sound error

[emmabugg]

about every other time i boot into linux i get a message saying that my sound card doesn't work and its reverting to default.the thing is it doesnt do this everytime i go to linux.
dunno why this happens
suse 11.1 on my macbook with internal sound card.

[D-cat]

...it doesnt do this everytime...

No tech ever likes to hear that phrase. I guess the first thing to ask is if there is any way to reliably reproduce the error, like does it only happen on a reboot, or cold booting (from a power off state)? Does it seem to matter how long the system was running before this error occurs. Do you use hibernation, and if so, does that have an effect?

[emmabugg]

it actually does it more when im booting it up for the first time from power off.

[D-cat]

That would seem to suggest that the sound card isn't being initialized properly before the kernel tries to load the module for it. I don't know exactly what a macbook uses for hardware, so if you could please (preferably on a boot that the audio is working) open a terminal window and show me the output of the following command:

/sbin/lspci -nnk | grep -iA 2 audio

[emmabugg]

00:1b.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller [8086:284b] (rev 04)
Kernel driver in use: HDA Intel
Kernel modules: snd-hda-intel

[D-cat]

Looking at these two pages:

polishlinux.org MacBook and Linux: Beauty and the Beast
Extensible Firmware Interface - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I'm thinking that my guess is correct and there's not much you can do about it. I do have a suggestion for when it happens, kind of hit or miss.

In a terminal window, we'll try to unload the sound module and reload it. The sound card should have already been initialized, so it may work on reload. You'll need the root password.

sudo /sbin/modprobe -r snd-hda-intel

(wait a few seconds)

sudo /sbin/modprobe snd-hda-intel

Cross fingers, let us know.

[Kieren]

I'm no expert on sound in Linux (Well, I know very little) but I had this problem on Ubuntu and solved it by adding acpi=ht to my grub menu as described on:

Ensoniq 5880 No Sound - Ubuntu Forums

I don't know if this bug is Ubuntu specific but I’d rather let you know than leave you struggling

[deano_ferrari]

Try issuing

su -c 'rcalsasound restart'

Then test your sound again. Some users have problems with openSUSE 11.1 if using pulse audio.

Also, have a look at this site:

en.opensuse.org/SDB:AudioTroubleshooting

(I can't post links yet, so add the necessary http bit...)

[emmabugg]

Looking at these two pages:

polishlinux.org MacBook and Linux: Beauty and the Beast
Extensible Firmware Interface - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I'm thinking that my guess is correct and there's not much you can do about it. I do have a suggestion for when it happens, kind of hit or miss.

In a terminal window, we'll try to unload the sound module and reload it. The sound card should have already been initialized, so it may work on reload. You'll need the root password.

sudo /sbin/modprobe -r snd-hda-intel

(wait a few seconds)

sudo /sbin/modprobe snd-hda-intel

Cross fingers, let us know.

when i typed that stuff in in the console it says "no such file or directory found"

[gogalthorp]

You must type exactly (Linux is case sensitive) and the correct spacing
Ill put a ^ where there should be a space
sudo^/sbin/modprobe^-r^snd-hda-intel

Of course the easiest way is simply to copy and paste (note in a terminal use the menus to paste)

You may also try logging out then back in since I think the init levels are reset which should restart the service.