Sound Problem- Felicia

[Sasafrass452]

I just upgraded to Felicia, & my startup/shutdown sounds don't work. I tried changing the sound settings, but to no avail. Can someone PLEASE help!!

[Sasafrass452]

My email notification sound doesn't work, & flash sound doesn't either. PLEASE HELP!!!

[kwatson512]

Here's how to restore sound at login.

Go to Control center --> System --> Login window. Select the Accessibility tab, and check Login successful. Click on the folder, and select linuxmint-login.wav. Close and you'll have sound at the next boot. I don't know how to restore sound at shutdown.

What program do you use for e-mail? Notification is slightly different depending on the program.

[Sasafrass452]

The sound still doesn't work. I use Thunderbird.

Here's how to restore sound at login.

Go to Control center --> System --> Login window. Select the Accessibility tab, and check Login successful. Click on the folder, and select linuxmint-login.wav. Close and you'll have sound at the next boot. I don't know how to restore sound at shutdown.

What program do you use for e-mail? Notification is slightly different depending on the program.

[kwatson512]

I don't have enough information to help you troubleshoot. Did sound notification in Thunderbird work before you upgraded (i.e. in Mint 5)?

Did you upgrade using the mintupgrader-elyssa-main script?

I just upgraded to Felicia using the upgrader script, and my flash sound doesn't work any more either. My sound worked great (login, e-mail notification, flash, movies, sound files, etc.) in Mint 5, and it works with Ubuntu 8.10 and Fedora 10. (But then we did all read the multiple warnings about the upgrader script!)

I assume you have selected a sound file to play on receipt of mail in Thunderbird (Tools --> Options --> Play a sound --> Browse and select). I discovered that there is no default sound file selected for e-mail notification in Mint 6 (Control center --> Hardware --> Sound --> Sound tab --> Desktop settings). If you click on "default" you can choose "custom" and then browse for a sound file.

I haven't had much luck so far. I've tried selecting a sound file, but now I can't even get sound files to play (to test them). I'm hoping this is an artifact of the upgrade script. I think the script was pretty elegant--it found all the programs I had installed and upgraded them, even though they weren't in the "standard" Mint distro (like Evolution, which I use for e-mail).

I'm going to download the .iso and do a fresh install of Mint 6 to see if that works better. I'll report back tomorrow when I complete that. It would also be interesting to know what hardware you're installing on. Mine is a Lenovo ThinkPad X61s with Intel High Definition Audio (Azalia).

Now, if you're having general sound problems (beyond just the upgrade from Mint 5 to 6), it might be a hardware or driver issue. I recommend going through this Comprehensive Sound Problem Solutions Guide. It's long, but thorough. It worked for me on a Dell XPS 400 PC with a Creative Labs Sound Blaster XFi sound card. BTW, I had no success with ALSA in this setup, and had to switch to OSS.

[Sasafrass452]

Yes, the sound worked before I upgraded. I was using Daryna before, so I have a fresh installation of Felicia. I believe my sound card is a Sound Blaster. I don't know the exact model. Thanx for the link, I'll look into that.

I don't have enough information to help you troubleshoot. Did sound notification in Thunderbird work before you upgraded (i.e. in Mint 5)?

Did you upgrade using the mintupgrader-elyssa-main script?

Now, if you're having general sound problems (beyond just the upgrade from Mint 5 to 6), it might be a hardware or driver issue. I recommend going through this Comprehensive Sound Problem Solutions Guide. It's long, but thorough. It worked for me on a Dell XPS 400 PC with a Creative Labs Sound Blaster XFi sound card. BTW, I had no success with ALSA in this setup, and had to switch to OSS.

[Sasafrass452]

Well, that "comprehensive sound problem solutions guide" isn't so comprehensive to me. I don't have a clue what to do. I'm not an expert, so I just need step by step instructions on how to get this working. If anyone can help, I'd greatly appreciate it!!

[Sasafrass452]

Anyone? Sorry for sounding anxious, but I need sound! PLEASE HELP!!

[kwatson512]

Sasafrass452,

I just did a fresh install of Felicia on my laptop, and have the same issues. No e-mail notification sound, and no sound in flash. So it's not the upgrader script, it's deeper than that. I have Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex) running on a USB thumb drive, and I do not have these issues with that. Mint 6 is based on Intrepid so I don't know where something got broken.

I'm going to go back to my Mint 5 Elyssa install--it worked perfectly. I'll let you know how that works later today.

[kwatson512]

I just reinstalled Mint 5 Elyssa, and everything works again.

Sasafrass452, are you able to download the Mint 5r1 iso and burn it to CD? I think you'll like it even better than Daryna.

For those monitoring this thread, I found a couple of issues with Felicia that prompted me to roll back to Elyssa:
- System did not recognize or adjust to external monitor screen resolution (in my office I use a docking station and external 1200x1600 monitor, USB mouse and keyboard. Elyssa automagically recognizes internal (1024x768), external, or both. Felicia only allowed 1024x768 or lower resolutions in the screen resolution selector in Control center.)
- Sound did not work in flash or for e-mail notification. I did get "successful login" sound to to work, so Pulse Audio/ALSA are compatible with my hardware. I don't believe there is a default e-mail notification sound file. I imported one but couldn't make that work. I tried installing "ubuntu-restricted-extras" (which I use in Ubuntu), but this seemed to break my sound setup completely. Again, this wasn't a problem in Elyssa.

I also have Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex on a USB thumbdrive, and it has neither of these issues.

Mint is my favorite distribution, and I'm working to migrate it completely (work, home, travel, etc.). However, these issues (plus another with VPN using vpnc) need to be resolved. I really like the improvements in networking in Ubuntu8.10/Mint6, but I also like the way vpnc allows separate storage of group and individual passwords in the U8.04/Mint5 version. Much more convenient.

Great work on such a user-friendly and capable distro! I'm sure these are temporary glitches and look forward to solutions from the creative developers on the team.

My hardware: Lenovo Thinkpad x61s, Intel L7500 1.6GHz processor, Intel X3100 graphics, Intel HD Audio, Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965agn, 4GB RAM

[Sasafrass452]

Well, I'd rather not have to go through the trouble of ANOTHER fresh installation, since I just did with Felicia. I have everything installed & set up, so I'd hate to undo it all right now. There must be a way to make it work!

I just reinstalled Mint 5 Elyssa, and everything works again.

Sasafrass452, are you able to download the Mint 5r1 iso and burn it to CD? I think you'll like it even better than Daryna.

For those monitoring this thread, I found a couple of issues with Felicia that prompted me to roll back to Elyssa:
- System did not recognize or adjust to external monitor screen resolution (in my office I use a docking station and external 1200x1600 monitor, USB mouse and keyboard. Elyssa automagically recognizes internal (1024x768), external, or both. Felicia only allowed 1024x768 or lower resolutions in the screen resolution selector in Control center.)
- Sound did not work in flash or for e-mail notification. I did get "successful login" sound to to work, so Pulse Audio/ALSA are compatible with my hardware. I don't believe there is a default e-mail notification sound file. I imported one but couldn't make that work. I tried installing "ubuntu-restricted-extras" (which I use in Ubuntu), but this seemed to break my sound setup completely. Again, this wasn't a problem in Elyssa.

I also have Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex on a USB thumbdrive, and it has neither of these issues.

Mint is my favorite distribution, and I'm working to migrate it completely (work, home, travel, etc.). However, these issues (plus another with VPN using vpnc) need to be resolved. I really like the improvements in networking in Ubuntu8.10/Mint6, but I also like the way vpnc allows separate storage of group and individual passwords in the U8.04/Mint5 version. Much more convenient.

Great work on such a user-friendly and capable distro! I'm sure these are temporary glitches and look forward to solutions from the creative developers on the team.

My hardware: Lenovo Thinkpad x61s, Intel L7500 1.6GHz processor, Intel X3100 graphics, Intel HD Audio, Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965agn, 4GB RAM

[Sasafrass452]

Any ideas?

[Sasafrass452]

I'd appreciate any help I can get, so if anyone has any ideas, please let me know!

Note to the developers: I hope you're reading this, since it seems to be an obvious bug. Others have this issue as well, so I hope it gets fixed REALLY SOON!! I'm not about to wait until the next release of Mint for this to be resolved.... I'm sure a simple update will do the trick. So I'm asking you to PLEASE fix this immediately!! I'm not taking this lightly. I DESPERATELY NEED THIS TO WORK, & if it's not resolved in a timely manner, I'll be going back to Ubuntu.

[Sasafrass452]

*bump*

[newW2]

For the system sound issues check the gconf-editor.
To launch the Configuration editor, enter the following in a terminal:

Code: Select all

gconf-editor 

In the editor panel (left hand side) select: desktop --> gnome --> sound (click on sound)
Make sure the following are checked in the right hand side of the editor panel:
1) enable_esd
Long description = Enable sound server at startup

2) event_sounds
Long description = Whether to play sounds on user events.

[Sasafrass452]

That didn't help. Any other ideas?

For the system sound issues check the gconf-editor.
To launch the Configuration editor, enter the following in a terminal:

Code: Select all

gconf-editor 

In the editor panel (left hand side) select: desktop --> gnome --> sound (click on sound)
Make sure the following are checked in the right hand side of the editor panel:
1) enable_esd
Long description = Enable sound server at startup

2) event_sounds
Long description = Whether to play sounds on user events.

[newW2]

No.

[Sasafrass452]

I'm losing my patience with this, so Ubuntu is starting to look better & better.... Believe me when I say I DON'T want to switch, but I will if this issue isn't resolved immediately. I'm surprised Felicia was released when a standard feature doesn't even work! Any suggestions would be appreciated, so if there's ANYTHING I can do to fix this myself, PLEASE let me know!

[newW2]

You must not have seen the post on this forum that links to the following link on the Ubuntu forum about problems with sound. http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=997506
The post topic title on the Ubuntu forum is: "Intrepid Sound Solutions". There may be something you can do to get the sound working if you follow the suggestions in the Ubuntu post. Here's the opening stanza from that site post:

Intrepid Sound Solution
with multimedia support

If you have just upgraded to or installed Intrepid and you have some sound somewhere, but not everywhere for everything, this is a fast way to get all the missing stuff you need and give you some tools to figure out what is going on. If you hear the startup sound but nothing else, or if some applications work and others don't, this is for you. If you have no sound at all, there is a link at the end of this post for more extensive troubleshooting help but you should try this first anyway as it may solve your problem and will not make matters worse.

[Sasafrass452]

That thread didn't help. Thanx, anyway....

You must not have seen the post on this forum that links to the following link on the Ubuntu forum about problems with sound. http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=997506
The post topic title on the Ubuntu forum is: "Intrepid Sound Solutions". There may be something you can do to get the sound working if you follow the suggestions in the Ubuntu post. Here's the opening stanza from that site post:

Intrepid Sound Solution
with multimedia support

If you have just upgraded to or installed Intrepid and you have some sound somewhere, but not everywhere for everything, this is a fast way to get all the missing stuff you need and give you some tools to figure out what is going on. If you hear the startup sound but nothing else, or if some applications work and others don't, this is for you. If you have no sound at all, there is a link at the end of this post for more extensive troubleshooting help but you should try this first anyway as it may solve your problem and will not make matters worse.