USB audio does not output sound even though recognized

[pei7]

I've just installed PC-BSD 7.1-PRERELEASE on my Dell laptop. Right after the installation, the sound card on the notebook works properly. I then want to make use of my Bose USB speaker and set it as the default audio output. Having followed guides from various forums and the FreeBSD handbook, I modified some configurations on my system as follows:
1. Insert snd_uaudio_load="YES" to /boot/loader.conf
2. Insert oss_enable="YES" to /etc/rc.conf

After rebooting the system with the modified confgurations, KDE recognized the USB audio. Through the KDE Sound - System Settings, I set the USB audio as the default and I played again a movie sample using VLC, KMPlayer, and Dragon Player. Anyway, I could not hear any sound coming from the USB speaker.

Below are output from different kind of commands:

# dmesg
Copyright (c) 1992-2008 The FreeBSD Project.
Copyright (c) 1979, 1980, 1983, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
FreeBSD is a registered trademark of The FreeBSD Foundation.
FreeBSD 7.1-PRERELEASE #42: Thu Sep 11 09:07:25 EDT 2008
root@pcbsd:/usr/obj/usr/src/sys/PCBSD
Timecounter "i8254" frequency 1193182 Hz quality 0
CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU T7200 @ 2.00GHz (1997.34-MHz 686-class CPU)
Origin = "GenuineIntel" Id = 0x6f6 Stepping = 6
Features=0xbfebfbff<FPU>
Features2=0xe3bd<SSE3>
AMD Features=0x20100000<NX>
AMD Features2=0x1<LAHF>
Cores per package: 2
real memory = 2145988608 (2046 MB)
avail memory = 2081918976 (1985 MB)
ACPI APIC Table: <DELL>
FreeBSD/SMP: Multiprocessor System Detected: 2 CPUs
cpu0 (BSP): APIC ID: 0
cpu1 (AP): APIC ID: 1
ioapic0: Changing APIC ID to 2
ioapic0 <Version> irqs 0-23 on motherboard
kbd1 at kbdmux0
ath_hal: 0.10.5.6 (AR5210, AR5211, AR5212, AR5416, RF5111, RF5112, RF2413, RF5413, RF2133, RF2425, RF2417)
acpi0: <DELL> on motherboard
acpi0: [ITHREAD]
Timecounter "HPET" frequency 14318180 Hz quality 900
acpi0: reservation of 0, 9fc00 (3) failed
acpi0: reservation of 100000, 7fd93400 (3) failed
Timecounter "ACPI-fast" frequency 3579545 Hz quality 1000
acpi_timer0: <24> port 0x1008-0x100b on acpi0
pcib0: <ACPI> port 0xcf8-0xcff on acpi0
pci0: <ACPI> on pcib0
pcib1: <ACPI> at device 1.0 on pci0
pci1: <ACPI> on pcib1
vgapci0: <VGA> mem 0xed000000-0xedffffff,0xd0000000-0xdfffffff,0xee000000-0xeeffffff irq 16 at device 0.0 on pci1
nvidia0: <GeForce> on vgapci0
vgapci0: child nvidia0 requested pci_enable_busmaster
vgapci0: child nvidia0 requested pci_enable_io
nvidia0: [GIANT-LOCKED]
nvidia0: [ITHREAD]
pci0: <multimedia> at device 27.0 (no driver attached)
pcib2: <ACPI> at device 28.0 on pci0
pci11: <ACPI> on pcib2
pcib3: <ACPI> at device 28.1 on pci0
pci12: <ACPI> on pcib3
wpi0: <Intel> mem 0xecfff000-0xecffffff irq 17 at device 0.0 on pci12
wpi0: Ethernet address: 00:19:d2:d5:ec:3e
wpi0: [ITHREAD]
pcib4: <ACPI> at device 28.3 on pci0
pci13: <ACPI> on pcib4
uhci0: <UHCI> port 0xbf80-0xbf9f irq 20 at device 29.0 on pci0
uhci0: [GIANT-LOCKED]
uhci0: [ITHREAD]
usb0: <UHCI> on uhci0
usb0: USB revision 1.0
uhub0: <Intel> on usb0
uhub0: 2 ports with 2 removable, self powered
uhci1: <UHCI> port 0xbf60-0xbf7f irq 21 at device 29.1 on pci0
uhci1: [GIANT-LOCKED]
uhci1: [ITHREAD]
usb1: <UHCI> on uhci1
usb1: USB revision 1.0
uhub1: <Intel> on usb1
uhub1: 2 ports with 2 removable, self powered
uhci2: <UHCI> port 0xbf40-0xbf5f irq 22 at device 29.2 on pci0
uhci2: [GIANT-LOCKED]
uhci2: [ITHREAD]
usb2: <UHCI> on uhci2
usb2: USB revision 1.0
uhub2: <Intel> on usb2
uhub2: 2 ports with 2 removable, self powered
uhci3: <UHCI> port 0xbf20-0xbf3f irq 23 at device 29.3 on pci0
uhci3: [GIANT-LOCKED]
uhci3: [ITHREAD]
usb3: <UHCI> on uhci3
usb3: USB revision 1.0
uhub3: <Intel> on usb3
uhub3: 2 ports with 2 removable, self powered
ehci0: <Intel> mem 0xffa80000-0xffa803ff irq 20 at device 29.7 on pci0
ehci0: [GIANT-LOCKED]
ehci0: [ITHREAD]
usb4: EHCI version 1.0
usb4: companion controllers, 2 ports each: usb0 usb1 usb2 usb3
usb4: <Intel> on ehci0
usb4: USB revision 2.0
uhub4: <Intel> on usb4
uhub4: 8 ports with 8 removable, self powered
uaudio0: <vendor> on uhub4
uaudio0: audio rev 1.00
pcm0: <USB> on uaudio0
pcib5: <ACPI> at device 30.0 on pci0
pci3: <ACPI> on pcib5
bfe0: <Broadcom> mem 0xecbfe000-0xecbfffff irq 17 at device 0.0 on pci3
miibus0: <MII> on bfe0
bmtphy0: <BCM4401> PHY 1 on miibus0
bmtphy0: 10baseT, 10baseT-FDX, 100baseTX, 100baseTX-FDX, auto
bfe0: Ethernet address: 00:18:8b:c9:d0:71
bfe0: [ITHREAD]
fwohci0: <1394> mem 0xecbfd800-0xecbfdfff irq 19 at device 1.0 on pci3
fwohci0: [FILTER]
fwohci0: OHCI version 1.10 (ROM=0)
fwohci0: No. of Isochronous channels is 4.
fwohci0: EUI64 39:4f:c0:00:10:ea:ec:50
fwohci0: Phy 1394a available S400, 1 ports.
fwohci0: Link S400, max_rec 2048 bytes.
firewire0: <IEEE1394> on fwohci0
fwe0: <Ethernet> on firewire0
if_fwe0: Fake Ethernet address: 3a:4f:c0:ea:ec:50
fwe0: Ethernet address: 3a:4f:c0:ea:ec:50
fwip0: <IP> on firewire0
fwip0: Firewire address: 39:4f:c0:00:10:ea:ec:50 @ 0xfffe00000000, S400, maxrec 2048
sbp0: <SBP> on firewire0
dcons_crom0: <dcons> on firewire0
dcons_crom0: bus_addr 0x7d928000
fwohci0: Initiate bus reset
fwohci0: BUS reset
fwohci0: node_id=0xc800ffc0, gen=1, CYCLEMASTER mode
pci3: <base> at device 1.1 (no driver attached)
pci3: <base> at device 1.2 (no driver attached)
pci3: <base> at device 1.3 (no driver attached)
pci3: <base> at device 1.4 (no driver attached)
isab0: <PCI> at device 31.0 on pci0
isa0: <ISA> on isab0
atapci0: <Intel> port 0x1f0-0x1f7,0x3f6,0x170-0x177,0x376,0xbfa0-0xbfaf irq 17 at device 31.2 on pci0
ata0: <ATA> on atapci0
ata0: [ITHREAD]
ata1: <ATA> on atapci0
ata1: [ITHREAD]
pci0: <serial> at device 31.3 (no driver attached)
cpu0: <ACPI> on acpi0
est0: <Enhanced> on cpu0
p4tcc0: <CPU> on cpu0
cpu1: <ACPI> on acpi0
est1: <Enhanced> on cpu1
p4tcc1: <CPU> on cpu1
acpi_acad0: <AC> on acpi0
battery0: <ACPI> on acpi0
acpi_lid0: <Control> on acpi0
acpi_button0: <Power> on acpi0
acpi_button1: <Sleep> on acpi0
acpi_tz0: <Thermal> on acpi0
atkbdc0: <Keyboard> port 0x60,0x64,0x62,0x66 irq 1 on acpi0
atkbd0: <AT> irq 1 on atkbdc0
kbd0 at atkbd0
atkbd0: [GIANT-LOCKED]
atkbd0: [ITHREAD]
psm0: <PS> flags 0x1000 irq 12 on atkbdc0
psm0: [GIANT-LOCKED]
psm0: [ITHREAD]
psm0: model Generic PS/2 mouse, device ID 0
pmtimer0 on isa0
orm0: <ISA> at iomem 0xc0000-0xcffff pnpid ORM0000 on isa0
ppc0: parallel port not found.
sc0: <System> at flags 0x100 on isa0
sc0: VGA <16>
sio0: configured irq 4 not in bitmap of probed irqs 0
sio0: port may not be enabled
sio0: configured irq 4 not in bitmap of probed irqs 0
sio0: port may not be enabled
sio0 at port 0x3f8-0x3ff irq 4 flags 0x10 on isa0
sio0: type 8250 or not responding
sio0: [FILTER]
sio1: configured irq 3 not in bitmap of probed irqs 0
sio1: port may not be enabled
vga0: <Generic> at port 0x3c0-0x3df iomem 0xa0000-0xbffff on isa0
ums0: <Logitech> on uhub0
ums0: 16 buttons and Z dir.
uhid0: <Logitech> on uhub0
ukbd0: <Microsoft> on uhub0
kbd2 at ukbd0
uhid1: <Microsoft> on uhub0
uhub5: <Broadcom> on uhub1
uhub5: 3 ports with 0 removable, bus powered
ugen0: <Broadcom> on uhub5
ukbd1: <Broadcom> on uhub5
kbd3 at ukbd1
ums1: <Broadcom> on uhub5
ums1: 3 buttons.
uaudio1: <Bose> on uhub3
uaudio1: audio rev 1.00
pcm1: <USB> on uaudio1
uhid2: <Bose> on uhub3
Timecounters tick every 1.000 msec
ipfw2 (+ipv6) initialized, divert enabled, nat loadable, rule-based forwarding firewire0: 1 nodes, maxhop <= 0, cable IRM = 0 (me)
firewire0: bus manager 0 (me)
disabled, default to accept, logging disabled
ad0: 95396MB <Seagate> at ata0-master SATA150
acd0: DVDR <HL> at ata1-master UDMA33
GEOM_LABEL: Label for provider ad0s1 is ntfs/Win'XP.
GEOM_LABEL: Label for provider ad0s2 is msdosfs/ .
acd0: FAILURE - INQUIRY ILLEGAL REQUEST asc=0x24 ascq=0x00 sks=0x40 0x00 0x01
acd0: FAILURE - INQUIRY ILLEGAL REQUEST asc=0x24 ascq=0x00 sks=0x40 0x00 0x01
cd0 at ata1 bus 0 target 0 lun 0
cd0: <HL> Removable CD-ROM SCSI-0 device
cd0: 33.000MB/s transfers
cd0: Attempt to query device size failed: NOT READY, Medium not present
SMP: AP CPU #1 Launched!
Trying to mount root from ufs:/dev/ad0s3a
wpi0: timeout resetting Tx ring 1
wpi0: timeout resetting Tx ring 3
wpi0: timeout resetting Tx ring 4
wpi0: timeout resetting Tx ring 1
wpi0: timeout resetting Tx ring 3
wpi0: timeout resetting Tx ring 4
pcm2: <Intel> mem 0xefffc000-0xefffffff irq 21 at device 27.0 on pci0
pcm2: [ITHREAD]
pcm2: <HDA>
pcm2: <HDA>
wpi0: link state changed to UP

# usbdevs -v
Controller /dev/usb0:
addr 1: full speed, self powered, config 1, UHCI root hub(0x0000), Intel(0x0000), rev 1.00
port 1 addr 2: low speed, power 98 mA, config 1, USB Receiver(0xc518), Logitech(0x046d), rev 42.04
port 2 addr 3: low speed, power 100 mA, config 1, Natural(R) Ergonomic Keyboard 4000(0x00db), Microsoft(0x045e), rev 1.73
Controller /dev/usb1:
addr 1: full speed, self powered, config 1, UHCI root hub(0x0000), Intel(0x0000), rev 1.00
port 1 addr 2: full speed, self powered, config 1, BCM2045B2(0x4500), Broadcom(0x0a5c), rev 1.00
port 1 addr 3: full speed, self powered, config 1, BCM2045(0x8126), Broadcom Corp(0x413c), rev 1.00
port 2 addr 4: full speed, self powered, config 1, product 0x4502(0x4502), Broadcom Corp(0x0a5c), rev 1.00
port 3 addr 5: full speed, self powered, config 1, product 0x4503(0x4503), Broadcom Corp(0x0a5c), rev 1.00
port 2 powered
Controller /dev/usb2:
addr 1: full speed, self powered, config 1, UHCI root hub(0x0000), Intel(0x0000), rev 1.00
port 1 powered
port 2 powered
Controller /dev/usb3:
addr 1: full speed, self powered, config 1, UHCI root hub(0x0000), Intel(0x0000), rev 1.00
port 1 powered
port 2 addr 2: full speed, self powered, config 1, Bose USB Audio(0x1020), Bose Corporation(0x05a7), rev 1.00
Controller /dev/usb4:
addr 1: high speed, self powered, config 1, EHCI root hub(0x0000), Intel(0x0000), rev 1.00
port 1 powered
port 2 powered
port 3 powered
port 4 powered
port 5 addr 2: high speed, power 500 mA, config 1, product 0x08c6(0x08c6), vendor 0x046d(0x046d), rev 80.05
port 6 powered
port 7 powered
port 8 powered

# cat /dev/sndstat
FreeBSD Audio Driver (newpcm: 32bit 2007061600/i386)
Installed devices:
pcm0: <USB> at ? kld snd_uaudio [GIANT] (0p:0v/1r:4v channels default)
mode 3:(input) 1ch, 16/16bit, pcm, 16000Hz
pcm1: <USB> at ? kld snd_uaudio [GIANT] (mixer only)
pcm2: <Intel> at memory 0xefffc000 irq 21 kld snd_hda [20080420_0052] [MPSAFE] (1p:3v/1r:1v channels duplex)

# sysctl hw.snd
hw.snd.latency_profile: 1
hw.snd.latency: 5
hw.snd.report_soft_formats: 1
hw.snd.compat_linux_mmap: 0
hw.snd.feeder_buffersize: 16384
hw.snd.feeder_rate_round: 25
hw.snd.feeder_rate_max: 2016000
hw.snd.feeder_rate_min: 1
hw.snd.verbose: 1
hw.snd.maxautovchans: 16
hw.snd.default_unit: 0
hw.snd.version: 2007061600/i386
hw.snd.default_auto: 0

# kldstat
Id Refs Address Size Name
1 25 0xc0400000 a3d2a4 kernel
2 3 0xc0e3e000 285a8 linux.ko
3 1 0xc0e67000 3818 ulpt.ko
4 1 0xc0e6b000 a184 snd_uaudio.ko
5 3 0xc0e76000 4a55c sound.ko
6 1 0xc0ec1000 70b5ec nvidia.ko
7 1 0xc15cd000 6a5f4 acpi.ko
8 1 0xc5fcc000 7000 linprocfs.ko
9 1 0xc5ff9000 26000 wpifw.ko
10 1 0xc632b000 14000 snd_hda.ko
11 2 0xc63ba000 7d000 osscore.ko
12 1 0xc6440000 26000 hdaudio.ko

# ossinfo
Version info: OSS 4.0 (b1016/200809071507) (0x00040003) BSD
Platform: FreeBSD/i386 7.1-PRERELEASE FreeBSD 7.1-PRERELEASE #42: Thu Sep 11 09:07:25 EDT 2008 root@pcbsd:/usr/obj/usr/src/sys/PCBSD (pcbsd)

Number of audio devices: 0
Number of audio engines: 0
Number of mixer devices: 0

Device objects

Mixer devices

Audio devices

Could someone please help me to solve this problem?

Thank you very much.

[cesium]

You're using a mixture of the OSS and the FreeBSD drivers - both osscore/hdaudio and the snd_* drivers are loaded - so this can't work. You'll need to get rid of one of the sound systems so that they will not conflict.

Second, if you're using OSS on FreeBSD platform, I suggest you try the latest source from the hg repository - there are some improvements which should be useful ( http://www.opensound.com/wiki/index.php ... rom_source shows how to do this. You'll need to install mercurial first - "pkg_add -r -v mercurial" etc.).

[pei7]

Thank you for your reply.

As your recommendation to choose only one sound system, I deleted the entry oss_enable="YES" in /etc/rc.conf. The output from kldstat are exactly the same as my previous post without id 11 (osscore.ko) and 12 (hdaudio.ko). The other output are more or less similar.

I then set the USB audio as the most preferred in KDE Sound - System Settings and tested again the USB audio. KMPlayer and Dragon Player did not output any sound, whereas the VLC output the sound to the notebook speaker through the notebook's sound card.

If I still want to keep using the FreeBSD drivers, what else should be done to make the USB audio work? Should I customize the kernel and recompile it?

Or might it be better to use OSS on FreeBSD platform and build it from the latest source?

[cesium]

Is the "Bose USB speaker" a speaker or a real audio card? If the former, you don't need the usb drivers and should output to hdaudio. If it's a real card, than I'm not sure what to do - I know that OSS supports USB cards only under Linux and Solaris.

[pei7]

It is actually a speaker with a USB interface. Once the USB speaker is plugged-in, operating systems normally notify that there is a new sound card and a new mixer (since there is a line-in there).

Before installing PC-BSD, I had XUbuntu 8.04 with ALSA as the sound system. What I need to do is only setting the new sound card, which is in fact the USB speaker itself, as default.

Is there a way to set a default audio card in FreeBSD global configuration?