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Drivers

Here are two major sets of Linux sound drivers:

Automatic Configuration

Primarily the tool that should work most of the time is alsaconf

sndconfig is a tool by Red Hat. The tool configures the modules.conf and modprobe.conf files.

Some distros use utilities like discover, others use hotscripts. These will try to scan chips on the board and load appropriate modules for the hardware. Sometimes these programs conflict with desired correct settings and be uninstalled or used in correlation with a blacklist.

Manual Configuration

The lspci utility can help determine what chips are plugged into the motherboard. See Open Sound System#Manual Configuration and ALSA#Compiling and Configuring ALSA

If you have an integrated sound card, check the BIOS for information on Base, MPU Base, FM Synth I/Os and audio DMAs and IRQs.

Another way to discover which module will work with your card is to search news group archives and see what drivers other people use for that hardware. If you use Slackware, check out /etc/rc.d/rc.modules, which has commentary on the most commonly used modules.

Note, most drivers for the Linux kernel are not named after their brand name. Instead, they're named after the device's chipset.

Final Configuration

Once you've managed to get a module to load, then add selected users to the audio group. This won't take affect until the user has logged out completely. Lastly, adjust mixer settings: 

 # su
 # adduser joeuser audio
  (or edit /etc/group)

 # exit; exit
 [log in again]

 # alsamixer

Tips

  • test if the sound works, excluding mixer (use CTRL-C to stop the sound): 
cat /dev/urandom >/dev/dsp

If you hear a sound after that command, you can be sure

    • your user is allowed to play sound
    • you loaded the correct sound driver
    • you have your speakers working and on enough volume

If you cannot hear a sound, check the above points.

If one is positive that one has the right module, but the sound still is not working, then try reading the comments at the top of the driver's source code for help. For instance, the SiS7012 onboard soundcard only runs at 4800hz. The source code for the i810_audio OSS/Lite driver explicitly notes this problem, and says that only apps such as xmms will work, while mpg123 will not.

Alternatively, try updating the Linux kernel.

Formats

See also

Retrieved from "http://wiki.linuxquestions.org/wiki/Sound"

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