Dell Inspiron 530s has no sound

[Russell55]

Hi everyone. LM 19 newbie here and now realise just how green I am/???
No sound on this machine since installation as a trial.
Output from 'inxi -Fxz' & 'aplay -l' follow;

~$ inxi -Fxz
System: Host: mertsdell Kernel: 4.15.0-42-generic x86_64
bits: 64 gcc: 7.3.0
Desktop: Cinnamon 3.8.9 (Gtk 3.22.30-1ubuntu1)
Distro: Linux Mint 19 Tara
Machine: Device: desktop System: Dell product: Inspiron 530s serial: N/A
Mobo: Dell model: 0RY007 v: ��� serial: N/A
BIOS: Dell v: 1.0.3 date: 07/12/2007
CPU: Dual core Intel Core2 Duo E6550 (-MCP-)
arch: Conroe rev.11 cache: 4096 KB
flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 9309
clock speeds: max: 2331 MHz 1: 1994 MHz 2: 1994 MHz
Graphics: Card: Intel 82G33/G31 Express Integrated Graphics Controller
bus-ID: 00:02.0
Display Server: x11 (X.Org 1.19.6 )
drivers: intel (unloaded: modesetting,fbdev,vesa)
Resolution: 1680x1050@59.95hz
OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel G33
version: 1.4 Mesa 18.0.5 Direct Render: Yes
Audio: Card Intel 82801I (ICH9 Family) HD Audio Controller
driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.15.0-42-generic
Network: Card: Intel 82562V-2 10/100 Network Connection
driver: e1000e v: 3.2.6-k port: fe00 bus-ID: 00:19.0
IF: enp0s25 state: down mac: <filter>
Drives: HDD Total Size: 500.1GB (4.2% used)
ID-1: /dev/sda model: ST3500630AS size: 500.1GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 455G used: 17G (4%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/dm-0
ID-2: swap-1 size: 3.21GB used: 0.00GB (0%)
fs: swap dev: /dev/dm-1
RAID: No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors: System Temperatures: cpu: 40.0C mobo: N/A
Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info: Processes: 172 Uptime: 2:00 Memory: 1475.0/2991.1MB
Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 7.3.0
Client: Shell (bash 4.4.191) inxi: 2.3.56


~$ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 0: ALC888 Analog [ALC888 Analog]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

Yes its an old BIOS and having troubles updating to 1.0.15 - another forum I think.
Any help with sound will be appreciated.
Thanks.

[Hoser Rob]

Thaty is indeed an old machine and unfortunately Linux has been removing kernel support for old hardware a lot lately. This has nothing to do with Mint, it's the kernel project, and any distro using such a recent kernel is affected. I'd reinstall using 18.3 since this isn't likely going to be the last issue with this you'll have. And a BIOS update wouldn't really help all that much overall.

WHen and if you reinstall, don't install the Cinnamon version. That's not written for old hardware, it has pretty much the same system requirements as WIn 7/8/10. INstall the Xfce or Mate version and turn off all the desktop compositing.

[thx-1138]

.....................................

...not the guy to guide you through this in a straightforward manner,
(linux audio quirks troubleshooting usually make my head explode), but i'd start by:
1) at first, make sure the card is not muted in alsamixer...and then,
2) xed admin:///etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf - see if modifying it as per here makes a difference after rebooting.
Similar past case / instructions with this model here as well...

Code: Select all

alias snd-card-0 snd-hda-intel
options snd-hda-intel model=6stack-dell

[MrEen]

Hi Russell55.

I'd just like to slightly modify the very good replies you've received so far.

If you end up needing to go to an 18.x version of Mint, start with 18 Sarah then upgrade it to 18.3 so you'll have the 4.4 kernel. 18.3 comes with the 4.10 kernel that is no longer supported and you'll end up right back where you are kernel-wise.

As thx-1138 said, start with alsamixer to check for mutes (just type alsamixer in the terminal and hit Enter.) Muted columns will have MM at the bottom. Use the right arrow key to move to any muted column then press the m key to toggle mute. You can also use the up arrow to increase volume afterwards if necessary.

If it's not a mute problem, start a song or video, then in the terminal run pacmd list-sinks and paste the output back here.

When pasting large blocks of text, please enclose the results in-between [ⅽode] and [/ⅽode] code markers by selecting </> from the mini toolbar above the textbox where you type your reply.

Good luck.

[Russell55]

Thanks for your time guys. I'll give your recommendations a go and let you know the result. Commands 1st then new install maybe.