Sound missing issues on Toshiba Satellite C850D [SOLVED]

[Sky Aisling]

EDIT: This issue was solved by running Tahrpup 602 PAE with rcrsn51's driver updates.
See rcrsn51 post here to locate driver updates:
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... 489#876489
The .iso download for Tahrpup 602 PAE is found here:
http://distro.ibiblio.org/puppylinux/pu ... 20-6.0-CE/

Hi Folks,
Looks like there are a lot of issues with some machines loosing sound.
I've had a gnarly machine donated to me that is driving me nuts with the loss of sound, wifi, and card reader. Before I melt down any more little gray cells I thought I'd check with you and see if there is something obvious I am missing. Otherwise, Goodwill will get another donation soon.
The machine is a factory refurbished Toshiba Satellite C850D. 4 gigs of RAM.
Bios changed from UEIF to CSM in order to boot.

What the machine can do:
boot from Live CD, USB Flash Drive, HDD.
Online access by DSL cable.

What the machine can't do:
no wifi module recognized (there is one internal modem)
no sound (there are two cards listed)
no SD card reader recognized (there is a exterior slot)

Puppies used in testing:
Slacko-5.7-NO-Pae (blows off with "acpid exiting" at shutdown)
Lupu-528-05
Puppy-4.3.1
Tahrpup 602 non-pae
Tahrpup 602 pae with driver updates (this solved the issue)

I have referenced many forum threads.
I did try ivan155's suggestion which did regain control of retrovol panel, but, still no sound.
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... 6f6#688878

All the screenshots I've enclosed are from Lupu-528 running.

I would be happy with just sound back, wifi would be nice too.

So, my question is this a hardware issue?

Happy Holidaze! Thank you in advance.

[OscarTalks]

Regarding the sound (not sure about the wifi) it looks like you need to set the analogue card as the default so it appears as card 0 or hw:0 in alsa. The multiple sound card wizard is a bit touch and go, certainly in earlier pups. I find the best way is to edit /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf and reboot but to do that you need to grab the module name(s).

What is the output of

Code: Select all

cat /proc/asound/modules

?
Figure out the module name for the analogue card and then add the line

Code: Select all

options snd-your-module index=0

to that file (where "your-module" is the name of the required module).
Don't forget the reboot.

[Sky Aisling]

Thank you, OscarTalks

[rcrsn51]

As a general rule, newer hardware needs newer Puppies. It appears that your Toshiba's WiFi uses the rtl8723ae driver. See the discussion here and a driver PET for Tahrpup 602.

[Sky Aisling]

Thank you rcrsn51,

I downloaded tahr-6.0.2_noPAE.iso.
Hash marks checked ok.
I made a usb flash drive of tahrpup.
Machine booted tahrpup to desktop.
Pale Moon browser would not connect to DSL line.
I attempted an update of Pale Moon, but, update failed with message "the latest version number could not be retrieved".
(obviously, because it can't connect)
I need to access the net in order apply your suggestion of driver pet for Tahrpup 602.

The no sound, wifi, card reader issue is also present in Tahrpup 602 (sans the driver pet update).

I'll try another machine, attempt to update Pale Moon and get back to you in a few moments.

EDIT: Repaired Pale Moon. Installed driver PET for Tahrpup 602. No change in gaining sound, wifi or card reader. Yes, I remembered to reboot.

[Sky Aisling]

@OscarTalks

I find the best way is to edit /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf and reboot but to do that you need to grab the module name(s).

Lupu-528.05 etc directory doesn't appear to have a modeprobe.d.

[Sky Aisling]

Hi All,
Running Tahrpup 602 non-pae...

I gained partial success using Tahrpup 602 non-pae ALSA sound Wizard.
menu/setup/ALSA sound Wizard
I chose option 3 Multiple Cards.
I ran Kirk's Multiple Sound Card Wizard.
I chose Card 2:
Generic_[HD-Audio generic}] device 0: ALC269VB Analog [ALC269VB Analog]
I rebooted.

The Puppy Reference Audio File in home now responds. Got plenty of barks.
The retrovol control panel is still dysfunctional.
I was unable to test other sound such as youtube and news sound clips as Pale Moon browser in Tahrpup reverted back to not connecting again.
It's late. I'll see if I can get the Pale Moon issue and the retrovol control panel sorted out tomorrow.

Thank you again.

[OscarTalks]

Well it is modprobe.d not modeprobe.d (no e in the middle) and it is a directory not a file. I know it is present in LuPu but actually there is a snag with this because both soundcards are using the snd-hda-intel module so we can't use the name to define the default.

If you are not using the HDMI card then plan B would be to see if you can disable that card in the BIOS and reboot. This would leave you with only the analogue card and it would hopefully be recognised and set as the default (card 0 or hd:0 in alsa) when the system boots.

[rcrsn51]

@Sky: Please run the command "lspci -nnk". Identify the Ethernet Controller and Network Controller devices.

It's strange that Ethernet works with the old Puppies but fails with Tahrpup.

[rufwoof]

I've also had problems with tahr 6.0.2 (with 6.0.3 'patch').

I use a USB headphone/mic and the PC has onboard sound and a PC speaker.

Sometimes the headphones were being allocated to hw:1, sometimes hw:2

I've changed/added

/root/.retrovol

# Which soundcard to use
#card=hw:0
card=hw:2


/etc/asound.conf

defaults.pcm.card 2
defaults.pcm.device 0


/etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf

options snd-usb-audio index=2

added after the last line

... and now it seems to (at least more consistently) assigning hw:2 to the headphones.

Right clicked the trays speaker, selected hardware tab and entered hw:2 as the sound card.

[Sky Aisling]

Hello,
@OscarTalks

Well it is modprobe.d not modeprobe.d (no e in the middle) and it is a directory not a file.

Oppps! Sorry, Oscar

I like your idea of eliminating one of the cards. This will take some work on my part to figure out how to do that,but, I'll give it a go. Please let me know if any more screenshots of console inquiry can be useful. Thank you.

@rcrsn51

Please run the command "lspci -nnk". Identify the Ethernet Controller and Network Controller devices.

See text at bottom of post.

Clarification - I will use Tahrpup 602 non-pae for the rest of this testing session.
Specs again 4GB RAM running from 4GB SanDisk flash drive. No HDD.
Tahrpup with the exception of Pale Moon browser is working ok on the box.
I installed Seamonkey for the browser which is working ok.

This machine is bewitched.
Regarding sound:
Apparently it switches audio cards around at reboot or restart activity.
Sometimes when the machine is rebooted it holds the settings.
Most the time at reboot it drops the settings from previous boot and they need re-activation.
OscarTalks suggestion of reducing to one audio card is an option for a work-around. Thank you, OscarTalks.

Regarding internet connection:
Same problem as with sound.
Sometimes internet connection comes back fine after a reboot, but, other times it has to be reconnected using Internet Connection Wizard options or the DSL cable taken out and a reboot done. Still no wifi module recognized.

This brings me back to my original question: Could this be failing hardware? or just maddening bio software?

@rcrsn51 Text from console inquiry lspci -nnk:

root# lspci -nnk
00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 14h Processor Root Complex [1022:1510]
Subsystem: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 14h Processor Root Complex [1022:1510]
00:01.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Wrestler [Radeon HD 7310] [1002:9809]
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device [1179:fde6]
Kernel driver in use: radeon
00:01.1 Audio device [0403]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Wrestler HDMI Audio [1002:1314]
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device [1179:ff1e]
Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
00:11.0 SATA controller [0106]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH SATA Controller [AHCI mode] [1022:7801]
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device [1179:ff1e]
Kernel driver in use: ahci
00:12.0 USB controller [0c03]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB OHCI Controller [1022:7807] (rev 11)
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device [1179:ff1e]
Kernel driver in use: ohci-pci
00:12.2 USB controller [0c03]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB EHCI Controller [1022:7808] (rev 11)
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device [1179:ff1e]
Kernel driver in use: ehci-pci
00:13.0 USB controller [0c03]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB OHCI Controller [1022:7807] (rev 11)
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device [1179:ff1e]
Kernel driver in use: ohci-pci
00:13.2 USB controller [0c03]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB EHCI Controller [1022:7808] (rev 11)
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device [1179:ff1e]
Kernel driver in use: ehci-pci
00:14.0 SMBus [0c05]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH SMBus Controller [1022:780b] (rev 14)
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device [1179:ff1e]
00:14.2 Audio device [0403]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH Azalia Controller [1022:780d] (rev 01)
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device [1179:ff1e]
Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
00:14.3 ISA bridge [0601]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH LPC Bridge [1022:780e] (rev 11)
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device [1179:ff1e]
00:14.4 PCI bridge [0604]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH PCI Bridge [1022:780f] (rev 40)
00:14.7 SD Host controller [0805]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH SD Flash Controller [1022:7806]
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device [1179:ff1e]
Kernel driver in use: sdhci-pci
00:15.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Hudson PCI to PCI bridge (PCIE port 0) [1022:43a0]
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:15.1 PCI bridge [0604]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Hudson PCI to PCI bridge (PCIE port 1) [1022:43a1]
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:16.0 USB controller [0c03]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB OHCI Controller [1022:7807] (rev 11)
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device [1179:ff1e]
Kernel driver in use: ohci-pci
00:16.2 USB controller [0c03]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB EHCI Controller [1022:7808] (rev 11)
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device [1179:ff1e]
Kernel driver in use: ehci-pci
00:18.0 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 12h/14h Processor Function 0 [1022:1700] (rev 43)
00:18.1 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 12h/14h Processor Function 1 [1022:1701]
00:18.2 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 12h/14h Processor Function 2 [1022:1702]
00:18.3 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 12h/14h Processor Function 3 [1022:1703]
Kernel driver in use: k10temp
00:18.4 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 12h/14h Processor Function 4 [1022:1704]
00:18.5 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 12h/14h Processor Function 6 [1022:1718]
00:18.6 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 12h/14h Processor Function 5 [1022:1716]
00:18.7 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 12h/14h Processor Function 7 [1022:1719]
02:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8188CE 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter [10ec:8176] (rev 01)
Subsystem: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. Device [10ec:8211]
06:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8101E/RTL8102E PCI Express Fast Ethernet controller [10ec:8136] (rev 05)
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device [1179:ff1e]
Kernel driver in use: r8169

[rcrsn51]

@Sky: The r8169 driver has been loaded for your Ethernet, so it should be working. Run the connection wizard.

Your WiFi card is supported by the driver package I posted, BUT it's for Tahpup 602 PAE. It won't work with your non-PAE version.

[Sky Aisling]

Thank you, rcrsn51.
The ethernet connection appears to be working now.

Your WiFi card is supported by the driver package I posted, BUT it's for Tahpup 602 PAE. It won't work with your non-PAE version.

Can you direct me to a non-pae package driver version?

Maybe, because I am unfamiliar with Pae and non-pae technology, this machine is Pae and I'm attempting to force it to do something it can't?
How can I tell if this machine is pae or non-pae?

[rokytnji]

Code: Select all

cat /proc/cpuinfo

is what I use for

How can I tell if this machine is pae or non-pae?

[Sky Aisling]

Thanks, rokytnji

Here's what I get: Where does it say pae?

root# cat /proc/cpuinfo
processor : 0
vendor_id : AuthenticAMD
cpu family : 20
model : 2
model name : AMD E1-1200 APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics
stepping : 0
microcode : 0x500010d
cpu MHz : 777.000
cache size : 512 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 2
core id : 0
cpu cores : 2
apicid : 0
initial apicid : 0
fdiv_bug : no
f00f_bug : no
coma_bug : no
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 6
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush mmx fxsr sse sse2 ht syscall nx mmxext fxsr_opt pdpe1gb rdtscp lm constant_tsc nonstop_tsc extd_apicid aperfmperf pni monitor ssse3 cx16 popcnt lahf_lm cmp_legacy svm extapic cr8_legacy abm sse4a misalignsse 3dnowprefetch ibs skinit wdt arat hw_pstate npt lbrv svm_lock nrip_save pausefilter
bogomips : 2796.37
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management: ts ttp tm stc 100mhzsteps hwpstate

processor : 1
vendor_id : AuthenticAMD
cpu family : 20
model : 2
model name : AMD E1-1200 APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics
stepping : 0
microcode : 0x500010d
cpu MHz : 777.000
cache size : 512 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 2
core id : 1
cpu cores : 2
apicid : 1
initial apicid : 1
fdiv_bug : no
f00f_bug : no
coma_bug : no
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 6
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush mmx fxsr sse sse2 ht syscall nx mmxext fxsr_opt pdpe1gb rdtscp lm constant_tsc nonstop_tsc extd_apicid aperfmperf pni monitor ssse3 cx16 popcnt lahf_lm cmp_legacy svm extapic cr8_legacy abm sse4a misalignsse 3dnowprefetch ibs skinit wdt arat hw_pstate npt lbrv svm_lock nrip_save pausefilter
bogomips : 2796.37
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management: ts ttp tm stc 100mhzsteps hwpstate

[Sky Aisling]

Here's what wiki says about PAE. This machine has an ADM chip.
Any clues here?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_ ... _Extension

PAE was first implemented in the Intel Pentium Pro in 1995,[2] although the accompanying chipsets usually lacked support for the required extra address bits.[3]

PAE is supported by Intel Pentium Pro and later Pentium-series processors. The first Pentium M family processors ("Banias") also support PAE, however they do not show the PAE support flag in their CPUID information.[4] It was also available on AMD processors including the AMD Athlon[5] (although the chipsets for these were limited to 4 GB RAM[6]) and later AMD processor models.

When AMD defined their AMD64 architecture as an extension of x86, they defined an enhanced version of PAE[7] to be used while the processor was in 64-bit mode ("long mode"). It supports up to 48-bit virtual addresses,[8](p120) 52-bit physical addresses,[8](p24) and includes NX bit functionality. This version of PAE is the mandatory memory paging model in long mode on x86-64 processors; there is no "non-PAE mode" while in long mode.[9] The documentation for "Intel 64", the Intel version of x86-64, refers to these page table formats as "IA-32e paging" rather than "PAE".[10]

Linux
See also: Executable space protection § Linux

The Linux kernel includes full PAE mode support starting with version 2.3.23,[21] enabling access of up to 64 GB of memory on 32-bit machines. A PAE-enabled Linux kernel requires that the CPU also support PAE. The Linux kernel supports PAE as a build option and major distributions provide a PAE kernel either as the default or as an option.

The NX bit feature requires a kernel built with PAE support.[22]

Linux distributions now commonly use a PAE-enabled kernel as the default, a trend that began in 2009.[23] As of 2012 many, including Red Hat Enterprise Linux / CentOS, Ubuntu (and derivatives like Xubuntu and Linux Mint),[24][25][26] have stopped distributing non-PAE kernels, thus making PAE hardware mandatory. Linux distributions which require PAE may refuse to boot on Pentium M family processors because they do not show the PAE support flag in their CPUID information (even though it is supported internally).[4]

Distributions that still provide a non-PAE option, including Debian (and derivatives like LMDE 2 (Linux Mint Debian Edition)[27]), Slackware, and LXLE typically do so with "i386", "i486" or "retro" labels.[28][29]

Here's what dmesg says about the kernel:

root# dmesg
Initializing cgroup subsys cpuset
Initializing cgroup subsys cpu
Initializing cgroup subsys cpuacct
Linux version 3.14.20 (root@puppypc22591) (gcc version 4.6.4 (Ubuntu/Linaro 4.6.4-6ubuntu2) ) #1 SMP Thu Jan 8 13:19:06 GMT 2015
e820: BIOS-provided physical RAM map:
BIOS-e820: [mem 0x0000000000000000-0x000000000009f3ff] usable
BIOS-e820: [mem 0x000000000009f400-0x000000000009ffff] reserved
BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000000e0000-0x00000000000fffff] reserved
BIOS-e820: [mem 0x0000000000100000-0x00000000da87efff] usable
BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000da87f000-0x00000000db07ffff] reserved
BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000db080000-0x00000000df9befff] usable
BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000df9bf000-0x00000000dfabefff] reserved
BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000dfabf000-0x00000000dfbbefff] ACPI NVS
BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000dfbbf000-0x00000000dfbfefff] ACPI data
BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000dfbff000-0x00000000dfbfffff] usable
BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000dfc00000-0x00000000dfffffff] reserved
BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000f8000000-0x00000000fbffffff] reserved
BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000fec00000-0x00000000fec00fff] reserved
BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000fec10000-0x00000000fec10fff] reserved
BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000fed80000-0x00000000fed80fff] reserved
BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000fee00000-0x00000000fee00fff] reserved
BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000ffc00000-0x00000000ffffffff] reserved
BIOS-e820: [mem 0x0000000100000000-0x0000000106ffffff] usable
BIOS-e820: [mem 0x0000000107000000-0x000000011effffff] reserved
Notice: NX (Execute Disable) protection cannot be enabled: non-PAE kernel!
SMBIOS 2.7 present.

[rokytnji]

Here's what I get: Where does it say pae?

Look around flags

flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush mmx fxsr sse sse2 ht syscall nx mmxext fxsr_opt pdpe1gb rdtscp lm constant_tsc nonstop_tsc extd_apicid aperfmperf pni monitor ssse3 cx16 popcnt lahf_lm cmp_legacy svm extapic cr8_legacy abm sse4a misalignsse 3dnowprefetch ibs skinit wdt arat hw_pstate npt lbrv svm_lock nrip_save pausefilter

[Sky Aisling]

Good eyes, rokytnji!

So, I'm downloading the pae version of Tahrpup.
I'll try that with rcrsn51's driver update for the wifi connection.
And, see how it does with holding the sound settings.

I am taking .iso from here:
http://distro.ibiblio.org/puppylinux/pu ... 20-6.0-CE/

[Sky Aisling]

The Toshiba Satellite C850D is now running Tahrpup 602 PAE with rcrsn51's driver updates.
Sound working, wifi working, card reader working.

There is a minor issue with the sound level resetting to 0 upon each reboot (this may be intentional in order to keep machine quiet when in public use?)
There is a minor issue with the card reader icon on desktop staying on after un-mounting and removing the card.

See rcrsn51's post here to locate driver updates:
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... 489#876489

Thank you kennel mates for all your help. Your skills are much appreciated.

Sky

[rcrsn51]

wifi working

Excellent. It may be that some bleeding-edge kernels already contain this driver.