No HDMI sound option on 20.1 Cinnamon

[victords]

Hi,

I'm not able to select HDMI as sound output when connected to my TV. I was able to use this same TV with a different notebook also running Linux Mint (though it was version 20 XFCE). I have found other posts on this topic in the forum, but it seems that there is not a single answer and it depends on the notebook model, so I was afraid to try any of the solutions. Here's the output of the commands I found in these other threads:

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$ inxi -Fxz
System:    Kernel: 5.4.0-73-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.3.0 Desktop: Cinnamon 4.8.6 
           Distro: Linux Mint 20.1 Ulyssa base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:   Type: Laptop System: Acer product: Nitro AN517-51 v: V1.33 serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: CFL model: Superb_CFS v: V1.33 serial: <filter> UEFI: Insyde v: 1.33 date: 11/17/2020 
Battery:   ID-1: BAT1 charge: 53.7 Wh condition: 56.0/57.5 Wh (97%) model: LGC AP18E8M status: Discharging 
CPU:       Topology: 6-Core model: Intel Core i7-9750H bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Kaby Lake rev: A L2 cache: 12.0 MiB 
           flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 62399 
           Speed: 800 MHz min/max: 800/4500 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 800 2: 801 3: 800 4: 800 5: 800 6: 800 7: 800 8: 800 
           9: 800 10: 800 11: 800 12: 801 
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel UHD Graphics 630 vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: i915 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0 
           Device-2: NVIDIA TU117M [GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile / Max-Q] vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: nvidia v: 460.73.01 
           bus ID: 01:00.0 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.9 driver: modesetting,nvidia unloaded: fbdev,nouveau,vesa 
           resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: GeForce GTX 1650/PCIe/SSE2 v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 460.73.01 direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel Cannon Lake PCH cAVS vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:1f.3 
           Device-2: NVIDIA driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.1 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-73-generic 
Network:   Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: r8169 
           v: kernel port: 3000 bus ID: 07:00.0 
           IF: enp7s0 state: down mac: <filter> 
           Device-2: Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel port: 3000 bus ID: 08:00.0 
           IF: wlp8s0 state: up mac: <filter> 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 476.94 GiB used: 23.87 GiB (5.0%) 
           ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Western Digital model: PC SN520 SDAPNUW-512G-1014 size: 476.94 GiB 
Partition: ID-1: / size: 164.01 GiB used: 12.27 GiB (7.5%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 
           ID-2: /home size: 303.39 GiB used: 11.58 GiB (3.8%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p3 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 47.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: nvidia temp: 36 C 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Info:      Processes: 310 Uptime: 12m Memory: 31.20 GiB used: 1.54 GiB (4.9%) Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.3.0 
           Shell: bash v: 5.0.17 inxi: 3.0.38 

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$ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: ALC255 Analog [ALC255 Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

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$ pacmd list-cards
1 card(s) available.
    index: 0
	name: <alsa_card.pci-0000_00_1f.3>
	driver: <module-alsa-card.c>
	owner module: 7
	properties:
		alsa.card = "0"
		alsa.card_name = "HDA Intel PCH"
		alsa.long_card_name = "HDA Intel PCH at 0xa4510000 irq 157"
		alsa.driver_name = "snd_hda_intel"
		device.bus_path = "pci-0000:00:1f.3"
		sysfs.path = "/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1f.3/sound/card0"
		device.bus = "pci"
		device.vendor.id = "8086"
		device.vendor.name = "Intel Corporation"
		device.product.id = "a348"
		device.product.name = "Cannon Lake PCH cAVS"
		device.form_factor = "internal"
		device.string = "0"
		device.description = "Built-in Audio"
		module-udev-detect.discovered = "1"
		device.icon_name = "audio-card-pci"
	profiles:
		input:analog-stereo: Analog Stereo Input (priority 65, available: unknown)
		output:analog-stereo: Analog Stereo Output (priority 6500, available: unknown)
		output:analog-stereo+input:analog-stereo: Analog Stereo Duplex (priority 6565, available: unknown)
		off: Off (priority 0, available: unknown)
	active profile: <output:analog-stereo+input:analog-stereo>
	sinks:
		alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1f.3.analog-stereo/#0: Built-in Audio Analog Stereo
	sources:
		alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1f.3.analog-stereo.monitor/#0: Monitor of Built-in Audio Analog Stereo
		alsa_input.pci-0000_00_1f.3.analog-stereo/#1: Built-in Audio Analog Stereo
	ports:
		analog-input-internal-mic: Internal Microphone (priority 8900, latency offset 0 usec, available: unknown)
			properties:
				device.icon_name = "audio-input-microphone"
		analog-input-headset-mic: Headset Microphone (priority 8800, latency offset 0 usec, available: no)
			properties:
				device.icon_name = "audio-input-microphone"
		analog-output-speaker: Speakers (priority 10000, latency offset 0 usec, available: unknown)
			properties:
				device.icon_name = "audio-speakers"
		analog-output-headphones: Headphones (priority 9900, latency offset 0 usec, available: no)
			properties:
				device.icon_name = "audio-headphones"

Other useful info: I have already tried installing pavucontrol, as suggested in other topics, and the HDMI option also doesn't show up there. Another thing that I don't know whether it's useful is that the HDMI display does show up in the Nvidia settings app.

Can someone point me in the right direction to solve this issue?

Thanks in advance!

[SMG]

I'm not able to select HDMI as sound output when connected to my TV. I was able to use this same TV with a different notebook also running Linux Mint (though it was version 20 XFCE). I have found other posts on this topic in the forum, but it seems that there is not a single answer and it depends on the notebook model, so I was afraid to try any of the solutions.

Are you familiar with taking Timeshift snapshots? That would revert your system back if a change does not produce an output you want.

I do not know if it would help, but a kernel upgrade is a fairly easy change to undo. Your computer's cpu is new enough you may get better performance by using the 5.8 kernel which is available in Update Manager.

Open Update Manager. Select View > Linux Kernels and click Continue. Make sure 5.8 is selected on the left panel and then click the top-most option on the right panel. An "Install" button will appear. Install the kernel and then reboot for it to become active.

[victords]

Hi, thanks for the reply.
I installed kernel 5.8 and everything seems ok, but there was no change regarding the HDMI sound...

[SMG]

I do not normally troubleshoot audio issues, so I do not have other ideas.

Here is a guide about Timeshift and the Settings if you would like to take a system snapshot and try some of the other ideas you found.

Maybe someone else will post with ideas.