iMac - No sound through internal speakers most of the time

[RandomJerk]

I'm facing a really strange issue that has existed on various versions of Mint(from 17.x to 18.2 currently) and even on Ubuntu. I have an iMac 21.5 running Mint 18.2 running Kernel 4.10.10-041010-generic(occurs across various kernels too from 4.4 to 4.8 ).

Selection_005.png

Shown above are my sound settings. This is not an issue where in the default audio out changes to HDMI or an unrelated output option. The default option remains correctly as 'Built in Speakers'. The issue is that most of the time there is no audio coming out of the speakers in-spite of the correct option being selected.To fix the issue, I have to go to sound settings, and switch the selection between HDMI, Digital Output and Built in Speakers multiple times, before it starts working. Sometimes, it might work on the 3rd selection of 'Built in Speakers' and sometimes it might work only on the 15th selection. If I were playing a youtube video with the sound working, and then switch to a different youtube video or play a local video on VLC, the sound stops working again, and I need to repeat the earlier selection process again manually till it works. Below is more relevant information from my device.

Output of aplay -l

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aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: HDMI [HDA Intel HDMI], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: HDMI [HDA Intel HDMI], device 7: HDMI 1 [HDMI 1]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: HDMI [HDA Intel HDMI], device 8: HDMI 2 [HDMI 2]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: CS4206 Analog [CS4206 Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 1: CS4206 Digital [CS4206 Digital]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

Output of pacmd list-cards

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pacmd list-cards
2 card(s) available.
    index: 0
	name: <alsa_card.pci-0000_00_03.0>
	driver: <module-alsa-card.c>
	owner module: 6
	properties:
		alsa.card = "0"
		alsa.card_name = "HDA Intel HDMI"
		alsa.long_card_name = "HDA Intel HDMI at 0x98810000 irq 39"
		alsa.driver_name = "snd_hda_intel"
		device.bus_path = "pci-0000:00:03.0"
		sysfs.path = "/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:03.0/sound/card0"
		device.bus = "pci"
		device.vendor.id = "8086"
		device.vendor.name = "Intel Corporation"
		device.product.id = "0d0c"
		device.product.name = "Crystal Well HD Audio Controller"
		device.form_factor = "internal"
		device.string = "0"
		device.description = "Built-in Audio"
		module-udev-detect.discovered = "1"
		device.icon_name = "audio-card-pci"
	profiles:
		output:hdmi-stereo: Digital Stereo (HDMI) Output (priority 5400, available: unknown)
		output:hdmi-surround: Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI) Output (priority 300, available: unknown)
		output:hdmi-surround71: Digital Surround 7.1 (HDMI) Output (priority 300, available: unknown)
		output:hdmi-stereo-extra1: Digital Stereo (HDMI 2) Output (priority 5200, available: unknown)
		output:hdmi-surround-extra1: Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI 2) Output (priority 100, available: unknown)
		output:hdmi-surround71-extra1: Digital Surround 7.1 (HDMI 2) Output (priority 100, available: unknown)
		output:hdmi-stereo-extra2: Digital Stereo (HDMI 3) Output (priority 5200, available: unknown)
		off: Off (priority 0, available: unknown)
	active profile: <output:hdmi-stereo-extra2>
	sinks:
		alsa_output.pci-0000_00_03.0.hdmi-stereo-extra2/#0: Built-in Audio Digital Stereo (HDMI 3)
	sources:
		alsa_output.pci-0000_00_03.0.hdmi-stereo-extra2.monitor/#0: Monitor of Built-in Audio Digital Stereo (HDMI 3)
	ports:
		hdmi-output-0: HDMI / DisplayPort (priority 5900, latency offset 0 usec, available: no)
			properties:
				device.icon_name = "video-display"
		hdmi-output-1: HDMI / DisplayPort 2 (priority 5800, latency offset 0 usec, available: no)
			properties:
				device.icon_name = "video-display"
		hdmi-output-2: HDMI / DisplayPort 3 (priority 5700, latency offset 0 usec, available: yes)
			properties:
				device.icon_name = "video-display"
				device.product.name = "iMac"
    index: 1
	name: <alsa_card.pci-0000_00_1b.0>
	driver: <module-alsa-card.c>
	owner module: 7
	properties:
		alsa.card = "1"
		alsa.card_name = "HDA Intel PCH"
		alsa.long_card_name = "HDA Intel PCH at 0x98814000 irq 38"
		alsa.driver_name = "snd_hda_intel"
		device.bus_path = "pci-0000:00:1b.0"
		sysfs.path = "/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1b.0/sound/card1"
		device.bus = "pci"
		device.vendor.id = "8086"
		device.vendor.name = "Intel Corporation"
		device.product.id = "8c20"
		device.product.name = "8 Series/C220 Series Chipset High Definition Audio Controller"
		device.form_factor = "internal"
		device.string = "1"
		device.description = "Built-in Audio"
		module-udev-detect.discovered = "1"
		device.icon_name = "audio-card-pci"
	profiles:
		input:analog-stereo: Analog Stereo Input (priority 60, available: unknown)
		output:analog-stereo: Analog Stereo Output (priority 6000, available: unknown)
		output:analog-stereo+input:analog-stereo: Analog Stereo Duplex (priority 6060, available: unknown)
		output:iec958-stereo: Digital Stereo (IEC958) Output (priority 5500, available: unknown)
		output:iec958-stereo+input:analog-stereo: Digital Stereo (IEC958) Output + Analog Stereo Input (priority 5560, available: unknown)
		off: Off (priority 0, available: unknown)
	active profile: <output:analog-stereo+input:analog-stereo>
	sinks:
		alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1b.0.analog-stereo/#1: Built-in Audio Analog Stereo
	sources:
		alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1b.0.analog-stereo.monitor/#1: Monitor of Built-in Audio Analog Stereo
		alsa_input.pci-0000_00_1b.0.analog-stereo/#2: Built-in Audio Analog Stereo
	ports:
		analog-input-mic: Microphone (priority 8700, latency offset 0 usec, available: unknown)
			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 9000, latency offset 0 usec, available: no)
			properties:
				device.icon_name = "audio-headphones"
		iec958-stereo-output: Digital Output (S/PDIF) (priority 0, latency offset 0 usec, available: unknown)
			properties:

Here's the strange thing. The below command sometimes plays the sound on the Built in Speakers, but doesn't play it most of the time although the output says that its playing the Wav file.

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aplay -D plughw:1,0 /usr/share/sounds/alsa/Front_Left.wav
Playing WAVE '/usr/share/sounds/alsa/Front_Left.wav' : Signed 16 bit Little Endian, Rate 48000 Hz, Mono

So, the issue doesn't seem to be with the selection of the proper sound device(which is hw:1,0 in this case), but something not pumping the audio to the speakers even after the proper device has been selected. No amount of reboots fix this issue. Any help is appreciated. Feel free to ask for more information if you need any.

[CaptainKirksChair]

I have an iMac 9.1 and my sound works perfectly with Mint 18.1 Cinnamon. Here is the output of inxi -Fxz

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System:    Kernel: 4.4.0-53-generic x86_64 (64 bit gcc: 5.4.0)
           Desktop: Cinnamon 3.2.7 (Gtk 3.18.9-1ubuntu3.2) Distro: Linux Mint 18.1 Serena
Machine:   System: Apple product: iMac9 1 v: 1.0
           Mobo: Apple model: Mac-F2218EA9 Bios: Apple v: IM91.88Z.008D.B08.0904271717 date: 04/27/09
CPU:       Dual core Intel Core2 Duo E8135 (-MCP-) cache: 6144 KB
           flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 10612
           clock speeds: max: 2660 MHz 1: 1596 MHz 2: 1862 MHz
Graphics:  Card: NVIDIA C79 [GeForce 9400] bus-ID: 03:00.0
           Display Server: X.Org 1.18.4 drivers: nouveau (unloaded: fbdev,vesa) Resolution: 1680x1050@60.00hz
           GLX Renderer: Gallium 0.4 on NVAC GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 11.2.0 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio:     Card NVIDIA MCP79 High Definition Audio driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:08.0
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.4.0-53-generic
Network:   Card-1: NVIDIA MCP79 Ethernet driver: forcedeth port: 21e0 bus-ID: 00:0a.0
           IF: enp0s10 state: down mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Broadcom BCM4322 802.11a/b/g/n Wireless LAN Controller driver: wl bus-ID: 04:00.0
           IF: wlp4s0 state: up mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 320.1GB (6.4% used) ID-1: /dev/sda model: WDC_WD3200AAJS size: 320.1GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 34G used: 5.8G (19%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5
           ID-2: /boot size: 969M used: 60M (7%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2
           ID-3: /home size: 256G used: 11G (5%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda6
           ID-4: swap-1 size: 3.15GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda4
RAID:      No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 33.0C mobo: N/A gpu: 59.0
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: 1197
Info:      Processes: 188 Uptime: 12 min Memory: 530.0/7728.3MB Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 5.4.0
           Client: Shell (bash 4.3.461) inxi: 2.2.35

Do the same for your system and post it back here.

[RandomJerk]

Thanks for the response. Below is the output of inxi -Fxz

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System:    Host: MacMintHero Kernel: 4.10.10-041010-generic x86_64 (64 bit gcc: 6.2.0)
           Desktop: Cinnamon 3.4.1 (Gtk 3.18.9-1ubuntu3.3) Distro: Linux Mint 18.2 Sonya
Machine:   System: Apple product: iMac14 1 v: 1.0
           Mobo: Apple model: Mac-031B6874CF7F642A v: iMac14 1
           Bios: Apple v: IM141.88Z.0118.B12.1509081313 date: 09/08/2015
CPU:       Quad core Intel Core i5-4570R (-MCP-) cache: 4096 KB
           flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 21550
           clock speeds: max: 3200 MHz 1: 2700 MHz 2: 2744 MHz 3: 2729 MHz 4: 2699 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Intel Device 0d22 bus-ID: 00:02.0
           Display Server: X.Org 1.18.4 drivers: intel (unloaded: fbdev,vesa) Resolution: 1920x1080@59.93hz
           GLX Renderer: Mesa DRI Intel Haswell Desktop GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 12.0.6 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio:     Card-1 Intel 8 Series/C220 Series High Definition Audio Controller
           driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
           Card-2 Intel Crystal Well HD Audio Controller driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:03.0
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.10.10-041010-generic
Network:   Card-1: Broadcom BCM4360 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter driver: wl bus-ID: 02:00.0
           IF: wlp2s0 state: up mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Broadcom NetXtreme BCM57766 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe driver: tg3 v: 3.137 bus-ID: 03:00.0
           IF: enp3s0f0 state: down mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 1000.2GB (12.8% used) ID-1: /dev/sda model: APPLE_HDD_HTS541 size: 1000.2GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 92G used: 16G (18%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5
           ID-2: /home size: 466G used: 91G (21%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda7
           ID-3: swap-1 size: 15.00GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda6
RAID:      No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 57.0C mobo: N/A
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info:      Processes: 261 Uptime: 6 min Memory: 2718.2/7922.6MB Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 5.4.0
           Client: Shell (bash 4.3.461) inxi: 2.2.35 

[CaptainKirksChair]

I only have a single audio card, the nVidia. The weird thing is, my card is using the same driver as your two Intel audio cards. Have you tried disabling one of the audio cards? Maybe it's a conflict between the two.

[RandomJerk]

I only have a single audio card, the nVidia. The weird thing is, my card is using the same driver as your two Intel audio cards. Have you tried disabling one of the audio cards? Maybe it's a conflict between the two.

I dont think I tried to disable the other audio card, but tried to flip the default one to the one I want, by editing /etc/asound.conf and adding the following commands:

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defaults.pcm.card 1
defaults.pcm.device 0
defaults.ctl.card 1

It still didn't help. As posted earlier, this is not an issue with the wrong device being selected. This is an issue where in even after the right device has been selected, there is no sound most of the time, although it works sometimes.

[RandomJerk]

Any ideas from anyone? Thanks in advance for the help

[twodogs]

I am having same problem. I'm on the 24" model.

[RandomJerk]

Any one else facing the same issues? Any solutions please ?

[WestCork]

I know this was over 2 years ago, but, yes, I'm having exactly the same problems.

[MrEen]

Hi WestCork,

Let's see your output of inxi -Fxz and aplay -l please.