Sound disappeared from new system

[Budtom]

Hi. I've been around linux mint for awhile and even figured out a problem last year. Anyway my son was excited to join in a brand new computer build for his aging MacG4 and get LinuxMint9! We used all new parts, MSIG31tm-p21 mobo, dual-core Intel processor and nice new case etc. All was going smoothly, installed Mint9, booted, runs really, really fast! So he was watching youtube rock videos, listening to his mp3's and later that day he comes to me and says
"I don't have sound anymore?" Ahh, ok. Well, we'll reboot. No-go. Try some troublshooting, running the Alsamixer from terminal, still no sound? So maybe the mobo crapped out, new out of the box? I tried a livecd of Mint8, no sound, but that doesn't convice me it's broken.
So the questions are:
Without installing Windows and seeing if I have sound, is there another live-distro to test with that uses other linux drivers because Mint doesn't give sound.
I've read about a lot of sound problems, specifically the IntelHD audio that this board uses. Anything else I could try?
He really doesn't want to use windows, but without finding out if the board is bad (which I suspect it isn't, don't know yet) it appears Mint won't work; or maybe any Linux if there are issues with IntelHD audio.
Any help is much appreciated.
Thx

[kei84]

I had the same problem with Mint 9. I did a fresh install and suddenly lost sound. Rebooting didn't work.
So I removed pulseaudio and after a reboot, I got sound back.

[Dave68]

@kei84,

What did you replace Pulse Audio with, and how much trouble was it? I read somewhere that Pulse Audio was a nightmare to remove. I am having this same issue with a fresh Isadora Install on a Compaq v6000, AMD 64 Bit. Please point me in the right direction to resolve this issue.

Thanks.
Dave

[Budtom]

Thanks kei84 and Dave. Did you guys have sound after install, then lost it? Because if there is an issue and no resolution we may not be able to use Linux [cringe].

[Dave68]

Budtom,

The only Sound problem I am having currently is on my son's AMD 64 Laptop. Everything works beautifully on my Desktop install, and everyday I find more and more Linux Compatible replacements for my OpenSource Windows Software. Eventually Windows will go away for me, and I'll be dedicated Linux.

Thanks,
Dave

[Budtom]

Dave
Agreed. All else is working beautifully on this system. However for a teenager who plays guitar and records music, not having sound is a reason to find another computer My question was - Did you have sound, and then lose it? Because searching many linux forums there seems to be an issue with the IntelHD that hasn't been fully debugged or resolved yet. Still hit and miss. I am very familiar with Linux, far from an expert, but this particular system needs sound. My system on the other hand doesn't even have speakers hooked to it. Or maybe they're off? You get the picture..

[Dave68]

I apologize for my misunderstanding. To answer your question:

On The Desktop: I have always had Sound.
On The Laptop: I have very minimal Sound, and have found some workarounds, as well as some troubleshooting Information. I am under the impression that it has something to do with Pulse Audio. I've seen it in this Forum, as well as the Ubuntu Forum.

I have never just had sound, then lost it as you describe, but I'm still pretty new to the whole Linux OS.

Hope This Clears Things Up,
Thanks,
Dave

[kei84]

I removed Pulseaudio and then installed Esound.

After a reboot, I got my sound back.

[Dave68]

kei84: Thanks, I'll give that a try.

Thanks Again,
Dave

[det4100]

I have seen this issue on some laptops with Mint 9, that after a reboot, the sound will quit. I have found that clicking on the sound preferences, if your using the ALSA mixer, you may see an option to use "Amplified" or "non Amplified". (Or something worded similar) If you are using the internal speakers, choose Non Amplified or no amplifier. If using external speakers, try the other one. I only saw this with laptops. I don't know why the option changes after a reboot. Maybe this will help.

det4100