I noticed a problem a over the summer after upgrading from Debian 9 stable to Debian 10 testing: PulseAudio no longer recognized my Intel HDA audio devices. At the time I was able to switch to my monitor's audio connected via nVidia HDMI so I sidestepped the problem hoping that a future update would fix it. They haven't. Fast forward a few months and I've rearranged my workspace and now need to get the Intel HDA working again.
Here's what I've looked at so far…
Debian 10 Testing
The kernel sees it:
# dmesg | grep HDA
[ +0.005509] input: HDA Intel PCH Front Mic as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1b.0/sound/card0/input17
[ +0.000073] input: HDA Intel PCH Rear Mic as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1b.0/sound/card0/input18
[ +0.000057] input: HDA Intel PCH Line as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1b.0/sound/card0/input19
[ +0.000054] input: HDA Intel PCH Line Out Front as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1b.0/sound/card0/input20
[ +0.000052] input: HDA Intel PCH Line Out Surround as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1b.0/sound/card0/input21
[ +0.000051] input: HDA Intel PCH Line Out CLFE as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1b.0/sound/card0/input22
[ +0.000053] input: HDA Intel PCH Line Out Side as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1b.0/sound/card0/input23
[ +0.000058] input: HDA Intel PCH Front Headphone as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1b.0/sound/card0/input24
[followed by NVidia HDMI audio devices that are recognized]
# lspci -nnk | grep -A2 Audio
00:1b.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C216 Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller [8086:1e20] (rev 04)
Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd 7 Series/C216 Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller [1458:a002]
Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
Kernel modules: snd_hda_intel
[followed by NVidia HDMI audio devices that are recognized]
ALSA sees it:
# aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: Generic Analog [Generic Analog]
Subdevices: 0/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 1: Generic Digital [Generic Digital]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
[followed by NVidia HDMI audio devices that are recognized]
# aplay -L | grep PCH
default:CARD=PCH
HDA Intel PCH, Generic Analog
sysdefault:CARD=PCH
HDA Intel PCH, Generic Analog
front:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
HDA Intel PCH, Generic Analog
surround21:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
HDA Intel PCH, Generic Analog
surround40:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
HDA Intel PCH, Generic Analog
surround41:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
HDA Intel PCH, Generic Analog
surround50:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
HDA Intel PCH, Generic Analog
surround51:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
HDA Intel PCH, Generic Analog
surround71:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
HDA Intel PCH, Generic Analog
iec958:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
HDA Intel PCH, Generic Digital
dmix:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
HDA Intel PCH, Generic Analog
dmix:CARD=PCH,DEV=1
HDA Intel PCH, Generic Digital
dsnoop:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
HDA Intel PCH, Generic Analog
dsnoop:CARD=PCH,DEV=1
HDA Intel PCH, Generic Digital
hw:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
HDA Intel PCH, Generic Analog
hw:CARD=PCH,DEV=1
HDA Intel PCH, Generic Digital
plughw:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
HDA Intel PCH, Generic Analog
plughw:CARD=PCH,DEV=1
HDA Intel PCH, Generic Digital
speaker-test plays audio normally as does aplay -D default:CARD=PCH /usr/share/sounds/alsa/Front_Left.wav
However PulseAudio doesn't see the device at all:
$ pacmd list-sinks
1 sink(s) available.
* index: 0
name: <auto_null>
driver: <module-null-sink.c>
flags: DECIBEL_VOLUME LATENCY DYNAMIC_LATENCY
state: SUSPENDED
suspend cause: IDLE
priority: 1000
volume: front-left: 55705 / 85% / -4.24 dB, front-right: 55705 / 85% / -4.24 dB
balance 0.00
base volume: 65536 / 100% / 0.00 dB
volume steps: 65537
muted: no
current latency: 0.00 ms
max request: 344 KiB
max rewind: 344 KiB
monitor source: 0
sample spec: s16le 2ch 44100Hz
channel map: front-left,front-right
Stereo
used by: 0
linked by: 0
configured latency: 0.00 ms; range is 0.50 .. 2000.00 ms
module: 16
properties:
device.description = "Dummy Output"
device.class = "abstract"
device.icon_name = "audio-card"
When I go to Sound Settings, all I'm seeing is the Dummy Output device. (The nVidia devices are no longer listed here because in rearranging things, I'm using a different monitor without audio so there's no HDMI audio device connected currently.)
I've tried to clearing out the PulseAudio configuration thinking I might have some legacy cruft around via:
rm ~/.pulse/* ~/.config/pulse/*
Debian 9 Stable
I have another partition on this machine which is still running Debian 9 stable, where the Intel HDA works under PulseAudio, and there do appear to be differences in the ALSA drivers vs. Debian 10 so below are the differences I noticed…
# aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: ALC887-VD Analog [ALC887-VD Analog]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 1: ALC887-VD Digital [ALC887-VD Digital]
Subdevices: 0/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
# aplay -L | grep PCH
sysdefault:CARD=PCH
HDA Intel PCH, ALC887-VD Analog
front:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
HDA Intel PCH, ALC887-VD Analog
surround21:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
HDA Intel PCH, ALC887-VD Analog
surround40:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
HDA Intel PCH, ALC887-VD Analog
surround41:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
HDA Intel PCH, ALC887-VD Analog
surround50:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
HDA Intel PCH, ALC887-VD Analog
surround51:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
HDA Intel PCH, ALC887-VD Analog
surround71:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
HDA Intel PCH, ALC887-VD Analog
iec958:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
HDA Intel PCH, ALC887-VD Digital
dmix:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
HDA Intel PCH, ALC887-VD Analog
dmix:CARD=PCH,DEV=1
HDA Intel PCH, ALC887-VD Digital
dsnoop:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
HDA Intel PCH, ALC887-VD Analog
dsnoop:CARD=PCH,DEV=1
HDA Intel PCH, ALC887-VD Digital
hw:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
HDA Intel PCH, ALC887-VD Analog
hw:CARD=PCH,DEV=1
HDA Intel PCH, ALC887-VD Digital
plughw:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
HDA Intel PCH, ALC887-VD Analog
plughw:CARD=PCH,DEV=1
HDA Intel PCH, ALC887-VD Digital
And of course, Debian 9 sees Intel HDA in PulseAudio:
$ pacmd list-sinks
1 sink(s) available.
* index: 2
name: <alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1b.0.iec958-stereo>
driver: <module-alsa-card.c>
flags: HARDWARE HW_MUTE_CTRL DECIBEL_VOLUME LATENCY FLAT_VOLUME DYNAMIC_LATENCY
state: RUNNING
suspend cause:
priority: 9958
volume: front-left: 65536 / 100% / 0.00 dB, front-right: 65536 / 100% / 0.00 dB
balance 0.00
base volume: 65536 / 100% / 0.00 dB
volume steps: 65537
muted: no
current latency: 24.26 ms
max request: 4 KiB
max rewind: 344 KiB
monitor source: 3
sample spec: s16le 2ch 48000Hz
channel map: front-left,front-right
Stereo
used by: 1
linked by: 1
configured latency: 25.00 ms; range is 0.50 .. 1837.50 ms
card: 1 <alsa_card.pci-0000_00_1b.0>
module: 7
properties:
alsa.resolution_bits = "16"
device.api = "alsa"
device.class = "sound"
alsa.class = "generic"
alsa.subclass = "generic-mix"
alsa.name = "ALC887-VD Digital"
alsa.id = "ALC887-VD Digital"
alsa.subdevice = "0"
alsa.subdevice_name = "subdevice #0"
alsa.device = "1"
alsa.card = "0"
alsa.card_name = "HDA Intel PCH"
alsa.long_card_name = "HDA Intel PCH at 0xf5130000 irq 30"
alsa.driver_name = "snd_hda_intel"
device.bus_path = "pci-0000:00:1b.0"
sysfs.path = "/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1b.0/sound/card0"
device.bus = "pci"
device.vendor.id = "8086"
device.vendor.name = "Intel Corporation"
device.product.id = "1e20"
device.product.name = "7 Series/C216 Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller"
device.form_factor = "internal"
device.string = "iec958:0"
device.buffering.buffer_size = "352800"
device.buffering.fragment_size = "176400"
device.access_mode = "mmap+timer"
device.profile.name = "iec958-stereo"
device.profile.description = "Digital Stereo (IEC958)"
device.description = "Built-in Audio Digital Stereo (IEC958)"
alsa.mixer_name = "Realtek ALC887-VD"
alsa.components = "HDA:10ec0887,1458a002,00100302"
module-udev-detect.discovered = "1"
device.icon_name = "audio-card-pci"
ports:
iec958-stereo-output: Digital Output (S/PDIF) (priority 0, latency offset 0 usec, available: unknown)
properties:
active port: <iec958-stereo-output>
So the question is obviously: how do I get the Intel HDA audio working again in PulseAudio with Debian 10? Is this something I can fix from a configuration standpoint or is this a driver issue that needs to be fixed either by the ALSA or PulseAudio maintainers?
Best Answer
I ended up here because of the very same problem, after upgrading from Stretch, the audio disappeared. Similar symptoms and outputs (Nvidia card and Intel HDA sound). While following instructions, though, I've found that I couldn't get this step to work:
I found that the culprit was timidity:
Once I killed it, I could proceed editing
/etc/pulse/default.paand everything snapped into place. I'm still not sure if the issue was the missing PA sink or timidity taking over.I've also considered filing a bug report, but I'm not sure where would be more appropriate. If you have any suggestions, I'll be happy to follow your lead and add my support to the report.
Thank you for sharing the solution!