, 2010 10:08 AM
Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] Boot Sound Volume Set to Zero, Realtek ALC888,GA-EP31-DS3L

> From: Tortise
> Sent: Friday, February 26, 2010 11:53 AM
>
> I've not been able to find any leads how to turn my default boot sound
> to 0dB, instead its always muted and slid right down
> following boot. Nothing seems to save it up. I've tried sudo
> alsamixer but that is also is reset.
>
> This problem seems related to the chips on this motherboard, as the
> problem does not exist with similar frontends that used single
> core Pentium 3000's.
>
> Using Mythbuntu 9.10. I've set the sliders in mytthtv settings General
> sound up to 100% and using alsa default.
>
> In restarting one has to go to the volume slider top right and slide it
> up to get sound, it doesn't seem to matter what one does in
> the mixer. WAF on this is dogmatic about it.(!)
>
> The only related file I can find is /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf
> however there is nothing obvious there.
>
> There seem to be no alsa logs running.
>
> Any leads would be appreciated.

> On shutdown it's supposed to run "alsactl store", and on startup "alsactl
restore". Can you run those manually (as root), and does it produce the
expected results?

What I have tried is:

moby [at] mythtv:~$ sudo -u root -i
root [at] mythtv:~# alsactl store
root [at] mythtv:~# alsactl restore

/var/lib/alsa/asound.state exists with owner root and rw-r--r-- and its date time suggests it is being updated.

As its 17K I put the file up at http://pastebin.ca/1812511

Its contents are unchanged (using Winmerge) from before and after running those alsactl commands. Also seems there is a duplicate
set of data in that one.

Checking the 2nd box with the same issue /var/lib/alsa/asound.state seems to be updated when the system shuts down.

http://pastebin.ca/1812557 has 3 successive versions of the file contents with comments.

I'm not sure if the method of shutting down is relevant? Is using the Log Off menu the same as shutting down via the mythtv
shutdown command? Doesn't seem to be.

Back to first machine. Set Sound max. Shutdown. Restart. Contents of /var/lib/alsa/asound.state is unchanged and sound is again
muted. Hmmm

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tortise at paradise

Feb 26, 2010, 3:23 PM

Post #4 of 11 (1833 views)
Permalink

Re: Boot Sound Volume Set to Zero, Realtek ALC888, GA-EP31-DS3L [In reply to]

kevin at familyross

Feb 26, 2010, 3:37 PM

Post #5 of 11 (1841 views)
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Re: Boot Sound Volume Set to Zero, Realtek ALC888, GA-EP31-DS3L [In reply to]

> From: Tortise
> Sent: Friday, February 26, 2010 3:24 PM
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Kevin Ross" <kevin [at] familyross>
> To: "'Discussion about mythtv'" <mythtv-users [at] mythtv>
> Sent: Saturday, February 27, 2010 10:08 AM
> Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] Boot Sound Volume Set to Zero, Realtek
> ALC888,GA-EP31-DS3L
>
>
> > From: Tortise
> > Sent: Friday, February 26, 2010 11:53 AM
> >
> > I've not been able to find any leads how to turn my default boot
> sound
> > to 0dB, instead its always muted and slid right down
> > following boot. Nothing seems to save it up. I've tried sudo
> > alsamixer but that is also is reset.
> >
> > This problem seems related to the chips on this motherboard, as the
> > problem does not exist with similar frontends that used single
> > core Pentium 3000's.
> >
> > Using Mythbuntu 9.10. I've set the sliders in mytthtv settings
> General
> > sound up to 100% and using alsa default.
> >
> > In restarting one has to go to the volume slider top right and slide
> it
> > up to get sound, it doesn't seem to matter what one does in
> > the mixer. WAF on this is dogmatic about it.(!)
> >
> > The only related file I can find is /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf
> > however there is nothing obvious there.
> >
> > There seem to be no alsa logs running.
> >
> > Any leads would be appreciated.
>
> > On shutdown it's supposed to run "alsactl store", and on startup
> "alsactl
> restore". Can you run those manually (as root), and does it produce
> the
> expected results?
>
> What I have tried is:
>
> moby [at] mythtv:~$ sudo -u root -i
> root [at] mythtv:~# alsactl store
> root [at] mythtv:~# alsactl restore
>
> /var/lib/alsa/asound.state exists with owner root and rw-r--r-- and its
> date time suggests it is being updated.
>
> As its 17K I put the file up at http://pastebin.ca/1812511
>
> Its contents are unchanged (using Winmerge) from before and after
> running those alsactl commands. Also seems there is a duplicate
> set of data in that one.
>
> Checking the 2nd box with the same issue /var/lib/alsa/asound.state
> seems to be updated when the system shuts down.
>
> http://pastebin.ca/1812557 has 3 successive versions of the file
> contents with comments.
>
> I'm not sure if the method of shutting down is relevant? Is using the
> Log Off menu the same as shutting down via the mythtv
> shutdown command? Doesn't seem to be.
>
> Back to first machine. Set Sound max. Shutdown. Restart. Contents
> of /var/lib/alsa/asound.state is unchanged and sound is again
> muted. Hmmm

I'm not an ALSA expert, and I really don't know how to interpret the
contents of those files. Maybe an expert will chime in.

Have you confirmed that storing and restoring the state actually works?
Meaning, set the volume to some level. Save it with alsactl store. Then
change the volume level. Then try alsactl restore and see if the volume
goes back to the saved level. If it doesn't, then you may have to ask the
ALSA experts on their mailing list/forum.

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tortise at paradise

Feb 26, 2010, 4:02 PM

Post #6 of 11 (1843 views)
Permalink

Re: Boot Sound Volume Set to Zero, Realtek ALC888, GA-EP31-DS3L [In reply to]

>Have you confirmed that storing and restoring the state actually works?
Meaning, set the volume to some level. Save it with alsactl store. Then
change the volume level. Then try alsactl restore and see if the volume
goes back to the saved level.

OK did that, interesting results.

If the slider is unmuted then the restore command will largely restore volume levels, although in a non linear way. 50% > 100%, but
30% > 30%!

If the slider is muted / 0% then no volume restore occurs.

I'm not sure that advances things much, I'll wait a bit for more responses, if none I'll head over to ALSA.

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f-myth-users at media

Feb 26, 2010, 6:49 PM

Post #7 of 11 (1809 views)
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Boot Sound Volume Set to Zero, Realtek ALC888, GA-EP31-DS3L [In reply to]

You could try a big hammer and see if changing the volume does
anything at all in the filesystem, which might give you a lead.

In other words, boot, wait a few minutes to make your life simpler,
change the volume control, and then run something like

sudo find / -mmin -5 -ls

and maybe even

sudo find / -cmin -5 -ls

[.This assumes that you can scan your filesystem in substantially less
than 5 minutes; if not, increase that number, especially on the second
one if you run both sequentially. The "wait a few minutes" is so you
don't wind up seeing every file that booting touches, which could be a
bunch.]

You'll get a bunch of cruft; you could also play games with specifying
all your actual-disk-based-filesystems manually instead of as /, or
you could use -prune if you're good with find syntax, or you could
even do

sudo find / -mmin -5 -ls | grep -v /sys | grep -v /proc

just as a simple first pass, since it's not like you're going to be
running this command more than a couple of times.

The point is you're looking for files that were modified suspiciously
close to when you changed the volume control. That might tell you
where to look---either what tool might be scriptable to fix this,
or even what sort of script to run to smash a saved, known-correct
version of this in place of whatever's overwriting it.

(If you have any NFS-mounted filesystems under root, use -prune or
unmount them so you don't scan across the mountpoint, which will
take forever.)

P.S. This assumes that alsactl store/restore are already doing the
right thing, etc.
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tortise at paradise

Feb 26, 2010, 11:57 PM

Post #8 of 11 (1785 views)
Permalink

Re: SOLVED Boot Sound Volume Set to Zero, Realtek ALC888, GA-EP31-DS3L [In reply to]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Tortise" <tortise [at] paradise>
To: "Discussion about mythtv" <mythtv-users [at] mythtv>
Sent: Saturday, February 27, 2010 8:53 AM
Subject: [mythtv-users] Boot Sound Volume Set to Zero, Realtek ALC888,GA-EP31-DS3L

> I've not been able to find any leads how to turn my default boot sound to 0dB, instead its always muted and slid right down
following boot. Nothing seems to save it up. I've tried sudo alsamixer but that is also is reset.

> This problem seems related to the chips on this motherboard, as the problem does not exist with similar frontends that used single
core Pentium 3000's.

> Using Mythbuntu 9.10. I've set the sliders in mytthtv settings General sound up to 100% and using alsa default.

> In restarting one has to go to the volume slider top right and slide it up to get sound, it doesn't seem to matter what one does
> in
the mixer. WAF on this is dogmatic about it.(!)

> The only related file I can find is /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf however there is nothing obvious there.

Well...like much on the net its hard to find something new... I just needed the right search terms...

Thank you to the posters, your assistance was helpful.

The answer seems reproduced below, as referenced.

Funny its not more of a widespread problem. (or do others tolerate it?)

Just another day, another advance in the life of a mythtv user.....

https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/68564
Mark Rijckenberg said on 2009-09-15:
Hi,
Please try this workaround procedure:
1. Open Terminal from "Applications->Accessories->Terminal"
2. copy-paste the following command into the Terminal:
gksudo gedit /etc/init.d/alsa-utils
3. Replace the following line (which is line 372 in the /etc/init.d/alsa-utils file):
mute_and_zero_levels "$TARGET_CARD" || EXITSTATUS=1
with the following line:
# mute_and_zero_levels "$TARGET_CARD" || EXITSTATUS=1
So you need to comment out that line to prevent the script from muting your soundcard during boot.
4. Reboot and recheck mixer settings
Hope it helps,
Regards,

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mikep at randomtraveller

Feb 27, 2010, 6:00 AM

Post #9 of 11 (1747 views)
Permalink

Re: SOLVED Boot Sound Volume Set to Zero, Realtek ALC888, GA-EP31-DS3L [In reply to]

Tortise wrote:
[...]
> 1. Open Terminal from "Applications->Accessories->Terminal"
> 2. copy-paste the following command into the Terminal:
> gksudo gedit /etc/init.d/alsa-utils
> 3. Replace the following line (which is line 372 in the
> /etc/init.d/alsa-utils file):
> mute_and_zero_levels "$TARGET_CARD" || EXITSTATUS=1
> with the following line:
> # mute_and_zero_levels "$TARGET_CARD" || EXITSTATUS=1
> So you need to comment out that line to prevent the script from muting
> your soundcard during boot.
> 4. Reboot and recheck mixer settings
>
Unbelievable. Who on earth thought that resetting sound levels to zero on shut
down *and muting them* was a good idea in the first place?

--

Mike Perkins

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tortise at paradise

Feb 27, 2010, 11:08 AM

Post #10 of 11 (1699 views)
Permalink

Re: SOLVED Boot Sound Volume Set to Zero, Realtek ALC888, GA-EP31-DS3L [In reply to]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike Perkins" <mikep [at] randomtraveller>
To: "Discussion about mythtv" <mythtv-users [at] mythtv>
Sent: Sunday, February 28, 2010 3:00 AM
Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] SOLVED Boot Sound Volume Set to Zero, Realtek ALC888, GA-EP31-DS3L

Tortise wrote:
[...]
> 1. Open Terminal from "Applications->Accessories->Terminal"
> 2. copy-paste the following command into the Terminal:
> gksudo gedit /etc/init.d/alsa-utils
> 3. Replace the following line (which is line 372 in the /etc/init.d/alsa-utils file):
> mute_and_zero_levels "$TARGET_CARD" || EXITSTATUS=1
> with the following line:
> # mute_and_zero_levels "$TARGET_CARD" || EXITSTATUS=1
> So you need to comment out that line to prevent the script from muting your soundcard during boot.
> 4. Reboot and recheck mixer settings
>
Mike:
> Unbelievable. Who on earth thought that resetting sound levels to zero on shut
down *and muting them* was a good idea in the first place?

Well yes indeed!

Perhaps it was intended to eliminate thumps and clicks from power off and power ons? Sort of like a dethump relay effect?

One reason it might be failing to restore could be that these frontends are fast PC's running flash media (SSD and CF), timings that
happened sequentially in the past were presumably not tested at these speeds. I have an intermittent boot bug using a SSD which
might also be explained by this, as suggested
http://www.xpmediacentre.com.au/community/linux-general-setup-support-discussion/41708-mythbuntu-9-10-fails-boot.html#post287476
Another identical box, just with slower CF does not do this.

I've also noted that when one puts a frontend into suspend the volume is also muted (Top right slider gets the little red cross for
mute automatically)

Using suspend avoids the boot bug and is quicker. Nice!

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paul at aghast

Mar 1, 2010, 7:51 AM

Post #11 of 11 (1436 views)
Permalink

Re: SOLVED Boot Sound Volume Set to Zero, Realtek ALC888, GA-EP31-DS3L [In reply to]

>
> I've not been able to find any leads how to turn my default boot sound to
>> 0dB, instead its always muted and slid right down following boot.
>
>
> Funny its not more of a widespread problem. (or do others tolerate it?)
>
>
Thanks for the solution. It was a problem for me as well. Thankfully
though the FE gets rebooted infrequently and I'm normally the one doing the
rebooting so it's not usually a WAF issue.

Paul

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