Solved: Another low sound/no sound problem

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LindseyD.
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Solved: Another low sound/no sound problem

Post by LindseyD. »

This is a clean install of Mint 17 KDE.

I seem to have 2 options:
1. Built-in Audio Digital Stereo (HDMI)
2. Built-in Audio Analog Stereo

The HDMI doesn't work at all. The sound on the other is very low.

inxi -v1
System: Host: HP-Pavilion-g6-Notebook-PC Kernel: 3.13.0-24-generic i686 (32 bit)
Desktop: KDE 4.13.1 Distro: Linux Mint 17 Qiana
CPU: Dual core AMD A6-4400M APU with Radeon HD Graphics (-MCP-) clocked at 1700.00 MHz
Graphics: Card-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Trinity [Radeon HD 7520G]
Card-2: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Thames [Radeon HD 7500M/7600M Series]
X.Org: 1.15.1 drivers: ati,radeon (unloaded: fbdev,vesa) Resolution: 1366x768@60.1hz
GLX Renderer: Gallium 0.4 on AMD ARUBA GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 10.1.0
Drives: HDD Total Size: 750.2GB (0.7% used)
Info: Processes: 161 Uptime: 1:17 Memory: 696.8/5530.2MB Client: Shell inxi: 1.8.4

inxi -A
Audio: Card-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] FCH Azalia Controller driver: snd_hda_intel
Card-2: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Trinity HDMI Audio Controller driver: snd_hda_intel
Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture ver: k3.13.0-24-generic

When I try Alsamixer, I'm told:
│ Card: HDA ATI HDMI
│ Chip: ATI R6xx HDMI

In the middle of the screen there's a little box with 00 in it. Underneath the box is < S/PDIF >

I have no idea what any of this means. I only know that with sound pushed to the max, I can barely hear anything. System sounds are a little better, but not much. This laptop also has Win 7 on it, and the sounds are fine there.

I've searched the forums and it seems to be an isue in Mint 17 generally. Hopefully, someone has a solution?
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txba516
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Re: Another low sound/no sound problem

Post by txba516 »

Hi Lindsey,

Please see this thread with the same kind of sound problem and resolution.
http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=90&t=170033

Cheers!
LM17.2 x64 Cinnamon
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LindseyD.
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Re: Another low sound/no sound problem

Post by LindseyD. »

Hi txba516:

I think I did that, following the instructions I found here: http://rodmc.com/?p=1177 (Hard to tell without pictures confirming what to do.)

The sound's a little louder, but awful--very tinny. But at least I can hear it. Won't be watching any operas on this laptop, though :(
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txba516
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Re: Another low sound/no sound problem

Post by txba516 »

Is there any chance the speakers are plugged into the wrong output jack? I've had sound cards where there was a regular audio out jack and a digital audio out jack. If I had it plugged into the wrong outlet I had very weak sound (even turned up all the way) but when moved to the right one, it was blasting out and could be turned down to normal levels. Just a thought.

Cheers!
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LindseyD.
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Re: Another low sound/no sound problem

Post by LindseyD. »

txba516 wrote:Is there any chance the speakers are plugged into the wrong output jack? !
Alas, no. This is a laptop & the speakers are internal. But even if your reply doesn't help me, it could help someone else checking out this thread.
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txba516
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Re: Another low sound/no sound problem

Post by txba516 »

My guess is that the HDMI sound card is taking over as the default sound card output device.
It's a bit messy but you may want to look at these two threads.
http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=196&t=95836
http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=95337

Cheers!
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LindseyD.
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Re: Another low sound/no sound problem

Post by LindseyD. »

txba516 wrote:My guess is that the HDMI sound card is taking over as the default sound card output device.
It's a bit messy but you may want to look at these two threads.
http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=196&t=95836
http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=95337

Cheers!
I hadn't found those when I started searching, so thanks for the links. I think I may solved the low sound problem, but is there a reason the HDMI won't work? Is it just that Linux has no drivers for it? (It's difficult to tell, but I think the sound is better in Windows, which is why I'm asking.)
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txba516
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Re: Another low sound/no sound problem

Post by txba516 »

The HDMI sound card that is detected is actually part of the HDMI interface on your graphics card (since HDMI passes video and audio together). It's not a discrete sound card with its own outputs.
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LindseyD.
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Re: Another low sound/no sound problem

Post by LindseyD. »

txba516, I'm going to impose on your willingness to teach to ask another question.

I'm very low tech, so it's probably a naive question.

From what I've been reading about HDMI, I can't tell if it only applies if I've connected the computer to a TV or other machine with a cable, or if it works within the computer itself--how the audio & video outputs are connected i.e., to the computer's speakers & display. If the latter, should I be looking for an HDMI driver?
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txba516
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Re: Another low sound/no sound problem

Post by txba516 »

The HDMI connection on your video card does not pass audio back into the computer itself. It strictly sends audio and video combined over the HDMI cable to whatever device (monitor/TV/etc) is connected to the other end of the cable.
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LindseyD.
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Re: Another low sound/no sound problem

Post by LindseyD. »

Very clear and understandable, txba516.

Thanks very much.
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