speaker volume very low

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mystmaiden
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speaker volume very low

#1 Post by mystmaiden »

I did have my pup machine hooked up to some fancier speakers (through a kvm that also had my Ubuntu box hooked up to it) and everything worked fine. Nice and loud. I had to move the pup to another room which requires me using some simple speakers but I've used them before and I know they can be loud but now I can just barely hear music played. I turned the volume all the way up with the speaker icon in the tool bar. Is there something else I can do?

thanks

mystmaiden

mystmaiden
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#2 Post by mystmaiden »

I just discovered there is no sound with Gxine at all, though it is not muted...

mystmaiden
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#3 Post by mystmaiden »

oh gosh! Scratch that last bit I do have a little sound in Gxine, I'm embarassed to say when I was fiddling about with different sets of speakers I forgot to plug the last ones back in.

p310don
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#4 Post by p310don »

I have had a similar problem a number of times, and after searching for ages for the hard solutions, I've right clicked that volume icon in the taskbar, and turned up the other volume settings. Check that before you get too carried away.

If its been working before without making any software changes, is there a hardware change? Plugged into the correct port on the sound card/outlet? Dicky cable? Speaker works?

nooby
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#5 Post by nooby »

Puppy Linux over all are less loud than other linux and less loud than Windows too. Has been like that since 2008 or earlier
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
not an ideal solution though

lapis
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#6 Post by lapis »

nooby wrote:Puppy Linux over all are less loud than other linux and less loud than Windows too
Have you tried setting both the master volume and PCM volume to maximum? Mine is plenty loud enough.

nooby
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#7 Post by nooby »

How do I get to the PCM volume? Using CLI terminal console?

I am in Quirky 1.00 now. What do I write in cli?
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
not an ideal solution though

lapis
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#8 Post by lapis »

nooby wrote:How do I get to the PCM volume? Using CLI terminal console?

I am in Quirky 1.00 now. What do I write in cli?
Not sure on Quirky. Under Multimedia there should be a Mixer listed. Maybe Zmixer or sGmixer.

In the terminal you could try entering

Code: Select all

alsamixer

lapis
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#9 Post by lapis »

Looks like Quirky uses Retrovol.
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=50744

but it probably still has Alsamixer which is what I prefer to use anyway.

Also I assume that there still is for CLI

Code: Select all

amixer
Last edited by lapis on Tue 22 Jun 2010, 14:02, edited 1 time in total.

nooby
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#10 Post by nooby »

Both of them Retrovol and Alsamixer says 100 volume and they still are lower output than what other OS distros have.
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
not an ideal solution though

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`f00
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#11 Post by `f00 »

@mystmaiden

external speaker set - if this piece of hwr has one, sometimes that volume knob may need a little back'n'forth to clear the contacts

alsamixer - good idea to run through all the sliders and mutes (mute toggle is the m<key>) while playing a long-ish test source such as an audio cd. If you don't use a microphone, leave that muted/zero'd (occasionally some other slider/mute may affect overall output with various hwr).

depending on puppy version, various simple/intermediate/advanced mixer(s) have been used - I always liked the rt-click sgmixer option (after alsamixer was done) for an intermediate ui.

gxine - somewhere in gxine's prefs you can have it use pcm (or whatever works best for you) for a 'master' volume and have it remember that setting/level when it loads (if I recall correctly).

in a few pups, some other audio driver? than alsa may be used (and it had a reduced volume for some users as well).

@nooby - yah, "alsamixer -run" maybe (you can make a dotdesktop for it so it's always 'on the menu' if not already..)

hth :)

lapis
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#12 Post by lapis »

nooby wrote:Both of them Retrovol and Alsamixer says 100 volume and they still are lower output than what other OS distros have.
You have 100 for both Master and PCM?

If you still need greater volume for video playback then SMplayer has an audio boost feature. Similarly there are music players which can boost volume too.

nooby
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#13 Post by nooby »

sadly my SMplayer fail to run the mp3 I have. But Gxine runs all of them and wma too So that covers al lmy needs.

Gxine seemed to have a boost option too. I set it on 120 % or something don't remember. Didnt seem to help. Sounded as if it clip on high input volume.

Maybe some incompatibility with my hardware.

Anyway it is still true that other linux has higher output volumes. Dramatic differences.
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
not an ideal solution though

lapis
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#14 Post by lapis »

nooby wrote:Gxine seemed to have a boost option too. I set it on 120 % or something don't remember. Didnt seem to help. Sounded as if it clip on high input volume.
Maybe some incompatibility with my hardware
I don't know but you could try in the console the following:

Code: Select all

madplay -a +10 "NameOfYourSong.mp3"
That boosts the volume of the mp3 by 10dB and you can go up to 18db.

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linuxsansdisquedur
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#15 Post by linuxsansdisquedur »

One other thing...is there a command line or a pet to add an equalizer :?: .... my speakers need enforcing low register :?
le max avec le min

mystmaiden
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#16 Post by mystmaiden »

hmm.. I did turn up the volume and amplifier in Gxine. Not sure at all what pcm means though. Sorry. I dug around and found a little bit better speaker in my stash of orphan computer parts and that helped. I believe now that I have the volume turned all the way up in the task bar and Gxine this is now mostly a hardware problem. Not sure, but its my best guess.

Thanks to everyone for the replies!!

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rjbrewer
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#17 Post by rjbrewer »

mystmaiden wrote:hmm.. I did turn up the volume and amplifier in Gxine. Not sure at all what pcm means though. Sorry. I dug around and found a little bit better speaker in my stash of orphan computer parts and that helped. I believe now that I have the volume turned all the way up in the task bar and Gxine this is now mostly a hardware problem. Not sure, but its my best guess.

Thanks to everyone for the replies!!
Pcm is pulse code modulation. "Digits". No digits.....no sound. :)

What version of Puppy are you using.
If it has Alsa mixer in multimedia, you can use that to increase
master and pcm volumes.

Did you try the headphone output into headphones?

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#18 Post by lapis »

linuxsansdisquedur wrote:One other thing...is there a command line or a pet to add an equalizer :?: .... my speakers need enforcing low register :?
I don't know about overall. However, individual applications like Gxine has an equalizer built-in. Others may have an equalizer or bass boost plugin like XMMS has:
http://www.xmms.org/plugins.php?details=66

Mplayer has an equalizer via the commandline but also some mplayer GUIs like GMplayer have it implemented.

Code: Select all

mplayer -af help
will give the full list of audio filters.

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linuxsansdisquedur
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#19 Post by linuxsansdisquedur »

thx lapis :wink: I keep on searching :shock:
le max avec le min

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8-bit
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#20 Post by 8-bit »

I had a like problem with a Toshiba laptop. When I finally ran alsamixer, I found that the output was being directed to the earphone port and not the speaker port.
I moved the earphone volume to zero and the speaker volume slider up and I then had sound.
So you might want to check that.

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