Revision 18 as of 2007-01-03 14:03:21

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Booting into linux

If your boot hangs on loading the module for snd-hda-intel, try disabling the card in your BIOS. It is called "HD Audio Controller", "Azalia Audio", or similar. Then try solving the problem using the instructions below.

Ubuntu 6.06 LTS

Many cards seem to work with Ubuntu 6.06 LTS, using the stock kernel 2.6.15 and alsa 1.0.10. This is not the case always, however. Reports include high pitched noise, poor sound quality combined with low volume output and not getting any sound at all. In some cases sound disappears when touching volume controls.

To solve this, you can try two things:

Update to the latest version of alsa

(i) These instructions do not interfere with the Ubuntu package structure or other kernel modules - in other words, the changes seem drastic however they are simply adding greater functionality to an existing kernel module

  • Install the required tools 

sudo apt-get install build-essential ncurses-dev
  • Install your kernel headers 

sudo apt-get install linux-headers-`uname -r`

sudo mkdir -p /usr/src/alsa
cd /usr/src/alsa
sudo cp /home/naaman/installers/alsa/* .
sudo tar xjf alsa-driver-1.0.14rc1.tar.bz2
sudo tar xjf alsa-lib-1.0.14rc1.tar.bz2
sudo tar xjf alsa-utils-1.0.14rc1.tar.bz2
  • Compile and install alsa-driver 

cd alsa-driver-1.0.14rc1
sudo ./configure --with-cards=hda-intel
sudo make
sudo make install
  • Compile and install alsa-lib 

cd ../alsa-lib-1.0.14rc1
sudo ./configure
sudo make
sudo make install
  • Compile and install alsa-utils 

cd ../alsa-utils-1.0.14rc1
sudo ./configure
sudo make
sudo make install
  • Reboot

Note: You may need to right click on the volume control applet in your gnome-panel and go to the preferences and change the device to "HDA Intel (Alsa Mixer)". The same applies to the gnome volume control program. Additionally, you may also need enable some volume sliders through Edit-Preferences in gnome volume control.

Manually tell the driver which flavor you are using

  • Edit the file /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base 

sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base
  • Add the line "options snd-hda-intel model=3stack" (change "3stack" to the model you need)

3stack works for many motherboard integrated chips with shared surrounds. Other models include 5stack, 6stack, laptop and laptop-eapd. Sometimes it is also possible to use the more generic "options snd-hda-intel model=ref", which the hda driver uses to load manufacturer specfic presets (SigmaTel, Realtek, etc.). The full list is available in ALSA-Configuration.txt in the driver tarball under alsa-kernel/Documentation/. If this worked, you can help the alsa developers by sending them the output of lspci -nv and the model you used on [http://bugtrack.alsa-project.org Alsa BTS].

  • Reboot

Ubuntu 5.10

Because of the rapid development of the snd-hda-intel driver up until now, problems with hda-codec based soundcards are more prominent in this version of Ubuntu. To solve this, upgrade to 6.06 LTS or follow the above instructions but replace your kernel versions with 2.6.12-10 .

Alternative for Ubuntu 5.10: Use a different driver

Some success has been reported with this, though outdated, driver: [http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/dlhd-2.aspx?lineid=2004052&famid=2004052&series=2004061&Software=True&title=HD%20Audio%20CODECs#2004061Unix%20(Linux)]

CategoryHardware