Sound STOPS/dies on old Toshiba laptop. [Solved]

[j2mcgreg]

@atom6502 I found an on-line manual for that laptop here:

https://support.dynabook.com/support/st ... Link=false

From what you said in post #10, I think that you should access the bios and see if you can disable HDMI output. The QSI shows the HDMI sound module as a separate entity and your problem may be that it is conflicting with the FCH Azalia card. Disabling HDMI should force the FCH Azalia card to be recognized as the default.

[atom6502]

@atom6502 I found an on-line manual for that laptop here:

https://support.dynabook.com/support/st ... Link=false

From what you said in post #10, I think that you should access the bios and see if you can disable HDMI output. The QSI shows the HDMI sound module as a separate entity and your problem may be that it is conflicting with the FCH Azalia card. Disabling HDMI should force the FCH Azalia card to be recognized as the default.

If it were only that simple. There is no such option. There are ZERO graphics config options in the BIOS.
So I am thinking the route forward might be to remove a particular driver from the kernel that is trying to start up the HDMI but that's beyond my ken.

This is the single most bewildering problem I have ever had on a laptop.

[atom6502]

I have run lsmod and had a scan. I can see a module:

snd_hda_codec_hdmi

Is this likely to be causing the trouble. I understand I can blacklist driver modules. But, before I start editing text files and scrambling a set up where I managed to get headphone output working (for one user only, though! I had to copy my user data over to the neighbour's login to get headphone output working) can anyone advise?

Thanks.

[atom6502]

Oh, another clue!

In getting headphones to work I seem to have got something else. If I run

pulseaudio -k

from Konsole I can get get audio back! The pulseaudio deamon respawns but often bring audio back! It is a bit hit an miss, mind. Sometimes it does not work, other times it seems to fix audio for ages, other times the audio crashes out after another couple of minutes and will not work when audio is playingbut when the app is restarted audio is back... until it dies again.

So weird!

[Huckleberry Finn]

Would you like a small experiment?

Code: Select all

sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/sound.conf <<!
options snd-hda-intel index=0 model=auto vid=1002 pid=1714
options snd-hda-intel index=1 model=auto vid=1022 pid=780d
!

Reboot , test the sound

Or if you like, you can try the reverse (this will overwrite that)

Code: Select all

sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/sound.conf <<!
options snd-hda-intel index=1 model=auto vid=1002 pid=1714
options snd-hda-intel index=0 model=auto vid=1022 pid=780d
!

Anytime you like you can remove the created conf file and revert back :

Code: Select all

sudo rm /etc/modprobe.d/sound.conf

__________________________________________________________

You can also try "bitperfect": Directly Alsa (bypassing Pulse)

[Huckleberry Finn]

In the meantime, that device looks like one of the problematic ones: None of them says "works" , but all say just "detected" .

P.S. When you paste the above commands into the terminal it will warn you about security, that's normal for it's a long command with multiple lines. Just click paste then press Enter.

[atom6502]

OK, thanks Huckleberry. I tried that to no avail.

I do notice that I can now play audio via Audacious using ALSA directly but... it also cuts out after a couple of minutes.
So, before I dive into Bitperfect, I am concerned that this is not a pulse or ALSA issue but an interfering HDMI card.

Before I dive in with Bitperfect (would apulse do the job? Or JACK?) is there a way to:

Stop pulseaudio and it's respawning so I can try ALSA directly without totally committing? I mean, I have got headphones working now but I do not actually know how I did it!
Can we blacklist the HDMI card? Stop Linux seeing the damn thing? It serves no purpose here.

Note that this machine will be used for light web browsing and watching Korean dramas and K-Pop videos. End. It's never going to do anything that cleaver. It just need to work on the basics... "Like Windows."
Thanks again. Never had a problem like this before.

[Huckleberry Finn]

... Meanwhile, same for that device, too : just "detected" .

[atom6502]

Oh Lords of Kobol...

[CyberGhost]

I may have missed something. not sure, but have you tried those external PC speakers that you can plug into the headphone jack/port? The speaker line in male plug looks just like a headphone plug. Like I have my laptop connected to my TV via HDMI for video, and then I have my speakers plugged into the headphone jack/port. Works for me. Maybe that could possibly work for you?