(edited subject) soundcard not functioning on HP laptop

[Immaculate]

regarding printer: no, i didn't. so now i did and it works! printing fine! thank you!

now we are left with only the mic problem... yes i tried doing a skype test call and i could not hear myself not even faintly. and now i have connected a desk mic but i don't know how to configure it (but i really would prefer using the built-in one...)

[900i]

Well I am going to have to pass on the mic problem, as my mic seems to be suffering the same fate as yours and I cannot hear myself when making a test call. Will get back to you. Glad to here the printer is working.

[Immaculate]

ok thanks a lot, i will wait for your reply post... meanwhile ill try asking in one of the ubuntu forums...

thanks again for all the help!

[Immaculate]

a new lead:

turns out that i have two sound cards in my laptop. one for the internal speakers, one for the external connections (mic, line-out). ubuntu must have recognized only one of them. the laptop is HP Pavillion dv6186ea (dv6000 series).

any one has any kind of idea what to do with this new information?

[scorp123]

the laptop is HP Pavillion dv6186ea (dv6000 series).

It seems that this particular model is only available in Israel?

any one has any kind of idea what to do with this new information?

Please open a shell and type this command, put the output here:

Code: Select all

sudo lspci -n

[Immaculate]

i don't know if the model is only in israel. the model is listed in the international HP website.

output after typing the command you gave me:

Code: Select all

00:00.0 0600: 8086:27a0 (rev 03)
00:01.0 0604: 8086:27a1 (rev 03)
00:1b.0 0403: 8086:27d8 (rev 02)
00:1c.0 0604: 8086:27d0 (rev 02)
00:1c.1 0604: 8086:27d2 (rev 02)
00:1c.2 0604: 8086:27d4 (rev 02)
00:1d.0 0c03: 8086:27c8 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 0c03: 8086:27c9 (rev 02)
00:1d.2 0c03: 8086:27ca (rev 02)
00:1d.3 0c03: 8086:27cb (rev 02)
00:1d.7 0c03: 8086:27cc (rev 02)
00:1e.0 0604: 8086:2448 (rev e2)
00:1f.0 0601: 8086:27b9 (rev 02)
00:1f.2 0101: 8086:27c4 (rev 02)
00:1f.3 0c05: 8086:27da (rev 02)
01:00.0 0300: 10de:01d8 (rev a1)
02:00.0 0280: 8086:4222 (rev 02)
05:00.0 0200: 8086:109a
07:05.0 0c00: 1180:0832
07:05.1 0805: 1180:0822 (rev 19)
07:05.2 0880: 1180:0843 (rev 01)
07:05.3 0880: 1180:0592 (rev 0a)
07:05.4 0880: 1180:0852 (rev 05)


[scorp123]

output after typing the command you gave me:

Code: Select all

00:00.0 0600: 8086:27a0 (rev 03)
00:01.0 0604: 8086:27a1 (rev 03)
00:1b.0 0403: 8086:27d8 (rev 02)
00:1c.0 0604: 8086:27d0 (rev 02)
00:1c.1 0604: 8086:27d2 (rev 02)
00:1c.2 0604: 8086:27d4 (rev 02)
00:1d.0 0c03: 8086:27c8 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 0c03: 8086:27c9 (rev 02)
00:1d.2 0c03: 8086:27ca (rev 02)
00:1d.3 0c03: 8086:27cb (rev 02)
00:1d.7 0c03: 8086:27cc (rev 02)
00:1e.0 0604: 8086:2448 (rev e2)
00:1f.0 0601: 8086:27b9 (rev 02)
00:1f.2 0101: 8086:27c4 (rev 02)
00:1f.3 0c05: 8086:27da (rev 02)
01:00.0 0300: 10de:01d8 (rev a1)
02:00.0 0280: 8086:4222 (rev 02)
05:00.0 0200: 8086:109a
07:05.0 0c00: 1180:0832
07:05.1 0805: 1180:0822 (rev 19)
07:05.2 0880: 1180:0843 (rev 01)
07:05.3 0880: 1180:0592 (rev 0a)
07:05.4 0880: 1180:0852 (rev 05)


OK, I am now feeding this to this web page: http://kmuto.jp/debian/hcl/ ... And according to that page you only have one soundcard:
82801G (ICH7 Family) High Definition Audio Controller
... It should work under Linux and the driver module needed has the name snd-hda-intel ... So this should all be working?

Maybe the sound card uses multiple channels? Can you try a different audio mixer software maybe?

[Immaculate]

well, i tried opening the alsamixer in text mode (as i understood that it should show all the options) and there was no difference from the screen-shot i attached earlier (please take a look). i really doubt that a different mixer would work (since they all use the same module) but i can try, what mixer should i try? anyway, the skype program can not use the mic so the problem remains. i think that if it was down to a channel-selection problem then i would have seen the unused channels in the alsamixer.

how can i check if i have the module snd-hda-intel installed? and where can i download it from in case i don't have it? and how do i install it? (linux newbie...)

thanks

[scorp123]

the skype program can not use the mic

Can we try a different program please? e.g. audacity, gnome-sound-recorder, kwave, or anything else that is able to record from a mic? Play around with such programs (maybe the channel setting is really wrong and the mic channel is set to mute?) and try a different microphone. Also, please check if the microphone is connected to the right place ... such errors can happen too.

how can i check if i have the module snd-hda-intel installed?

Open a terminal and type this command:

Code: Select all

lsmod

This will list all drivers currently loaded into your system's memory. If that produces too much output, we can filter the output with grep, e.g.

Code: Select all

lsmod | grep "snd"

This should reduce the messages and only "snd" (= sound) related messages should appear. Search the output for indications on what sound driver is active. When I do that with my system I get e.g. these lines:

Code: Select all

snd_intel8x0           34844  1
snd_ac97_codec         97696  1 snd_intel8x0
snd_cmipci             38304  1
snd_ac97_bus            3456  1 snd_ac97_codec
snd_pcm_oss            47360  0
snd_opl3_lib           12288  1 snd_cmipci
snd_hwdep              10756  1 snd_opl3_lib
snd_pcm                84612  5
( ... rest of the output was cut ... )

... and this tells me that both my soundcards in my system are activated and running. If you look at the first few lines of my output you will notice my two soundcards: snd_intel8x0 and snd_cmipci ... the rest are just generic drivers for wave or MIDI output (e.g. snd_pcm, snd_seq_midi, etc.)

Check your system what output you get there, please.

[900i]

Scorp, I have been looking into this as I have the same problem, mic will not record in any app I have tried. This is a big problem on the Ubuntu forum, with lots of people reporting the same fault, and as yet no solution.

[scorp123]

Scorp, I have been looking into this as I have the same problem, mic will not record in any app I have tried. This is a big problem on the Ubuntu forum, with lots of people reporting the same fault, and as yet no solution.

Hmmmm ... Well ... in my case I am using kmix and I have to make sure the right card is selected and that the mic channel is not mute and actually marked as being the one channel I want to record from. If I leave things "as is" chances are that the wrong channel on the wrong card is active and nothing is recorded.

[Immaculate]

Code: Select all

lsmod | grep snd
snd_hda_intel          20116  1
snd_hda_codec         164608  1 snd_hda_intel
snd_pcm_oss            47360  0
snd_mixer_oss          19584  1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm                84612  3 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_pcm_oss
snd_timer              25348  1 snd_pcm
snd                    58372  8 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_timer
soundcore              11232  1 snd
snd_page_alloc         11400  2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm


installed audacity. could not record, went to the preferences and there in the recording section, i could choose the device. the only option was /dev/dsp .

the mic is internal. works fine on windows. furthermore, when i record on audacity and then try to play back then i get some kind of weird sound, like a whistle but electronic sounding. tried to connect an external mic (and made sure in the right connection) and there was no change.

i tried to download kmix using the add/remove feature, and i got a message as if it downloaded fine, but then i could not find it anywhere in the menu. where on linux do programs get installed? maybe i can find it myself.

[scorp123]

kmix using the add/remove feature, and i got a message as if it downloaded fine, but then i could not find it anywhere in the menu.

"kmix" is a KDE program so chances are that it might not show up in any of the GNOME menus ... Just open a terminal and type: kmix

Mine looks like this (screenshot) -- here you see the various settings I can enable / disable and sound sources that I could select:

[Immaculate]

on the kmix, i accidently selected "hide menu" or something like that and now i can't see the menus (file, settings, help), how do i bring it back? i want to show you a screen-shot

[scorp123]

on the kmix, i accidently selected "hide menu"

Hmmm ... the quickest way would be to close kmix and delete its config file - via terminal this would be this command (please copy & paste):

Code: Select all

rm ~/.kde/share/config/kmixrc

If you don't like the idea of deleting it, OK ... you can edit it as well:

Code: Select all

gedit ~/.kde/share/config/kmixrc

Search for a line that says something like this:

Code: Select all

Menubar= ...

In your case it will probably say Menubar=false ... Change it to: Menubar=true Save the file and exit, start kmix again ... now everything should be normal again.

Regards,
Scorp123

[Immaculate]

when i type "kmix" in the teminal, i get this output:

Code: Select all

X Error: BadDevice, invalid or uninitialized input device 166
  Major opcode:  144
  Minor opcode:  3
  Resource id:  0x0
Failed to open device
X Error: BadDevice, invalid or uninitialized input device 166
  Major opcode:  144
  Minor opcode:  3
  Resource id:  0x0
Failed to open device
kbuildsycoca running...
X Error: BadDevice, invalid or uninitialized input device 166
  Major opcode:  144
  Minor opcode:  3
  Resource id:  0x0
Failed to open device
X Error: BadDevice, invalid or uninitialized input device 166
  Major opcode:  144
  Minor opcode:  3
  Resource id:  0x0
Failed to open device


and then kmix opens up. here is a screenshot of it open:


as you can see i don't have the options you have and there is no way to select a different device/module

[scorp123]

as you can see i don't have the options you have and there is no way to select a different device/module

Hmmm ... Could be that this sound chip isn't really supported fully yet. But you can change the volume, right? Because on your screenshot the volume level for the mic is set to 0 ... Another idea ... Can you try and download the Knoppix Live CD please? Knoppix is "the mother of all Live CD's", these guys started the Live CD's as far as I know. The new Knoppix 5.1 has a newer kernel than LinuxMint and Knoppix is almost legendary for its excellent hardware detection.
http://www.knopper.net/knoppix-mirrors/index-en.html

I wonder if your card works there as expected? If it does work under Knoppix then we could find out what the differences are and what is needed to make this work ... if the card doesn't work in Knoppix either then this really is a compatibility issue.

EDIT:

Correction to my suggestion above. Knoppix 5.1 sucks! They really changed it to the bad. On my shiny new laptop it doesn't recognize half of the devices while LinuxMint, OpenSuSE 10.2 and Mandriva 2007 have no problems with them. Please use a different Live CD, not Knoppix! I suggest Mandriva 2007 due to its excellent hardware recognition abilities ... just to see if this makes a difference for your sound card.

[Immaculate]

thanks for the assistance!

i tried to up the volume, it didn't help at all

i will download the mandriva 2007 liveCD and will report back on the outcome

[Immaculate]

I suggest Mandriva 2007 due to its excellent hardware recognition abilities ... just to see if this makes a difference for your sound card.

hmmmm.... i tried to find a mandriva liveCD download but i found out that it is sold... for real money... can it be true? a linux distro that is sold for cash? and licensed not under the GPL?

anyway, what should i do? i certainly won't pay for a distro just to check my hardware for a few minutes... isn't there a download of a free trial or what-not?

[Alephcat]

there is either this page here to choose a mirror close to you http://www.mandriva.com/en/download/otherdownloads/move or this page although the downloads on this page do not seem to be live distros http://www.mandriva.com/en/download/free