no sound from Gateway Solo laptop

[tempestuous]

It's too hard to use OSS audio drivers in Puppy, because these were disabled in the kernel configuration.

The snd-ens1371 ALSA driver is definitely compatible, so success probably just requires a "tweak" or two.

I just Googled, and I see that it may be necessary to force the sound chip ON with the "enable" parameter - open /etc/modprobe.conf in Geany and at the bottom you will see this -

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alias snd-card-0 snd-ens1371

Add a new line -

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options snd-ens1371 index=0 enable=1

Save. Reboot.

And it might still be necessary to use the boot options (as discussed above) as well.

[axel]

@ tempestous
thanks very much - I tried the following set of definitions in /etc/modprobe.conf
the following line was defined by by ALSA:
alias sound-slot-0 snd-ens1371

test a)

Code: Select all

alias snd-card-0 snd-ens1371
options snd-ens1371 index=0 enable=1
alias sound-slot-0 snd-ens1371 

test b)

Code: Select all

alias snd-card-0 snd-ens1371
options snd-ens1371 index=0 enable=1
# alias sound-slot-0 snd-ens1371  comment

test c)

Code: Select all

# alias snd-card-0 snd-ens1371  comment
alias sound-slot-0 snd-ens1371
options snd-ens1371 index=0 enable=1

in combination with acpi=force and acpi=force pci=biosirq

no success - may be next year more tests ?
Axel

[tempestuous]

OK, next step - alsamixer.
Leave all the lines in /etc/moprobe.conf. Even if they don't help, they won't hurt.

the following line was defined by by ALSA:
alias sound-slot-0 snd-ens1371

Yes, that's for ALSA-OSS compatibility.
It's technically ugly, and I have lobbied in the past to have the ALSA-OSS modules removed. Sadly, Puppy's tray mixer (absvolume) seems to require the ALSA-OSS modules ... a good reason to replace it with a proper ALSA tray mixer ... but I digress.

Open rxvt and expand it fullscreen, then run "alsamixer".
Make sure that your Master channel and PCM channel are raised, and at the bottom they indicate "00" - which means they are not muted. When muted they will indicate "MM".
There are two particular channels for your sound chip which are known to mess up audio output - "Headphone Jack Sense" and "Line Jack Sense" - so mute them. This might fix the problem, but it not, go ahead and mute all other channels (or decrease the level). The only important channels are Master, PCM, and Wave.

[axel]

@tempestuos

ok - I'm back with new results (a pity - no sound with proposed settings)

I'm confused. Do you mean 100 instead off 00 when looking at the bottom of each column?
I raised the volume levels of Master / Master Mono / PCM to 100 (see pics)

I also set PC speaker to 100 (but still MM at the bottom) sure that hardware speaker button was set unmute


[/img]

[tempestuous]

I'm confused. Do you mean 100 instead off 00 when looking at the bottom of each column?

No no. Sure the volume level can read "100" but you also need to see a "00" above it to indicate that the channel is not muted.

I also set PC speaker to 100 (but still MM at the bottom)

The "PC speaker" setting is not important, but "MM" means muted. You must press "m" to unmute it.

[datagrubber]

Am eagerly following this thread as I installed Puppy 4.1.1 on a friends 2150.
Got wireless up with a Trendnet TEW-421 pc card and the rtl8180 driver, all that he is lacking is the sound and I have not been able to get it working.
I have also edited etc/modprobe.conf but to no avail.

[axel]

@tempestuos
thanks for all the time you spent to get this problem fixed.

I followed the instructions and do have following settings

column Master 100 View: [Playback] [dB gain=0.00, 0.00]
column Master M 100 View: [Playback] [dB gain=0.00, 0.00]
column PCM 100 View: [Playback] [dB gain=60.00, 60.00] <= should this be 0.00 0.00 ?

all other columns 00

[axel]

I should add that the chip obviously works as I was able to record a message via the microphone some days ago.
I can play back the message only with Win98SE
axel

[tempestuous]

axel, I see that the "00" is absent from your alsamixer display. It seems that the snd-ens1371 module is behaving strangely.

Now you need some experimentation. It may be helpful to stop the snd-ens1371 module from loading during the early stages of bootup, then load it late in the sequence. This works with certain Thinkpads.
So delete all reference to snd-ens1371 in /etc/modprobe.conf
then blacklist the snd-ens1371 module in the BootManager.
Now reboot and for good measure, delete /etc/asound.state
Now load the ALSA driver manually, as such -

Code: Select all

modprobe snd-ens1371 index=0 enable=1

Run "alsamixer" and raise various volumes.

[axel]

@tempestuos

thanks for your patience with old daddy

I try to list as correct as I can the last settings:
1) MODULESCONFIG

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SKIPLIST=' arcfb cirrusfb cyber2000fb cyblafb hgafb neofb pm2fb s1d13xxxfb sstfb tdfxfb tridentfb vga16fb aty128fb atyfb radeonfb i810fb intelfb kyrofb ltserial nvidiafb rivafb savagefb sisfb btaudio i810_audio kahlua trident ub usbkbd usbmouse via82cxxx_audio acx_mac80211 es1371 snd_ens1371 '

2) GRUB menu.lst

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# Start GRUB global section
timeout 10
color light-gray/blue black/light-gray
# End GRUB global section
# Linux bootable partition config begins
  title Puppy Linux 4.1.1 (on /dev/sda5)
  root (hd0,4)
  kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sda5 ro vga=normal acpi=force pci=biosirq
                             
# Linux bootable partition config ends
# Other bootable partition config begins
  title WIN98SE (on /dev/sda1) ..... etc 

3) in terminal
modprobe snd-ens1371 index=0 enable=1 <= ok - no error msg

4) run ALSA sound wizard
found that

but no barking puppy how do I get a

[chrisj]

I am going out on a limb here - I have a Solo 5150 (ens 1879 sound card as I recall) where I had similar strange issues after a frugal install of Boxpup 4.1.1. I got a gut feeling that some hardware issue I don't fully understand was causing the issue.

Then I hooked a set of headphones up to the laptop, ran the ALSA wizard, and voila, I have had sound ever since (with or without headset).

Like I said, I am out on a limb here, but thought it was worth mentioning.

Chris

[axel]

@chrisj
thank you for your hint. I tried it with mine onboard ens1371 chip (labeled ev1938 on the box inside).
Wish I had that succes you have had.
Still no sound.
Can you pls post your settings ?
i.e kernel statement in GRUB menu.lst
axel

[micah1_8]

Add me to the list of frustrated folks. I've not been able to get sound working on my 2150 either.

[tempestuous]

A slight longshot, but worth a try; see "Audio fix for old Thinkpads"
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=38367

Don't use the "soundcard-on" script, but just run this command

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echo 'activate' > /sys/devices/pnp0/00:05/resources

Hopefully this will bring the Ensoniq 1371 sound card to life.

[keyma5ter]

You can add me to the list of folks watching this for a fix.

The echo 'activate' command did not work for me for 00:05 or 00:06. I even tried 00:00 through 00:10, 00:12, and all the other directories in pnp0.

I did notice a difference without the modules loaded. The system beeps come through my headphones. I don't know if that means anything, just pointing it out.

[keyma5ter]

I have gotten sound from Damn Small Linux before by using the oss driver es1371. I tried using the oss driver in Puppy 2.16.1 and got it to work.

After installing 2.16.1, I edited the modprobe.conf file to blacklist the snd-ens1371 driver and then added the aliases for the sound.

To blacklist the alsa module, add the following (not intuitive) line to modprobe.conf:

install snd-ens1371 /bin/true

Then at the end of the file, I added the following two lines:

alias snd-card-0 es1371
alias sound-slot-0 es1371


I had first tried Puppy 4.1.2 and the es1371 module isn't there. Is there a way to get the module for 4.1.2? Maybe in the unleashed packages?

[MikeMT]

Still hoping for a solution. Thanks tempestuous for the info to forget about snd-alloc module. An interesting event, I hooked up additional speakers through the head phone jack. When running sound wizard, the speakers cam alive I was able to hear static as the program ticked through the choices. As soon as the wizard got to test the sound, the speakers went dead.

[feraliminal]

Been banging my head on this sound problem for a week or so. One thing I did notice was this (see attached) coming up when alsaconf installed the driver.

4.2 is fantastic on this ancient laptop. Everything works well & fast, except the sound.

[bigmahi]

Guys,

I have followed your thread for a while.

Don't give up! - I have spent time trying to get the audio to work on my Solo 2150. I really like puppy on my old hardware - if I had sound working on this old laptop I would have a great system.

I am not the best with Linux but am also willing to run tests.

[datagrubber]

yes I'm hoping for a solution also...