X86 Hardware issues (Graphics, WiFi, Onboard Sound, external DACs, Disks, BIOS/UEFI Boot problems etc.)

Trollpferd · October 16, 2021, 4:42pm

Dear chsims1, dear gkkpch,
with regards to my mini PC with ALC5651 audio chip I sent extra email.
My machine: Mini PC AZW Z83 II 2GB RAM, 32GB eMMC HD, Quad-Core Atom x5-Z8350, Realtek ALC5651 audio chip, OS on eMMC.
My other, new, topics seems to be also x86-related:
Yesterday I updated my machine from 3.083 beta to 3.114 beta: Sound is ok, similar to what I already experienced with 3.083: sound only via headphone Jack and after the fresh installation the sound stops after a few seconds but after a shutdown from within Volumio and a restart with the PC knob, the audio output is fine!
WLAN doesn’t work (no change), but LAN does the job.
However, now, there seems to be a problem with my 1 TB SSD FAT32 (with about 500 GB of MP3 music) attached via external USB 3.0.
I tested in the evening and heard perhaps a dozens songs and everything seemed to be fine. Next day: music database broken, only few of the music subfolders left.
Re-reading of the database didn’t succeeded, after less then 1,000 artists, process ends with a non-reacting PC and I had to force restart.

Log report after forced re-start: http://logs.volumio.org/volumiobuster/5XNzAOZ.html.

That means for the moment: back to 3.083 beta (that worked quite good to me), I fear. Or to you think the changes from 3.111 to 3.114 made the problems?

Kind regards, Trollpferd

bjornhjelle · October 16, 2021, 7:04pm

The list shows Analog, SPDIF and HDMI

bjornhjelle · October 16, 2021, 7:05pm

Yes, sure.

gkkpch · October 16, 2021, 7:11pm

Good, because the profile is there, but the log shows, the ALC898 is not initialised like we do for other ALC codecs. Simple fix to test, when OK, I’ll add it to the build.
Will post instructons here the next few days

gkkpch · October 16, 2021, 7:14pm

Added to the todo list, not sure about audio though. Had reports that headphone/lineout was ok.
Your initial WiFi error (missing firmware) disappeared, have not checked whether WLAN hotspot was enabled

carlito_s · October 16, 2021, 7:59pm

I’m wondering, could it be that the hyphen in [HD-Audio Generic] name is erroneously recognized as a special regex or jolly char and breaks the process of audio devices identification? Just a stupid idea…

gkkpch · October 16, 2021, 8:27pm

no, it is more likely that the “HDA-Audio Generic” was only configured once based on one particular configuration request.
With x86 it is not like a PI or Tinkerboard, there are soooo many different configurations we would need to take care off.
There will never be a guarantee from us, that we can take care of all of them.

Trollpferd · October 17, 2021, 10:29pm

Hi, I think I switched off WLAN …
With regards to the USB HD/library problem: I switched back from 3.114 to 3.111 and, so far, it seems to work again … Setting up the library (=import of the mp3’s on the FAT32 1 TB SSD) wasn’t a problem at all. Apart from that, as written earlier, I needed to restart after the initial start of Volumio to avoid stuttering of sound. In this case, with 3.111, the sound stuttered, and even when I pressed “Pause”, playing went on after a small interruption … as with earlier versions, a restart helped.

keen · October 18, 2021, 1:48pm

Device: ThinkPad T430 - volumio PC version
Version: 3.114
Issue: I try to install volumio pc version on 320 GB hard-drive but it is going on error, on 160 GB hard-drive no problem, all ok.
Debug log link:
are there any limits on hard-drive capability ?
thanks nico

gkkpch · October 19, 2021, 10:52am

Could you edit script /usr/local/bin/volumio_hda_intel_tweak.sh and change the line

    "Realtek ALC892")

to

    "Realtek ALC892"|"Realtek ALC898")

then reboot and check?
(You need sudo nano to edit)

gkkpch · October 19, 2021, 11:16am

Could you run the following script for me and post the outpout?

for card in /sys/class/sound/card*; do
  cardno=$(cat $card/number)
  chip=$(amixer -c $cardno info | grep "Mixer name" | awk -F": " '{print (substr($2, 2, length($2) - 2))}')
  echo "Internal card name:" $(cat /proc/asound/cards | grep "$(cat $card/number) \[$(cat $card/id)" | awk -F" - " '{print $2}')
  echo "Internal codec name:" $chip
done

carlito_s · October 19, 2021, 11:32am

Here it is:

volumio@volumioss:~$ ./gkkpch.sh
Internal card name: HD-Audio Generic
Internal codec name: ATI R6xx HDMI
Internal card name: HD-Audio Generic
Internal codec name: Realtek ALC1220

gkkpch · October 19, 2021, 11:35am

Thanks for your quick reply.
Perhaps also

aplay -c 0
aplay -c 1

I will probably find a working solution, both cards will then show the same subdevices, as the cards have the same card name.
The first card only has HDMI support (probably on HDMI 0), Analog and SPDIF will be shown but won’t work.
Similar story for the second one, it will have Analog out and SPDIF support, HDMI 0-3 will also be shown but won’t work.
This is not ideal, but given the fact we have not seen such a rare config for the last 6 years, a complete redesign of soundcard parsing is not justified for one single user, hope you understand.

Once I have the output of the above commands I will make a suggestion for editing and testing.
When it is OK, it will be implemented in one of the next releases.

carlito_s · October 19, 2021, 11:43am

Thanks to you for taking care of such a rare issue. It is enough to have all the options available, duplicates don’t matter.

The first command returned an error, the second one never returned until I pressed Ctrl+C. Shall I wait longer?

volumio@volumioss:~$ aplay -c 0
aplay: main:608: value 0 for channels is invalid
volumio@volumioss:~$ aplay -c 1
^CAborted by signal Interrupt…
^C
volumio@volumioss:~$

gkkpch · October 19, 2021, 11:43am

ah my mistake

amixer -c 0
amixer -c 1

carlito_s · October 19, 2021, 11:45am

**volumio@volumioss:~$ amixer -c 0**
Simple mixer control 'IEC958',0
  Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Mono
  Mono: Playback [on]
Simple mixer control 'IEC958',1
  Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Mono
  Mono: Playback [off]
Simple mixer control 'IEC958',2
  Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Mono
  Mono: Playback [off]
Simple mixer control 'IEC958',3
  Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Mono
  Mono: Playback [off]
**volumio@volumioss:~$ amixer -c 1**
Simple mixer control 'Master',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pvolume-joined pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Mono
  Limits: Playback 0 - 87
  Mono: Playback 46 [53%] [-30.75dB] [on]
Simple mixer control 'Headphone',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pswitch
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 87
  Mono:
  Front Left: Playback 87 [100%] [0.00dB] [on]
  Front Right: Playback 87 [100%] [0.00dB] [on]
Simple mixer control 'Front',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pswitch
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 87
  Mono:
  Front Left: Playback 87 [100%] [0.00dB] [on]
  Front Right: Playback 87 [100%] [0.00dB] [on]
Simple mixer control 'Front Mic',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pswitch
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 31
  Mono:
  Front Left: Playback 0 [0%] [-34.50dB] [off]
  Front Right: Playback 0 [0%] [-34.50dB] [off]
Simple mixer control 'Front Mic Boost',0
  Capabilities: volume
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: 0 - 3
  Front Left: 0 [0%] [0.00dB]
  Front Right: 0 [0%] [0.00dB]
Simple mixer control 'Surround',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pswitch
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 87
  Mono:
  Front Left: Playback 87 [100%] [0.00dB] [on]
  Front Right: Playback 87 [100%] [0.00dB] [on]
Simple mixer control 'Center',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pvolume-joined pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Mono
  Limits: Playback 0 - 87
  Mono: Playback 87 [100%] [0.00dB] [on]
Simple mixer control 'LFE',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pvolume-joined pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Mono
  Limits: Playback 0 - 87
  Mono: Playback 87 [100%] [0.00dB] [on]
Simple mixer control 'Line',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pswitch
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 31
  Mono:
  Front Left: Playback 0 [0%] [-34.50dB] [off]
  Front Right: Playback 0 [0%] [-34.50dB] [off]
Simple mixer control 'Line Boost',0
  Capabilities: volume
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: 0 - 3
  Front Left: 0 [0%] [0.00dB]
  Front Right: 0 [0%] [0.00dB]
Simple mixer control 'IEC958',0
  Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Mono
  Mono: Playback [off]
Simple mixer control 'IEC958 Default PCM',0
  Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Mono
  Mono: Playback [on]
Simple mixer control 'Capture',0
  Capabilities: cvolume cswitch
  Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Capture 0 - 63
  Front Left: Capture 39 [62%] [12.00dB] [on]
  Front Right: Capture 39 [62%] [12.00dB] [on]
Simple mixer control 'Capture',1
  Capabilities: cvolume cswitch
  Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Capture 0 - 63
  Front Left: Capture 0 [0%] [-17.25dB] [off]
  Front Right: Capture 0 [0%] [-17.25dB] [off]
Simple mixer control 'Auto-Mute Mode',0
  Capabilities: enum
  Items: 'Disabled' 'Enabled'
  Item0: 'Enabled'
Simple mixer control 'Channel Mode',0
  Capabilities: enum
  Items: '2ch' '4ch' '6ch'
  Item0: '2ch'
Simple mixer control 'Input Source',0
  Capabilities: cenum
  Items: 'Front Mic' 'Rear Mic' 'Line'
  Item0: 'Front Mic'
Simple mixer control 'Input Source',1
  Capabilities: cenum
  Items: 'Front Mic' 'Rear Mic' 'Line'
  Item0: 'Front Mic'
Simple mixer control 'Loopback Mixing',0
  Capabilities: enum
  Items: 'Disabled' 'Enabled'
  Item0: 'Disabled'
Simple mixer control 'Rear Mic',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pswitch
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 31
  Mono:
  Front Left: Playback 0 [0%] [-34.50dB] [off]
  Front Right: Playback 0 [0%] [-34.50dB] [off]
Simple mixer control 'Rear Mic Boost',0
  Capabilities: volume
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: 0 - 3
  Front Left: 0 [0%] [0.00dB]
  Front Right: 0 [0%] [0.00dB]
**volumio@volumioss:~$**

gkkpch · October 19, 2021, 11:49am

Could you edit (you need sudo) /volumio/app/plugins/audio_interface/Alsa_controller/cards.json

Replace line

{"name": "HDA-Audio Generic", "multidevice": true, "devices":[{"number":3, "prettyname": "HDMI", "defaultmixer": ""}]},

with

{"name": "HD-Audio Generic", "multidevice": true, "devices":[{"number":0, "prettyname": "Analog Out", "defaultmixer": ""},{"number":1, "prettyname": "SPDIF", "defaultmixer": ""},{"number":3, "prettyname": "HDMI", "defaultmixer": ""}]},

Note HDA-Generic was also changed to HD-Audio Generic (typo, the reason why you did not see the “pretty” names).

Then, also edit /usr/local/bin/volumio_hda_intel_tweak.sh to ensure the right channels are unmuted.
Replace the line (below “case $cardname in”)

"HDA Intel PCH")

with

"HDA Intel PCH"|"HDA Intel"|"HDA ATI SB"|"HD-Audio Generic")

Then replace line

    "Realtek ALC892"|"Realtek ALC898")

with

    "Realtek ALC892"|"Realtek ALC898"|"Realtek ALC1220")

Please reboot and test

gkkpch · October 19, 2021, 11:55am

Difficult to answer, it should not make any difference.
What I would need is a log from the failing 320GB trial.
I have seen an issue recently, not due to size, but due to failing to remove partitions (see Index at the top of this thread). A log would make that clear.

Howto: Send a log

carlito_s · October 19, 2021, 12:02pm

Here it is:

The Analog Out works. The other ones are untested at the moment.

gkkpch · October 19, 2021, 12:12pm

That would not stop the firmware being loaded properly and this seems to work ok.

The Z83 is a low performance mini pc, don’t expect miracles
During indexing of the library, stutter can occur while playing music in parallel.
Also, we know that after connecting an external drive, indexing sometime needs to be started manually by the update button in the “Source” menu.
After all is finished (and a reboot), a Z83 should be OK though.
I’ll close this report unless something fails consistently, which I did not read from your text.
In case you open another one, please add a log, otherwise it is just guesswork, I’m not very good at that.
Also, one issue per report makes it a lot easier to handle.