[Pkg-alsa-devel] Bug#481859: alsa-base: ALSA lib pcm_dmix.c:996:(snd_pcm_dmix_open) unable to open slave

[Ross Boylan]

Package: alsa-base
Version: 1.0.16-1.1
Severity: normal

I don't know if the ultimate cause of this problem lies in iceweasel,
KDE, alsa, or the kernel, but this seemed like the best place to report it.

I get this message repeatedly in .xsession-errors:
ALSA lib pcm_dmix.c:996:(snd_pcm_dmix_open) unable to open slave

I originally noticed it when iceweasel kept crashing on startup and
attempting to restore a session, but it continued even with iceweasel
killed.  Disabling the KDE sound system caused the message to stop.

An internet search shows others encountering this exact error message;
the cause and the fix seems elusive.  The reports seem to mention
Intel audio often, and firefox/iceweasel.  I've got both.

One reported said the the intel driver has been unloaded (if I
understand it); lsmod shows it's still in memory for me.

When I restarted the KDE sound system, .xsession-errors showed
unable to connect to sound server
unable to connect to sound server
unable to connect to sound server
unable to connect to sound server
unable to connect to sound server
ALSA lib pcm_dmix.c:996:(snd_pcm_dmix_open) unable to open slave
unable to connect to sound server
unable to connect to sound server
unable to connect to sound server
unable to connect to sound server
unable to connect to sound server
unable to connect to sound server
unable to connect to sound server
unable to connect to sound server
server status: running, will suspend in 54 s
real-time status: not started through real-time wrapper
server buffer time: 40.6349 ms
buffer size multiplier: 1
minimum stream buffer time: 40.6349 ms
auto suspend time: 60 s
audio method: null
sampling rate: 44100
channels: 2
sample size: 16 bits
duplex: half
device: null
fragments: 7
fragment size: 1024

The error messages do not restart, even after I relaunch iceweasel
(though without the problematic site).

-- Package-specific info:
--- Begin additional package status ---
Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge/Hold
| Status=Not/Inst/Cfg-files/Unpacked/Failed-cfg/Half-inst/trig-aWait/Trig-pend
|/ Err?=(none)/Hold/Reinst-required/X=both-problems (Status,Err: uppercase=bad)
||/ Name                             Version                          Description
+++-================================-================================-================================================================================
ii  libasound2                       1.0.16-2                         ALSA library
--- End additional package status ---
--- Begin /proc/asound/version ---
Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version 1.0.15 (Tue Nov 20 19:16:42 2007 UTC).
--- End /proc/asound/version ---
--- Begin /proc/asound/cards ---
 0 [Intel          ]: HDA-Intel - HDA Intel
                      HDA Intel at 0x8d200000 irq 21
--- End /proc/asound/cards ---
--- Begin /dev/snd/ listing ---
total 0
crw-rw---- 1 root audio 116,  0 2008-05-08 04:35 controlC0
crw-rw---- 1 root audio 116, 24 2008-05-16 12:31 pcmC0D0c
crw-rw---- 1 root audio 116, 16 2008-05-16 12:31 pcmC0D0p
crw-rw---- 1 root audio 116, 33 2008-05-08 04:35 timer
--- End /dev/snd/ listing ---

-- System Information:
Debian Release: lenny/sid
  APT prefers testing
  APT policy: (990, 'testing'), (990, 'stable'), (50, 'unstable')
Architecture: i386 (i686)

Kernel: Linux 2.6.24-1-686 (SMP w/2 CPU cores)
Locale: LANG=en_US.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=en_US.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8)
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/bash

Versions of packages alsa-base depends on:
ii  linux-sound-base           1.0.16-1.1    base package for ALSA and OSS soun
ii  lsof                       4.78.dfsg.1-4 List open files
ii  module-init-tools          3.4-1         tools for managing Linux kernel mo

Versions of packages alsa-base recommends:
ii  alsa-utils                    1.0.16-1   ALSA utilities

Versions of packages libasound2 depends on:
ii  libc6                         2.7-10     GNU C Library: Shared libraries

-- no debconf information