[Pkg-alsa-devel] Bug#428604: alsa-utils: modprobe utils not installed in /usr/lib/alsa

[Moshe Yudkowsky]

Package: alsa-utils
Version: 1.0.14-1
Severity: grave
Justification: renders package unusable


After installing this package, alsa stopped working and would not restart with any of the usual methods; /etc/init.d/alsasound, for example, would simply hang.

I discovered that I had to manually load all the snd* modules, but any attempt to load my particular alsa kernel module failed:

# modprobe snd-via82xx
sh: /usr/lib/alsa/modprobe-post-install: No such file or directory
FATAL: Error running install command for snd_via82xx

FIX: I created the directory /usr/lib/alsa, and then

cp  /etc/alsa/modprobe-post-install.d/alsa-utils /usr/lib/alsa/modprobe-post-install

This allows me to modprobe snd_via82xx, which creates /dev/dsp, and sound is restored.

However, this is a temporary fix. For example,

/etc/init.d/alsasound restart

does not restart the alsa sound system -- the sound system stops but does not come back on, and all snd kernel modules (snd-pcm, etc.) are unloaded. 

Another attempt also fails:

# /etc/init.d/alsa reload
Unloading ALSA sound driver modules: (none loaded).
Loading ALSA sound driver modules: (none to reload).

and

# /etc/init.d/alsa-utils start
Setting up ALSA...done (none loaded).

In other words, none of the automatic support mechanisms seem to work any longer.


-- System Information:
Debian Release: lenny/sid
  APT prefers unstable
  APT policy: (990, 'unstable'), (500, 'testing'), (500, 'stable'), (1, 'experimental')
Architecture: i386 (i686)

Kernel: Linux 2.6.21-1-k7 (SMP w/1 CPU core)
Locale: LANG=C, LC_CTYPE=C (charmap=ANSI_X3.4-1968)
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/bash

Versions of packages alsa-utils depends on:
ii  dialog                    1.1-20070604-1 Displays user-friendly dialog boxe
ii  libasound2                1.0.14-1       ALSA library
ii  libc6                     2.5-10         GNU C Library: Shared libraries
ii  libncurses5               5.6-3          Shared libraries for terminal hand
ii  linux-sound-base          1.0.13-5       base package for ALSA and OSS soun
ii  lsb-base                  3.1-23.1       Linux Standard Base 3.1 init scrip
ii  module-init-tools         3.3-pre11-1    tools for managing Linux kernel mo
ii  modutils                  2.4.27.0-6     Linux module utilities
ii  pciutils                  1:2.2.4-1      Linux PCI Utilities
ii  python                    2.4.4-6        An interactive high-level object-o
ii  whiptail                  0.52.2-10      Displays user-friendly dialog boxe

Versions of packages alsa-utils recommends:
ii  alsa-base                     1.0.13-5   ALSA driver configuration files

-- debconf-show failed