alsa, via82xx, hardware and kernels

handsomepete

Ok, I just want to get a sort of centralized source of information on the semi-infamous alsa + via sound driver that supposedly became broken in 0.9.0rc7 and became refixed, but only working ok for some people even up to the current version of 0.9.3c. I've been mulling over the various mailing lists for a while and it seems there are a lot of solutions to try but none guaranteed to work. So, in an effort to cut down on the questions that pop up about this common sound driver, please write down all of your relevant information here (motherboard chipset, sound card type, alsa drivers tried, kernels tried, etc.) and, of course, whether or not it works for you and how well. If you've found any patches or got it working on a different distro, note that as well.

For me:
Shuttle SK41G
VIA KM266
VIA8233 soundcard (onboard) (listed on their webpage as Realtek ALC650...)

derk · Posted: Sat May 24, 2003 11:57 pm Post subject:

hi i'm currently running the 2.4.21_rc2-gss kernel
with ALSA v0.9.3c-r1. I had the problem earlier at the switch. This fixed itself apparently later about rc8 or rc9. One thing that I do is compile the kernel with the built in sound driver for via82xx... as a module but I do not install it. then I compile the alsa-drivers afterward. I've also activated APIC in this kernel (the modern interrupt structure which my board supports)

I'm using a Gigabyte GA-7VRX board athlon-xp 1900, via KT333. It uses via 8233ACE and the alsa emulates an Avance logic ALC200/200P rev0 ( uses irq 22) (Sigmatel 9721T Codec 'AC97' chip)

synth and midi are not working /proc says they are 'not enabled in config' although the alsa config file does include them. I've also got the alsa-oss compatability stuff loaded as well.

I remember zapping a few links at one point in /dev or in the saved devfs files. This may not help much but it's worth a shot. Sorry I have not looked at all your links yet, but I suspect something is still screwy with my set-up. I did fool with the command line alsamixer tools somewhat as well to ensure all channels were active .. but I'm only using stereo sound.

derk

elkan · n00b Joined: 08 Nov 2002 Posts: 69

https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=54757

elkan · n00b Joined: 08 Nov 2002 Posts: 69

https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=54757

furanku · Posted: Sun May 25, 2003 11:14 am Post subject:

Hi!

My config:

handsomepete · Posted: Tue May 27, 2003 2:50 pm Post subject:

Using a combination of the .asoundrc and acpi=off I've succeeded in getting the development kernel alsa via82xx driver working with the via8233 chip. I assume that the same formula would work with alsa 0.9.3x and a 2.4 kernel. Just an update.

Edit: I was wrong, I still have the "fast video" problem (the audio on video playback goes waaaaaay too fast speeding up the video as well) even with the .asoundrc fix. Back to the drawing board.

Edit 2: Was able to fix the "fast video" problem by adding -speed=0.99 to mplayer's command line. Worked like a charm.

So: Currently using kernel 2.5.70-mm1 w/ built in via8233 alsa support using a combination of a .asoundrc (as listed above), acpi=off and -speed=0.99 on mplayer and everything appears to be working flawlessly. Yay! I'll try some more configurations as time allows.

erob · n00b Joined: 31 May 2003 Posts: 6

Hi Everybody!

I've been reading about alsa and trying different possibilities for days... all I got was a bad sound (scratched] output, when I got one.

So I read in a german thread the foloowing instruction and it worked perfectly!

The following Solution worked for me using:
Mainboard using VIA KT266 Chipset
onBoard Sound using VIA8233 Chip

1. find out what kernel you have ( uname -a)
if you have linux-2.4.20-gentoo-r2 (this kernel comes with the current gentoo livecd). Solution -> you need to update your kernel. I used kernel version 2.4.21-rc1 and it worked.
2. Forget the Alsa Stuff.. (remove it)

to upgrade your kernel follw the instructions below!

maxmc · Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2003 11:07 am Post subject:

Preview your posts before posting!
There are lots of errors with the BBCode in your post.

handsomepete

handsomepete · Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2003 11:40 am Post subject:

Update: I found a solution that's perfect for me.

After the "breakage" of via82xx, the sound started becoming very digital sounding, but only the midrange (some guitars and voices on music and video files, for instance). After a whole lotta experimentation, I combined 2.4.21-rc6-ac1 with alsa driver 0.9.0-rc6 and it sounds and works flawlessly (for 2 channel sound, I have no idea about any other channels). You still have to slow down mplayer with the -speed switch, but the sound is once again crystal clear and operational against a modern kernel. The ebuild for 0.9.0-rc6 is gone from portage, but the 0.9.0-rc2 ebuild version bumped to -rc6 works (note that 0.9.0-rc2 doesn't work quite right).

As with all things, YMMV - but for those who have a Shuttle SK41G/VIA KM266 chipset, this may be the answer for you.

Edit: I just realized that I mistyped the speed switch above. I think it should be:

yeppa · n00b Joined: 26 Aug 2003 Posts: 9 Location: Paris, France

Hi,

I just installed the lastest Gentoo (2.4.20-gentoo-r6) and can't get the sound working properly (with the via82xx on a Shuttle SK41G).
I followed the alsa guide from the gentoo doc but in vain.. I also searched the forums and found a great number of posts but nothing seems to work!

any insight would be greatly appreciated
thanks

y-

daSilVetZ · n00b Joined: 28 Apr 2003 Posts: 66 Location: CT

Have you tried sources other than the gentoo ones?

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raid517 · l33t Joined: 06 Mar 2003 Posts: 946

Ok I think this is where this post really belongs, if the mods want to delete the other one please feel free.

Anyway I've got what appears to be success. I loaded and compiled the alsa drivers and all seems to be fine. However I have a digital output on this card which I know for certain is supported, since it works flawlessly in Red Hat (well the fact that Red Hat dependency hell sucks is another issue but...) so I assume there must be a way to get it going under any other distro to? I just tried some headphones and analogue works fine. Unfortunately though I don't have an analogue sound system - and headphones are only of limited use.

I know I'm narrowing my options here for help, but what is the chance that someone out there might be running Red Hat 9.0 with alsa and with a digital out put to an external AC3 reciever? Or maybe somebody runs Gentoo with this configuration? What have I got to do to get digital sound to work?

Q

micmac · l33t Joined: 28 Nov 2003 Posts: 996

I had problems with my setup, too. Mplayer played 44100Hz audio files way too fast. After a bit of search I found this page: http://alsa.opensrc.org/index.php?page=via8233

So I played around with it and now it works without modifying mplayers config with -speed or -srate. I just added another line to /etc/modules.d/alsa:

alias snd-card-0 snd-via82xx
options snd-via82xx dxs_support=1

Then I did modules-update again, rebooted and unmuted Master and PCM once more (had to, don't know why, but it worked).

Hope it helps you, too.

mic

micmac · l33t Joined: 28 Nov 2003 Posts: 996

Well actually it seems to depend on the motherboard which dxs option to chose. I got an ASRock K7VM2 and "options snd-via82xx dxs_support=4" works best for me. Just so you know.

mic