No HDMI sound from Acer NVIDIA Ion R1600

[mgolden]

I've done a full install of Xenialpup64 7.5 on a recently purchased R1600, circa 2009. It connects to my 43" TV set using HDMI.

I've found and installed the Nvidia 340 driver. This improved the screen picture but it did not fix the no-sound problem.

Any suggestions on where to go from here?

Some options that come to mind would be:

a) Install Windows XP on the hard drive and install the sound drivers from the Acer web site to see if the sound even works on this machine. This would be quite time consuming.

b) Try booting from a Puppy 5.7 live cd to see if the sound works with that version.

[peterw]

Sound on HDMI is a common problem on Windows and Linux. It is best to power up with the HDMI TV on so that Puppy (or any Linux) can see it and know it is there.
Can you look at the Sound Wizard because you should be able to select the Sound Card there.

[peterw]

If you can install VLC then it has sound selection button.

I use MythTV on a Ubuntu Base and for that to work, I have a command to detect the TV switching on and that triggers a Display Manager restart. This triggers the handshake between the TV and the PC to get a display AND the sound.

[mgolden]

I realized shortly after my original post this thing has no CD drive. So no live CD option.

I did boot off a memory stick configured with Slacko 6.3.0 32-bit. Still no sound with that option.

Before I go any further, I'm going to take to my office and plug it into a traditional 15-pin monitor with external speakers.

I'll report back what happens.

[bigpup]

First see what is offered for sound devices.
Menu>Setup>ALSA Sound Wizard>Multiple Cards

What does it show for cards?

Which one is selected to use?

[mgolden]

I've moved the itty bitty computer into the office and connected the VGA monitor and external speakers. The sound now works.

[peterw]

Your PCs have two hardware ways of getting sound out. They are via the 3.5 mm analogue socket and also via the digital HDMI socket which provides both the display and the sound.
With your VGA and 3.5 mm socket way of getting what you want in the Office you are going the analogue way and your Puppy has defaulted to this which is fine but the quality of the display and the sound will not be as good as with HDMI.
In Puppy, you have to select the sound output hardware and if you want to use HDMI you need to use the Sound Wizard which will give you the options of a analogue and hdmi which will be clearly labelled as such. Get to the Sound Wizard as bigpup suggest and let us know what you see and how you get on.

[mgolden]

Manufacturer: Acer
Product Name: FMCP7A-ION-LE

==========================================
/tmp/services/10alsa.start.log
==========================================
xenialpup64 7.5
Linux R1600 4.9.58 #1 SMP PREEMPT Mon Nov 13 15:54:01 GMT 2017 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

0 snd_hda_intel
1 snd_pcsp

###################################################
0 [NVidia ]: HDA-Intel - HDA NVidia
HDA NVidia at 0xfae78000 irq 22
1 [pcsp ]: PC-Speaker - pcsp
Internal PC-Speaker at port 0x61
###################################################

###################################################
snd_hda_codec_hdmi 33888 1
snd_hda_codec_realtek 57652 1
snd_hda_codec_generic 53475 1 snd_hda_codec_realtek
snd_hda_intel 22059 0
snd_hda_codec 82470 4 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_hda_codec_realtek
snd_hda_core 43009 5 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_hda_codec_realtek
snd_pcsp 7694 0
snd_hwdep 5738 1 snd_hda_codec
snd_pcm_oss 35247 0
snd_mixer_oss 13536 1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm 76591 6 snd_pcm_oss,snd_hda_intel,snd_pcsp,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_core,snd_hda_codec_hdmi
snd_seq_dummy 1403 0
snd_seq_oss 25475 0
snd_seq_midi 4774 0
snd_seq_midi_event 5380 2 snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_oss
snd_rawmidi 17482 1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq 44074 6 snd_seq_midi_event,snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_oss
snd_seq_device 3240 4 snd_seq,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_oss
snd_timer 19097 2 snd_seq,snd_pcm
snd 55394 15 snd_pcm_oss,snd_hda_intel,snd_pcsp,snd_hwdep,snd_mixer_oss,snd_seq,snd_hda_codec,snd_timer,snd_rawmidi,snd_hda_codec
_hdmi,snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_seq_device,snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_seq_oss,snd_pcm
soundcore 5219 1 snd
###################################################

# alsactl -d -f /etc/asound.state restore
alsactl: set_controls device='hw:0', doit=0
alsactl: set_controls card-info-id: 'NVidia'
alsactl: set_controls maxnumid=19
alsactl: set_controls result code: 0
alsactl: set_controls device='hw:0', doit=1
alsactl: set_controls card-info-id: 'NVidia'
alsactl: set_controls maxnumid=19
alsactl: set_controls result code: 0
alsactl: set_controls device='hw:1', doit=0
alsactl: set_controls card-info-id: 'pcsp'
alsactl: set_controls maxnumid=3
alsactl: set_controls result code: 0
alsactl: set_controls device='hw:1', doit=1
alsactl: set_controls card-info-id: 'pcsp'
alsactl: set_controls maxnumid=3
alsactl: set_controls result code: 0
alsactl: exit code 0



/var/lib/mscw/selected: card 0: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
-----------------------

==========================================
/tmp/services/mscw.start.log
==========================================

---------- /etc/asound.conf ---------
defaults.pcm.card 0
defaults.pcm.device 3
defaults.ctl.card 0
-------------------------------------

------------ .retrovolrc ------------
#card=hw:0
-------------------------------------

Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version k4.9.58.

0 snd_hda_intel
1 snd_pcsp

################################################### cards
0 [NVidia ]: HDA-Intel - HDA NVidia
HDA NVidia at 0xfae78000 irq 22
1 [pcsp ]: PC-Speaker - pcsp
Internal PC-Speaker at port 0x61
###################################################

################################################### aplay -l
card 0: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 0: ALC662 rev1 Analog [ALC662 rev1 Analog]
card 0: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
card 1: pcsp [pcsp], device 0: pcspeaker [pcsp]
###################################################

################################################### pcm
00-00: ALC662 rev1 Analog : ALC662 rev1 Analog : playback 1 : capture 1
00-03: HDMI 0 : HDMI 0 : playback 1
01-00: pcspeaker : pcsp : playback 1
###################################################

################################################### devices
1: : sequencer
2: [ 1] : control
3: [ 1- 0]: digital audio playback
4: [ 0] : control
5: [ 0- 0]: digital audio playback
6: [ 0- 0]: digital audio capture
7: [ 0- 3]: digital audio playback
8: [ 0- 0]: hardware dependent
9: [ 0- 3]: hardware dependent
33: : timer
###################################################




==========================================
Sound Card Wizard
==========================================

---------- /etc/asound.conf ---------
defaults.pcm.card 0
defaults.pcm.device 3
defaults.ctl.card 0
-------------------------------------

------------ .retrovolrc ------------
#card=hw:0
-------------------------------------

Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version k4.9.58.

0 snd_hda_intel
1 snd_pcsp

################################################### cards
0 [NVidia ]: HDA-Intel - HDA NVidia
HDA NVidia at 0xfae78000 irq 22
1 [pcsp ]: PC-Speaker - pcsp
Internal PC-Speaker at port 0x61
###################################################

################################################### aplay -l
card 0: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 0: ALC662 rev1 Analog [ALC662 rev1 Analog]
card 0: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
card 1: pcsp [pcsp], device 0: pcspeaker [pcsp]
###################################################

################################################### pcm
00-00: ALC662 rev1 Analog : ALC662 rev1 Analog : playback 1 : capture 1
00-03: HDMI 0 : HDMI 0 : playback 1
01-00: pcspeaker : pcsp : playback 1
###################################################

################################################### devices
1: : sequencer
2: [ 1] : control
3: [ 1- 0]: digital audio playback
4: [ 0] : control
5: [ 0- 0]: digital audio playback
6: [ 0- 0]: digital audio capture
7: [ 0- 3]: digital audio playback
8: [ 0- 0]: hardware dependent
9: [ 0- 3]: hardware dependent
33: : timer
###################################################



==========================================
lspci | grep -i audio
==========================================
00:08.0 Audio device: NVIDIA Corporation MCP79 High Definition Audio (rev b1)
---
03:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation ION LE VGA (rev b1)
xorg driver: nvidia
---

==========================================
/etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf
==========================================
# BK got this file from Ubuntu, May 2011.
# autoloader aliases
install sound-slot-0 /sbin/modprobe snd-card-0
install sound-slot-1 /sbin/modprobe snd-card-1
install sound-slot-2 /sbin/modprobe snd-card-2
install sound-slot-3 /sbin/modprobe snd-card-3
install sound-slot-4 /sbin/modprobe snd-card-4
install sound-slot-5 /sbin/modprobe snd-card-5
install sound-slot-6 /sbin/modprobe snd-card-6
install sound-slot-7 /sbin/modprobe snd-card-7

# Cause optional modules to be loaded above generic modules
install snd /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install snd $CMDLINE_OPTS && { /sbin/modprobe --quiet --use-blacklist snd-ioctl32 ;
/sbin/modprobe --quiet --use-blacklist snd-seq ; }
#
# Workaround at bug #499695 (reverted in Ubuntu see LP #319505)
install snd-pcm /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install snd-pcm $CMDLINE_OPTS && { /sbin/modprobe --quiet --use-blacklist snd-pcm-oss ; : ; }
install snd-mixer /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install snd-mixer $CMDLINE_OPTS && { /sbin/modprobe --quiet --use-blacklist snd-mixer-oss ; : ; }
install snd-seq /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install snd-seq $CMDLINE_OPTS && { /sbin/modprobe --quiet --use-blacklist snd-seq-midi ;
/sbin/modprobe --quiet --use-blacklist snd-seq-oss ; : ; }
#
install snd-rawmidi /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install snd-rawmidi $CMDLINE_OPTS && { /sbin/modprobe --quiet --use-blacklist snd-seq-midi ; : ; }
# Cause optional modules to be loaded above sound card driver modules
install snd-emu10k1 /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install snd-emu10k1 $CMDLINE_OPTS && { /sbin/modprobe --quiet --use-blacklist snd-emu10k1-synth ; }
install snd-via82xx /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install snd-via82xx $CMDLINE_OPTS && { /sbin/modprobe --quiet --use-blacklist snd-seq ; }

# Load saa7134-alsa instead of saa7134 (which gets dragged in by it anyway)
install saa7134 /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install saa7134 $CMDLINE_OPTS && { /sbin/modprobe --quiet --use-blacklist saa7134-alsa ; : ; }
# Prevent abnormal drivers from grabbing index 0
options bt87x index=-2
options cx88_alsa index=-2
options saa7134-alsa index=-2
options snd-atiixp-modem index=-2
options snd-intel8x0m index=-2
options snd-via82xx-modem index=-2
options snd-usb-audio index=-2
options snd-usb-caiaq index=-2
options snd-usb-ua101 index=-2
options snd-usb-us122l index=-2
options snd-usb-usx2y index=-2
# Ubuntu #62691, enable MPU for snd-cmipci
options snd-cmipci mpu_port=0x330 fm_port=0x388
# Keep snd-pcsp from being loaded as first soundcard
options snd-pcsp index=-2
# Keep snd-usb-audio from beeing loaded as first soundcard
options snd-usb-audio index=-2

[mgolden]

> What does it show for cards?

Card 0: Nvidia [HDA Nvidia], device 0:ALC662 rev1 Analog [ALC662 rev1 Analog]
Card 0: Nvidia [HDA Nvidia], device 3:HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]

> Which one is selected to use?

I've tried both. Analog from the 3.5mm jack works with an external, amplified speaker. HDMI does not produce sound on the TV.

I've tried two different HDMI ports on the TV, one of which works fine with my Android TV stick. I've tried two different HDMI cables.

[peterw]

The Linux kernel sees both the analogue and the HDMI hardware. I am puzzled why you cannot get sound out of the HDMI port. If I were you I would try a different Puppy or and a Fatdog. It should work without the addition of separate drivers since those should be in the kernel.
It will be easiest to test different Puppies on a USB stick with frugal installs. You have a running Puppy and you only need to 1. create folders such as bionic, fatdog, etc, on the USB stick 2. download the Puppies iso's and open them copying the contents to the respective directories. 3. Run grub4dos searching only within the USB stick. All being well you have a USB stick with which you can try Puppies for what you desire.

[mgolden]

I was not aware of bionic puppy until you mentioned it.

Bionic64: hdmi sound works.

Bionic32: hdmi sound works.

Of note, installing the Nvidia 340 driver from the built-in puppy updater causes Bionic64 to crash leaving only a flashing cursor onscreen.

[bigpup]

installing the Nvidia 340 driver from the built-in puppy updater causes Bionic64 to crash leaving only a flashing cursor onscreen.

Are you talking about using Quickpet>Drivers>Nvidia 340????
If yes.
Did you run Quickpet>Info>Bionicpup Updates before doing the install of Nvidia 340?

I assume you are talking about Bionicpup64 8.0
How is it installed?
Full or frugal?

What does it do after a complete power off shutdown and a power on boot up?

[peterw]

Haven't got a NVIDIA card and so cannot reproduce your situation. However, looking at the PPM I see that it is getting this driver straight from Ubuntu Bionic and that installation may not be so straightforward since Puppy Bionic is different and there is no guarantee that Ubuntu Bionic's programmes will work.

Looking at this Web Site https://linuxconfig.org/how-to-install- ... aver-linux I see there are various ways to install the NIVDIA drivers. If you do it manually, you have to disable the Nvidia nouveau driver. Maybe, you are caught in this trap.

Also, this topic has come up on Puppy forums before and bigpup gave instructions. Whilst it was for Xenial they will be similar to Bionic. Also note the requirement to disable the nouveau driver. http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... fd99aef0fa .

[mgolden]

As a final note, I removed the hard drive and memory, then tossed the Acer NVIDIA ION R1600 in the trash. Hopefully no one ever finds it and tries to revive it. The system was so underpowered it was useless for my purposes.

I bought the wife a new 65" Toshiba Fire TV and that has eliminated the need for an external PC to stream YouTube.

[bigpup]

Bionicpup64 8.0

The Nvidia drivers offered by Quickpet->Drivers are complied specifically for Bionicpup64 8.0.
They are on the repository specifically for Bionicpup64 8.0
Those will work, if you select the correct driver for the specific Nvidia hardware.
All Nvidia hardware does not use the same driver.

If the hardware is too old.
None of those drivers may work.

May have to get driver by this process:
Nvidia driver run package installing
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=110611