No sound on Compaq prosignia 140

Problems and successes with specific brands/models of computer audio hardware
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goofeyfoot
Posts: 82
Joined: Thu 04 Oct 2007, 09:57

No sound on Compaq prosignia 140

#1 Post by goofeyfoot »

New linux guy here.

Installed puppy on a compaq prosignia 140.

It has some kind of sound card built in but I can't figure out exactly what it is.

Anyway, the Alsa thing doesn't find anything. Have tried all the Alsa options.

Thanks in advance.

Michael

goofeyfoot
Posts: 82
Joined: Thu 04 Oct 2007, 09:57

#2 Post by goofeyfoot »

Would like to reopen this topic for consideration. Anyone have any ideas about how to get this sound card going. Everything else in Puppy seems to work fine.

Thanks.

Michael

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WhoDo
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Joined: Wed 12 Jul 2006, 01:58
Location: Lake Macquarie NSW Australia

#3 Post by WhoDo »

goofeyfoot wrote:Would like to reopen this topic for consideration. Anyone have any ideas about how to get this sound card going. Everything else in Puppy seems to work fine.
What version of Puppy? Search for a thread 2.15CE Patches and Fixes. If you have a 2.xx series puppy, there is an ALSA patch that should work ok. It may even work in 3.xx series, but I've never tried that.

Hope that helps
[i]Actions speak louder than words ... and they usually work when words don't![/i]
SIP:whodo@proxy01.sipphone.com; whodo@realsip.com

goofeyfoot
Posts: 82
Joined: Thu 04 Oct 2007, 09:57

#4 Post by goofeyfoot »

Who Do:

Thainks for writing back. I did track down something and I actually got the alsa mixer to come up but haven't figured out how to work it. Will report back when I get more details so someone else can fix theirs, if the same problem affects them.

Take care.

Michael

goofeyfoot
Posts: 82
Joined: Thu 04 Oct 2007, 09:57

#5 Post by goofeyfoot »

On checking this out further I found out that the soundcard is called ESS1869 or something like that.

Is there a trick that will make this thing work?

I'm real happy with puppy. The only two residual problems I have are this sound card, also known as total silence, and the fact that hibernation kills the install. Need to find away to force a shutdown before hibernation kills everything.

So overall things are pretty good.

But I need to hear something.

Best regards to everyone who participates on this site.

Michael

goofeyfoot
Posts: 82
Joined: Thu 04 Oct 2007, 09:57

#6 Post by goofeyfoot »

goofeyfoot wrote:On checking this out further I found out that the soundcard is called ESS1869 or something like that.

Is there a trick that will make this thing work?

I'm real happy with puppy. The only two residual problems I have are this sound card, also known as total silence, and the fact that hibernation kills the install. Need to find away to force a shutdown before hibernation kills everything.

So overall things are pretty good.

But I need to hear something.

Best regards to everyone who participates on this site.


I should tell you that if I do run a streaming audio, I do hear a hissing in the speakers. You can control this hissing with the mixer. So it seems like the card is active in some way. But of course, you don't hear the program, just the hissing. So maybe that gives you guys a clue as to what is wrong with my sound.

Thanks again.

Michael

Michael

tempestuous
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Location: Australia

#7 Post by tempestuous »

goofeyfoot wrote:I found out that the soundcard is called ESS1869
You have a "legacy" ISA sound card, which is difficult to automatically configure in Linux.
goofeyfoot wrote:Have tried all the Alsa options.
Well, no. In the ALSA Wizard you should choose the "probe legacy cards" option, and select the "es18xx" driver.

goofeyfoot
Posts: 82
Joined: Thu 04 Oct 2007, 09:57

#8 Post by goofeyfoot »

tempestuous wrote:
goofeyfoot wrote:I found out that the soundcard is called ESS1869
You have a "legacy" ISA sound card, which is difficult to automatically configure in Linux.
goofeyfoot wrote:Have tried all the Alsa options.
Well, no. In the ALSA Wizard you should choose the "probe legacy cards" option, and select the "es18xx" driver.
Yes, thanks for pointing that out. I had already done what you said with the legacy drivers and the 18xx selection. Those steps certainly helped. But they were only good enough to get me to the hissing sound that I described above. The hissing sound is a step better than the "no such device" notice I was getting before. But still, hissing isn't really sound.

So it would seem that the hissing tells us that something is working. But I just can't get real sound out. I guess I'm getting closer to the problem, but am not there yet.

Thanks again for reading and helping out. Much appreciated.

Best regards.

Michael

tempestuous
Posts: 5464
Joined: Fri 10 Jun 2005, 05:12
Location: Australia

#9 Post by tempestuous »

OK, next step: typically the correct hardware resources fail to be assigned for these "legacy" ISA sound cards. The solution is to manually specifiy the settings. Open /etc/modprobe.conf in Geany. You will see these two lines -

Code: Select all

alias snd-card-0 snd-es18xx
alias sound-slot-0 snd-es18xx
Add an extra line -

Code: Select all

options snd-es18xx isapnp=0 irq=5 dma1=1 dma2=5
I have used standard resource values for that sound chip. You may need to check your bios or documentation to discover yours.
Now reboot, and try again.

goofeyfoot
Posts: 82
Joined: Thu 04 Oct 2007, 09:57

#10 Post by goofeyfoot »

tempestuous wrote:OK, next step: typically the correct hardware resources fail to be assigned for these "legacy" ISA sound cards. The solution is to manually specifiy the settings. Open /etc/modprobe.conf in Geany. You will see these two lines -

Code: Select all

alias snd-card-0 snd-es18xx
alias sound-slot-0 snd-es18xx
Add an extra line -

Code: Select all

options snd-es18xx isapnp=0 irq=5 dma1=1 dma2=5
I have used standard resource values for that sound chip. You may need to check your bios or documentation to discover yours.
Now reboot, and try again.
Tempestuous:

I went to BIOS and the numbers for IRQ and DMA were 5, 1, and 5 like you had in your quote. But I couldn't find that pnp number thing anywhere.

So I tried what you said and now there is an "X" through my volume control on the task bar. So I must have to change something but I'm not sure what.

Maybe you can post any ideas that you might have. At the bottom of this post is the sound stuff I copied out of that modprobe file you were talking about.

Thanks for looking into this.

Michael


lias snd-card- snd-es18xx
alias sound-slot- snd-es18xx
# --- BEGIN: Generated by ALSACONF, do not edit. ---
# --- ALSACONF verion 1.0.8 ---
alias sound-slot-0 snd-opl3sa2
options snd-opl3sa2 fm_port=-1 midi_port=-1 port=0x370 wss_port=0x530 isapnp=0 dma1=1 dma2=0 irq=5
# --- END: Generated by ALSACONF, do not edit. ---

alias snd-card-0 snd-es18xx
alias sound-slot-0 snd-es18xx
options snd-es18xx isapnp=0 irq=5 dma1=1 dma2=5

tempestuous
Posts: 5464
Joined: Fri 10 Jun 2005, 05:12
Location: Australia

#11 Post by tempestuous »

The snd-es18xx module automatically probes for resource values, but is known to fail with many (if not all) ESS chipset versions, so "isapnp=0" instructs the snd-es18xx module not to use automatic probing. Then our manual values will take.

First I would clean up your modprobe.conf file. Delete everything relating to "snd-opl3sa2" since this is clearly a failed earlier attempt to load a legacy ALSA driver.
Also delete the duplicate entries for snd-es18xx.

Run "alsamixer" in the terminal, and check that all settings are unmuted. Press "m" to mute/unmute.

One more tip - check your bios for "PnP OS = YES/NO". Set it for "NO". ISA devices will play more reliably with Linux this way.

goofeyfoot
Posts: 82
Joined: Thu 04 Oct 2007, 09:57

#12 Post by goofeyfoot »

tempestuous wrote:The snd-es18xx module automatically probes for resource values, but is known to fail with many (if not all) ESS chipset versions, so "isapnp=0" instructs the snd-es18xx module not to use automatic probing. Then our manual values will take.

First I would clean up your modprobe.conf file. Delete everything relating to "snd-opl3sa2" since this is clearly a failed earlier attempt to load a legacy ALSA driver.
Also delete the duplicate entries for snd-es18xx.

Run "alsamixer" in the terminal, and check that all settings are unmuted. Press "m" to mute/unmute.

One more tip - check your bios for "PnP OS = YES/NO". Set it for "NO". ISA devices will play more reliably with Linux this way.
Tempestuous:

Ok, Here is what I did.

I cleaned up modprobe. conf file. I deleted the oplsa2 stuff and got rid of the es1860 entries except for the two you posted.

When I rebooted, the little volume control thing in the task bar had a red "X" through it.

I ran Alsamixer. It showed "Master" -Off. Pressing m didn't seem to change anything. So you could see the mixer, but it seemed to be completely shutting me out.

Then I checked for PNP in the bios. There was a "Plug and Play" device setting but there wasn't a check box to disable it. So I couldn't shut plug and play off.

Then I looked at the BIOS sound settings. It had TWO 1869 entries. One was PnP 1869 device and the other was just es1869 without the PnP designation. For sheer horror I disabled the first one. When I rebooted, the little volume control thing on the task bar disappeared. completely. And then you couldn't run Alsa mixer at all. Something about "no such device" or something like that. was the error that showed up.

So that's where I am right now. Typing away on a silent keyboard.

If you have any other suggestions, please pass them along if you get a chance.

I should tell you something else that might not mean too much. I rem'd out a line that someone had me add to the rc.d local file. Here is the line: modprobe snd-es18xx mpu_port=0x330 irq=5 dma1=1 dma2=5 isapnp=0 .

While this line didn't work, it did have one advantage. It let the volume control work and give you a little hiss. And with the volume applet you could make the hiss louder and softer So maybe that little snippet has some kind of grain of truth to it. Just guessing. I really have no clue. But you knew that already.

Thanks again for looking into this.

Best regards.

Michael

goofeyfoot
Posts: 82
Joined: Thu 04 Oct 2007, 09:57

#13 Post by goofeyfoot »

goofeyfoot wrote:
tempestuous wrote:OK, next step: typically the correct hardware resources fail to be assigned for these "legacy" ISA sound cards. The solution is to manually specifiy the settings. Open /etc/modprobe.conf in Geany. You will see these two lines -

Code: Select all

alias snd-card-0 snd-es18xx
alias sound-slot-0 snd-es18xx
Add an extra line -

Code: Select all

options snd-es18xx isapnp=0 irq=5 dma1=1 dma2=5
I have used standard resource values for that sound chip. You may need to check your bios or documentation to discover yours.
Now reboot, and try again.
Tempestuous:

I went to BIOS and the numbers for IRQ and DMA were 5, 1, and 5 like you had in your quote. But I couldn't find that pnp number thing anywhere.

So I tried what you said and now there is an "X" through my volume control on the task bar. So I must have to change something but I'm not sure what.

Maybe you can post any ideas that you might have. At the bottom of this post is the sound stuff I copied out of that modprobe file you were talking about.

Thanks for looking into this.

Michael


lias snd-card- snd-es18xx
alias sound-slot- snd-es18xx
# --- BEGIN: Generated by ALSACONF, do not edit. ---
# --- ALSACONF verion 1.0.8 ---
alias sound-slot-0 snd-opl3sa2
options snd-opl3sa2 fm_port=-1 midi_port=-1 port=0x370 wss_port=0x530 isapnp=0 dma1=1 dma2=0 irq=5
# --- END: Generated by ALSACONF, do not edit. ---

alias snd-card-0 snd-es18xx
alias sound-slot-0 snd-es18xx
options snd-es18xx isapnp=0 irq=5 dma1=1 dma2=5[/quotTe]

Tempestuous:

I changed the modprobe to read this way and I actually got sound.. Have no idea what any of this means.

The sound I got was listening to Pandora.

Have not had any luck with that Gzine player or whatever it is called.

But anyway, with the modprobe file the way I have it, you can control your volume with a little speaker icon at the bottom of your screen. Plus you can even use those dumb little buttons on your laptop to run the volume up and down. So I'm definitely into something here, but I'm not sure what.

Will keep you guys posted so that maybe someone else can benefit from this exercise.

Take care all.

Michael


# alias snd-card-0 snd-es18xx
# alias sound-slot-0 snd-es18xx
snd-es18xx mpu_port=0x330 isapnp=0 irq=5 dma1=1 dma2=5

goofeyfoot
Posts: 82
Joined: Thu 04 Oct 2007, 09:57

#14 Post by goofeyfoot »

I must have spoken too soon.

For some reason all I get now is noise. Yeah the volume control still works but it just controls how loud the noise is.

Does anyone know how to configure this card?

Thanks.

Michael

tempestuous
Posts: 5464
Joined: Fri 10 Jun 2005, 05:12
Location: Australia

#15 Post by tempestuous »

goofeyfoot wrote:I rem'd out a line that someone had me add to the rc.d local file. Here is the line:
modprobe snd-es18xx mpu_port=0x330 irq=5 dma1=1 dma2=5 isapnp=0
Yes, that achieves the same thing as my suggestion about modifying /etc/modprobe.conf;
it ensures that when the snd-es18xx module loads (your ALSA driver) that it loads with the correct resource values.
My suggestion is the more "Linux-approved" way of doing things, but apparently running the modprobe command from rc.local can be more reliable ... possibly because it happens later in the boot sequence.

Here's what I suggest; first put the "es1869" bios settings back to normal.
Now delete everything relating to "snd-es18xx" in /etc/modprobe.conf
Add these lines to the end of /etc/rc.d/rc.local

Code: Select all

rmmod snd-es18xx
sleep 1
modprobe snd-es18xx isapnp=0 irq=5 dma1=1
sleep 1
modprobe snd-es18xx isapnp=0 irq=5 dma1=1 dma2=5
What I have done is load the module with ONLY the dma1 value, then pause, then reload the module with dma1 and dma2 values.
Don't worry about mpu_port value ... unless you need to plug a midi device into your sound card.
Reboot.
When you run alsamixer, the master slider should show "00" at the bottom. If it shows "MM" it means that it is muted. And obviously the master slider should be up - a volume between 70 and 90 is about right.

goofeyfoot
Posts: 82
Joined: Thu 04 Oct 2007, 09:57

#16 Post by goofeyfoot »

tempestuous wrote:
goofeyfoot wrote:I rem'd out a line that someone had me add to the rc.d local file. Here is the line:
modprobe snd-es18xx mpu_port=0x330 irq=5 dma1=1 dma2=5 isapnp=0
Yes, that achieves the same thing as my suggestion about modifying /etc/modprobe.conf;
it ensures that when the snd-es18xx module loads (your ALSA driver) that it loads with the correct resource values.
My suggestion is the more "Linux-approved" way of doing things, but apparently running the modprobe command from rc.local can be more reliable ... possibly because it happens later in the boot sequence.

Here's what I suggest; first put the "es1869" bios settings back to normal.
Now delete everything relating to "snd-es18xx" in /etc/modprobe.conf
Add these lines to the end of /etc/rc.d/rc.local

Code: Select all

rmmod snd-es18xx
sleep 1
modprobe snd-es18xx isapnp=0 irq=5 dma1=1
sleep 1
modprobe snd-es18xx isapnp=0 irq=5 dma1=1 dma2=5
What I have done is load the module with ONLY the dma1 value, then pause, then reload the module with dma1 and dma2 values.
Don't worry about mpu_port value ... unless you need to plug a midi device into your sound card.
Reboot.
When you run alsamixer, the master slider should show "00" at the bottom. If it shows "MM" it means that it is muted. And obviously the master slider should be up - a volume between 70 and 90 is about right.

Tempestuous:

Here is what I did.

First I did what you said. Then, during bootup I got some sort of "PnP" error. "Trying to recover."

Then the computer booted. At that point no sound stuff worked. Alsamixer said that you didn't have a device, blah blah blah.

Also the little "sgmixer" thing at the bottom of the screen didn't even show up.

So I went back to modprobe.conf and made it read this way via cut and paste:

alias snd-card-0 snd-es18xx
alias sound-slot-0 snd-es18xx
snd-es18xx mpu_port=0x330

At that point, bootup became normal. I had "hiss control" meaining that with volume controls I could control the hissing coming out of the speakers. I tried this dumb DOS space-invader game that makes noise. I got a lot of repeated beeping and screeching but nothing that sounded like a real game. But the two mixers worked OK to control the mayhem.

Speaking of two mixers, maybe this whole thing is some kind of software mixup. Can you have sgmixer in the bottom of your toolbar if Alsa is in your system. In other words, can you have two mixers or am I supposed to somehow get rid of one.

Well, I know this is aggravating but it's exactly what happened, I have succeeded in making noise but not much else.

Will keep you posted.

Best regards.

Michael

tempestuous
Posts: 5464
Joined: Fri 10 Jun 2005, 05:12
Location: Australia

#17 Post by tempestuous »

First, please don't quote my entire earlier posts. It makes the thread messy, and harder to follow.

It appears that you have reverted to using modprobe.conf for no particular, logical reason.
You are now using trial-and-error, when what you really need is logic.
goofeyfoot wrote:during bootup I got some sort of "PnP" error. "Trying to recover."
You should fix that before going any further. You messed with some bios settings earlier. I suggest that these need to be put back to normal. Better still, if you can find a bios setting something like "reset defaults" you should enable that, so the bios gets back to its factory state.

Now delete everything in modprobe.conf related to ALSA; which in your case is snd-es18xx.
Reboot. You should have no ALSA modules loaded (check with "lsmod") and no sound. That's good.
Now run these commands, one at a time -

Code: Select all

rmmod snd-es18xx

Code: Select all

modprobe snd-es18xx isapnp=0 irq=5 dma1=1

Code: Select all

modprobe snd-es18xx isapnp=0 irq=5 dma1=1 dma2=5
After running each command you should see nothing at the command prompt. This means the command was successful.
If you see any error messages, please report them, accurately.

goofeyfoot
Posts: 82
Joined: Thu 04 Oct 2007, 09:57

#18 Post by goofeyfoot »

tempestuous wrote:First, please don't quote my entire earlier posts. It makes the thread messy, and harder to follow.

It appears that you have reverted to using modprobe.conf for no particular, logical reason.
You are now using trial-and-error, when what you really need is logic.
goofeyfoot wrote:during bootup I got some sort of "PnP" error. "Trying to recover."
You should fix that before going any further. You messed with some bios settings earlier. I suggest that these need to be put back to normal. Better still, if you can find a bios setting something like "reset defaults" you should enable that, so the bios gets back to its factory state.

Now delete everything in modprobe.conf related to ALSA; which in your case is snd-es18xx.
Reboot. You should have no ALSA modules loaded (check with "lsmod") and no sound. That's good.
Now run these commands, one at a time -

Code: Select all

rmmod snd-es18xx

Code: Select all

modprobe snd-es18xx isapnp=0 irq=5 dma1=1

Code: Select all

modprobe snd-es18xx isapnp=0 irq=5 dma1=1 dma2=5
After running each command you should see nothing at the command prompt. This means the command was successful.
If you see any error messages, please report them, accurately.
Tempestuous:

Boy, I was just looking at that lsmod thing and it seems like there may be a whole bunch of sound junk there that doesn't belong. Do you think I should knock out any of this stuff before proceeding? Here is the laundry list:


# lsmod
Module Size Used by
arc4 2176 2
ecb 3584 2
blkcipher 6532 1 ecb
ieee80211_crypt_wep 5248 2
usb_storage 83264 0
evdev 10240 0
parport_pc 31716 1
lp 12616 0
parport 35528 2 parport_pc,lp
snd_mixer_oss 16896 0
snd_seq_midi 8736 0
snd_seq_midi_event 7296 1 snd_seq_midi
snd_opl3_synth 15108 0
snd_seq_instr 7552 1 snd_opl3_synth
snd_seq_midi_emul 6784 1 snd_opl3_synth
snd_seq 48080 5 snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event,snd_opl3_synth,snd_seq_instr,snd_seq_midi_emul
snd_ainstr_fm 2560 1 snd_opl3_synth
snd_es18xx 33332 0
snd_pcm 75656 1 snd_es18xx
snd_page_alloc 10120 1 snd_pcm
snd_opl3_lib 10624 2 snd_opl3_synth,snd_es18xx
snd_timer 22020 3 snd_seq,snd_pcm,snd_opl3_lib
snd_hwdep 9220 1 snd_opl3_lib
snd_mpu401_uart 8320 1 snd_es18xx
snd_rawmidi 23584 2 snd_seq_midi,snd_mpu401_uart
snd_seq_device 8460 5 snd_seq_midi,snd_opl3_synth,snd_seq,snd_opl3_lib,snd_rawmidi
snd 52068 12 snd_mixer_oss,snd_opl3_synth,snd_seq_instr,snd_seq,snd_es18xx,snd_pcm,snd_opl3_lib,snd_timer,snd_hwdep,snd_mpu401_uart,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq_device
soundcore 7520 1 snd
usblp 14080 0
apm 20304 0
bcm43xx 431392 0
firmware_class 9600 1 bcm43xx
ieee80211softmac 29056 1 bcm43xx
ieee80211 33864 2 bcm43xx,ieee80211softmac
ieee80211_crypt 5632 2 ieee80211_crypt_wep,ieee80211
i2c_piix4 8716 0
i2c_core 22032 1 i2c_piix4
ltserial 10800 0
ltmodem 556112 1 ltserial
yenta_socket 26892 5
rsrc_nonstatic 13312 1 yenta_socket
uhci_hcd 24076 0
usbcore 127128 4 usb_storage,usblp,uhci_hcd
nls_iso8859_1 4224 0
nls_cp437 5888 0
#

goofeyfoot
Posts: 82
Joined: Thu 04 Oct 2007, 09:57

#19 Post by goofeyfoot »

goofeyfoot wrote:
during bootup I got some sort of "PnP" error. "Trying to recover."

You should fix that before going any further. You messed with some bios settings earlier. I suggest that these need to be put back to normal. Better still, if you can find a bios setting something like "reset defaults" you should enable that, so the bios gets back to its factory state.

Now delete everything in modprobe.conf related to ALSA; which in your case is snd-es18xx.
Reboot. You should have no ALSA modules loaded (check with "lsmod") and no sound. That's good.
Now run these commands, one at a time -
Code:
rmmod snd-es18xx

Code:
modprobe snd-es18xx isapnp=0 irq=5 dma1=1

Code:
modprobe snd-es18xx isapnp=0 irq=5 dma1=1 dma2=5


After running each command you should see nothing at the command prompt. This means the command was successful.
If you see any error messages, please report them, accurately.


Tempsestuous:

I did what you said. I typed the three commands you posted. There were no errors at any of them.

I tried to run alsamixer and it said there was no such device.

So I guess if complete silence was supposed to be the result, it was a success. There is no hissing, no pnp errors in bootup or anything else. But of course, no sound either. So I guess there must be some other thing I am supposed to do now?

Thanks again, and best regards.

Michael

goofeyfoot
Posts: 82
Joined: Thu 04 Oct 2007, 09:57

#20 Post by goofeyfoot »

Tempestuous:

OK after cleaning everything up I then added the lines you specified in the local file.

I again get the pnp error on bootup. There is nothing to change in bios to "normal" because I never changed anything there. There's nothing I changed in bios at any time. You can't turn off plug and play or anything like that.

After bootup there is an error when you try to start alsamixer. "function snd_ctl_open failed for default: No such device."

So that's where things stand at this point.

Thanks and best regards.

Michael

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