[SOLVED] `alsactl init` required at every boot

dhalgren · 2017-01-03 00:52:27

Well, this fixed the problem for me, but it did not hold after turning off and rebooting.

Does anyone have any idea what I need to look at to try and make the solution permanent?

I did notice that the last update included various updates to alsa and various audio libraries, so I suppose these are the problem, but I have no idea what to do to try and fix it permanently.

Last edited by Head_on_a_Stick (2017-01-04 21:32:59)

Head_on_a_Stick · 2017-01-03 01:14:11

dhalgren wrote:

I did notice that the last update included various updates to alsa and various audio libraries, so I suppose these are the problem

That is highly unlikely, IMO.

Please describe your problem in full and post the output of:

aplay -l
cat /proc/asound/cards
amixer
apt-cache policy

Please use code tags when posting terminal output.

dhalgren · 2017-01-03 01:21:45

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

dhalgren wrote:
I did notice that the last update included various updates to alsa and various audio libraries, so I suppose these are the problem
That is highly unlikely, IMO.

You may well be correct, I admit I did not go through the list of updates rigorously.

The results of your commands are:

bruce@debian:~$ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: ALC270 Analog [ALC270 Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
bruce@debian:~$ cat /proc/asound/cards
 0 [PCH            ]: HDA-Intel - HDA Intel PCH
                      HDA Intel PCH at 0xf7a10000 irq 34
bruce@debian:~$ amixer
Simple mixer control 'Master',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 65536
  Mono:
  Front Left: Playback 54394 [83%] [on]
  Front Right: Playback 54394 [83%] [on]
Simple mixer control 'Capture',0
  Capabilities: cvolume cswitch cswitch-joined
  Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Capture 0 - 65536
  Front Left: Capture 65536 [100%] [on]
  Front Right: Capture 65536 [100%] [on]
bruce@debian:~$ apt-cache policy
Package files:
 100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     release a=now
 500 http://httpredir.debian.org/debian/ jessie-backports/non-free Translation-en
 500 http://httpredir.debian.org/debian/ jessie-backports/main Translation-en
 500 http://httpredir.debian.org/debian/ jessie-backports/contrib Translation-en
 100 http://httpredir.debian.org/debian/ jessie-backports/non-free i386 Packages
     release o=Debian Backports,a=jessie-backports,n=jessie-backports,l=Debian Backports,c=non-free
     origin httpredir.debian.org
 100 http://httpredir.debian.org/debian/ jessie-backports/contrib i386 Packages
     release o=Debian Backports,a=jessie-backports,n=jessie-backports,l=Debian Backports,c=contrib
     origin httpredir.debian.org
 100 http://httpredir.debian.org/debian/ jessie-backports/main i386 Packages
     release o=Debian Backports,a=jessie-backports,n=jessie-backports,l=Debian Backports,c=main
     origin httpredir.debian.org
 100 http://httpredir.debian.org/debian/ jessie-backports/non-free amd64 Packages
     release o=Debian Backports,a=jessie-backports,n=jessie-backports,l=Debian Backports,c=non-free
     origin httpredir.debian.org
 100 http://httpredir.debian.org/debian/ jessie-backports/contrib amd64 Packages
     release o=Debian Backports,a=jessie-backports,n=jessie-backports,l=Debian Backports,c=contrib
     origin httpredir.debian.org
 100 http://httpredir.debian.org/debian/ jessie-backports/main amd64 Packages
     release o=Debian Backports,a=jessie-backports,n=jessie-backports,l=Debian Backports,c=main
     origin httpredir.debian.org
 100 http://pkg.bunsenlabs.org/debian/ jessie-backports/main i386 Packages
     release o=bunsenlabs,n=jessie-backports,l=bunsenlabs,c=main
     origin pkg.bunsenlabs.org
 100 http://pkg.bunsenlabs.org/debian/ jessie-backports/main amd64 Packages
     release o=bunsenlabs,n=jessie-backports,l=bunsenlabs,c=main
     origin pkg.bunsenlabs.org
 500 http://pkg.bunsenlabs.org/debian/ bunsen-hydrogen/main i386 Packages
     release o=bunsenlabs,n=bunsen-hydrogen,l=bunsenlabs,c=main
     origin pkg.bunsenlabs.org
 500 http://pkg.bunsenlabs.org/debian/ bunsen-hydrogen/main amd64 Packages
     release o=bunsenlabs,n=bunsen-hydrogen,l=bunsenlabs,c=main
     origin pkg.bunsenlabs.org
 500 http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ jessie-updates/main Translation-en
 500 http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ jessie-updates/main i386 Packages
     release o=Debian,a=stable-updates,n=jessie-updates,l=Debian,c=main
     origin ftp.us.debian.org
 500 http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ jessie-updates/main amd64 Packages
     release o=Debian,a=stable-updates,n=jessie-updates,l=Debian,c=main
     origin ftp.us.debian.org
 500 http://security.debian.org/ jessie/updates/main Translation-en
 500 http://security.debian.org/ jessie/updates/main i386 Packages
     release v=8,o=Debian,a=stable,n=jessie,l=Debian-Security,c=main
     origin security.debian.org
 500 http://security.debian.org/ jessie/updates/main amd64 Packages
     release v=8,o=Debian,a=stable,n=jessie,l=Debian-Security,c=main
     origin security.debian.org
 500 http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ jessie/non-free Translation-en
 500 http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ jessie/main Translation-en
 500 http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ jessie/contrib Translation-en
 500 http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ jessie/non-free i386 Packages
     release v=8.6,o=Debian,a=stable,n=jessie,l=Debian,c=non-free
     origin ftp.us.debian.org
 500 http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ jessie/contrib i386 Packages
     release v=8.6,o=Debian,a=stable,n=jessie,l=Debian,c=contrib
     origin ftp.us.debian.org
 500 http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ jessie/main i386 Packages
     release v=8.6,o=Debian,a=stable,n=jessie,l=Debian,c=main
     origin ftp.us.debian.org
 500 http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ jessie/non-free amd64 Packages
     release v=8.6,o=Debian,a=stable,n=jessie,l=Debian,c=non-free
     origin ftp.us.debian.org
 500 http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ jessie/contrib amd64 Packages
     release v=8.6,o=Debian,a=stable,n=jessie,l=Debian,c=contrib
     origin ftp.us.debian.org
 500 http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ jessie/main amd64 Packages
     release v=8.6,o=Debian,a=stable,n=jessie,l=Debian,c=main
     origin ftp.us.debian.org
Pinned packages:

I'll be annoyed with myself (but not necessarily surprised) if I have done something to cause this.

Thanks for looking at it for me.

Head_on_a_Stick · 2017-01-03 01:31:53

^ Well, that all looks normal enough.

So what *exactly* is the problem?

You have no sound until you `alsactl init` and you have to do this every boot, is that correct?

What is your hardware?

lspci -knn | grep -iA2 audio

dhalgren · 2017-01-03 01:40:17

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

So what *exactly* is the problem?
You have no sound until you `alsactl init` and you have to do this every boot, is that correct?

Yes, that is correct.

I have changed from volti to volumeicon, as per instructions in the tips section of the forum, and have a bl-start-pulseaudio-x11 file in ~/bin

Would that make any difference?

The results of the command are:

bruce@debian:~$ lspci -knn| grep -iA2 audio
00:1b.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller [8086:1e20] (rev 04)
	Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device [1043:124d]
	Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel

Head_on_a_Stick · 2017-01-03 01:45:20

dhalgren wrote:

I have changed from volti to volumeicon, as per instructions in the tips section of the forum, and have a bl-start-pulseaudio-x11 file in ~/bin
Would that make any difference?

Yes, it should make everything work properly hmm

Have you tried using this command after `alsactl init`:

sudo alsactl store

Also, what is the exact terminal output after you use `alsactl init` & `alsactl store`?

dhalgren · 2017-01-03 01:56:24

Terminal output is:

bruce@debian:~$ sudo alsactl init
[sudo] password for bruce: 
alsactl: sysfs_init:48: sysfs path '/sys' is invalid

Found hardware: "HDA-Intel" "Realtek ALC270" "HDA:10ec0270,1043124d,00100100 HDA:80862806,80860101,00100000" "0x1043" "0x124d"
Hardware is initialized using a generic method
bruce@debian:~$ sudo alsactl store
bruce@debian:~$

I had not previously noticed, because I didn't bother to look,

alsactl: sysfs_init:48: sysfs path '/sys' is invalid

Which I suspect must be the problem. Apologies for this failure on my part.

EDIT: I've done some research on this, but have found most of the information incomprehensible (especially on the debian forums). One person suggests the following:

mv /var/lib/alsa/asound.state{,-}
alsactl store
alsactl restore

But I have no idea what the command "mv /var/lib/alsa/asound.state{,-}" does, namely, where does it move asound.state to? If someone can tell me a bit more about this, I would be happy to try it.

Last edited by dhalgren (2017-01-03 02:41:24)

damo · 2017-01-03 02:54:45

dhalgren wrote:

....
But I have no idea what the command "mv /var/lib/alsa/asound.state{,-}" does, namely, where does it move asound.state to? If someone can tell me a bit more about this, I would be happy to try it.

It renames the file with a trailing "-", ie

/var/lib/alsa/asound.state-

(bash brace expansion)

Last edited by damo (2017-01-03 02:57:28)

dhalgren · 2017-01-03 03:08:47

Unfortunately, that altered nothing. I'll just keep putting the command in at startup, unless someone has some other idea I can try.

Cheers

Head_on_a_Stick · 2017-01-03 11:47:58

So, you have a problem with /syphilisfs sysfs then hmm

How is it mounted?

findmnt

This looks relevant:

https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugrepo … bug=807032

Which kernel are you running?

sysctl kernel.version

Does the sound work if you load up the BunsenLabs ISO image and select the "live" environment?

Head_on_a_Stick · 2017-01-03 12:25:16

@dhalgren I have split your problem off into it's own thread.

dhalgren · 2017-01-03 22:42:53

Here are the results of your commands.

bruce@debian:~$ findmnt
TARGET                                SOURCE      FSTYPE   OPTIONS
/                                     /dev/sda7   ext4     rw,relatime,errors=re
├─/sys                                sysfs       sysfs    rw,nosuid,nodev,noexe
│ ├─/sys/kernel/security              securityfs  security rw,nosuid,nodev,noexe
│ ├─/sys/fs/cgroup                    tmpfs       tmpfs    ro,nosuid,nodev,noexe
│ │ ├─/sys/fs/cgroup/systemd          cgroup      cgroup   rw,nosuid,nodev,noexe
│ │ ├─/sys/fs/cgroup/cpuset           cgroup      cgroup   rw,nosuid,nodev,noexe
│ │ ├─/sys/fs/cgroup/cpu,cpuacct      cgroup      cgroup   rw,nosuid,nodev,noexe
│ │ ├─/sys/fs/cgroup/blkio            cgroup      cgroup   rw,nosuid,nodev,noexe
│ │ ├─/sys/fs/cgroup/memory           cgroup      cgroup   rw,nosuid,nodev,noexe
│ │ ├─/sys/fs/cgroup/devices          cgroup      cgroup   rw,nosuid,nodev,noexe
│ │ ├─/sys/fs/cgroup/freezer          cgroup      cgroup   rw,nosuid,nodev,noexe
│ │ ├─/sys/fs/cgroup/net_cls,net_prio cgroup      cgroup   rw,nosuid,nodev,noexe
│ │ ├─/sys/fs/cgroup/perf_event       cgroup      cgroup   rw,nosuid,nodev,noexe
│ │ └─/sys/fs/cgroup/pids             cgroup      cgroup   rw,nosuid,nodev,noexe
│ ├─/sys/fs/pstore                    pstore      pstore   rw,nosuid,nodev,noexe
│ ├─/sys/kernel/debug                 debugfs     debugfs  rw,relatime
│ └─/sys/fs/fuse/connections          fusectl     fusectl  rw,relatime
├─/proc                               proc        proc     rw,nosuid,nodev,noexe
│ └─/proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc          systemd-1   autofs   rw,relatime,fd=22,pgr
│   └─/proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc        binfmt_misc binfmt_m rw,relatime
├─/dev                                udev        devtmpfs rw,relatime,size=1024
│ ├─/dev/pts                          devpts      devpts   rw,nosuid,noexec,rela
│ ├─/dev/shm                          tmpfs       tmpfs    rw,nosuid,nodev
│ ├─/dev/hugepages                    hugetlbfs   hugetlbf rw,relatime
│ └─/dev/mqueue                       mqueue      mqueue   rw,relatime
├─/run                                tmpfs       tmpfs    rw,nosuid,relatime,si
│ ├─/run/lock                         tmpfs       tmpfs    rw,nosuid,nodev,noexe
│ ├─/run/rpc_pipefs                   rpc_pipefs  rpc_pipe rw,relatime
│ └─/run/user/1000                    tmpfs       tmpfs    rw,nosuid,nodev,relat
│   └─/run/user/1000/gvfs             gvfsd-fuse  fuse.gvf rw,nosuid,nodev,relat
├─/home                               /dev/sda8   ext4     rw,relatime,data=orde
└─/boot/efi                           /dev/sda1   vfat     rw,relatime,fmask=007
bruce@debian:~$ sysctl kernel.version
kernel.version = #1 SMP Debian 4.7.8-1~bpo8+1 (2016-10-19)

I don't know anything about this really, but to me it looks as though it's not mounted.

And yes, the sound works with the BL live image, and a variety of others which I've had a look at.

Head_on_a_Stick · 2017-01-04 07:23:37

/sys is mounted normally so it looks like this may be related to the linked bug.

Do you still have this problem if you boot with the non-backports kernel?

It should be an option in the "Advanced" GRUB sub-menu.

dhalgren · 2017-01-04 07:59:02

The non-backports kernel had the same problem of no sound without running "alsactl init" after boot.

So: I looked at the bug report again and did the following:

bruce@debian:~$ sudo /usr/sbin/alsactl restore
bruce@debian:~$ sudo /usr/sbin/alsactl store

For some reason this seems to have fixed the problem, where "alsactl restore", by itself, did not, in as much as I now have sound on reboot, without having to take any further action.

I've rebooted twice with the same satisfactory result.

Thanks HoaS, for walking me through this.

#1 2017-01-03 00:52:27

[SOLVED] `alsactl init` required at every boot

#2 2017-01-03 01:14:11

Re: [SOLVED] `alsactl init` required at every boot

#3 2017-01-03 01:21:45

Re: [SOLVED] `alsactl init` required at every boot

#4 2017-01-03 01:31:53

Re: [SOLVED] `alsactl init` required at every boot

#5 2017-01-03 01:40:17

Re: [SOLVED] `alsactl init` required at every boot

#6 2017-01-03 01:45:20

Re: [SOLVED] `alsactl init` required at every boot

#7 2017-01-03 01:56:24

Re: [SOLVED] `alsactl init` required at every boot

#8 2017-01-03 02:54:45

Re: [SOLVED] `alsactl init` required at every boot

#9 2017-01-03 03:08:47

Re: [SOLVED] `alsactl init` required at every boot

#10 2017-01-03 11:47:58

Re: [SOLVED] `alsactl init` required at every boot

#11 2017-01-03 12:25:16

Re: [SOLVED] `alsactl init` required at every boot

#12 2017-01-03 22:42:53

Re: [SOLVED] `alsactl init` required at every boot

#13 2017-01-04 07:23:37

Re: [SOLVED] `alsactl init` required at every boot

#14 2017-01-04 07:59:02

Re: [SOLVED] `alsactl init` required at every boot

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