Karmic [9.10] issues with volume control, Master/PCM/LFE, and volume threshold

[SR_ELPIRATA]

Far as I know yes, PCM and Wave are the same thing. Depending on your configuration you might prefer to control the master or the PCM/Wave. For example, IIRC there was a time when the Master was also the front speakers and changing that volume only would not change the center/lfe/surrounds for me, so controlling the PCM in that case would be preferred.

[erlendoos]

What does LFE mean?

I use Ubuntu 9.10 on a dell inspiron 9400 and when i use the proposed configuration, the pc-speakers don't work, but the headphones do.
When I use the configuration below, the pc-speakers work, but the headphones produce little sound.

[Element Master]
switch = on
volume = ignore
override-map.1 = all
override-map.2 = all-left,all-right

[Element PCM]
switch = mute
volume = merge

[psrivats]

Far as I know yes, PCM and Wave are the same thing. Depending on your configuration you might prefer to control the master or the PCM/Wave. For example, IIRC there was a time when the Master was also the front speakers and changing that volume only would not change the center/lfe/surrounds for me, so controlling the PCM in that case would be preferred.

Makes sense. Thanks! I am pretty happy with the sound setup on my thinkpad (I manually compiled and installed the lastest alsa). Audacity is the only program that is giving me trouble, will find a fix for that soon.

[michelux]

Works great for me. Thanks.

[l-x-l]

This thread saved me after a pulseaudio upgrade yesterday forced my LFE speakers to 100% all the time. Many thx.

[Andre_44]

I have had to search for this thread 4 times in the past few months to find the fix again, it seems that upgrades are constantly overwriting the file. Can we do anything to get this fixed upstream instead of constantly having to apply the fix ourselves?

[lidex]

There is another approach that may work. This is specific to the Dell Inspiron E1705/9400 model w/ STAC9200 codec.
Open this file for editing:

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

Insert this line at the bottom:

 options snd-hda-intel model=dell-m27

Save. Close. Reboot. Check your levels in alsamixer.

 alsamixer

Press F6 to select the correct soundcard.
Press F3 to show playback levels. F4 selects capture levels [or use <Tab>]
Use the left/right arrow keys to select and up/down arrow keys to change levels.
Go to "System>Preferences>Sound" and make sure the correct soundcard is default

[biomann]

Hi!
I too have a DELL Inspiron 9400/E1705 with the STAC9200. I've solved this problem by making some changes in the file "/usr/share/pulseaudio/alsa-mixer/paths/analog-output.conf.common". Try this:

sudo gedit /usr/share/pulseaudio/alsa-mixer/paths/analog-output.conf.common

You will find those lines near the bottom of the file:

[Element PCM]
switch = mute
volume = merge
override-map.1 = all
override-map.2 = all-left,all-right

So, add theses lines BEFORE:

[Element Master]
switch = mute
volume = ignore

and these lines AFTER:

[Element LFE]
switch = mute
volume = ignore

You should finally have:

[Element Master]
switch = mute
volume = ignore

[Element PCM]
switch = mute
volume = merge
override-map.1 = all
override-map.2 = all-left,all-right

[Element LFE]
switch = mute
volume = ignore

Save and quit. Then restart (restarting Pulseaudio isn't enough).

Using Fn + PageUp / PageDown or the media buttons now only modifies the "PCM" channel (have a look on alsamixer).

Hi,

This worked fine for Karmic, but it seems that it does not work with Lucid. The way lidex described doesnt work either

[lidex]

I guess OP got his working correctly.
biomann: Can you post the output of these terminal commands for me please:

uname -a
aplay -l
cat /proc/asound/version
head -n 1 /proc/asound/card*/codec#*

Terminal="Applications->Accessories->Terminal"
Please post text output using code tags. Also helpful is the make/model of your PC/Laptop.

[dclaw]

I have been having the same issue since I installed lucid lynx 10.04. I can no longer choose which input/output the volume app is controlling... and see that it's changing the front first, then the master, but the master portion doesn't change anything volume wise.

Grrr....

I just edited the file and about to reboot. I'll post back if that resolves it.

-Dclaw