Sound on Thinkpad x120e

Question

Hello,
I have been attempting to get sound working for some time without success, using ALSA. (I hope this is the correct forum to post this issue)
[root@wldhcp-10-221-34-123 ~]# cat /etc/asound.conf
#pcm.!default {
# type hw
## card 1
#ctl.!default {
## type hw
# card 1
# Use PulseAudio by default
pcm.!default {
type pulse
fallback "sysdefault"
hint {
show on
description "Default ALSA Output (currently PulseAudio Sound Server)"
ctl.!default {
type pulse
fallback "sysdefault"
With respect to the above, I had tried also to comment out the bottom portion leaving only the currently commented out portion, with no success.
[root@wldhcp-10-221-34-123 ~]# ls -l /dev/snd
total 0
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 100 Aug 26 09:29 by-path
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116, 5 Aug 26 09:29 controlC0
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116, 9 Aug 26 09:29 controlC1
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116, 2 Aug 26 09:29 controlC29
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116, 4 Aug 26 09:29 hwC0D0
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116, 8 Aug 26 09:29 hwC1D0
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116, 3 Aug 28 22:52 pcmC0D3p
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116, 7 Aug 28 22:52 pcmC1D0c
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116, 6 Aug 28 22:52 pcmC1D0p
crw-rw---- 1 root audio 116, 1 Aug 26 09:29 seq
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116, 33 Aug 26 09:29 timer
[root@wldhcp-10-221-34-123 ~]# lsmod | grep '^snd' | column -t
snd_hda_codec_conexant 35994 1
snd_hda_codec_hdmi 29765 1
snd_hda_intel 35309 5
snd_hda_codec 147474 3 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec_conexant,snd_hda_intel
snd_hwdep 6332 1 snd_hda_codec
snd_pcm 77765 3 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel
snd_page_alloc 7234 2 snd_pcm,snd_hda_intel
snd_timer 18718 1 snd_pcm
snd 58950 18 snd_hwdep,snd_timer,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec_conexant,snd_pcm,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel,thinkpad_acpi
[root@wldhcp-10-221-34-123 Zero 7 -- Another Late Night]# aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: Generic [HD-Audio Generic], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: SB [HDA ATI SB], device 0: CX20582 Analog [CX20582 Analog]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
Playing with aplay seems to do something, as it doesn't return to the terminal after outputting the following, but with no sound:
[root@wldhcp-10-221-34-123 Zero 7 -- Another Late Night]# aplay 14\ cool\ out.mp3
Playing raw data '14 cool out.mp3' : Unsigned 8 bit, Rate 8000 Hz, Mono
Additionally, KDE lists several outputs in order on its 'Multimedia -> Phonon':
'Default ALSA Output (currently PulseAudio sound server)'
'HDA ATI SB (CX20682 Analog)'
PulseAudio Sound Server'
'jack'
'pulse'
'Default'
'HD-Audio Generic (HDMI 0)'
And a few others, some of which are greyed out.
I presume I am making some silly error due to my lack of knowledge of these subsystems.. any advice appreciated! Of course I can also provide any additional info if I forgot anything.
Last edited by rpt (2013-09-02 20:27:17)

Answer 1

rpt wrote:
I am having trouble using aplay -D -- what sort of value is supposed to come after D? I tried with card number, and filenames from /dev/snd.
Thanks
The -D option doesn't select hardware devices by name but PCMs, for example
aplay -D default
Regarding your actual problem:
Firstly, for ALSA audio playback, you definitely have to use your second card as shown by aplay -l:
card 1: SB [HDA ATI SB], device 0: CX20582 Analog [CX20582 Analog]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
For what reasons did you comment the first few lines doing that in your /etc/asound.conf out?
In any case, you need something like
defaults.ctl.card 1
defaults.pcm.card 1
defaults.timer.card 1
in /etc/asound.conf. I have a Thinkpad x121e with the following cards:
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: Generic [HD-Audio Generic], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: SB [HDA ATI SB], device 0: CX20590 Analog [CX20590 Analog]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
and I get playback using that. Try simple ALSA audio playback with these settings, like in mplayer -ao alsa:device=default <TUNE>. It should work if there are no permission problems involved. If it doesn't, we need to debug the permission problem. Save pulseaudio for the end as it is the most quirky thing in this thread.