Sound changed to 5:1 instead of 2:1 - No Master

[Legend_bob]

I just built a machine for my parents with Daryna. Everything was working great at my house, including sound over my speakers. So they get it home and now the only sound they hear is really, really faint.

I've had them open the mixer control and there is no Master, only PCM. Also, when you hover the mouse over the speaker icon it says Front: 53%. This makes me think that somehow it thinks there is a 5:1 surround system, which there isn't.

I'm at a loss for what to do now. It seems that if I could just get the Master control to show, that would fix it. Being new to Linux, I'm wondering where I should be looking and what to look for, not to mention how to look .

I've also tried to set up vnc so I can see their system (in another state) but can't seem to connect.

Thanks for any advice.

[Husse]

If you double click the volume control next to the clock you'll open alsamixer (probably)
Under "Edit" > "Settings" you can choose what to show.
Why it changed (if it did) I don't know

[Legend_bob]

That's the strange part. There's no Master in that list, either. That's why I'm stuck now.

[Husse]

Under "Archive" > Change unit > Change to alsamixer
I have a USB headset and OSS mixer also and they don't have a master ...