no sound on Lenovo Ideapad 110

[Pierre Frenkiel]

hi,
On my Lenovo Ideapad 110 laptop, with Debian Stretch, I have
sound neither with speaker nor headphone.
Here are some details:
- with WIndows 10, no problem, which means that the hardware is OK.
- with the Debian 9.1 kde live dvd, the sound works with the headphone,
but not with the speaker.
- with the installed Debian 9.1 kde, no sound at all, with any program
(including speaker-test)

I must add that pulseaudio runs correctly with the live dvd, but fails
on the installed system, although I copied the /etc/pulse content from
the dvd live.

E: [pulseaudio] module.c: Failed to load module "module-alsa-sink" (argument: "device=default"): initialization failed.
E: [pulseaudio] main.c: Module load failed.
E: [pulseaudio] main.c: Failed to initialize daemon.


Googling gave me nothing useful. Has anybody an idea?

I find it abnormal that such a fundamental thing as sound is so
difficult to configure under Linux. It's that kind of problems which
makes difficult to convince people to abandon Windows for Linux.

best regards,
--
Pierre Frenkiel

[Alexander V. Makartsev]

Probably some ALSA module or codec firmware is missing.
Look for errors in syslog and provide some information about what sound codec is onboard your laptop mobo:
    $ sudo journalctl -b

Use "/" key to search for a string. Ex:
    /audio
    /hda
    /sound

[Pierre Frenkiel]

On Mon, 25 Sep 2017, Alexander V. Makartsev wrote:

> Probably some ALSA module or codec firmware is missing.
> Look for errors in syslog and provide some information about what sound
> codec is onboard your laptop mobo:
>     $ sudo journalctl -b
>
> Use "/" key to search for a string. Ex:
>     /audio
>     /hda
>     /sound

the / is used in a lot of cases (editors, web browser,...)
I don't understand what search key you are talking of.

nothing new in syslog
here are the outputs for the journalctl calls
Do you see there something interesting?
For me, it's not very useful.

==================================================================
==> journalctl -b | grep -i audio

Sep 24 14:21:11 pfr3 kernel: snd_hda_codec_realtek hdaudioC1D0: autoconfig for ALC233: line_outs=1 (0x14/0x0/0x0/0x0/0x0) type:speaker
Sep 24 14:21:11 pfr3 kernel: snd_hda_codec_realtek hdaudioC1D0: speaker_outs=0 (0x0/0x0/0x0/0x0/0x0)
Sep 24 14:21:11 pfr3 kernel: snd_hda_codec_realtek hdaudioC1D0: hp_outs=1 (0x21/0x0/0x0/0x0/0x0)
Sep 24 14:21:11 pfr3 kernel: snd_hda_codec_realtek hdaudioC1D0: mono: mono_out=0x0
Sep 24 14:21:11 pfr3 kernel: snd_hda_codec_realtek hdaudioC1D0: inputs:
Sep 24 14:21:11 pfr3 kernel: snd_hda_codec_realtek hdaudioC1D0: Internal Mic=0x1b
Sep 24 14:21:11 pfr3 kernel: snd_hda_codec_realtek hdaudioC1D0: Mic=0x19
Sep 24 14:21:11 pfr3 kernel: input: HD-Audio Generic Mic as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.2/sound/card1/input13
Sep 24 14:21:11 pfr3 kernel: input: HD-Audio Generic Headphone as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.2/sound/card1/input14
Sep 24 16:27:09 pfr3 pulseaudio[2698]: Failed to load module "module-alsa-sink" (argument: "device=default"): initialization failed.
Sep 24 16:27:09 pfr3 pulseaudio[2698]: Module load failed.
Sep 24 16:27:09 pfr3 pulseaudio[2698]: Failed to initialize daemon.
Sep 24 16:27:36 pfr3 pulseaudio[2733]: Failed to load module "module-alsa-sink" (argument: "device=default"): initialization failed.

==================================================================
==> journalctl -b | grep -i hda

Sep 24 14:21:11 pfr3 kernel: snd_hda_intel 0000:00:01.1: Force to non-snoop mode
Sep 24 14:21:11 pfr3 kernel: input: HDA ATI HDMI HDMI/DP,pcm=3 as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:01.1/sound/card0/input11
Sep 24 14:21:11 pfr3 kernel: snd_hda_codec_realtek hdaudioC1D0: autoconfig for ALC233: line_outs=1 (0x14/0x0/0x0/0x0/0x0) type:speaker
Sep 24 14:21:11 pfr3 kernel: snd_hda_codec_realtek hdaudioC1D0: speaker_outs=0 (0x0/0x0/0x0/0x0/0x0)
Sep 24 14:21:11 pfr3 kernel: snd_hda_codec_realtek hdaudioC1D0: hp_outs=1 (0x21/0x0/0x0/0x0/0x0)
Sep 24 14:21:11 pfr3 kernel: snd_hda_codec_realtek hdaudioC1D0: mono: mono_out=0x0
Sep 24 14:21:11 pfr3 kernel: snd_hda_codec_realtek hdaudioC1D0: inputs:
Sep 24 14:21:11 pfr3 kernel: snd_hda_codec_realtek hdaudioC1D0: Internal Mic=0x1b
Sep 24 14:21:11 pfr3 kernel: snd_hda_codec_realtek hdaudioC1D0: Mic=0x19
Sep 24 14:21:11 pfr3 kernel: input: HDA Digital PCBeep as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.2/sound/card1/input12
Sep 24 21:38:18 pfr3 kernel: snd_hda_intel 0000:00:01.1: IRQ timing workaround is activated for card #0. Suggest a bigger bdl_pos_adj.
Sep 24 14:21:11 pfr3 kernel: input: HDA ATI HDMI HDMI/DP,pcm=3 as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:01.1/sound/card0/input11
Sep 24 14:21:11 pfr3 kernel: input: HDA Digital PCBeep as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.2/sound/card1/input12
Sep 24 14:21:11 pfr3 kernel: input: HD-Audio Generic Mic as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.2/sound/card1/input13
Sep 24 14:21:11 pfr3 kernel: input: HD-Audio Generic Headphone as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.2/sound/card1/input14

==================================================================
==> journalctl -b | grep -i sound

Sep 24 14:21:11 pfr3 systemd[1]: Reached target Sound Card.
Sep 24 14:21:12 pfr3 systemd[1]: Starting Save/Restore Sound Card State...
Sep 24 14:21:13 pfr3 systemd[1]: Started Save/Restore Sound Card State.

[Alexander V. Makartsev]

Yes. It looks like sound card was detected and initialized, but Pulse
Audio was unable to set it as "default" automatically.
Have you tried to list and use available cards from alsa perspective
(your device names may be different)?
    $ aplay -l | grep ALC
        card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: ALC887-VD Analog
[ALC887-VD Analog]
    $ aplay -L | grep CARD
        sysdefault:CARD=PCH
        front:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
        surround21:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
        ...
    $ speaker-test -D front -t wav -c 2
If speaker-test works, but without actual sound from speakers, be sure
to check if sound channels unmuted:
    $ alsamixer

[Pierre Frenkiel]

On Tue, 26 Sep 2017, Alexander V. Makartsev wrote:

> Yes. It looks like sound card was detected and initialized, but Pulse
> Audio was unable to set it as "default" automatically.
> Have you tried to list and use available cards from alsa perspective
> (your device names may be different)?

I'm not sure that this is the problem, as the sound works correctly
with the headphone, even with speaker-test !
I already tried with the different devices given by "aplay -L",
and of course checked the output levels with alsamixer.
for example: "speaker-test -Dsysdefault:Generic -c 2 -t sine"
but never got any sound through the speaker.
I remind you that the hardware is not involved, as the sound works
with Windows 10.

[Alexander V. Makartsev]

Alsa seems to function correctly, so next you should assign available profile for your sound card with PulseAudio.
You should be able to choose between speakers\headphones outputs.
Install "pavucontrol" package or\and "kmix" package since you using kde.
Go to Configuration tab in pavucontrol and set profile for your sound card.

Console utility for that is "pactl". This will give you index number of your sound card.
    $ pactl list cards
This will set active profile for pulse audio on my system (You can use "Tab" key to get help for the next list of parameters):
    $ pactl set-card-profile 1 output:analog-surround-51+input:analog-stereo
Pulse audio should remember that selection, between system restarts.
If audio sink wasn't created after that, restart pulseaudio if necessary:
    $ pulseaudio -k
    $ pulseaudio --start

To check sound from pulseaudio:
    $ speaker-test -D pulse -c 2 -t wav

[Pierre Frenkiel]

On Tue, 26 Sep 2017, Alexander V. Makartsev wrote:

> Yes. It looks like sound card was detected and initialized, but Pulse
> Audio was unable to set it as "default" automatically.
> Have you tried to list and use available cards from alsa perspective
> (your device names may be different)?
>     $ aplay -l | grep ALC
>         card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: ALC887-VD Analog

up to now, pulseaudio always failed, but at last I could start it
after removing the ~/.config/pulse directory.
I could then run pavucontrol, kmix, pactl, but still impossible to
have sound through the speaker, even after:
==> pactl set-sink-port 1 analog-output-speaker
==> pactl set-sink-port analog-output-speaker
using the devices given by "aplay -L", I only get the sound
through the headphone,
Idem with vlc(output set to pulse)
with ==>speaker-test -Dpulse -c 2 -t wav , I get:
speaker-test 1.1.3

Playback device is pulse
Stream parameters are 48000Hz, S16_LE, 2 channels
WAV file(s)
ALSA lib pcm.c:2495:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM pulse
Playback open error: -2,No such file or directory

[Alexander V. Makartsev]

Did you assigned profile for you sound card in pavucontrol as I described?
Give me outputs of:
    $ pactl list cards
    $ pactl list sinks
   
   

[Jimmy Johnson]

I've seen that problem before, the mini plug was not pushed in all the
way and there was no sound. I hope your problem is that simple.
--
Jimmy Johnson

Debian Stretch - KDE Plasma 5.8.6 - AMD A8-7600 - EXT4 at sda6
Registered Linux User #380263

[Pierre Frenkiel]

On Thu, 28 Sep 2017, Jimmy Johnson wrote:

> I've seen that problem before, the mini plug was not pushed in all the way and
> there was no sound. I hope your problem is that simple.

Hi Jimmy,
it seems you missed these lines:

  the sound works correctly
  with the headphone, even with  speaker-test !

So, the problem is not with the plug, as generally it must unplugged
to get the sound through the speaker.

[Curt]

On 2017-09-28, Pierre Frenkiel <pierre....@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> So, the problem is not with the plug, as generally it must unplugged
> to get the sound through the speaker.
>

I suppose it is possible that the sensing circuitry or switch (?) in the
headphone jack is faulty or failing so that when you pull the headphone plug
out of the jack socket the audio signal isn't being switched to the speakers,
the plug's absence failing to be detected (or its presence continuing to
be).

I wonder if this hypothesis could be tested in software; it seems you can
do something like

cat /proc/asound/card1/codec#0 | grep Pin-ctls
(if your sound card is card1 as mine is)

and look for values of "Pin-ctls=in" or "Pin-ctls=out"

I obtain these values:


Pin-ctls: 0x40: OUT
Pin-ctls: 0x20: IN
Pin-ctls: 0x20: IN
Pin-ctls: 0x24: IN VREF_80
Pin-ctls: 0x24: IN VREF_80
Pin-ctls: 0x20: IN
Pin-ctls: 0xc0: OUT HP VREF_HIZ
Pin-ctls: 0x20: IN
Pin-ctls: 0x20: IN
Pin-ctls: 0x40: OUT

But they remain the same whether I have my headphones plugged in or not
(I have no speakers).

Anyhow, this is probably a very wild goose chase and a waste of our
precious time.

--
"A simpering Bambi narcissist and a thieving, fanatical Albanian dwarf."
Christopher Hitchens, commenting shortly after the nearly concurrent deaths
of Lady Diana and Mother Theresa.

[Pierre Frenkiel]

On Thu, 28 Sep 2017, Curt wrote:

> On 2017-09-28, Pierre Frenkiel <pierre....@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> So, the problem is not with the plug, as generally it must unplugged
>> to get the sound through the speaker.
>>
>
> I suppose it is possible that the sensing circuitry or switch (?) in the
> headphone jack is faulty or failing so that when you pull the headphone plug
> out of the jack socket the audio signal isn't being switched to the speakers,
> the plug's absence failing to be detected (or its presence continuing to
> be).

I said, in a previous post, that on Windows, the sound works for the
speaker and the headphone...

[davidson]

On Mon, 25 Sep 2017, Pierre Frenkiel wrote:

> On Mon, 25 Sep 2017, Alexander V. Makartsev wrote:
>
>> Probably some ALSA module or codec firmware is missing.
>> Look for errors in syslog and provide some information about what sound
>> codec is onboard your laptop mobo:
>>     $ sudo journalctl -b
>>
>> Use "/" key to search for a string. Ex:
>>     /audio
>>     /hda
>>     /sound
>
> the / is used in a lot of cases (editors, web browser,...)

...and pagers.

> I don't understand what search key you are talking of.

You probably redirected the output of journactl.

By default journalctl sends its output to a pager. Most likely that
pager is of the less/more variety. And in such pagers, "/" is a
search-forward-from-point command, adhering to the convention you have
observed.

Also, 'more' or 'less' behave like 'cat' when you redirect their
output to something not a terminal (like to a file, or when it's piped
to 'grep', etc).[1]

That last bit probably has something to do with this:

http://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/utilities/more.html#tag_20_81

| If standard output is not a terminal device, all input files shall
| be copied to standard output in their entirety, without
| modification, except as specified for the -s option.

Anyways, when the pager behaves like 'cat', the search functionality
will be absent, obviously.

1. There's a punchline here about herding felines, but I'm not clever
enough to make it work.

[Curt]

I missed that detail. Dual boot, is that it? Turn the volume way up in
Windows and use the function keys to make sure the speakers are turned
on and functioning before booting into Debian. Turn off hybrid shutdown,
or fast startup, or whatever it's called, as I've heard that can leave
hardware components in a hideous state. I'm not sure what you've tried
so far and I'm not going back to reread the entire thread so good luck.

> best regards,

[Pierre Frenkiel]

On Thu, 28 Sep 2017, davidson wrote:

> By default journalctl sends its output to a pager. Most likely that
> pager is of the less/more variety

yes: in my case, it is less, but you can't do:
"journalctl -b /audio"
as you suggest:
->>journalctl -b /audio
Couldn't stat file: No such file or directory
Actually, the syntax described in the journalctl man is:

journalctl [OPTIONS...] [MATCHES...]

but MATCHES is not a simple string, but something like
"FIELD=VALUE"
Anyway, "journalctl -b | grep -i audio" works perfectly.

[Pierre Frenkiel]

On Thu, 28 Sep 2017, Curt wrote:

> I missed that detail. Dual boot, is that it?

yes

> Turn the volume way up in
> Windows and use the function keys to make sure the speakers are turned
> on and functioning before booting into Debian.

After booting on Windows, I could hear the sound from the speakers, so
they were actually turned on.
After that, I did a normal reboot, and booted to Debian...and no sound
on speakers. The most surprising is that even speaker-test gives a
sound through the headphone.

[Patrick Bartek]

I don't know if this will help, but I read a post somewhere (don't
remember where) of someone who had troubles with the Ideapad 110S
-- sound, touchpad, suspend, etc. -- after replacing Windows 10 with
Stretch. Installing a newer kernel from Stretch-Backports rectified
those issues along with non-free firmware in the Stretch Repos and/or
proprietary drivers.

I'm interested in any solutions you discover. I'm looking at the 110S
as a light, compact "travel" notebook.

B

[Pierre Frenkiel]

On Thu, 28 Sep 2017, Patrick Bartek wrote:

> I don't know if this will help, but I read a post somewhere (don't
> remember where) of someone who had troubles with the Ideapad 110S
> -- sound, touchpad, suspend, etc. -- after replacing Windows 10 with
> Stretch. Installing a newer kernel from Stretch-Backports rectified
> those issues along with non-free firmware in the Stretch Repos and/or
> proprietary drivers.

I have already the latest kernel version, but I would be interested
having some details about these non-free firmware and drivers.
Up to now, googling gave me nothing about that.

[Jimmy Johnson]

Installing package firmware-linux in Stretch will pull in all the
firmware, free, non-free, etc.
--
Jimmy Johnson

Ubuntu 16.04 LTS - KDE Plasma 4.8.5 -AMD A8-7600 - EXT4 at sda5
Registered Linux User #380263

[Curt]

On 2017-09-28, Pierre Frenkiel <pierre....@gmail.com> wrote:

Realtek offers a proprietary driver for linux (last updated 2014).

Looks like you have to compile it.

http://airbornesurfer.com/2015/04/how-to-install-realtek-hd-audio-driver-in-linux/

[Pierre Frenkiel]

On Thu, 28 Sep 2017, Curt wrote:

> Realtek offers a proprietary driver for linux (last updated 2014).
>
> Looks like you have to compile it.
>
> http://airbornesurfer.com/2015/04/how-to-install-realtek-hd-audio-driver-in-linux/

thanks Curt for this information. I'll look at it to-morrow

[Pierre Frenkiel]

On Thu, 28 Sep 2017, Jimmy Johnson wrote:

> Installing package firmware-linux in Stretch will pull in all the firmware,
> free, non-free, etc.

they are already installed, but only firmware-linux-free is not empty,
and I don't see something useful (for me) in it.

[Patrick Bartek]

4.9? Or 4.11 or 4.12?

B

[Alexander V. Makartsev]

Yeah, I'm still waiting for a reply with requested information from Pierre.
Kinda hate it, when people asking for help and assumes everyone here has telepathic abilities. :(

[Patrick Bartek]

Well, patience IS a virtue . . . suppositorily. ;-)

B

[Cindy-Sue Causey]

4.13.4 :)

Cindy :)
--
Cindy-Sue Causey
Talking Rock, Pickens County, Georgia, USA

* runs with duct tape *

[Pierre Frenkiel]

On Fri, 29 Sep 2017, Alexander V. Makartsev wrote:

> Yeah, I'm still waiting for a reply with requested information from Pierre.
> Kinda hate it, when people asking for help and assumes everyone here has
> telepathic abilities. :(

Hi Alexander,
sorry for the delay, but I was looking, before sending it to you,
at the pactl output, and "pactl list cards | grep profile" gave me:

Part of profile(s): output:hdmi-stereo
Part of profile(s): input:analog-stereo, output:analog-stereo+input:analog-stereo
Part of profile(s): input:analog-stereo, output:analog-stereo+input:analog-stereo
Part of profile(s): output:analog-stereo, output:analog-stereo+input:analog-stereo
Part of profile(s): output:analog-stereo, output:analog-stereo+input:analog-stereo

Then, the command
--> pactl set-card-profile 1 output:analog-stereo+input:analog-stereo
which is not far from the one you gave in a previous post,
solved the problem, and the sound now comes from the speaker.

Thanks for your help.

PS: nevertheless, can you explain what did you mean, in this previous post, by:

> This will set active profile for pulse audio on my system (You can use
> "Tab" key to get help for the next list of parameters):

i.e. where are you using the Tab key?

[Alexander V. Makartsev]

Glad to hear my initial train of thought was the right one and problem is now solved.
As for the "Tab" key, it is essentially an auto-complete function when you use it in your console. It just much more convenient to see what options and parameters are available to use with pactl, or other console programs that support it.

[Jimmy Johnson]

And you have the microcode for your machine installed too?

I'm only a User, but I have a combo that always works for me on all my
machines and all my Debian/Ubuntu systems and that is PulseAudio and
Gstreamer + Gstreamer and Phonon, I install pavucontrol too and I remove
all VLC and it just works, I use Mplayer + Smplayer for playback of
audio and video, system sounds work, internet audio works and it just
works with HDMI too. Sorry if if its not useful.
--
Jimmy Johnson

Ubuntu 16.04 LTS - KDE Plasma 5.8.7 - AMD A8-7600 - EXT4 at sda5
Registered Linux User #380263

[Greg Wooledge]

On Fri, Sep 29, 2017 at 12:32:25PM +0500, Alexander V. Makartsev wrote:
> As for the "Tab" key, it is essentially an auto-complete function when
> you use it in your console. It just much more convenient to see what
> options and parameters are available to use with pactl, or other console
> programs that support it.

I believe you're talking about bash-completion, or the zsh equivalent.
This is a separate package (bash-completion 1:2.1-4.3 in stretch),
which is sourced by the default ~/.bashrc file, and which provides
tab completion voodoo for many Debian commands. And which is also
known to cause some problems, so... your choice whether to keep using
it or not.