Re: Sound problems on Tiger Lake
On 12/4/20 4:23 PM, stan via users wrote:
On Fri, 4 Dec 2020 13:39:23 -0800
Samuel Sieb <samuel(a)sieb.net> wrote:
> On 12/4/20 12:49 PM, stan via users wrote:
>> Does
>> aplay -l
>> show that alsa loaded modules to control this device? If it didn't,
>> then no sound will be possible, as alsa handling is not available
>> yet.
>
> His lspci output shows that there are kernel modules loaded for the
> device.
Quibble. Sure, but if alsa isn't using those kernel modules, if the
alsa library has no interface to interact with those kernel modules
correctly, nothing will happen. Yes, alsa and the kernel usually are
coordinated so it happens seamlessly, but if it doesn't, there will be
no sound. I admit that I should have worded it as 'alsa recognized
this device', since alsa doesn't load any modules.
It's a little unclear, but ALSA (the sound card drivers) is part of the
kernel. ALSA (the libraries) is separate. So there's not really a
possibility of "ALSA not using the kernel modules". Either the kernel
modules work with the hardware or they don't. If they do, then, barring
some bug, the ALSA library can talk to the hardware. The kernel modules
provide a specific, standard interface that the library uses.
So, yes, the output of "aplay -l" is definitely useful. But there are
no modules that ALSA is going to be loading other than the kernel
modules that are already loaded.