Can no longer load snd-usb-audio [Solved]

calicoman · Apprentice Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 171

I don't know when this problem came up as I had not used my web cam for a week or two. However, when I tried to use it last note I could not get the sound to work because the webcam mike (snd-usb-audio) was not loaded. I have it enabled in the kernel and it is listed under modules in /lib/modules/2.6.23-gentoo-r8. Somehow ALSA is not recognizing or loading it. I have tried every combination possible in my soundcard configuration.

I use uvcvideo with skype and have had no trouble until now. I have gone back one version of alsa with no help.

Another question I have is should the configuration be in /etc/modprobe.d or in /etc/modules.d? The guide says it should be in /etc/modules.d, but in my other 2 computers running Gentoo it has been moved to /etc/modprobe.d.

I should also mention that it works fine under winXP

audiodef · Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2009 9:25 pm Post subject:

It depends on which version of baselayout you're using.

I have a laptop with a builtin webcam/mic that needs uvcvideo, and I've gotten it working by building the drivers into the kernel. Maybe give that a try and see if it works.

Failing that, or just if you need to stick with modules, please post your lspci and emerge --info to make it easier for others to help.
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calicoman · Apprentice Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 171

Here is my emerge --info

wendy ~ # emerge --info
Portage 2.1.6.7 (default/linux/x86/2008.0, gcc-4.1.2, glibc-2.6.1-r0, 2.6.27-gentoo-r8 i686)
=================================================================
System uname: Linux-2.6.27-gentoo-r8-i686-Intel-R-_Pentium-R-_4_CPU_2.40GHz-with-glibc2.0
Timestamp of tree: Mon, 02 Mar 2009 11:10:02 +0000
ccache version 2.4 [enabled]
app-shells/bash: 3.2_p39
dev-java/java-config: 1.3.7-r1, 2.1.6-r1
dev-lang/python: 2.4.4-r13, 2.5.2-r7
dev-python/pycrypto: 2.0.1-r6
dev-util/ccache: 2.4-r7
dev-util/cmake: 2.4.8
sys-apps/baselayout: 1.12.11.1
sys-apps/sandbox: 1.2.18.1-r2
sys-devel/autoconf: 2.13, 2.63
sys-devel/automake: 1.5, 1.7.9-r1, 1.8.5-r3, 1.9.6-r2, 1.10.2
sys-devel/binutils: 2.18-r3
sys-devel/gcc-config: 1.4.0-r4
sys-devel/libtool: 1.5.26
virtual/os-headers: 2.6.27-r2
ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="x86"
CBUILD="i686-pc-linux-gnu"
CFLAGS="-O2 -march=pentium4 -pipe"
CHOST="i686-pc-linux-gnu"
CONFIG_PROTECT="/etc /usr/kde/3.5/env /usr/kde/3.5/share/config /usr/kde/3.5/shutdown /usr/share/config /var/lib/hsqldb"
CONFIG_PROTECT_MASK="/etc/ca-certificates.conf /etc/env.d /etc/env.d/java/ /etc/fonts/fonts.conf /etc/gconf /etc/revdep-rebuild /etc/terminfo /etc/udev/rules.d"
CXXFLAGS="-O2 -march=pentium4 -pipe"
DISTDIR="/usr/portage/distfiles"
FEATURES="ccache distlocks fixpackages parallel-fetch protect-owned sandbox sfperms strict unmerge-orphans userfetch"
GENTOO_MIRRORS="http://gentoo.osuosl.org/ "
LDFLAGS="-Wl,-O1"
LINGUAS="en"
MAKEOPTS="-j2"
PKGDIR="/usr/portage/packages"
PORTAGE_CONFIGROOT="/"
PORTAGE_RSYNC_OPTS="--recursive --links --safe-links --perms --times --compress --force --whole-file --delete --stats --timeout=180 --exclude=/distfiles --exclude=/local --exclude=/packages"
PORTAGE_TMPDIR="/var/tmp"
PORTDIR="/usr/portage"
SYNC="rsync://rsync.gentoo.org/gentoo-portage"
USE="X a52 aac accessibility acl alsa arts asf berkdb bzip2 caps cdparanoia cdr cli cracklib crypt cups dbus dlloader dri dv dvd dvdr dvdread encode esd exif ffmpeg firefox flac fortran gdbm gif gpm gtk gtk2 hal iconv iee1394 imagemagick ipv6 isdnlog java jpeg kde live mad midi mmx mng motif mozbranding mp3 mpeg mudflap nas ncurses network nls nptl nptlonly nsplugin ntpl ntplonly opengl openmp oss pam pcre pdf perl png ppds pppd python qt3 qt4 quicktime readline reflection scanner sdl session spl sse sse2 ssl sysfs tcpd theora tiff truetype unicode usb utempter v4l v4l2 vorbis win32codecs x86 xine xorg xulrunner xv zlib" ALSA_CARDS="ali5451 als4000 atiixp atiixp-modem bt87x ca0106 cmipci emu10k1 emu10k1x ens1370 ens1371 es1938 es1968 fm801 hda-intel intel8x0 intel8x0m maestro3 trident usb-audio via82xx via82xx-modem ymfpci" ALSA_PCM_PLUGINS="adpcm alaw asym copy dmix dshare dsnoop empty extplug file hooks iec958 ioplug ladspa lfloat linear meter mmap_emul mulaw multi null plug rate route share shm softvol" APACHE2_MODULES="actions alias auth_basic authn_alias authn_anon authn_dbm authn_default authn_file authz_dbm authz_default authz_groupfile authz_host authz_owner authz_user autoindex cache dav dav_fs dav_lock deflate dir disk_cache env expires ext_filter file_cache filter headers include info log_config logio mem_cache mime mime_magic negotiation rewrite setenvif speling status unique_id userdir usertrack vhost_alias" ELIBC="glibc" INPUT_DEVICES="keyboard mouse" KERNEL="linux" LCD_DEVICES="bayrad cfontz cfontz633 glk hd44780 lb216 lcdm001 mtxorb ncurses text" LINGUAS="en" USERLAND="GNU" VIDEO_CARDS="nvidia"
Unset: CPPFLAGS, CTARGET, EMERGE_DEFAULT_OPTS, FFLAGS, INSTALL_MASK, LANG, LC_ALL, PORTAGE_COMPRESS, PORTAGE_COMPRESS_FLAGS, PORTAGE_RSYNC_EXTRA_OPTS, PORTDIR_OVERLAY

And here is my lspci.

endy ~ # lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. CN700/VN800/P4M800CE/Pro Host Bridge
00:00.1 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. CN700/VN800/P4M800CE/Pro Host Bridge
00:00.2 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. CN700/VN800/P4M800CE/Pro Host Bridge
00:00.3 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. PT890 Host Bridge
00:00.4 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. CN700/VN800/P4M800CE/Pro Host Bridge
00:00.7 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. CN700/VN800/P4M800CE/Pro Host Bridge
00:01.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237/VX700 PCI Bridge
00:09.0 PCI bridge: Hint Corp HB6 Universal PCI-PCI bridge (non-transparent mode) (rev 11)
00:0a.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10)
00:0f.0 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C586A/B/VT82C686/A/B/VT823x/A/C PIPC Bus Master IDE (rev 06)
00:10.0 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 81)
00:10.1 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 81)
00:10.2 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 81)
00:10.3 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 81)
00:10.4 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. USB 2.0 (rev 86)
00:11.0 ISA bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237 ISA bridge [KT600/K8T800/K8T890 South]
00:11.5 Multimedia audio controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8233/A/8235/8237 AC97 Audio Controller (rev 60)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV34 [GeForce FX 5200] (rev a1)
02:08.0 Multimedia video controller: Conexant CX23880/1/2/3 PCI Video and Audio Decoder (rev 05)
02:09.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Texas Instruments TSB43AB22/A IEEE-1394a-2000 Controller (PHY/Link)
wendy ~ #

And here is my lsusb.

wendy ~ # lsusb
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 046d:0990 Logitech, Inc.
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002
Bus 005 Device 002: ID 04b8:0005 Seiko Epson Corp. Stylus Printer
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001
Bus 003 Device 002: ID 0a5f:0009 Zebra LP2844 Printer
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 1a81:0101
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001

I had been using Skype for a year with no problems. I don't know when this came up. but I discovered it this weekend.

calicoman · Apprentice Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 171

I finally put snd-usb audio into modules.autoload.d and I can now get Skype sound to work. Although funny thing is that on boot alsa gives a 'FATAL cannot find sound card 1'.

NeddySeagoon · Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 7:59 pm Post subject:

calicoman,

That implies that your /etc/modules.d/alsa is in a mess, since that file should load the module for you.
_________________
Regards,

NeddySeagoon

Computer users fall into two groups:-
those that do backups
those that have never had a hard drive fail.

calicoman · Apprentice Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 171

To NeddySeagoon:

I agree, something messed up my ALSA files - I didn't touch them prior to when my usb-audio stopped working. I am thinking that etc-update got me although I am very careful about not letting it overwrite config files. I still have questions and comments.

1-Why, on my other 2 computers is there no alsa config file in modules.d? It is in modprobe.d and they both work well. I know that I did not transfer them there!

2-This computer works just as well with sound whether there is an alsa config file in modules.d as long as there is one in modprobe.d. I have tried so many things I am not sure whether I have tried the reverse.

3-I have tried every combination that I think is possible with alsa config file and nothing worked, therefore I resorted to autoload. Even if I put snd-usb-audio in for a second sound card it does not load.

4-Here is my current alsa config.

Alsa kernel modules' configuration file.

# ALSA portion
alias char-major-116 snd
# OSS/Free portion
alias char-major-14 soundcore

##
## IMPORTANT:
## You need to customise this section for your specific sound card(s)
## and then run `update-modules' command.
## Read alsa-driver's INSTALL file in /usr/share/doc for more info.
##
## ALSA portion
alias snd-card-0 snd-via82xx
## alias snd-card-1 snd-usb-audio
## OSS/Free portion
alias sound-slot-0 snd-card-0
## alias sound-slot-1 snd-crd-1
##

# OSS/Free portion - card #1
alias sound-service-0-0 snd-mixer-oss
alias sound-service-0-1 snd-seq-oss
alias sound-service-0-3 snd-pcm-oss
alias sound-service-0-8 snd-seq-oss
alias sound-service-0-12 snd-pcm-oss
## OSS/Free portion - card #2
## alias sound-service-1-0 snd-mixer-oss
## alias sound-service-1-3 snd-pcm-oss
## alias sound-service-1-12 snd-pcm-oss

alias /dev/mixer snd-mixer-oss
alias /dev/dsp snd-pcm-oss
alias /dev/midi snd-seq-oss

# Set this to the correct number of cards.
options snd cards_limit=3

options snd-via82xx index=0

## options snd-usb-audio index=1

NeddySeagoon · Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2009 7:31 pm Post subject:

calicoman,

You have all the snd-usb-audio lines present in your alsa file but they are commented out.
Is that deliberate?

Different distros put the alsa file in different places.

After you edit it the edits do not take effect until your run modules-conf (or conf-modules)
This updates /etc/modules.conf file which is used when modules are loaded.
Gentoo regenerates this file ever boot.
You can look in /etc/modules.conf but do not edit it, as you changes will be lost next boot.
_________________
Regards,

NeddySeagoon

Computer users fall into two groups:-
those that do backups
those that have never had a hard drive fail.

calicoman · Apprentice Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 171

To NeddySeagoon:

To answer your first question, the lines with snd-usb-audio were commented out because it didn't make any difference.

Then I did the following:
In /etc/modules.autoload/2.6 I commented out snd-usb-audio
In /etc/modprobe.d/alsa I first corrected the typo, then uncommented all lines related to snd-usb-audio and the OS Free portion for soundcard 2
Then I copied this file to /etc/modules.d and rebooted.
It still did not load the usb-audio, only soundcard 0.
All the right things are in /etc/modules.conf and /etc/modprobe.conf

After I make any change I generally reboot because I want to watch the messages during the boot process. Sometimes I would make the changes and then update-modules force and /etc/init.d/alsasound restart.