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W2100z, faint audio under RHEL4

Hi all-

I just converted to a W2100z as my workstation this week, so I'm going through the process of getting things configured. I'm running Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS (workstation) 4, so far with the stock Red Hat kernel (2.6.9-22.0.2ELsmp) and Red Hat's default audio-related packages.

I have speakers plugged in the back, and headphones plugged in the front. At first I was getting no audio whatsoever, but that turned out to be a problem with GNOME's volume application (mixer) defaulting to having all the channels muted.

Now I'm getting audio, but even with the mixer channels turned way up, the audio is quite faint. Is anyone else experiencing this? I've tried sound mixer apps under other desktop systems (e.g. WindowMaker's Mixer.app) and had the same results. Audio plays and sounds correct, but it's very faint.

Also, can anyone confirm that the audio hardware is based on the "Realtek ALC655 AC'97"? Is the snd_intel8x0 the correct driver module for that card, or should it be using something else? Here's what's getting loaded by default:

$ lsmod | egrep 'snd_'

snd_intel8x038665 1

snd_ac97_codec 80961 1 snd_intel8x0

snd_pcm_oss59385 0

snd_mixer_oss 21313 1 snd_pcm_oss

snd_pcm109769 2 snd_intel8x0,snd_pcm_oss

snd_timer 28617 1 snd_pcm

snd_page_alloc 12881 2 snd_intel8x0,snd_pcm

snd_mpu401_uart10305 1 snd_intel8x0

snd_rawmidi29413 1 snd_mpu401_uart

snd_seq_device 10573 1 snd_rawmidi

snd62857 11 snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pc m,snd_timer,snd_mpu401_uart,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq_device

I'm mainly wondering if other people have seen this same problem, and if so, what if anything they've done to get around it?

Thanks much!

Tim

[2093 byte] By [] at [2007-11-25 22:40:16]

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# 1

Responding to my own post...

161 views and no responses, which puzzles me. Is no one else running RHEL4 (or something based on it, like CentOS or White Box Linux) on a 2100z?

I'm still having this problem, though I do have some info to report. I updated the BIOS on the 2100z (to B4S4), and during the BIOS update procedure, the system emits several beeps. I can tell you that those beeps came out of the speakers and were extremely loud, so it's not a problem with the speakers themselves or how they're plugged in.

That points the finger more directly at a driver issue, but I'm surprised that I haven't at least gotten a few "me too!"s posted on this.

I'll keep poking at this as time permits, but if anyone else finds a solution (or just wants to chime in that they're seeing the same issue), it would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Tim

at 2007-7-5 14:14:25 >

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# 2

I am currently running FC 4 on a Sony VAIO notebook. When I first got the the notebook it was running Windows ME. The notebook played a Smashing Pumpkins album pretty loud when Windows ME was installed, but when I installed Linux - Billy Corgan seemed to go down a few octaves! I think this may be an issue with the Linux kernel and not the Sun hardware. I would suggest that you either start a service case with Red Hat support or try <a href="http://www.linuxquestions.org/" target="_blank">http://www.linuxquestions.org/</a>

at 2007-7-5 14:14:25 >

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# 3

Thanks m-lennon. I'm also pretty certain it's not a hardware problem. I think I'll try my luck on the alsa-project.org lists and Red Hat's site, to see what they have to say.

I may also try installing Sun's "Java Workstation" and/or Windows XP on this box, to rule out any problems with the hardware (though I'm nearly certain at this point that it's not a hardware issue).

Thanks again,

Tim

at 2007-7-5 14:14:25 >

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# 4

I have over 300 of those systems and they are all having the same problem.

at 2007-7-5 14:14:25 >

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# 5

> I have over 300 of those systems and they are all

> having the same problem.

I've confirmed it's not a hardware issue. I actually reinstalled the box with Solaris 10, and using "audioplay" and "sdtaudio", I'm able to play audio files just fine (even with medium volume settings it's plenty loud). Those support a very limited number of audio file formats, though.

I've compiled my own copies of xmms and xmcd for Solaris 10, and sadly those have different audio problems. I swear it's like someone cursed me to not be able to listen to music with my new workstation! :-|

If anyone finds a solution for the original problem, I would certainly be interested in knowing about it.

Enchanter at 2007-7-5 14:14:25 >

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# 6

Perhaps it's a cosmic message - that you should be using your desktop for nerdy stuff and not listening to music!

mlennon at 2007-7-5 14:14:25 >

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