Sound Not Working with kernel 2.6.9.11

Linux and Unix-Like Linux
1

I've got an FC3 rc1 box here. If I use the stock kernel that it came with, sound works fine using the intel i8x0 chipset (ALSA drivers). But when I boot into my own custom compiled kernel, all audio apps work as they should (XMMS' graphic "scope" displays audio playback, esd gets launched when logging into GNOME, ogg123 will act as if it's playing back audio, etc...) but I don't hear anything. I've verified that the correct modules are loaded:

snd_seq_oss            30145  0 
snd_seq_midi_event      7105  1 snd_seq_oss
snd_seq                51793  4 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_pcm_oss            42345  0 
snd_mixer_oss          13889  3 snd_pcm_oss
snd_intel8x0           30829  3 
snd_ac97_codec         58565  1 snd_intel8x0
snd_pcm                82249  2 snd_pcm_oss,snd_intel8x0
snd_timer              24901  2 snd_seq,snd_pcm
snd_page_alloc          8137  2 snd_intel8x0,snd_pcm
gameport                3777  1 snd_intel8x0
snd_mpu401_uart         7233  1 snd_intel8x0
snd_rawmidi            21477  1 snd_mpu401_uart
snd_seq_device          6217  3 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq,snd_rawmidi
snd                    44069  14 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi_event,snd_seq,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm,snd_timer,snd_mpu401_uart,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq_device
soundcore               7457  3 snd

I've also tried the following based on Google searches:

  1. Booting with 'acpi=off' per a suggestion from Alan Cox on a RedHat forum
  2. Verifying that the OSS mixer is set correctly using 'aumix' from a prompt
  3. Changing both the ALSA and OSS mixer settings in GNOME with the mixer applet

The only thing I haven't tried yet (and probably will this morning) is actually installing the ALSA drivers separately from the latest ALSA sources. Has anyone else seen this same kind of issue? Oddly enough, everything works just fine with the stock kernel, so I'm pretty certain it's not mixer settings.

UPDATE: I just tried the latest ALSA drivers (1.0.9b) to no avail. Same exact problem. II'm going to try another kernel since 2.6.11.9 is a bit behind current versions.

2

OK. Sorted. It wasn't the kernel version but the ALSA utilities. For some reason, the version of ALSA utils didn't match up with newer ALSA versions as far as what mixer elements are available. There is an extra element called "Internal Amp" that was muted. The older version of 'alsasmixer' couldn't control this as it didn't even display. When I upgraded my alsa-utils with the latest version from source, 'alsamixer' had access to this additional element and I was able to unmute my sound. :slight_smile: