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Sunday, February 6, 2011

Alsa 1.0.24 in Ubuntu 10.10

Disclaimer: Build, Install the sources at your own risk. Your system may become unusable unless you reinstall fresh in case you failed this step. I tried this risk thinking of installing debian squeeze in case I unset my running Ubuntu audio, fortunately it worked!


Introduction

I read about the release of alsa 1.0.24 bringing better audio to linux. And as usual it made me restless and I downloaded the source, built it. Now I am running 1.0.24

I followed this blog which taught how to upgrade to 1.0.23 and I modified it for 1.0.24

Here are the steps which I followed to get 1.0.24

Stop running alsa driver


sudo /sbin/alsa-utils stop



Install compilation dependencies

sudo apt-get install gettext xmlto --no-install-recommends

sudo apt-get install build-essential libncurses5-dev libncursesw5-dev linux-headers-`uname -r`

Remove pulse configuration

rm -rf ~/.pulse*

Make a directory to build new Alsa sources

cd ~
mkdir -p Alsa
cd Alsa

Download source tarballs of Alsa driver, lib and utils

wget ftp://ftp.alsa-project.org/pub/driver/alsa-driver-1.0.24.tar.bz2
wget ftp://ftp.alsa-project.org/pub/lib/alsa-lib-1.0.24.1.tar.bz2
wget ftp://ftp.alsa-project.org/pub/utils/alsa-utils-1.0.24.2.tar.bz2

Extract source tarballs

tar xjvf alsa-driver-1.0.24.tar.bz2
tar xjvf alsa-lib-1.0.24.1.tar.bz2
tar xjvf alsa-utils-1.0.24.2.tar.bz2

Build alsa-driver

cd alsa-driver-1.0.24/
./configure
make
sudo make install

Build alsa-lib

cd ../alsa-lib-1.0.24.1/
./configure
make
sudo make install

Build alsa-utils

cd ../alsa-utils-1.0.24.2/
sudo ln -s libpanelw.so.5 /usr/lib/libpanelw.so
sudo ln -s libformw.so.5 /usr/lib/libformw.so
sudo ln -s libmenuw.so.5 /usr/lib/libmenuw.so
sudo ln -s libncursesw.so.5 /lib/libncursesw.so


./configure
make
sudo make install

Reboot

sync
sudo reboot

Test the version

cat /proc/asound/version





Conclusion

Audio geeks and multimedia gurus can tell if the audio quality is really improved. To my ears there seems to be an improvement, that I can hear individual beats while playing music in my 2 in 1 speakers. Not sure if it is a placebo effect or real improvement


Note: If sound does not start automatically, run the following to start

sudo /sbin/alsa-utils start







24 comments:

  1. I noticed one mistake in your tutorial (i think it's mistake). The package 'build-essentials' is 'build-essential'. Anyway thanks a lot!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Corrected, thanks, I did not copy (I should have) from the command line, just typed it

    :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi,
    unfortunately it did not work on my machine (ubuntu 10.10 32 bit) in DMESG I notice the following lines

    [ 11.686343] snd: Unknown symbol unregister_sound_special (err 0)
    [ 11.686622] snd: Unknown symbol register_sound_special_device (err 0)
    [ 11.687904] snd_timer: Unknown symbol snd_info_register (err 0)
    [ 11.687978] snd_timer: Unknown symbol snd_info_create_module_entry (err 0)
    [ 11.688130] snd_timer: Unknown symbol snd_info_free_entry (err 0)
    [ 11.688297] snd_timer: Unknown symbol __snd_printk (err 0)
    [ 11.688370] snd_timer: Unknown symbol snd_iprintf (err 0)
    [ 11.688474] snd_timer: Unknown symbol snd_ecards_limit (err 0)
    [ 11.688583] snd_timer: Unknown symbol snd_oss_info_register (err 0)
    [ 11.688656] snd_timer: Unknown symbol snd_unregister_device (err 0)
    [ 11.688757] snd_timer: Unknown symbol snd_device_new (err 0)
    [ 11.688935] snd_timer: Unknown symbol snd_register_device_for_dev (err 0)
    [ 11.690593] snd: Unknown symbol unregister_sound_special (err 0)
    [ 11.691222] snd: Unknown symbol register_sound_special_device (err 0)
    [ 11.697138] snd_timer: Unknown symbol snd_info_register (err 0)
    [ 11.697212] snd_timer: Unknown symbol snd_info_create_module_entry (err 0)
    [ 11.697324] snd_timer: Unknown symbol snd_info_free_entry (err 0)
    [ 11.697491] snd_timer: Unknown symbol __snd_printk (err 0)
    [ 11.697563] snd_timer: Unknown symbol snd_iprintf (err 0)
    [ 11.697668] snd_timer: Unknown symbol snd_ecards_limit (err 0)
    [ 11.697777] snd_timer: Unknown symbol snd_oss_info_register (err 0)
    [ 11.697849] snd_timer: Unknown symbol snd_unregister_device (err 0)
    [ 11.697950] snd_timer: Unknown symbol snd_device_new (err 0)
    [ 11.698128] snd_timer: Unknown symbol snd_register_device_for_dev (err 0)
    [ 11.702690] snd: Unknown symbol unregister_sound_special (err 0)
    [ 11.702970] snd: Unknown symbol register_sound_special_device (err 0)
    [ 11.704186] snd_timer: Unknown symbol snd_info_register (err 0)
    [ 11.704259] snd_timer: Unknown symbol snd_info_create_module_entry (err 0)
    [ 11.704372] snd_timer: Unknown symbol snd_info_free_entry (err 0)
    [ 11.704538] snd_timer: Unknown symbol __snd_printk (err 0)
    [ 11.704610] snd_timer: Unknown symbol snd_iprintf (err 0)
    [ 11.704715] snd_timer: Unknown symbol snd_ecards_limit (err 0)
    [ 11.704823] snd_timer: Unknown symbol snd_oss_info_register (err 0)
    [ 11.704896] snd_timer: Unknown symbol snd_unregister_device (err 0)
    [ 11.704997] snd_timer: Unknown symbol snd_device_new (err 0)
    [ 11.705174] snd_timer: Unknown symbol snd_register_device_for_dev (err 0)
    [ 11.713743] IR NEC protocol handler initialized
    [ 11.716433] snd: Unknown symbol unregister_sound_special (err 0)
    [ 11.716741] snd: Unknown symbol register_sound_special_device (err 0)
    [ 11.718066] IR RC5(x) protocol handler initialized
    [ 11.718214] snd_timer: Unknown symbol snd_info_register (err 0)
    [ 11.718289] snd_timer: Unknown symbol snd_info_create_module_entry (err 0)
    [ 11.718401] snd_timer: Unknown symbol snd_info_free_entry (err 0)
    [ 11.718568] snd_timer: Unknown symbol __snd_printk (err 0)
    [ 11.718641] snd_timer: Unknown symbol snd_iprintf (err 0)
    [ 11.718745] snd_timer: Unknown symbol snd_ecards_limit (err 0)
    [ 11.718854] snd_timer: Unknown symbol snd_oss_info_register (err 0)
    [ 11.718927] snd_timer: Unknown symbol snd_unregister_device (err 0)
    [ 11.719029] snd_timer: Unknown symbol snd_device_new (err 0)
    [ 11.719210] snd_timer: Unknown symbol snd_register_device_for_dev (err 0)

    ReplyDelete
  4. cat: /proc/asound/version: No such file or directory

    and no sound at all...

    ReplyDelete
  5. cat: /proc/asound/version: No such file or directory
    me to and snd_pcm_open failed

    ReplyDelete
  6. thanks. works fine now

    ReplyDelete
  7. Alsa didnt start for me either on 2.6.38rc4 kernel. Same messages as 3 posts above.

    Reinstalled kernel downgrading ALSA back to 1023.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks this worked great. This has actually improved my audio experience, unless of course I'm suffering from your same Placebo effect.

    ReplyDelete
  9. DIDN'T WORK, SAME PROBLEM:

    $cat/proc/asound/version
    No such file or directory

    NO SOUND AT ALL

    ReplyDelete
  10. If this fails and no sound anymore, try this ALSA update script:

    ALSA Upgrade Script Redux
    http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1681577

    Now my sound is back!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hello, compiled on my kernel liquorix customized. No problem, everything seems to work perfectly. Asus F3A-T7300/4GB Ubuntu 10.10 - Kernel liquorix for Core2 2.6.38.2- Pcnoproblem - Itality

    ReplyDelete
  12. Great Posting !! I tried a lot from last 3 days to make my laptop sound play with Ubuntu 10.4. Finally it worked for me with this stuff. Thanks a lot.

    ReplyDelete
  13. No luck after following script. Sound from headphones but not from speakers. At the end

    I get ..

    cat: /proc/asound/version: No such file or directory

    and no sound at all...

    Please help!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  14. So sad to hear this, can you try going back to 1.0.23 by following the article.

    http://monespaceperso.org/blog-en/2010/05/02/upgrade-alsa-1-0-23-on-ubuntu-lucid-lynx-10-04/

    I followed this article whenever I got sound problems

    ReplyDelete
  15. Try to downgrade to 1.0.23 or use this source article http://monespaceperso.org/blog-en/2010/05/02/upgrade-alsa-1-0-23-on-ubuntu-lucid-lynx-10-04/

    ReplyDelete
  16. thanks for the cookbook.
    worked perfect to fix no sound problem with new machine:
    = hp pavion with h67 mainboard (b3 stepping),i5-2400 cpu.
    = ubuntu 10.04 lts (64 bit)

    appears that alsa prior to 1.0.24 does not support this hardware.

    ReplyDelete
  17. This worked on the first try on my Asus EEE 1001PX with Ubuntu 10.04. Finally my mic works! Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  18. The problem with "/proc/asound/version" not existing and the problem loading the driver is because alsa is trying to communicate with the non existing OSS driver. Since I do not use OSS i compiled alsa-driver-1.0.24 with the parameter:

    ./configure --with-oss=no

    Which solved the problem

    ReplyDelete
  19. Confirmed, the above comment makes it work!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  20. спасибо!!

    ReplyDelete
  21. thanks. works fine now
    ahora funciona bien ,gracias !!!
    my country argentina .saludos !

    ReplyDelete
  22. Hello,
    thanks for made this blogs it helps me many times. But i would automatise the stuff. I mean, i want to put all the commands in a script.sh . Did you know how to do that? because there many "sudo" and i really don't how manage that think. Actually i never do a script in this way by my self, and i want to learn.

    Thanks!
    Cheers
    José

    ReplyDelete