Pulseaudio stopped working and I would just as soon let it stay that way for all its quirks.
Is there a way to get Audacity working with just ALSA?
The audio on the mobo is Realtek 662 6 channel high def - I can’t find any reference as to whether it’s full duplex or not.
I use Audacity a lot for recording and editing and this is causing a problem for me.
Thanks
Which version of Audacity?
How did you install it?
Which version of Linux?
What does that mean precisely? Is PulseAudio running?
Please post the output from the Audacity “Help menu > Audio device info”
Which version of Audacity?< 2.0.5
I’ve tried various combinations of Playback and Recording Devices w/ no luck.
How did you install it?< via Ubuntu software center
Which version of Linux?< Ubuntu 14.04 - that’s all I know.
Pulseaudio stopped working What does that mean precisely? Is PulseAudio running?<
It worked ok for weeks, then I got the attached dialog, and have tried reinstalls, purges etc. w/ no cure:
Please post the output from the Audacity “Help menu > Audio device info”
==============================
Default capture device number: 7
Default playback device number: 7
==============================
Device ID: 0
Device name: HDA ATI SB: ALC662 rev3 Analog (hw:0,0)
Host name: ALSA
Input channels: 2
Output channels: 0
Low Input Latency: 0.005805
Low Output Latency: -1.000000
High Input Latency: 0.034830
High Output Latency: -1.000000
Supported Rates:
==============================
Device ID: 1
Device name: HDA ATI SB: ALC662 rev3 Alt Analog (hw:0,2)
Host name: ALSA
Input channels: 2
Output channels: 0
Low Input Latency: 0.005805
Low Output Latency: -1.000000
High Input Latency: 0.034830
High Output Latency: -1.000000
Supported Rates:
==============================
Device ID: 2
Device name: HDA NVidia: HDMI 0 (hw:1,3)
Host name: ALSA
Input channels: 0
Output channels: 8
Low Input Latency: -1.000000
Low Output Latency: 0.005805
High Input Latency: -1.000000
High Output Latency: 0.034830
Supported Rates:
32000
44100
48000
88200
96000
176400
192000
==============================
Device ID: 3
Device name: HDA NVidia: HDMI 0 (hw:1,7)
Host name: ALSA
Input channels: 0
Output channels: 8
Low Input Latency: -1.000000
Low Output Latency: 0.005805
High Input Latency: -1.000000
High Output Latency: 0.034830
Supported Rates:
32000
44100
48000
88200
96000
176400
192000
==============================
Device ID: 4
Device name: HDA NVidia: HDMI 0 (hw:1,8)
Host name: ALSA
Input channels: 0
Output channels: 8
Low Input Latency: -1.000000
Low Output Latency: 0.005805
High Input Latency: -1.000000
High Output Latency: 0.034830
Supported Rates:
32000
44100
48000
88200
96000
176400
192000
==============================
Device ID: 5
Device name: HDA NVidia: HDMI 0 (hw:1,9)
Host name: ALSA
Input channels: 0
Output channels: 8
Low Input Latency: -1.000000
Low Output Latency: 0.005805
High Input Latency: -1.000000
High Output Latency: 0.034830
Supported Rates:
32000
44100
48000
88200
96000
176400
192000
==============================
Device ID: 6
Device name: sysdefault
Host name: ALSA
Input channels: 128
Output channels: 128
Low Input Latency: 0.021333
Low Output Latency: 0.021333
High Input Latency: 0.021333
High Output Latency: 0.021333
Supported Rates:
8000
9600
11025
16000
22050
32000
44100
48000
88200
176400
352800
==============================
Device ID: 7
Device name: default
Host name: ALSA
Input channels: 128
Output channels: 128
Low Input Latency: 0.021333
Low Output Latency: 0.021333
High Input Latency: 0.021333
High Output Latency: 0.021333
Supported Rates:
8000
9600
11025
16000
22050
32000
44100
48000
88200
176400
352800
==============================
Device ID: 8
Device name: dmix
Host name: ALSA
Input channels: 0
Output channels: 2
Low Input Latency: -1.000000
Low Output Latency: 0.021333
High Input Latency: -1.000000
High Output Latency: 0.021333
Supported Rates:
48000
==============================
Selected capture device: 0 - HDA ATI SB: ALC662 rev3 Analog (hw:0,0)
Selected playback device: 8 - dmix
Supported Rates:
48000
==============================
Available mixers:
==============================
Available capture sources:
0 - Front Mic:0
1 - Rear Mic:0
2 - Line:0
3 - Front Mic:1
4 - Rear Mic:1
5 - Line:1
==============================
Available playback volumes:
0 - Master:0
1 - PCM:0
2 - Front:0
3 - Front Mic:0
4 - Front Mic Boost:0
5 - Surround:0
6 - Center:0
7 - LFE:0
8 - Line:0
9 - Line Boost:0
10 - Rear Mic:0
11 - Rear Mic Boost:0
==============================
Capture volume is native
Playback volume is native
Have you tried this? (read down to the final post) [SOLVED] Version 11.10 - sound system no longer recognised<
It does no good. Can’t Audacity be set up to record stream with just ALSA?
Yes. The “hw” options use ALSA.
However, it appears that there is some underlying problem with your computer sound system. If the sound system does not work properly, then Audacity may not work properly.
Yes. The “hw” options use ALSA. <
You mean “Devices”? I’ve tried a lot of combinations w/ no success.
However, it appears that there is some underlying problem with your computer sound system. If the sound system does not work properly, then Audacity may not work properly.<
I think the hardware sound system is not the problem. I think Audacity is unable to use it without PulseAudio, and PulseAudio has a lot of problems of its own.
Audacity does not depend on PulseAudio, but it does depend on a properly working sound system.
If you don’t need it, could you try uninstalling Pulse audio?
If you don’t need it, could you try uninstalling Pulse audio?<
It’s already uninstalled, and purged.
The audio on this computer has been used for months with VLC, Chrome and playing dvds through VLC and other players.
It also worked well with Pulse and Audacity for months, until about a week ago when every time I tried to start Pulse, I got an error dialog which I show in an above post in an attached screen pic.
I very much doubt that there is an audio hardware problem. Gnome ALSA mixer shows 2 hardware audios:
RelatekALC662rev3 and Nvidia GPU 0b HDMI/DP.
I can’t get an audio stream into Audacity with either.
I presume that you want to record using the ALC662?
What happens when you attempt to record?
Have you tried the ALSA command line recorder “arecord” to ensure that the device is working for recording?
OK, thanks for trying to help.
I presume that you want to record using the ALC662?<
I’d be happy w/ either.
What happens when you attempt to record?<
With ALSA, usually just a straight line without even static. With some device combinations, a lot of static with no stream being recorded. I’ve tried numerous device combinations, omitting microphone.
When PulseAudio was working, I’d usually have to spend a couple minutes trying different Pulse configs to get the stream coming through for recording.
Have you tried the ALSA command line recorder “arecord” to ensure that the device is working for recording?<
I’m unfamiliar w/ arecord; here’s what I got w/ arecord and then arecord -l:
ra@ra-ub:~$ arecord
Usage: arecord [OPTION]... [FILE]...
-h, --help help
--version print current version
-l, --list-devices list all soundcards and digital audio devices
-L, --list-pcms list device names
-D, --device=NAME select PCM by name
-q, --quiet quiet mode
-t, --file-type TYPE file type (voc, wav, raw or au)
-c, --channels=# channels
-f, --format=FORMAT sample format (case insensitive)
-r, --rate=# sample rate
-d, --duration=# interrupt after # seconds
-M, --mmap mmap stream
-N, --nonblock nonblocking mode
-F, --period-time=# distance between interrupts is # microseconds
-B, --buffer-time=# buffer duration is # microseconds
--period-size=# distance between interrupts is # frames
--buffer-size=# buffer duration is # frames
-A, --avail-min=# min available space for wakeup is # microseconds
-R, --start-delay=# delay for automatic PCM start is # microseconds
(relative to buffer size if <= 0)
-T, --stop-delay=# delay for automatic PCM stop is # microseconds from xrun
-v, --verbose show PCM structure and setup (accumulative)
-V, --vumeter=TYPE enable VU meter (TYPE: mono or stereo)
-I, --separate-channels one file for each channel
-i, --interactive allow interactive operation from stdin
-m, --chmap=ch1,ch2,.. Give the channel map to override or follow
--disable-resample disable automatic rate resample
--disable-channels disable automatic channel conversions
--disable-format disable automatic format conversions
--disable-softvol disable software volume control (softvol)
--test-position test ring buffer position
--test-coef=# test coefficient for ring buffer position (default 8)
expression for validation is: coef * (buffer_size / 2)
--test-nowait do not wait for ring buffer - eats whole CPU
--max-file-time=# start another output file when the old file has recorded
for this many seconds
--process-id-file write the process ID here
--use-strftime apply the strftime facility to the output file name
--dump-hw-params dump hw_params of the device
--fatal-errors treat all errors as fatal
Recognized sample formats are: S8 U8 S16_LE S16_BE U16_LE U16_BE S24_LE S24_BE U24_LE U24_BE S32_LE S32_BE U32_LE U32_BE FLOAT_LE FLOAT_BE FLOAT64_LE FLOAT64_BE IEC958_SUBFRAME_LE IEC958_SUBFRAME_BE MU_LAW A_LAW IMA_ADPCM MPEG GSM SPECIAL S24_3LE S24_3BE U24_3LE U24_3BE S20_3LE S20_3BE U20_3LE U20_3BE S18_3LE S18_3BE U18_3LE U18_3BE G723_24 G723_24_1B G723_40 G723_40_1B DSD_U8 DSD_U16_LE
Some of these may not be available on selected hardware
The available format shortcuts are:
-f cd (16 bit little endian, 44100, stereo)
-f cdr (16 bit big endian, 44100, stereo)
-f dat (16 bit little endian, 48000, stereo)
ra@ra-ub:~$ arecord -l
**** List of CAPTURE Hardware Devices ****
card 0: SB [HDA ATI SB], device 0: ALC662 rev3 Analog [ALC662 rev3 Analog]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: SB [HDA ATI SB], device 2: ALC662 rev3 Alt Analog [ALC662 rev3 Alt Analog]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
I ran arecord for a few minutes while something was playing on Youtube, and the file it created only had static.
ra@ra-ub:~$ arecord /home/ra/test
Recording WAVE ‘/home/ra/test’ : Unsigned 8 bit, Rate 8000 Hz, Mono
^CAborted by signal Interrupt…
ra@ra-ub:~$
Did you open ALSAmixer, F4 for capture devices, use arrow keys on your keyboard to move to the device you require, then press SPACE on your keyboard to set that device to CAPTURE?
Unless you have a “Mix” or “Master” capture device for recording computer playback (it appears not from your previous posts), are you recording computer playback with a loopback cable from output to input?
What exactly do you normally want to record, apart from computer playback? A microphone connected to the computer?
Gale
Did you open ALSAmixer, F4 for capture devices, use arrow keys on your keyboard to move to the device you require, then press SPACE on your keyboard to set that device to CAPTURE? <
The screenshot shows how Gnome ALSA mixer is set up - Realtek is selected. I recorded while streaming some audio from the internet, only static was recorded.
Unless you have a “Mix” or “Master” capture device for recording computer playback (it appears not from your previous posts), are you recording computer playback with a loopback cable from output to input?<
No loopback cable that I know of.
What exactly do you normally want to record, apart from computer playback? A microphone connected to the computer? <
I’m trying to record streaming sound from intenet connections.
Assuming you have not hidden a Mix or Master device in the GNOME ALSAmixer, you probably don’t have a device for recording computer playback, unless Capture does that. Usually, Capture does not mean a device explicitly for recording computer playback.
In any case, if you don’t use pulseaudio you need to specify exactly which built-in recording device to use in ALSAmixer. I don’t know how to specify the default recording device in GNOME ALSAmixer. I described how to select default recording device in the terminal version of ALSAmixer. To access that, open a terminal and type:
alsamixer
then press ENTER on your computer keyboard.
Pulseaudio provides a much more convenient way of recording computer playback using the pulseaudio monitor device. Assuming you completely purged pulseaudio, personally I would try:
sudo apt-get install pulseaudio
then reboot and see if pulse runs properly. If it does, you can record computer playback from the pulseaudio monitor as per the top of Audacity Manual.
If you cannot get rid of the pulseaudio errors after reinstalling it, then you can try the other methods of recording computer playback listed farther down Audacity Manual. A loopback cable from the audio output to your line-in input is an obvious method, then choose the line-in recording device to record from. Does your computer have two separate audio inputs, microphone (pink) and line-in (blue)?
By the way if you would use the Quote button to cite someone else’s text, it would make your posts much easier to read. 
Gale