Let's start with the basics. How did you upgrade the kernel, by "source" (using a kernel from kernel.org) or by up2date (Redhat Network)?

Originally posted by danleff:

Quote:Let's start with the basics. How did you upgrade the kernel, by "source" (using a kernel from kernel.org) or by up2date (Redhat Network)? 
Hi Danleff,
I updated using the Up2date (Redhat Network) so the kernel is now 2.6.7-1.494.2.2 (I think) It gets hard to keep the numbers straight sometimes. It really is a pain to get older and slower. And should you need it, Windows and Fedora are on separate drives. As I said I am not a programmer and wouldn't know how to compile a kernel from source if my life depended on it. Any suggestions for a book to read about this stuff? I have been looking for one, but everything seems to stop short of where I need to go.
Thanks,
Beej

Hi Beej,
 
I understand your frustration. We live in a Windows world, and as Linux users have to know ten times as much, and in many cases, have to work ten times as hard to configure hardware for our OS of choice.
 
By the way, a lot of us here are (relatively) old men, so we certainly can empathize with the forgetfulness part! I'm 47.
 

Originally posted by Dapper Dan:

Quote:Hi Beej, 
I understand your frustration. We live in a Windows world, and as Linux users have to know ten times as much, and in many cases, have to work ten times as hard to configure hardware for our OS of choice.
 
By the way, a lot of us here are (relatively) old men, so we certainly can empathize with the forgetfulness part! I'm 47.
 

Hi Dapper Dan,
It is good to know that I am in good company. Thanks for the post. Have fun the next three years. I turned 50 in April, in June my doctor gave me my "Birthday Present". The PSA came back clean. I really hate that.
Have you any suggestions for a book to buy? I already have the "Official Fedora Companion" by Nick Presley. Doesn't go much beyond installation it appears so far, but I got it for only 10 bucks. That's like half price so half way is about all I should expect I reckon.
Any tips on the SB Live! Audigy Platinum problem?
Later,
Beej
 
"Molon Labe!" (Come, take them!)
Leonidas of Sparta to Xerxes of Persia @ Thermopolae

Originally posted by danleff:

Quote:Let's start with the basics. How did you upgrade the kernel, by "source" (using a kernel from kernel.org) or by up2date (Redhat Network)? 
Howdy All,
There is news on this issue. I updated the kernel to 2.6.8-1.521 using red hat network Up2date and then I did the following:
How I turned on Sound card. (SB Live! Audigy Platinum)
BY
Beej Smith
 
Using Kernel 2.6.8-1.521
 
1.First I opened Volume control in “Systray” and ensured that all listed settings were unlocked.
2. Then I opened a terminal window from the Fedora/System Tools menu and typed su at the prompt.
3.Entered “root” password at the prompt.
4. typed “alsamixer” at the prompt and un-muted the following.
A. Tone
B. Audigy Analog/digital Output Jack
5. Increased the following to Max Settings
A. Audigy CD
B. Audigy Capture
C. Front
D. CD
E. Center
F. Music
G. Surround
H. PCM Center
I. PCM Surround
J. PCM Front
K. PCM LFE
6. It is unknown to me Whether it was necessary to set all of these to max or 100 per cent, but I did it.
7. Then I detected sound card and played the test sound and it worked.
Can anyone tell me how set up something that will make this happen at boot up for all accounts which are at present only Root and my user account set up at installation.
Any further comments would be gratefully welcome. Thanks.
Later,
Beej
 

I wish I could help you Beej, but don't have an Audigy to play with. There should be someone here who can help you with this if we can keep this thread live long enough for them to see it...
 
 

DDan: it isn't a 'having or not having' Audigy problem.
 
it's an ALSA driver and system configuration problem.
 
beej: be root and use 'alsactl store' so save a config (levels, too)
you are happy with...
 
read all about it here and here.
 
 

Originally posted by Dapper Dan:

Quote:I wish I could help you Beej, but don't have an Audigy to play with. There should be someone here who can help you with this if we can keep this thread live long enough for them to see it... 

Hey DDan,
Thanks for the reply and the effort to keep this thread visible. I think it worked. See Martouf's post below your own and my reply. I think what I say to him will be entertaining and give everyone a good laugh, due to my inexperience. I have never been bothered by the laughter of others at my expense. It is the price of learning, no? One should learn that they are not laughing at you but at themselves and *with* you. They were once where I am now. My hide is thick, I have a good sense of humor. ;-D
Later,
Beej

Originally posted by martouf:

Quote:DDan: it isn't a 'having or not having' Audigy problem. 
it's an ALSA driver and system configuration problem.
 
beej: be root and use 'alsactl store' so save a config (levels, too)
you are happy with...
 
read all about it here and here.
 

 
Hi Martouf,
I went to both of the places you suggested and printed out the references to have handy when I boot up FC2 next. I assume that I go through the procedure I have found that makes the card operable, then use the alsactl thing to store or save the settings I work out, right? Also, then do I type everything between the # (pound sign) and --ignore- listed under kernel 2.6 in the second (alsa.opensrc.org) reference exactly as it appears making the appropriate sopund driver change? Sorry to be so thick, but I am new to this and don't know the syntax I need to use. Thank you for your patience and your time in helping me out here.
Best Regards,
Beej

The reason I asked about the kernel upgrade, is that when you use a new kernel from "source" (meaning that you build it from scratch) then I would expect you might run into issues. Not from an "up2date" update! This should not happen, but someone should post a solution when it becomes apparent, Too many people have these cards.
 
You should not be having this issue. But I will keep my eyes open to see what thers have experienced.
 
Martouf should be able to guide you through the steps.
 
Martouf please be gentle! Remember, with knowledge comes great responsibility...
 
Beej, I'm 48 and I'm glad there is someone older than me on this forum!

Originally posted by martouf:

Quote:DDan: it isn't a 'having or not having' Audigy problem. 
it's an ALSA driver and system configuration problem.
 
beej: be root and use 'alsactl store' so save a config (levels, too)
you are happy with...
 
read all about it here and here.
 

Hi Martouf,
Okay, this is what is happening at the present time:
When I boot up as root, I go through the procedure I mentioned in the long post I made. Then I tested the card to see if I get sound. I did so then I opened a terminal window (still in root) and typed this "alsactl store" (without quotes) and hit return. It returned me to a root prompt. No acknowledgement as to whether the command had been accepted or not. I then closed the terminal window retested the card and logged out as root and in as my regular user account (beej). As beej I tested card to verify that I had sound and yes I do. Okay!!! Acid test time! I reboot computer. Logged in as beej and detected tested sound card, no sound. No Problemo, go through the "procedure" and then retest card, all is well. Then I reopened a terminal window type in su to go root and then the password and then at the root prompt, I type in "alsactl -h" and that returned "bash: alsactl : command not found". However, when I typed in "man alsactl" I get the manual listing that looks very similar to the listing on the web that you linked to. Is there some procedural error I am making here? Any clues. How do I enter the command as root to get it to take? The Manual says that I must use the formula "alsactl [options] [store|restore] <card # or ID>". Is there a tool in FC2 similar to device manager in Windows so that I can see what the Card number or ID might be? I don't seem to find any listed in the gnome desktop here. Any clues? Thanks for your help.
Later,
Beej

Originally posted by danleff:

Quote:The reason I asked about the kernel upgrade, is that when you use a new kernel from "source" (meaning that you build it from scratch) then I would expect you might run into issues. Not from an "up2date" update! This should not happen, but someone should post a solution when it becomes apparent, Too many people have these cards.  
You should not be having this issue. But I will keep my eyes open to see what thers have experienced.
 
Martouf should be able to guide you through the steps.
 
Martouf please be gentle! Remember, with knowledge comes great responsibility...
 
Beej, I'm 48 and I'm glad there is someone older than me on this forum!
 
I think there is likely to be nore of us more senior types as time and disgust accumulates towards the crap from Redmon. But who knows for sure. I am very grateful for all the help from folks here and the friendly nature of it, as well. Thanks for the reply by the way.
Later,
Beej
 

beej, glad to see you're hanging in there...
 
you're on the right track. give yourself plus points.
 
I've been busy elsewhere with ndiswrapper issues (v0.9 and later)
so I haven't been 'round to follow along with every step.
 
believe me, I'm not having a laugh at anyone's expense.
 
if the name of the stored configuration is not specified, then the file
/etc/asound.state will be used to store or restore your card's config.
 
the card number need not be specified if you only have one sound card.
 
for example, SuSE 9.1 does "/usr/sbin/alsactl -f /etc/asound.state store"
when init invokes "/etc/init.d/alsasound stop",
and "/usr/sbin/alsactl -F -f /etc/asound.state restore" when init
invokes "/etc/init.d/alsasound start".
 
yours should do likewise, too.
 
if (as root) you get "not found" for "alsactl", it means "/usr/sbin" is not
in the PATH environment variable (envar). Check with "echo $PATH".
 
check contents of /etc/asound.state with "more /etc/asound.state"
and "ls -l /etc/asound.state".
 
once you've set all of your Audigy controls the way you like them,
then 'alsactl store' should save them for use later. Once stored,
'alsactl -F restore' should restore all of controls the way you set them.
 
you'll likely find the contents of asound.state mostly human readable (mostly harmless?),
with all of the controls you adjusted named and with suitable values.
 
I realize I may seem a bit "throw 'em in the deep end", but honestly,
I'm dropping you in right by the edge of the pool. 8)
 

Originally posted by martouf:

Quote:beej, glad to see you're hanging in there... 
you're on the right track. give yourself plus points.
 
<snip>
if the name of the stored configuration is not specified, then the file
/etc/asound.state will be used to store or restore your card's config.
 
the card number need not be specified if you only have one sound card.
 
<Beej>
Okay, that is helpful! BTW the asound.state file is as it should be with the changes I made to it. I could look at it in my user acct. There is a sound card built in to my P4C800-E mobo, but it is disabled in bios.
 
<Martouf>
for example, SuSE 9.1 does "/usr/sbin/alsactl -f /etc/asound.state store"
when init invokes "/etc/init.d/alsasound stop",
and "/usr/sbin/alsactl -F -f /etc/asound.state restore" when init
invokes "/etc/init.d/alsasound start".
 
yours should do likewise, too.
 
 
if (as root) you get "not found" for "alsactl", it means "/usr/sbin" is not
in the PATH environment variable (envar). Check with "echo $PATH".
 
<BEEJ>
Logged in ROOT ACCOUNT it is there in path, but not as BEEJ account, even as su. Don't know how to fix this. It seems to me that as beej with su (in terminal) I could do about anything before.
 
<Martouf>
check contents of /etc/asound.state with "more /etc/asound.state"
and "ls -l /etc/asound.state".
 
<BEEJ>
This works in beej account and is correct as stated previously.
 
<Martouf>
once you've set all of your Audigy controls the way you like them,
then 'alsactl store' should save them for use later. Once stored,
'alsactl -F restore' should restore all of controls the way you set them.
 
<BEEJ>
Yes, again, when I log in as ROOT Account I can go into a terminal window ad do this and it works. Thanks for the explanation. Now I understand what to do. However, I still cannot access this command in the terminal logged in to the BEEJ account. So at present the sequence is this: Log in as root open terminal window use alsactl command log out and back in as BEEJ and sound card works. Still seems awkward but will suffice until I can figure a better way.
 
<Martouf>
you'll likely find the contents of asound.state mostly human readable (mostly harmless?),
with all of the controls you adjusted named and with suitable values.
 
 
I realize I may seem a bit "throw 'em in the deep end", but honestly,
I'm dropping you in right by the edge of the pool. 8)

 
<BEEJ>
Yes, I found the asound.state file almost a breeze to read. Long though. Lots and lots of PCM send volume settings to get through. Sorry to seem so thick, but I seem to have slowed down a might in the last few years. You aren't being any harder on me now than Dad was when he taught me to swim. It was easy once I got out of the bag of big rocks.

 
I really do want to thank you for your help and patience here. Could you recommend a book that will teach some of this stuff. I have looked around at some of the college sites around here for a listing of a Linux Class, but no jo7y. My thought was to find a course and then ask at the school book store for the course book. Probably the long way round, but hey, worth a shot, no?
Later,
Beej

glad to hear the burlap had a touch of dry rot
 
what?! 'thick'? no way! (really, no way!)
 
you've been at this for what? 5 days (clock time)?
 
you want me to tell you about fussing with a HP 6340 Pavillion
with its almost-but-not-quite Soundblaster 5 plug-n-pray sound chip?
for three weeks?
 
"A mind once expanded by a new idea, never returns to its original shape."
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes
(the quote is quite likely paraphrased)
 
hmm.. does that go for waistlines, too? :x
 
say, what's the output of 'cat /proc/asound/cards'?
and do you have a /etc/init.d/alsasound file?
 
the 'root' that is init should do the card restoration automagically
during the boot process. You're doing manually what should be happening
without your intervention.
 
also, try 'su - root' instead of simply 'su' and check the PATH envar.
I'll gladly explain if you note a difference.
 

ahh...yes.those HP, Gateway and Dell SB "legacy" cards. Still have not found mine to look at. Can you say frustration!

card, I wish. naww, onboard PnP chip - can you imagine?!
 

Originally posted by martouf:

Quote:glad to hear the burlap had a touch of dry rot  
what?! 'thick'? no way! (really, no way!)
 
you've been at this for what? 5 days (clock time)?
 
you want me to tell you about fussing with a HP 6340 Pavillion
with its almost-but-not-quite Soundblaster 5 plug-n-pray sound chip?
for three weeks?
 
"A mind once expanded by a new idea, never returns to its original shape."
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes
(the quote is quite likely paraphrased)
 
hmm.. does that go for waistlines, too? :x
 
say, what's the output of 'cat /proc/asound/cards'?
and do you have a /etc/init.d/alsasound file?
 
the 'root' that is init should do the card restoration automagically
during the boot process. You're doing manually what should be happening
without your intervention.
 
also, try 'su - root' instead of simply 'su' and check the PATH envar.
I'll gladly explain if you note a difference.

 
Hi Martouf,
Okay some changes here! First I shall answer your questions, or rather, the ones I can understand.
Your quote that you paraphrased, most assuredly does not go for waistlines. Waistlines are never affected by ideas but rather by the intake of calories and the expenditure thereof afterwards. I have ample evidence existing here. Further, as age increases, the exercise needed to expend those acquired calories increases exponentially. So sayrth the wise Cardilologist. The one who takes my and my insurance companies money. Me I am just an electrician.
 
I have tried to find the things you asked about. Here goes:
 
The cat gives:
[beej@rapid_roy beej]$ cat /proc/asound/cards
0 [Audigy ]: Audigy - Sound Blaster Audigy
Sound Blaster Audigy (rev.3) at 0xdf80, irq 11
 
There is no alsasound file in the directory you asked about, though the directories do indeed exist. Should there be some file like that? If so can I create it, how, and what should it say? Hint: Put I need to type in quotes, I understand to remove the quotes.
 
As Regular User the $PATH yields:
[beej@rapid_roy beej]$ echo $PATH
/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/X11R6/bin:/home/beej/bin
 
after using the su - root it yields:
/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/usr/X11R6/bin:/root/bin
 
I do indeed notice the difference. Can I infer from this that the command is referencing a different path statement that the root account has access to that the beej account does not? Is the /etc/init.d directory common to both accounts? I do not find it duplicated so it would seem it must be. Unless it is hidden somehow and I thought that Linux didn't do that the way Dos and Windows did. Gods above, below , and to the sides, I wish there was a course available for this stuff. It would be worth the price of admission to just have the knowledge whether I wanted to use it or no. I took French and German in High School, and then wound up in Asia in the PI when I was a sailor. In the PATH statement above for the root I see several sbin references, what are they? And what does sbin mean? Bin means Binary, right?
Oh well, I guess I had better stop and let you fill me in. Perhaps it will become clearer after I read your answer. Oh and, as you knew it would, after using the su - root command the alsactl command worked no worries.
 
Thanks again for all your help. And while I haven't been at this particular problem for long, you dont know how long I have been charging at this brickwall (Linux in general) before I tumbled on to this forum. One of my "Friends" suggested I try it as an aside in casual conversation. Coming here has been very like having found the matches after discovering the candle is in the holder. A huge relief to have light.

it's too bad that waistlines, once expanded, never quite return
to their original shape.
 
actually, there are courses for this stuff.
prep work for the RHCT certification would do.
there's also a very fine "LPI Linux Certification" book from O'Reilly.
 
getting back to the sound card:
 
$ cat /proc/asound/cards
0 [Audigy ]: Audigy - Sound Blaster Audigy
Sound Blaster Audigy (rev.3) at 0xdf80, irq 11
 
^^ means only one sound card was detected during startup and a driver has
been loaded for it.
 
the initial '0' is the Card ID#, which isn't all that important now that it's
proved there is but one card. If two had been detected, that could have caused
the automagic config restore to fail.
 
the difference between 'su' and 'su - root' is the former gives you the privilege
of root but with the envars (PATH is one of them) set to a default,
while the latter sets up the environment the same as logging in as root.
(you get the environ and privilege with 'su - root', only the privilege
with 'su')
 
I went on a file hunt in the Fedora Core 2 mirrors, looking for the package
which should have provided you the /etc/init.d script for saving and restoring
your sound card setup. I looked at 'alsa-lib', 'alsa-utils', 'alsa-lib-devel'
and 'initscripts'. No joy. ;(
 
Would you tell me what you get when you run:
"rpm -qf /etc/init.d/alsasound"
 
anyone reading this: if you are running FC2, please see if you have an
'alsasound' (or 'sound' or 'soundcard') init script, run the rpm cmd using the
full name of the script, and post results here.
 
see, I'm wondering at this point, has a soundcard system config step gotten
skipped? or has the installation of one of the FC2 packages gone wrong?
 
I'd like to figure that out before creating a unique/custom solution
applicable only to your system.
 

Originally posted by martouf:

Quote:it's too bad that waistlines, once expanded, never quite returnto their original shape.
 
actually, there are courses for this stuff.
prep work for the RHCT certification would do.
there's also a very fine "LPI Linux Certification" book from O'Reilly.
 
getting back to the sound card:
 
$ cat /proc/asound/cards
0 [Audigy ]: Audigy - Sound Blaster Audigy
Sound Blaster Audigy (rev.3) at 0xdf80, irq 11
 
^^ means only one sound card was detected during startup and a driver has
been loaded for it.
 
the initial '0' is the Card ID#, which isn't all that important now that it's
proved there is but one card. If two had been detected, that could have caused
the automagic config restore to fail.
 
the difference between 'su' and 'su - root' is the former gives you the privilege
of root but with the envars (PATH is one of them) set to a default,
while the latter sets up the environment the same as logging in as root.
(you get the environ and privilege with 'su - root', only the privilege
with 'su')
 
I went on a file hunt in the Fedora Core 2 mirrors, looking for the package
which should have provided you the /etc/init.d script for saving and restoring
your sound card setup. I looked at 'alsa-lib', 'alsa-utils', 'alsa-lib-devel'
and 'initscripts'. No joy. ;(
 
Would you tell me what you get when you run:
"rpm -qf /etc/init.d/alsasound"
 
anyone reading this: if you are running FC2, please see if you have an
'alsasound' (or 'sound' or 'soundcard') init script, run the rpm cmd using the
full name of the script, and post results here.
 
see, I'm wondering at this point, has a soundcard system config step gotten
skipped? or has the installation of one of the FC2 packages gone wrong?
 
I'd like to figure that out before creating a unique/custom solution
applicable only to your system.

 
Hi Martouf,
Here is the results of the query you asked me to run:
 
[root@rapid_roy root]# rpm -qf /etc/init.d/alsasound
error: file /etc/init.d/alsasound: No such file or directory
 
As I said yesterday, this file does not exist, though the directories /etc/init.d does exist. And, according to what I can tell, there seems to be no file there that makes reference in the name to Creative or CL, SoundBlaster or SB, Live or Audigy. Nor is there anything with an obvious connect to a sound card in evidence. Though, truth to tell, I probably wouldn't know it if it bit me on the bum. I see what you mean, I think. Is this correct? When I made changes to the Alsamixer and then stored those changes with the alsactl store command. Then a file should have been setup calling for a check of the asound.state file during the boot up sequence. Such a file would be called a script, right? But how would that file have been made unless I made it myself, which I did not. Mainly because I don't know how. Or should maybe there should be a reference to the alsactl command or asound.state in the /etc/modprobe.conf file?
 
Thanks for the info on the book. I'll look into it. I will also look into the course you mentioned. Any idea as to which sort of school would teach such a course. I would think it would be one of the tech related schools, but not necessarily some place like Georgia Tech. More probably DeVry or something, yes? By the way, I have taken to copying and pasting the posts in this thread in a file in Open Office. It will make a good study in how to troubleshoot a problem in Fedora/Linux. I am preparing a page for me web site called Linux Adventures which will be a sort of this is what I ran into and how with help from others the bugs were ironed out kind of thing. I probably will not use direct quotes but will paraphrase if you don't mind.
 
Best Regards,
Beej