ALSA changes in 2.6.23-rc6 for Intel HDA

ALSA changes in 2.6.23-rc6 for Intel HDA

[Jon Smirl]

The ALSA changes in 2.6.23-rc6 for Intel HDA made me change my volume
from about 30% to 75% to get the same level of sound. Was this
intentional?

My ALSA info is here.
http://pastebin.ca/692226

-- 
Jon Smirl
jonsmirl@gmail.com

Re: ALSA changes in 2.6.23-rc6 for Intel HDA

[Maxim Levitsky]

On Tuesday 11 September 2007 19:58:00 Jon Smirl wrote:
> The ALSA changes in 2.6.23-rc6 for Intel HDA made me change my volume
> from about 30% to 75% to get the same level of sound. Was this
> intentional?
> 
> My ALSA info is here.
> http://pastebin.ca/692226
> 


Hi,

First of all, what kernel do you compare to (which has  louder sound)
Then if you use headphones, maybe you plugged them in 'surround output'
Like center/LFE/side/surround.
Those outputs give much lower levers of sound.
Only Front HP and Line-out have special amp for headphones.


Best regards,
	Maxim Levitsky

Re: ALSA changes in 2.6.23-rc6 for Intel HDA

[Jon Smirl]

On 9/12/07, Maxim Levitsky <maximlevitsky@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Tuesday 11 September 2007 19:58:00 Jon Smirl wrote:
> > The ALSA changes in 2.6.23-rc6 for Intel HDA made me change my volume
> > from about 30% to 75% to get the same level of sound. Was this
> > intentional?
> >
> > My ALSA info is here.
> > http://pastebin.ca/692226
> >
>
>
> Hi,
>
> First of all, what kernel do you compare to (which has  louder sound)
> Then if you use headphones, maybe you plugged them in 'surround output'
> Like center/LFE/side/surround.
> Those outputs give much lower levers of sound.
> Only Front HP and Line-out have special amp for headphones.

2.6.23-rc5, I have stereo speakers plugged into the left/right output.
I never moved the speaker plug. The volume gets louder when I load the
new kernel.

It looks like the name of the main PCM channel changed from 'pcm' to
'PCM" too. I had to reset my levels in alsamixer. I have a STAC9227.

I have everything working. It just all needed to be readjusted. Plus
now I have to have my amp (powered speakers) set at a much higher
level than before.


>
>
> Best regards,
>         Maxim Levitsky
>


-- 
Jon Smirl
jonsmirl@gmail.com

Re: ALSA changes in 2.6.23-rc6 for Intel HDA

[Takashi Iwai]

At Wed, 12 Sep 2007 10:30:29 -0400,
Jon Smirl wrote:
> 
> On 9/12/07, Maxim Levitsky <maximlevitsky@gmail.com> wrote:
> > On Tuesday 11 September 2007 19:58:00 Jon Smirl wrote:
> > > The ALSA changes in 2.6.23-rc6 for Intel HDA made me change my volume
> > > from about 30% to 75% to get the same level of sound. Was this
> > > intentional?
> > >
> > > My ALSA info is here.
> > > http://pastebin.ca/692226
> > >
> >
> >
> > Hi,
> >
> > First of all, what kernel do you compare to (which has  louder sound)
> > Then if you use headphones, maybe you plugged them in 'surround output'
> > Like center/LFE/side/surround.
> > Those outputs give much lower levers of sound.
> > Only Front HP and Line-out have special amp for headphones.
> 
> 2.6.23-rc5, I have stereo speakers plugged into the left/right output.
> I never moved the speaker plug. The volume gets louder when I load the
> new kernel.
> 
> It looks like the name of the main PCM channel changed from 'pcm' to
> 'PCM" too. I had to reset my levels in alsamixer. I have a STAC9227.

The mixer element "pcm" in lower letters is very strange.  If it's
really so, it should have been a bug.


Takashi

Re: ALSA changes in 2.6.23-rc6 for Intel HDA

[Maxim Levitsky]

On Wednesday 12 September 2007 17:30:29 Jon Smirl wrote:
> On 9/12/07, Maxim Levitsky <maximlevitsky@gmail.com> wrote:
> > On Tuesday 11 September 2007 19:58:00 Jon Smirl wrote:
> > > The ALSA changes in 2.6.23-rc6 for Intel HDA made me change my volume
> > > from about 30% to 75% to get the same level of sound. Was this
> > > intentional?
> > >
> > > My ALSA info is here.
> > > http://pastebin.ca/692226
> > >
> >
> >
> > Hi,
> >
> > First of all, what kernel do you compare to (which has  louder sound)
> > Then if you use headphones, maybe you plugged them in 'surround output'
> > Like center/LFE/side/surround.
> > Those outputs give much lower levers of sound.
> > Only Front HP and Line-out have special amp for headphones.
> 
> 2.6.23-rc5, I have stereo speakers plugged into the left/right output.
> I never moved the speaker plug. The volume gets louder when I load the
louder ?
> new kernel.
> 
> It looks like the name of the main PCM channel changed from 'pcm' to
> 'PCM" too. I had to reset my levels in alsamixer. I have a STAC9227.
> 
> I have everything working. It just all needed to be readjusted. Plus
> now I have to have my amp (powered speakers) set at a much higher
> level than before.
> 
> 
> >
> >
> > Best regards,
> >         Maxim Levitsky
> >
> 
> 

Hi,

It mustn't be the kernel
Last change in hda-intel code in in pre-2.6.23-rc1

by the way, PCM control is not hardware control
it is a softvol plug-in


Best regards,
	Maxim Levitsky

Re: ALSA changes in 2.6.23-rc6 for Intel HDA

[Jon Smirl]

On 9/13/07, Maxim Levitsky <maximlevitsky@gmail.com> wrote:
> It mustn't be the kernel
> Last change in hda-intel code in in pre-2.6.23-rc1
>
> by the way, PCM control is not hardware control
> it is a softvol plug-in

I wasn't paying a lot of attention when the changed happen. I upgraded
the kernel and when it booted all of my sound was missing. I played
around with it until I determined that the sound was still there but
at very low volumes.

I'm running Ubuntu 7.04 64b. Nothing special, using the default audio
install. I am compiling and installing my own kernels.

Are these entries with all the zeros normal?
/var/lib/alsa/asound.state

state.Intel {
	control.1 {
		comment.access 'read write'
		comment.type ENUMERATED
		comment.count 1
		comment.item.0 Mic
		comment.item.1 'Front Mic'
		comment.item.2 Line
		iface MIXER
		name 'Input Source'
		value Mic
	}
	control.2 {
		comment.access 'read write'
		comment.type INTEGER
		comment.count 2
		comment.range '0 - 4'
		iface MIXER
		name 'InMux Capture Volume'
		value.0 0
		value.1 0
	}
	control.3 {
		comment.access 'read write'
		comment.type INTEGER
		comment.count 2
		comment.range '0 - 14'
		iface MIXER
		name 'InVol Capture Volume'
		value.0 0
		value.1 0
	}
	control.4 {
		comment.access 'read write'
		comment.type BOOLEAN
		comment.count 2
		iface MIXER
		name 'ADCMux Capture Switch'
		value.0 false
		value.1 false
	}
	control.5 {
		comment.access 'read write'
		comment.type INTEGER
		comment.count 2
		comment.range '0 - 127'
		iface MIXER
		name 'Front Playback Volume'
		value.0 75
		value.1 75
	}
	control.6 {
		comment.access 'read write'
		comment.type BOOLEAN
		comment.count 2
		iface MIXER
		name 'Front Playback Switch'
		value.0 true
		value.1 true
	}
	control.7 {
		comment.access 'read write'
		comment.type INTEGER
		comment.count 2
		comment.range '0 - 127'
		iface MIXER
		name 'Surround Playback Volume'
		value.0 100
		value.1 100
	}
	control.8 {
		comment.access 'read write'
		comment.type BOOLEAN
		comment.count 2
		iface MIXER
		name 'Surround Playback Switch'
		value.0 false
		value.1 false
	}
	control.9 {
		comment.access 'read write'
		comment.type INTEGER
		comment.count 1
		comment.range '0 - 127'
		iface MIXER
		name 'Center Playback Volume'
		value 100
	}
	control.10 {
		comment.access 'read write'
		comment.type BOOLEAN
		comment.count 1
		iface MIXER
		name 'Center Playback Switch'
		value false
	}
	control.11 {
		comment.access 'read write'
		comment.type INTEGER
		comment.count 1
		comment.range '0 - 127'
		iface MIXER
		name 'LFE Playback Volume'
		value 100
	}
	control.12 {
		comment.access 'read write'
		comment.type BOOLEAN
		comment.count 1
		iface MIXER
		name 'LFE Playback Switch'
		value false
	}
	control.13 {
		comment.access 'read write'
		comment.type INTEGER
		comment.count 2
		comment.range '0 - 127'
		iface MIXER
		name 'Side Playback Volume'
		value.0 100
		value.1 100
	}
	control.14 {
		comment.access 'read write'
		comment.type BOOLEAN
		comment.count 2
		iface MIXER
		name 'Side Playback Switch'
		value.0 false
		value.1 false
	}
	control.15 {
		comment.access read
		comment.type IEC958
		comment.count 1
		iface MIXER
		name 'IEC958 Playback Con Mask'
		value '0fff000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000'
	}
	control.16 {
		comment.access read
		comment.type IEC958
		comment.count 1
		iface MIXER
		name 'IEC958 Playback Pro Mask'
		value '0f00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000'
	}
	control.17 {
		comment.access 'read write'
		comment.type IEC958
		comment.count 1
		iface MIXER
		name 'IEC958 Playback Default'
		value '0400000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000'
	}
	control.18 {
		comment.access 'read write'
		comment.type BOOLEAN
		comment.count 1
		iface MIXER
		name 'IEC958 Playback Switch'
		value false
	}
	control.19 {
		comment.access 'read write user'
		comment.type INTEGER
		comment.count 2
		comment.range '0 - 255'
		comment.tlv '0000000100000008ffffec1400000014'
		iface MIXER
		name 'PCM Playback Volume'
		value.0 180
		value.1 180
	}
}



-- 
Jon Smirl
jonsmirl@gmail.com

Re: ALSA changes in 2.6.23-rc6 for Intel HDA

[Maxim Levitsky]

On Thursday 13 September 2007 20:15:00 Jon Smirl wrote:

those controls are fine:
>         control.2 {
>                 comment.access 'read write'
>                 comment.type INTEGER
>                 comment.count 2
>                 comment.range '0 - 4'
>                 iface MIXER
>                 name 'InMux Capture Volume'
>                 value.0 0
>                 value.1 0
>         }
>         control.3 {
>                 comment.access 'read write'
>                 comment.type INTEGER
>                 comment.count 2
>                 comment.range '0 - 14'
>                 iface MIXER
>                 name 'InVol Capture Volume'
>                 value.0 0
>                 value.1 0
>         }
They control amplification of sound that enters input lines. 0 means just pass it as is
I rarely increase them

this should be enabled, if you want to record from device:
>        control.4 {
>                comment.access 'read write'
>                comment.type BOOLEAN
>                comment.count 2
>                iface MIXER
>                name 'ADCMux Capture Switch'
>                value.0 false
>                value.1 false
>        }


from my expirence (I also own STAC9227 btw), this is normal, and I even set this to 100%
>        control.5 {
>                comment.access 'read write'
>                comment.type INTEGER
>                comment.count 2
>                comment.range '0 - 127'
>                iface MIXER
>                name 'Front Playback Volume'
>                value.0 75
>                value.1 75
>       }


It looks like what you have now, is exactly what I always had
Maybe hardware is capable of louder sound, although I have studied the datasheet, and I havent seen that

Can you tell me exact version of kernel that allowed you to set higher volume,
and can you test whenever you actually can set louder volumes on that kernel, maybe it has a bug

Btw, I have sent quite a lot of patches for this driver, for example, you will have 'Master Volume' control,
and you will be able to record at same time from all three inputs, I added support for analog loopback.
and ADCMux is now called just 'Capture switch'



If you want to try, you can try ALSA 1.0.15rc2

Best regards,
	Maxim Levitsky

Re: ALSA changes in 2.6.23-rc6 for Intel HDA

[Jon Smirl]

On 9/13/07, Maxim Levitsky <maximlevitsky@gmail.com> wrote:
> Can you tell me exact version of kernel that allowed you to set higher volume,
> and can you test whenever you actually can set louder volumes on that kernel, maybe it has a bug


I was working fine  2.6.23-rc4 for sure and I also believe  2.6.23-rc5 was ok.
 2.6.23-rc6 is not ok.

But I can't rule out that this has nothing to do with the kernel and
instead it was cause by an auto update of some ubuntu package.

It is the current system that is not working ok for me.

I have my powered speakers set to full volume.
I have PCM set to full volume.
I have to set the front speakers to 36% before I can detect they are
making sound.
I still have full dynamic range if I set the front speakers to 100%.

Here's a another clue. I have alsamixer running in a window. I change
the volume control with the gnome panel applet. It is changing the
volume for the Front Speaker column. Shouldn't it be changing the PCM
column?

If I set Front back to 79 and use PCM to control the volume things
appear to be working like they used to. Did something cause the Gnome
Volume Control Applet to start controlling a different column?


-- 
Jon Smirl
jonsmirl@gmail.com

Re: ALSA changes in 2.6.23-rc6 for Intel HDA

[Jon Smirl]

On 9/13/07, Jon Smirl <jonsmirl@gmail.com> wrote:
> On 9/13/07, Maxim Levitsky <maximlevitsky@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Can you tell me exact version of kernel that allowed you to set higher volume,
> > and can you test whenever you actually can set louder volumes on that kernel, maybe it has a bug
>
>
> I was working fine  2.6.23-rc4 for sure and I also believe  2.6.23-rc5 was ok.
>  2.6.23-rc6 is not ok.
>
> But I can't rule out that this has nothing to do with the kernel and
> instead it was cause by an auto update of some ubuntu package.
>
> It is the current system that is not working ok for me.
>
> I have my powered speakers set to full volume.
> I have PCM set to full volume.
> I have to set the front speakers to 36% before I can detect they are
> making sound.
> I still have full dynamic range if I set the front speakers to 100%.
>
> Here's a another clue. I have alsamixer running in a window. I change
> the volume control with the gnome panel applet. It is changing the
> volume for the Front Speaker column. Shouldn't it be changing the PCM
> column?
>
> If I set Front back to 79 and use PCM to control the volume things
> appear to be working like they used to. Did something cause the Gnome
> Volume Control Applet to start controlling a different column?

I see now that there is a preference in the Gnome Volume Control
applet and in System/Preferences/Sound for setting which channel is
controlled. In both cases nothing was selected on my system. It seems
that the default when nothing is selected is to control the Front
Speaker channel.

I've set both of these to PCM and now things are working like there were before.

This behavior correlates with what I believe was the name of the PCM
channel changing from 'pcm' to 'PCM'. The selection boxes still wanted
to use the old name which wasn't a choice anymore.

-- 
Jon Smirl
jonsmirl@gmail.com

Re: ALSA changes in 2.6.23-rc6 for Intel HDA

[Maxim Levitsky]

On Thursday 13 September 2007 22:20:07 Jon Smirl wrote:
> On 9/13/07, Jon Smirl <jonsmirl@gmail.com> wrote:
> > On 9/13/07, Maxim Levitsky <maximlevitsky@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > Can you tell me exact version of kernel that allowed you to set higher volume,
> > > and can you test whenever you actually can set louder volumes on that kernel, maybe it has a bug
> >
> >
> > I was working fine  2.6.23-rc4 for sure and I also believe  2.6.23-rc5 was ok.
> >  2.6.23-rc6 is not ok.
> >
> > But I can't rule out that this has nothing to do with the kernel and
> > instead it was cause by an auto update of some ubuntu package.
> >
> > It is the current system that is not working ok for me.
> >
> > I have my powered speakers set to full volume.
> > I have PCM set to full volume.
> > I have to set the front speakers to 36% before I can detect they are
> > making sound.
> > I still have full dynamic range if I set the front speakers to 100%.
> >
> > Here's a another clue. I have alsamixer running in a window. I change
> > the volume control with the gnome panel applet. It is changing the
> > volume for the Front Speaker column. Shouldn't it be changing the PCM
> > column?
> >
> > If I set Front back to 79 and use PCM to control the volume things
> > appear to be working like they used to. Did something cause the Gnome
> > Volume Control Applet to start controlling a different column?
> 
> I see now that there is a preference in the Gnome Volume Control
> applet and in System/Preferences/Sound for setting which channel is
> controlled. In both cases nothing was selected on my system. It seems
> that the default when nothing is selected is to control the Front
> Speaker channel.
> 
> I've set both of these to PCM and now things are working like there were before.
> 
> This behavior correlates with what I believe was the name of the PCM
> channel changing from 'pcm' to 'PCM'. The selection boxes still wanted
> to use the old name which wasn't a choice anymore.
> 

Hi,

The 'PCM" is a userspace plugin, it only allows to decrease volume
so if you set it to 100%, it will do nothing.



I used this chip back in 2.6.21 days, and I never have seen any change in volumes like that.
I use KDE, so I don't know much about gnome volume control.


Best regards,
	Maxim Levitsky