No sound

**dellthinker** · 07-14-2010

Just when I thought my hardware configuring woes were put to an end, I don't have any sound. Here is my lspci list.

Code:

debian:~# lspci | grep Audio
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) HD Audio Controller (rev 03)

And the aplay -l

Code:

debian:~# aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 0: HDA Generic [HDA Generic]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

I've been googling for hours to find a solution and havn't found anything worth trying out. Does anyone know what is going on or what's not going on with my sound?

**craigevil** · 07-15-2010

go through the ALSA checklist:
1) add yourself to the 'audio' group (log out and log in again)
2) use alsamixer and unmute channels and raise levels (also try muting some channels & toggle jack sense)
3) arts or esound stopped?
4) OSS modules unloaded?
5) speakers on?
6) modprobe snd-pcm-oss
7) does "aplay /usr/share/sounds/alsa/Noise.wav" work for root? Test your sound with aplay and a wav so codec issues don't confuse the situation.

if none of that works try the following.

The following string needs to be added to the /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf file

options snd-hda-intel model=YOUR_MODEL

Valid model names (that replace YOUR_MODEL) depending on the codec chip, can be found

here and here.

You can find your codec chip name using this command

Code:

cat /proc/asound/card*/codec* | grep Codec

Each combination of audio codec, audio mixer and audio device name requires a very specific configuration in the alsa-base.conf file, if the audio chipset does not work out-of-the-box.

To see if there is more than one alsactl executable in your path and remove the wrong/oldest one please copy&paste the following command into a Terminal and press the <enter> key:

Code:

sudo which alsactl

or su if you do not have sudo setup.

Having more than one alsactl can cause your sound settings to be muted during every boot.

**lugoteehalt** · 07-16-2010

Thanks craigevil, that has to be the definitive answer to sound questions. I'm going to put it in my little box, shove it down the front of my slacks, and keep it there forever.

**dellthinker** · 07-16-2010

Thanx for you taking the time to assist me in this headache. I've done what you asked down to the letter.

I'll paste what I've seen.

1) Use is already in audio group
2) Used alsaconf and then alsamixer to un-mute, to no avail.

Originally Posted by craigevil

3) arts or esound stopped?

Huh??

Originally Posted by craigevil

4) OSS modules unloaded?

I'm not sure, how would I go about confirming that?

5) This is the Dell Inspiron 1440 laptop so yes the speakers are on and working prior to me installing Debian Lenny.

6) I ran the modprobe command.
7) I ran the aplay /usr/share/sounds/alsa/Noise.wav as root. Nothing happened.

I got the Codec chip name, what am I supposed to do with it next?

Code:

user@debian:~$ cat /proc/asound/card*/codec* | grep Codec
Codec: IDT ID 7605

I went to those web sites and pretty much got lost, any help on that is appreciated. I also ran this command as root:

Code:

Inferno:~# which alsactl
/usr/sbin/alsactl

It looks like only one source is trying to do the sound. Other than that I'm still soundless. Any ideas?

**lugoteehalt** · 07-19-2010

Originally Posted by dellthinker

Thanx for you taking the time to assist me in this headache. I've done what you asked down to the letter.

I'll paste what I've seen.

1) Use is already in audio group
2) Used alsaconf and then alsamixer to un-mute, to no avail.

Huh??

I'm not sure, how would I go about confirming that?

5) This is the Dell Inspiron 1440 laptop so yes the speakers are on and working prior to me installing Debian Lenny.

6) I ran the modprobe command.
7) I ran the aplay /usr/share/sounds/alsa/Noise.wav as root. Nothing happened.

I got the Codec chip name, what am I supposed to do with it next?

Code:

user@debian:~$ cat /proc/asound/card*/codec* | grep Codec
Codec: IDT ID 7605

I went to those web sites and pretty much got lost, any help on that is appreciated. I also ran this command as root:

Code:

Inferno:~# which alsactl
/usr/sbin/alsactl

It looks like only one source is trying to do the sound. Other than that I'm still soundless. Any ideas?

As far as I know arts, the sound server, is only used with KDE, the desktop environment. It will switch itself off after a delay if it is not being used. You can run it with the command artsd, meaning the arts daemon. To check if it is running do ps -A|grep arts.

Equally esound is the enlightenment sound server - this things are intended to let several things have access to the sound device at the same time: so you might be playing some music but the warning noise when you do something wrong will also happen through the music. Probable start esound with esd, at a guess.

OSS modules - lsmod, list modules, will give a list of loaded modules.

If you use KDE, artsdsp in front of commands, e.g. artsdsp mplayer filename, solves a multitude of problems.

I have a running nightmare with sound, and I've been using Linux for years. Sound is always the bugger.

I ran the aplay /usr/share/sounds/alsa/Noise.wav as root. Nothing happened.

If KDE try putting artsdsp in front.

Start alsamixer, use <tab> to select 'all'. Fiddle with everything in sight. Mute toggle with m. The other, sound source things, with <spacebar>. Fiddle wildly, see if something starts working.

[QUOTE]It looks like only one source
is trying to do the sound. Other than that I'm still soundless./QUOTE]So you do get some sound??

**dellthinker** · 07-19-2010

A bit of an update. After playing around with this situation for some time I finally decided to test my ear buds and check to see if any sound was coming out of them and lo and behold I can hear. Except when I pull the ear buds out of the laptop nothing comes through the speakers _except_ the system beeps. For example when you press the Back or down arrows in a console, you hear the beeps come through the laptop speakers but nothing else. Does anyone have an opinion on what I am experiencing?

**lugoteehalt** · 07-20-2010

You mean sound comes out of earphone things but not loudspeakers, except system beeps?

Problem with ear phone socket - isn't there a mechanical switch in it which switches off the loudspeakers?? Perhaps try roughly shoving in the plug repeatedly. Is the laptop switched to some sort of 'don't use loudspeaker' mode, perhaps look in the BIOS?? Is there some sort of relevant alsamixer, say, thing? Have you looked in the sound section of 'control panel' type thing, these can be counter intuitive and tricky.

**dellthinker** · 07-21-2010

Indeed, I just check my BIOS settings, other than the change I made when I first got the laptop (this is a brand new Inspiron 1440 btw) by switching the AHCI to ATA so I could even install Debian, I've made no other changes. I'll play around with the settings. If I get a break through I'll report.

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