Sound in Linux

[e83]

I raised the following in the Newbies forum and Igorzwx proposed that I enter it for discussion in this Multimedia & Codecs forum:


Sound in Linux

Postby e83 on Wed Sep 23, 2009 8:34 pm
I have spent many hours trying to get sound on my laptop using modern versions of several distros: Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Mint, and Mandriva. Scouring through the forums (without finding a solution that works) it seems the problem lies with PulseAudio. I had no trouble with Ubuntu 7.
In Mandriva, by going to System --> Administration --> Configure your computer --> (Password) --> Hardware --> Sound Configuration it is possible to enable PulseAudio or leave it disabled. Disabling it has given me sound. Why cannot such a mechanism be made available in all distros to help poor souls like me ?

N.B. I have tried removing pulseaudio by the process given inviewtopic.php?f=48&t=3275 but still have no sound.

[igorzwx]

QUOTE: "I have tried removing pulseaudio by the process given inviewtopic.php?f=48&t=3275 but still have no sound."

This may mean (and it is probbly the case) that you have not ALSA driver for your soundcard.

To diagnose the problem, you may type this command on Terminal:

aplay -l

If it tells you such things:

$ aplay -l
aplay: device_list:217: no soundcards found...

you are out of luck.

I got this message on may box, because I do not have any ALSA drives at all.
I have OSS4 drivers instead.

In a word, PulseAudio has nothing to do with drivers.
Whether you have it enabled, or not, it does not solve the problem of drivers.
What is more, you can even run PulseAudio with OSS4
http://martinbaselier.wordpress.com/

ALSA drivers in Mint seem to be a problem, and it might not be easy to find an expert on ALSA or OSS4 on this forum.
I am not an expert on sound systems too.

In any case, this command may provide some useful information:

lspci -v

[e83]

Thanks for the reply. aplay tells me what hardware I have but nothing about ALSA or OSS4

e@e-laptop ~ $ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 0: ALC883 Analog [ALC883 Analog]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 1: ALC268 Digital [ALC268 Digital]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 5: ALC268 Analog [ALC268 Analog]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

Regards,

e83

[igorzwx]

Hi!

You forgot about this command:

lspci -v

EDIT: Could you post also screenshots of Gnome Volume Control (enable all switches in the preferences)?

EDIT: It is probable that you have to upgrade ALSA and/or fix it in some way.
In Mint 7, ALSA is not the latest version.

ALSA Upgrade Script
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=6589810

HdaIntelSoundHowto - Community Ubuntu Documentation
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HdaIntelSoundHowto

EDIT: see also:
No Sound HP Dv2z Built-in Speakers [SOLVED]
1, 2, 3 by keyneom on Wed Sep 23, 2009 3:00 am
http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.p ... 0&start=30
QOUTE:
So I went through and used the ALSA update script and had the

options snd_hda_intel model=hp-dv5

line added into the alsabase.conf file already, after updating (which took almost ridiculously long) both the built-in speakers and the headphones worked perfectly. YES!!!! I'm really really happy about this, I have alot more confidence in Linux now, and feel like I can recommend it to others without many worries. Linux Mint I think is the best representative Linux has right now of the OS for the average Windows user and Linux newbie. Thank you all so much seriously I really appreciate all the help you've provided me with. sorry if I have been slow in learning and getting things figured out, but I hope to one day be able to be on a level similar to that of yours.
End of QUOTE

[e83]

This session has already got too technical for me. Rather than " How do I solve my sound problem?", my question was: Why is there no simple process for removing Pulseaudio in all distros?

[igorzwx]

A very good question!

QUOTE: "Removing pulseaudio is okay for now, but GNOME is becoming increasingly dependent on Pulseaudio. In Ubuntu 9.10, it's a real challenge to go without PulseAudio (I run an Ubuntu 9.10 with OSS4 and the volume control and sound settings dialogs don't run without it.)"
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1229804&page=3