Q4OS Forum

Ploof

Member

Registered: 2021-12-08

Posts: 4

USB sound card not working on TDE

Heyo everyone!

I have just installed Q4OS 3.15 (that one because Q4OS 4 is based on a newer Debian version which does not support the proprietary graphics drivers). Upon start with the USB card (Steelseries Arctic 7 headset) connected, no sound happens. If I disconnect the card and restart, sound is present. In Q4OS 4.7, the sound from the card is there.

KMix, Pavucontrol, and ALSA all can see the card. Trying to select it as default doesn't change anything. Trying to play sound through artsplay in console doesn't change anything. Trying to terminate artsshell and start aplay doesn't change anything either. Neither does work switching to OSS.

Running artsd -l 0 and playing the KDE_Startup.wav returns this:

ploof@ploofs-pc:~$ artsd -l 0
artsd version is 1.5.10
[artsd:  1254] SoundServerStartup --> got lock
autodetecting driver:
- oss: 10
- alsa: 15
- null: -1
- toss: 4
... which means we'll default to alsa
ALSA driver: default
buffering: 7 fragments with 1024 bytes (audio latency is 40.6 ms)
Closing ALSA-driver
virtualize StereoVolumeControl
ALSA driver: default
buffering: 7 fragments with 1024 bytes (audio latency is 40.6 ms)
audio format is 44100 Hz, 16 bits, 2 channels
addDirectory(/opt/trinity/lib/mcop,)
addDirectory(/opt/trinity/lib/mcop/Arts,Arts)
addDirectory(/opt/trinity/lib/mcop/Arts/Environment,Arts::Environment)
addDirectory(/home/ploof/.mcop/trader-cache,)
Arts::MidiManager registered successfully.
[artsd:  1254] SoundServerStartup <-- released lock
xrun!!

xrun!!

(The previous message was repeated 7 times.)
UnixManager: got notifyIO
socketconnection created, fd = 15
search playobject, extension = wav
creating Arts::audiofilePlayObject to play file /opt/trinity/share/sounds/KDE_Startup.wav
loading wav: /opt/trinity/share/sounds/KDE_Startup.wav
  frame size: 2
  channels: 1
  bits: 16
job finished

Trying to set the card as default in asound.conf doesn't do anything, except making the integrated sound not usable either..

It all appears to me as if ALSA can see the card and is trying very hard to play a sound, and it thinks it is succeeding, but the version of ALSA that Q4OS is running just fails to communicate with the headset. And I have no idea how to try and fix it now.

rаluma

Member

Registered: 2021-12-07

Posts: 16

Re: USB sound card not working on TDE

Hi!
If I understand correctly, is it about Trinity?
Then don't torture ALSA.
The only channel that works on my netbook is PulceAudio. Try opening a KMix window, selecting it, turning it on and adjusting the volume in that window.
Adjusting the sound with the KMix slider in the system tray is on my own and does not affect anything, like the shutdown button there.

Ploof

Member

Registered: 2021-12-08

Posts: 4

Re: USB sound card not working on TDE

Thank you, this was helpful towards solving the problem!

The actual solution for me was:
1. Open KMix.
2. Close KMix through the File-Quit.
3. Open Pavucontrol-Qt in console. (command pavucontrol-qt)
4. In a new console window, open KMix again (command kmix). It now sees and defaults to using Pulseaudio. Sound should just work now.

You will not get any indication that sound works, so test it - easiest way to test it is to open a random youtube video that for sure contains sound in browser.

I wonder if I can automate this process so that i don't have to do it manually all the time.

rаluma

Member

Registered: 2021-12-07

Posts: 16

Re: USB sound card not working on TDE

I can only assume that pulseaudio is not starting.
These are the explanations for it
https://wiki.debian.org/PulseAudio

And besides, the latest distribution includes the "pulseaudio-eneble-autospawn" service (see the command "service --status-all"). Although it is disabled in my netbook ...