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Author Topic: Making Linux Mint 7 work even better!  (Read 28062 times)

Offline Stefan Pynappels

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Making Linux Mint 7 work even better!
« on: October 23, 2009, 06:02:56 AM »
Ok, this is a continuation from the Windows 7 thread.

We had established that Vista sucked, Windows 7 had good potential, but Linux Mint was also worth looking at. Darren downloaded and tried it, thought it was great but could not get sound to work.

The project now is to get that sorted out for him, but I thought I'd not be cheeky and post this in project logs.........

So First things first:

Can you post make and model of the laptop you are using please Darren? also include details of the Graphics and Sound controllers (Make and model).

It looks like ALSA (sound driver package in Linux) is not recognising your Audio Controller. If we can switch this on you should be good to go.
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Offline Darren

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Re: Making Linux Mint 7 work even better!
« Reply #1 on: October 23, 2009, 06:43:18 AM »
This is what comes up as my audio devices

    High Definition Audio Device
Realtek High Definition Audio
Unimodem Half-Duplex Audio Device


The complete details are below, but the main details are

Asus A7A
AMD Turion 64x2 1.9Ghz 32 bit

Hope that helps?


Don't worry about time on my part, no matter if it takes days as I can swap between Vista and Linux  to keep going :thumbup:










Computer Profile Summary
Computer Name:    Amithea-6jvbczq (in WORKGROUP)
Profile Date:    Friday, October 23, 2009 11:33:37 AM
Advisor Version:    8.1b
Windows Logon:    Administrator
 
Plan for your next computer refresh...
click for Belarc's System Management products
 
Operating System         System Model
Windows Vista Ultimate (build 6000)
Install Language: English (United States)
System Locale: English (United States)         ASUSTeK Computer Inc. A7U 1.0
System Serial Number: NF1S7C25140552
Enclosure Type: Notebook
Processor a         Main Circuit Board b
1.90 gigahertz AMD Turion 64 X2
256 kilobyte primary memory cache
1024 kilobyte secondary memory cache
64-bit ready
Multi-core (2 total)
Not hyper-threaded         Board: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. A7U 1.0
Bus Clock: 200 megahertz
BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. A7UAS.2 10/09/2007
Drives         Memory Modules c,d
250.06 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
199.45 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-T20N ATA Device [CD-ROM drive]
SanDisk Cruzer Fleur USB Device [CD-ROM drive]

SanDisk Cruzer Fleur USB Device (1.02 GB) -- drive 1, s/n 
TOSHIBA MK2552GSX [Hard drive] (250.06 GB) -- drive 0, s/n Y84YT4HPT, rev LV010A, SMART Status: Healthy         1792 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory

Slot 'DIMM0' has 1024 MB
Slot 'DIMM1' has 1024 MB
     Local Drive Volumes
     
      
« Last Edit: October 23, 2009, 07:00:36 AM by Darren »
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Offline Stefan Pynappels

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Re: Making Linux Mint 7 work even better!
« Reply #2 on: October 23, 2009, 06:55:04 AM »
Hi Darren, that is great, I'll get a proper look at it later, but the Realtek Audio driver does sometimes cause issues.

Just as an aside, it is probably better to delete everything below the following section, as there is some personal info there. There is enough info there for me to work on.

Slot 'DIMM0' has 1024 MB
Slot 'DIMM1' has 1024 MB
     Local Drive Volumes
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Offline Stefan Pynappels

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Re: Making Linux Mint 7 work even better!
« Reply #3 on: October 23, 2009, 09:59:03 AM »
Ok, lets try the easiest thing first.  Have you ever user a Linux terminal before? It is basically just you typing command directly to the Operating System, rather than clicking on buttons to do a task. Scary at First!

So, I need you to open a terminal. It will be under Applications or Programs or something, I don't have a Linux Mint machine in front of me at the moment.
Then Click on Terminal and a text window will open. This is the most powerful part of any Linux system.

type in the following, and press enter.

alsamixer

This will give you a very basic graphic mixer, and pushing the Up-Arrow on your keyboard will increase the volume here. Even if you have already done it from the toolbar or desktop, this one is independent. Put it up to maximum.

Now see if you have sound! If not, we will go to the next step.
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Offline Darren

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Re: Making Linux Mint 7 work even better!
« Reply #4 on: October 23, 2009, 10:12:00 AM »
Ok, done that, easy enough.

Master (and all others) already at max but I played with them just to be sure.

No change, still no sound.
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Offline Stefan Pynappels

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Re: Making Linux Mint 7 work even better!
« Reply #5 on: October 23, 2009, 10:23:16 AM »
Ok,
Still in the Terminal, type in the following and press enter:

lspci

And copy and paste the output into a post here so i can have a look at that. I want to just see what the OS thinks the Soundcard is.
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Offline Darren

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Re: Making Linux Mint 7 work even better!
« Reply #6 on: October 23, 2009, 10:24:38 AM »
00:00.0 Host bridge: ATI Technologies Inc RS690 Host Bridge
00:01.0 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc RS690 PCI to PCI Bridge (Internal gfx)
00:04.0 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc Device 7914
00:05.0 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc RS690 PCI to PCI Bridge (PCI Express Port 1)
00:06.0 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc RS690 PCI to PCI Bridge (PCI Express Port 2)
00:07.0 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc RS690 PCI to PCI Bridge (PCI Express Port 3)
00:12.0 SATA controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 Non-Raid-5 SATA
00:13.0 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 USB (OHCI0)
00:13.1 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 USB (OHCI1)
00:13.2 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 USB (OHCI2)
00:13.3 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 USB (OHCI3)
00:13.4 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 USB (OHCI4)
00:13.5 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 USB Controller (EHCI)
00:14.0 SMBus: ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 SMBus Controller (rev 14)
00:14.1 IDE interface: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 IDE
00:14.2 Audio device: ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 Azalia (Intel HDA)
00:14.3 ISA bridge: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 PCI to LPC Bridge
00:14.4 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 PCI to PCI Bridge
00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control
01:05.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc RS690M [Radeon X1200 Series]
01:05.2 Audio device: ATI Technologies Inc Radeon X1200 Series Audio Controller
05:00.0 SATA controller: JMicron Technologies, Inc. JMicron 20360/20363 AHCI Controller (rev 02)
07:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR242x 802.11abg Wireless PCI Express Adapter (rev 01)
08:01.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Ricoh Co Ltd R5C832 IEEE 1394 Controller (rev 05)
08:01.1 SD Host controller: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C822 SD/SDIO/MMC/MS/MSPro Host Adapter (rev 22)
08:01.2 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C843 MMC Host Controller (rev 12)
08:01.3 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C592 Memory Stick Bus Host Adapter (rev 12)
08:01.4 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd xD-Picture Card Controller (rev ff)
08:02.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8110SC/8169SC Gigabit Ethernet (rev 10)
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Offline Stefan Pynappels

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Re: Making Linux Mint 7 work even better!
« Reply #7 on: October 23, 2009, 10:42:33 AM »
Ok, did you see this gives a different Audio Controller? The Windows driver is a more generic driver, but now we know the exact model we are dealing with.
We also see that it is an Intel HDA controller (High Def Audio).
So now we are going to enable the default Intel HDA switch in ALSA (Advanced Linux Sound Architecture). That name is a lie, it is not Advanced, it is a major pain in the arse and has been ever since it was introduced.

In the terminal enter the following:

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

This will open the alsa-base.conf file in the Gedit text editor.

At the very end of that file, you need to add the following:

options snd-hda-intel index=0 model=asus

and then you need to save the file, just use the save button.

You will then need to reboot to allow the new settings to take effect.

Let me know how you get on.
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Offline Darren

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Re: Making Linux Mint 7 work even better!
« Reply #8 on: October 23, 2009, 10:51:52 AM »
OK done that, no change sound wise.

I bow to your knowledge  :bow:, how a new user copes is beyond me? I guess that's where MS keeps the lead....

Checked the file, the changes are still there  :thumbup:
« Last Edit: October 23, 2009, 10:53:28 AM by Darren »
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Offline Stefan Pynappels

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Re: Making Linux Mint 7 work even better!
« Reply #9 on: October 23, 2009, 10:56:17 AM »
Unfortunately this is still something of a problem with Linux, a lot is now plug and play but somethings still take some figuring.

Sorry bout that....

Have to go and do some more work, but will give you something else to try later if you still want to carry on.

Stefan.
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Offline Darren

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Re: Making Linux Mint 7 work even better!
« Reply #10 on: October 23, 2009, 11:00:50 AM »
Sure, so far it's the only thing that I've come across that's an issue, been using it all day  :thumbup:

Just loaded it onto an old laptop for the eldest, she keeps destroying XP with viruses and I'm sick of re-loading it even though I do use clone.

Thought I'd try Linux and see how she gets on? Seems ok so far, I'm sure I heard it make a sound as it was loading? I'll report back on that later.

Thanks for your help..... but don't let me keep you from more important things  :thumbup:
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Offline sorveltaja

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Re: Making Linux Mint 7 work even better!
« Reply #11 on: October 23, 2009, 12:09:30 PM »
Realtek has Linux audio drivers on its site also. Not sure if that package brings any new or better drivers, but here is direct link, because Realtek's site seems to be really slow: ftp://WebUser:pGL7E6v@152.104.238.19/pc/audio/LinuxPkg_5.13.tar.bz2

I remember struggling with same kind of problems with Linux in the past...

P.S Here is link to Realtek's driver site,  just in case that ftp link doesn work: http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=24&PFid=24&Level=4&Conn=3&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false&SortByDesc=1
« Last Edit: October 23, 2009, 12:16:56 PM by sorveltaja »
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Offline CrewCab

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Re: Making Linux Mint 7 work even better!
« Reply #12 on: October 23, 2009, 12:10:19 PM »
Good idea not to clog up the Windows 7 thread chaps

Anyway .................. Darren, how have you got on with installing Linux alongside windows, I'm tempted but don't want to cause a crash I just don't have the time to deal with at the moment, it looks like there is a lot of open source software out there which will work fine for me (Open office, Thunderbird etc), but I will miss my CAD Software, is the only way (without buying new software) to have a dual boot system.

CC
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Offline Darren

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Re: Making Linux Mint 7 work even better!
« Reply #13 on: October 23, 2009, 12:14:12 PM »
Dave the dual boot works flawlessly, I have both Vista and Linux on this machine now.

I also use CAD and a couple of other stuff, but not often. So Vista can be kept for those and Linux for the dangerous surfing ..... :thumbup:

Linux comes with Open Office and most everything else you should need in that download. You won't have to hunt for much  :thumbup: Just no CAD  :(
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Offline CrewCab

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Re: Making Linux Mint 7 work even better!
« Reply #14 on: October 23, 2009, 12:16:02 PM »
Thanks Darren, how does it deal with networking, just simple stuff like shared printers and files etc.

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Offline Darren

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Re: Making Linux Mint 7 work even better!
« Reply #15 on: October 23, 2009, 12:19:12 PM »
Dunno I don't use networking.... but I imagine that would be high priority for the Linux guys?

The wireless networking works with no input from me .... Unlike Vista  :bang:
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Offline Darren

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Re: Making Linux Mint 7 work even better!
« Reply #16 on: October 23, 2009, 12:22:18 PM »
Quote from: sorveltaja on October 23, 2009, 12:09:30 PM
Realtek has Linux audio drivers on its site also. Not sure if that package brings any new or better drivers, but here is direct link, because Realtek's site seems to be really slow: ftp://WebUser:pGL7E6v@152.104.238.19/pc/audio/LinuxPkg_5.13.tar.bz2

I remember struggling what with same kind of problems with Linux in the past...

P.S Here is link to Realtek's driver site,  just in case that ftp link doesn work: http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=24&PFid=24&Level=4&Conn=3&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false&SortByDesc=1

Thanks, I downloaded the file, opened it and started to have nightmares ..... what do I do with it !!!
I'll wait for Stef, but thanks for the info, it might be just what's  needed .... I'm just too simple to comprehend it. Linux has a totally different way of doing things and I've hardly learnt to crawl yet  :lol:
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Offline sorveltaja

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Re: Making Linux Mint 7 work even better!
« Reply #17 on: October 23, 2009, 12:34:34 PM »
Yes I know.. too bad the Realtek doesn't offer the drivers as an RPM-packet or equivalent. It would be the format, that Linux's installer understands, making whole process much simpler to the user.
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Offline Twinsquirrel

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Re: Making Linux Mint 7 work even better!
« Reply #18 on: October 23, 2009, 12:36:25 PM »
Hi all,

Dave CC you could take the plunge without using dual boot by running Linux as a "virtual machine" from within windoze xp/vista/7 by using either sun VirtualBox http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads(free) or VMWare workstation which is a free trial. I run multiple OS's from within XP without much of a performance hit, Ubuntu is much faster than Vista even when it is running as a virtual machine with Vista!!!!!!! One advantage is that it will bridge your existing networking settings from XP into the new OS.

Darren,

I had similar problems with Ubuntu (which I think mint is based on) with sound and it can be a good evenings work to get to the bottom of the problem but it is well worth it in the end. One thing you could try is right clicking on the volume/sound mixer on your desktop,clicking on preferences and making sure that the ALSA mixer is selected NOT OSS which can sometimes happen. I dont wanna make too many more suggestions as Stephan is more up to date than me.


I really hope you have success with this as once you start to learn a little Linux is very rewarding, a little like modding, the more you put in the more you get out.

Dave (DH)
« Last Edit: October 23, 2009, 12:38:14 PM by Twinsquirrel »
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Offline Darren

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Re: Making Linux Mint 7 work even better!
« Reply #19 on: October 23, 2009, 12:55:47 PM »
Hi Dave/Twin

I have spotted that one an tried it, no joy  :doh:
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Offline CrewCab

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Re: Making Linux Mint 7 work even better!
« Reply #20 on: October 23, 2009, 12:59:21 PM »
OK Guys ............. taking the plunge "NOW" ............... wish me luck, if I'm gone for quite some time it may not be going well  :scratch: ............. however we have a backup plan  :wave:

CC
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Offline Darren

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Re: Making Linux Mint 7 work even better!
« Reply #21 on: October 23, 2009, 01:17:31 PM »
 :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Bye Dave, one born every min,  :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Offline CrewCab

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Re: Making Linux Mint 7 work even better!
« Reply #22 on: October 23, 2009, 02:51:30 PM »
I'm back .............   :wave:

Though to be fair this is the backup plan, same 'puter with no changes

I'm in the process of putting together a new machine for my office, currently it has windows XP on it and a few other bits and bobs like open office, and Firefox etc, so it seemed the ideal candidate to play with as there is no data to loose if it all goes "mammary glands" skywards   :bugeye:

It should be cooked in about 15 mins so we'll see  :thumbup:

CC
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Offline CrewCab

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Re: Making Linux Mint 7 work even better!
« Reply #23 on: October 23, 2009, 02:52:22 PM »
Dave / TwinSquirrel, good to see your still alive and kicking mate, welcome back  :wave:

CC
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Offline Twinsquirrel

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Re: Making Linux Mint 7 work even better!
« Reply #24 on: October 23, 2009, 02:56:29 PM »
Thanks Dave,

 I Installed Vista 6 months ago and have been trying to get back on-line since  :)
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