Sound problems on IBM T22 laptop

madwoollything · 2011-03-07 16:45:32

I've just installed and updated the latest version of #! on an old IBM T22 laptop. Seems to be great other than no sound.

Sound does not appear to be working and believe that the driver may be missing. If I try to launch the volume control the following error message appears:

"GStreamer was unable to detect any sound devices. Some sound system specific GStreamer packages may be missing. It may also be a permissions problem."

I've copied in what I believe is the relevant section of the output from lshw:
*-multimedia UNCLAIMED
description: Multimedia audio controller
product: CS 4614/22/24/30 [CrystalClear SoundFusion Audio Accelerator]
vendor: Cirrus Logic
physical id: 5
bus info: pci@0000:00:05.0
version: 01
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm cap_list
configuration: latency=64 maxlatency=24 mingnt=4
resources: memory:e8122000-e8122fff memory:e8000000-e80fffff

Unia · 2011-03-07 16:49:16

Have you installed alsa-base and alsa-utils?

madwoollything · 2011-03-07 17:09:04

Unia wrote:

Have you installed alsa-base and alsa-utils?

Yes both are installed and appear to be the latest versions.

jvd · 2011-03-07 17:37:58

Often it is the alsa settings. Check alsamixer, switch with F6 to the extended view of your card, and see if something is muted erroneously.

madwoollything · 2011-03-07 19:00:27

jvd wrote:

Often it is the alsa settings. Check alsamixer, switch with F6 to the extended view of your card, and see if something is muted erroneously.

If I try to launch the volume control the following error message appears:
"GStreamer was unable to detect any sound devices. Some sound system specific GStreamer packages may be missing. It may also be a permissions problem."

I cannot launch alsamixer from the command line. I get 'cannot open mixer: no such file or directory'.

I've looked in synaptic and tried to install the alsamixergui but that does not work. What is missing from my system such that sound is not working?

machinebacon · 2011-03-08 01:12:58

a shot in the dark: you can *try* to install some gstreamer-related packages (-plugin, -bad, -ugly, etc) which have solved the same problem on my Ubuntu box...

madwoollything · 2011-03-09 15:41:33

machinebacon wrote:

a shot in the dark: you can *try* to install some gstreamer-related packages (-plugin, -bad, -ugly, etc) which have solved the same problem on my Ubuntu box...

Thanks .... I've done as suggested but it has not worked in this case .... any other ideas??

machinebacon · 2011-03-11 02:57:02

you can try:

sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base

and add

options snd-cs46xx thinkpad=1 index=0

there, then Save and Close. this it already works (after

modprobe snd-cs46xx

or reboot).

German debian forums http://debianforum.de/forum/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=109125 also describes a solution by adding modprobe snd-cs46xx to the kernel modules, but AFTER compiling the alsa-firmware 1.0.19 (or later?) - the post is for Lenny, not Squeeze, so it might work already with the module activation command alone. Else you have to find the new alsa firmware and driver (found at http://dl.ambiweb.de/mirrors/ftp.alsa-project.org/), download it (open terminal, then

wget -c http://dl.ambiweb.de/mirrors/ftp.alsa-project.org/firmware/alsa-firmware-1.0.19.tar.bz2
#unpack it, probably it creates a new folder
tar -xjvf alsa-firmware-1.0.19.tar.bz2
# change to the firmware folder
.configure
make 
make install
# return to the home folder
# do the same with the driver: 
wget -c http://dl.ambiweb.de/mirrors/ftp.alsa-project.org/driver/alsa-driver-1.0.19.tar.bz2
#unpack it, probably it creates a new folder
tar -xjfv alsa-driver-1.0.19.tar.bz2
# change to the driver folder
./configure --with-cards=cs46xx --with-sequencer=yes --with-isapnp=no --disable-verbose-printk
make 
make install
# after compiling activate the module
modprobe snd-cs46xx
# use alsaconf to configure the card
alsaconf

Just to clarify: I can't promise it works, I just translated the solution from the german forums. It is possible that the 'modprobe' line works without compiling the kernel.
Good luck!

EDIT: added a 2nd solution

Last edited by machinebacon (2011-03-11 03:14:33)

madwoollything · 2011-03-12 15:21:05

machinebacon wrote:

you can try:
sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base
and add
options snd-cs46xx thinkpad=1 index=0
there, then Save and Close. this it already works (after
modprobe snd-cs46xx
or reboot).
German debian forums http://debianforum.de/forum/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=109125 also describes a solution by adding modprobe snd-cs46xx to the kernel modules, but AFTER compiling the alsa-firmware 1.0.19 (or later?) - the post is for Lenny, not Squeeze, so it might work already with the module activation command alone. Else you have to find the new alsa firmware and driver (found at http://dl.ambiweb.de/mirrors/ftp.alsa-project.org/), download it (open terminal, then
wget -c http://dl.ambiweb.de/mirrors/ftp.alsa-project.org/firmware/alsa-firmware-1.0.19.tar.bz2
#unpack it, probably it creates a new folder
tar -xjvf alsa-firmware-1.0.19.tar.bz2
# change to the firmware folder
.configure
make 
make install
# return to the home folder
# do the same with the driver: 
wget -c http://dl.ambiweb.de/mirrors/ftp.alsa-project.org/driver/alsa-driver-1.0.19.tar.bz2
#unpack it, probably it creates a new folder
tar -xjfv alsa-driver-1.0.19.tar.bz2
# change to the driver folder
./configure --with-cards=cs46xx --with-sequencer=yes --with-isapnp=no --disable-verbose-printk
make 
make install
# after compiling activate the module
modprobe snd-cs46xx
# use alsaconf to configure the card
alsaconf
Just to clarify: I can't promise it works, I just translated the solution from the german forums. It is possible that the 'modprobe' line works without compiling the kernel.
Good luck!
EDIT: added a 2nd solution

Thanks ... I'll give this a go.

enriquei · 2011-10-08 05:09:21

I can confirm that the second fix works (save for some typos) on my T-21 with CrunchBang Statler.

I've made a quick step-by-step list for those not so technically inclined:

# Step 1) Make sure that kernel headers are installed:
sudo apt-get install linux-headers-`uname -r`
# Follow through and install all deps. 

# Step 2) Download and install latest alsa firmware... as of 7 October 2011, it is 1.0.24
wget -c ftp://ftp.alsa-project.org/pub/firmware/alsa-firmware-1.0.24.1.tar.bz2
#unpack it... it creates a new folder
tar -xjvf alsa-firmware-1.0.24.1.tar.bz2
# change to the firmware folder
cd alsa-firmware-1.0.24.1
#Configure
./configure
#Make
make 
#Install
sudo make install
# return to previous folder
cd ..
# Step 3) do the same with the driver: 
wget -c ftp://ftp.alsa-project.org/pub/driver/alsa-driver-1.0.24.tar.bz2
#unpack it... it creates a new folder
tar -xjvf alsa-driver-1.0.24.tar.bz2
# change to the driver folder
cd alsa-driver-1.0.24
# Configure
./configure --with-cards=cs46xx --with-sequencer=yes --with-isapnp=no --disable-verbose-printk
#Make
make 
#Install
sudo make install

# Step 4) Add snd-cs46xx to /etc/modules to ensure loading at boot time
sudo sh -c 'echo "snd-cs46xx" >> /etc/modules'

# Step 5) Reboot
sudo reboot

Last edited by enriquei (2011-10-08 05:12:16)

enriquei · 2012-02-26 10:32:21

Just an update; apparently v. 1.0.25 of the alsa drivers have been released. I haven't tried them yet... Also, in the previous post I mentioned that I had a T-21... I forgot that I used part of the case from a T-21 as a donor for the T-22... so the machine I am using is a T-22... although it shouldn't really make a difference. In any case, this fix still works with all of the crunchbang statler updates as of 2/25/2012. The kernel I'm currently using is 2.6.32-5-686.

CrunchBang Linux

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#1 2011-03-07 16:45:32

Sound problems on IBM T22 laptop

#2 2011-03-07 16:49:16

Re: Sound problems on IBM T22 laptop

#3 2011-03-07 17:09:04

Re: Sound problems on IBM T22 laptop

#4 2011-03-07 17:37:58

Re: Sound problems on IBM T22 laptop

#5 2011-03-07 19:00:27

Re: Sound problems on IBM T22 laptop

#6 2011-03-08 01:12:58

Re: Sound problems on IBM T22 laptop

#7 2011-03-09 15:41:33

Re: Sound problems on IBM T22 laptop

#8 2011-03-11 02:57:02

Re: Sound problems on IBM T22 laptop

#9 2011-03-12 15:21:05

Re: Sound problems on IBM T22 laptop

#10 2011-10-08 05:09:21

Re: Sound problems on IBM T22 laptop

#11 2012-02-26 10:32:21

Re: Sound problems on IBM T22 laptop

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