Problems with a sound card under Linux

[miaplacidus]

Guys,

A good friend has just given me as a gift a new computer. It's a Gateway MX6448 laptop, equipped with a very odd sound card. I want to make that sound card work under Ubuntu Linux 6.06.1 "Dapper Drake" (AMD64 version) but I can't.

Plus, I don't know the exact model. Windows only says "SigmaTel High Definition Audio Codec", and in the computer's documentation it doesn't say anything.

Could someone help me? Currently I have to use Windows... and I prefer Linux.

[miaplacidus]

Oh, by the way, does anybody know why Linux doesn't seem to use my ATI RADEON XPRESS 1150 graphics acceleration capabilities? Windows uses the acceleration, but under Linux there's little difference with my old NVIDIA TNT2.

[Corny]

for ati you need to install the ati drivers to get acceleration unfortunately they will taint your kernel (like the nvidia drivers do, too).
for the soundcard .. what does lspci say?

[davy]

hmmm... it's a little strange that ubuntu didn't automatically use the ac97 audio codec for your sound card. my laptop has the same "SigmaTel High Definition Audio Codec". we really do need to see what lspci says to get an idea of what might be wrong.

unfortunately, ati isn't very linux friendly, so like corny said, you'll have to use the binary. follow these instructions to get it to work:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BinaryDriverHowto/ATI

[mike_n_herrin]

i don't get sound in my knoppix without first running the alsaconf thing then it works. i think you have to type that...at the root prompt thing. i can't remember now that i have a perm image thing on my computer i can save my settings and stuff so i don't have to run the alsaconf every time. try that and see?

[miaplacidus]

OK. I tried with lspci and there isn't a trace of the sound card. It's simply not there. Then I tried to run alsaconf, and it seems that it isn't available on my system.

Thanks for your help, guys. If there are other things I could try, please let me know.

[T-Rexx]

miaplacidus:

Don't know if it will help you, but check out the comprehensive guide to resolving sound problems in ubuntu:

http://doc.gwos.org/index.php/Compre...olutions_Guide

[Corny]

OK. I tried with lspci and there isn't a trace of the sound card.

please post the output here

[teadrinker]

Unfortunately I think you're out of luck. A quick web search has revealed that your laptop uses a sigmatel stac-9250 audio controller, for which there seem to be no linux drivers.

Maybe you can exchange the laptop for one with better linux support - go to

http://www.linux-on-laptops.com/gateway.html

and see how people have managed with other Gateway laptops,

-T.

[miaplacidus]

Oh oh... it seems that I'm stuck with Windows. [sexual act]!!!

[winterknight]

Like Corny said, please post the full output of lspci. It might give us some clues.

Also, is the card listed at http://www.alsa-project.org/alsa-doc...dor=All#matrix ?

If not, it might not be supported.

[miaplacidus]

It doesn't appear in the list, winterknight.

I can't post the lspci output now (I don't have my USB flash drive with me now) but I will do so as soon as possible.

Thanks for your help.

[Corny]

be sure to use
lspci -vv

[miaplacidus]

This is the output of “sudo lspci”, ran on Ubuntu 6.06.1 LTS “Dapper Drake” (i386)

0000:00:00.0 Host bridge: ATI Technologies Inc RS480 Host Bridge (rev 10)
0000:00:01.0 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc: Unknown device 5a3f
0000:00:04.0 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc: Unknown device 5a36
0000:00:05.0 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc: Unknown device 5a37
0000:00:13.0 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc IXP SB400 USB Host Controller (rev 80)
0000:00:13.1 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc IXP SB400 USB Host Controller (rev 80)
0000:00:13.2 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc IXP SB400 USB2 Host Controller (rev 80)
0000:00:14.0 SMBus: ATI Technologies Inc IXP SB400 SMBus Controller (rev 83)
0000:00:14.1 IDE interface: ATI Technologies Inc Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller ATI (rev 80)
0000:00:14.2 0403: ATI Technologies Inc: Unknown device 437b (rev 01)
0000:00:14.3 ISA bridge: ATI Technologies Inc IXP SB400 PCI-ISA Bridge (rev 80)
0000:00:14.4 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc IXP SB400 PCI-PCI Bridge (rev 80)
0000:00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration
0000:00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map
0000:00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller
0000:00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control
0000:01:05.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc: Unknown device 5975
0000:02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Marvell Technology Group Ltd.: Unknown device 4352 (rev 14)
0000:05:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation: Unknown device 4311 (rev 01)
0000:08:09.0 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments: Unknown device 8039
0000:08:09.1 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Texas Instruments: Unknown device 803a
0000:08:09.2 Mass storage controller: Texas Instruments: Unknown device 803b

[T-Rexx]

It does indeed appear that lspci is unable to recognize your sound card, miaplacidus. The chipset used in the Gateway MX6448 appears to be an orphan. I was unable even to find anyone who is working on a Linux driver for this hardware.

It frankly does not mean very much, but neither your laptop nor your laptop's sound card are listed as either specifically supported or known to be not supported by the Linux Hardware Compatibility List. You might consider posting your experiences with the Gateway MX6448 in the laptop forum, so that others might benefit from what you've discovered.

Ubuntu 7.04 ("Feisty Fawn") is due out 19 April 2007, but I would be very surprised if support for the MX6448 sound card is included. If you want to use sound on this machine in Linux, I suspect you will be forced to add an alternative sound device, such as the Creative Labs PCMCIA Soudblaster Audigy 2 ZS or the Alpha Omega 5.1 Digital USB Audio Controller or the Turtle Beach Audio Advantage Micro USB Sound Card.

Be forewarned, however, that none of the three alternative laptop sound devices listed above are included in the Linux Hardware Compatibility List. In fact, there is not a singe Cardbus (PCMCIA) or USB sound device in the list. This does not necessarily mean that no such devices are supported, however, or that they won't be supported in an upcoming release.

I hope Corny or winterknight will be able to do a better job for you.

BTW, Ubuntu 6.10 is already out. Download here.



.

[miaplacidus]

WHY????? I don't want to use Windows!!!!!!

[miaplacidus]

By the way, I knew about 6.10, but I don't have enough online time to download it and ShipIt is still shipping 6.06, so I'm stuck with it.

[mike_n_herrin]

well crap. i couldn't find anything either. i did see that sigma tel sold their audio to IDT see their web page message here: http://www.sigmatel.com/products/pca...ex_newPop.aspx

i couldn't find on IDT's web page anything about drivers for this card at all though.


i don't understand what any of the following is, but thought just maybe...an outside chance it might help:
http://doc.gwos.org/index.php/Compre...olutions_Guide