Codec and mixer: Realtek ALC662 rev1 - Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) HD Audio Controller [8086:3a3e] - no sound through headphones or speakers on Dell vostro 420 in Ubuntu 9.04

Hi,

In order to gather essential troubleshooting information about your sound card, please first follow this procedure:

Step 1: Open Terminal from "Applications->Accessories->
Terminal"

Step 2: Run the following command (copy/paste the following command into the Terminal and then hit <enter> -> this is a single command)

wget -O alsa-info.sh http://www.alsa-project.org/alsa-info.sh && bash alsa-info.sh

When the alsa-info.sh script asks "Do you want to run this script? [y/n]", press y and then hit <enter> to make sure the script actually runs. Please send us the full terminal output after the script has actually run.

Step 3: Run the following command (copy-paste the line below into a Terminal, press enter, then enter password when sudo asks for password, then press enter again)

cat /proc/asound/cards; sudo aptitude install gnome-alsamixer asoundconf-gtk alsa-utils; asoundconf list; aplay -l; ls -lart /dev/snd; cat /dev/sndstat; lspci -nn; lsmod | grep snd

Step 4: Please post results (copy/paste terminal output) on this thread

Step 5: Please also report on this thread if you cannot hear sound through the speakers, the headphones or cannot hear sound on both.

Step 6: If you are using a dual boot system (with Windows and Ubuntu installed on separate partitions),
then make sure to set the sound volume in Windows to a high level before booting into Ubuntu.
Also make sure to use the special function keys in Windows to make sure the loudspeakers are physically switched ON and working properly in Windows before installing and testing Ubuntu. This step is necessary with certain Toshiba Tecra laptops.

Step 7: Experiment with the audio settings in gnome-alsamixer and asoundconf-gtk until you get sound (hopefully)

Step 8: In System/Administration/Users and Groups , make sure that your user and the root user are members of the following 5 groups:

 pulse
 pulse-access
 pulse-rt
 audio
 video

Step 9: Run the command gnome-volume-control and set the Sound Theme to "No sounds" (Sound Theme is also accessible via System > Preferences > Sound)

=======================================================================================

Please also read the following pages

http://www.ubuntugeek.com/sound-solutions-for-ubuntu-904-jaunty-users.html

http://doc.ubuntu-fr.org/audio_intel_hda (check for correct /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf options at bottom of this page)

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SoundTroubleshooting

for some initial suggestions.

You should add the following string to the /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf file

options snd-hda-intel model=YOUR_MODEL

Valid model names (that replace YOUR_MODEL) depending on the codec chip, can be found at

http://kernel.ubuntu.com/git?p=ubuntu/ubuntu-jaunty.git;a=blob_plain;f=Documentation/sound/alsa/ALSA-Configuration.txt

If you do not know your codec chip name, you can execute the following Terminal command to find out:

cat /proc/asound/card*/codec* | grep Codec

Each combination of audio codec, audio mixer and audio device name requires a very specific configuration in the alsa-base.conf file, if the audio chipset does not work out-of-the-box.

Make sure to set all channels to high volume levels in gnome-alsamixer.

Make sure all the different speakers (including 'Front', 'Master', and 'PCM") are NOT muted and NOT set to low volume levels.

Kind regards,

Mark

Hi Mark. Thanks for responding. i ran d script and the result is in the following link

http://www.alsa-project.org/db/?f=7afa08c1d664616633f1fac528b1b075e3ff5927

the terminal output after running these commands

"cat /proc/asound/cards; sudo aptitude install gnome-alsamixer
asoundconf-gtk alsa-utils; asoundconf list; aplay -l; ls -lart /dev/snd;
cat /dev/sndstat; lspci -nn; lsmod | grep snd"

 0 [Intel ]: HDA-Intel - HDA Intel
                      HDA Intel at 0xfe8f8000 irq 22
 1 [HDMI ]: HDA-Intel - HDA ATI HDMI
                      HDA ATI HDMI at 0xfe9ec000 irq 17
bash:  sudo: command not found
Names of available sound cards:
Intel
HDMI
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 0: ALC662 Analog [ALC662 Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 1: ALC662 Digital [ALC662 Digital]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: HDMI [HDA ATI HDMI], device 3: ATI HDMI [ATI HDMI]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
total 0
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116, 2 2009-06-22 10:19 timer
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116, 3 2009-06-22 10:19 seq
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116, 4 2009-06-22 10:19 pcmC0D1p
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116, 5 2009-06-22 10:19 pcmC0D0p
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116, 6 2009-06-22 10:19 pcmC0D0c
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116, 7 2009-06-22 10:19 controlC0
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116, 8 2009-06-22 10:19 pcmC1D3p
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116, 9 2009-06-22 10:19 controlC1
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 200 2009-06-22 10:19 .
drwxr-xr-x 16 root root 4440 2009-06-22 10:50 ..
Sound Driver:3.8.1a-980706 (ALSA v1.0.18rc3 emulation code)
Kernel: Linux bioinfo-desktop 2.6.28-13-generic #44-Ubuntu SMP Tue Jun 2 07:57:31 UTC 2009 i686
Config options: 0

Installed drivers:
Type 10: ALSA emulation

Card config:
HDA Intel at 0xfe8f8000 irq 22
HDA ATI HDMI at 0xfe9ec000 irq 17

Audio devices:
0: ALC662 Analog (DUPLEX)

Synth devices: NOT ENABLED IN CONFIG

Midi devices: NOT ENABLED IN CONFIG

Timers:
31: system timer

Mixers:
0: Realtek ALC662 rev1
1: ATI ATI R6xx HDMI
00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation 4 Series Chipset DRAM Controller [8086:2e20] (rev 03)
00:01.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 4 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port [8086:2e21] (rev 03)
00:1a.0 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 [8086:3a37]
00:1a.1 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5 [8086:3a38]
00:1a.2 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB UHCI Controller #6 [8086:3a39]
00:1a.7 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2 [8086:3a3c]
00:1b.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) HD Audio Controller [8086:3a3e]
00:1c.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) PCI Express Port 1 [8086:3a40]
00:1c.1 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) PCI Express Port 2 [8086:3a42]
00:1c.2 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) PCI Express Port 3 [8086:3a44]
00:1d.0 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 [8086:3a34]
00:1d.1 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 [8086:3a35]
00:1d.2 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 [8086:3a36]
00:1d.7 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1 [8086:3a3a]
00:1e.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge [8086:244e] (rev 90)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation 82801JIR (ICH10R) LPC Interface Controller [8086:3a16]
00:1f.2 SATA controller [0106]: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) SATA AHCI Controller [8086:3a22]
00:1f.3 SMBus [0c05]: Intel Corporation 82801JI (ICH10 Family) SMBus Controller [8086:3a30]
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: ATI Technologies Inc Mobility Radeon HD 3450 [1002:95c5]
01:00.1 Audio device [0403]: ATI Technologies Inc RV620 Audio device [Radeon HD 34xx Series] [1002:aa28]
03:00.0 SATA controller [0106]: JMicron Technologies, Inc. JMicron 20360/20363 AHCI Controller [197b:2363] (rev 03)
03:00.1 IDE interface [0101]: JMicron Technologies, Inc. JMicron 20360/20363 AHCI Controller [197b:2363] (rev 03)
04:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller [10ec:8168] (rev 02)
snd_hda_intel 434100 1
snd_pcm_oss 46336 0
snd_mixer_oss 22656 1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm 82948 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm_oss
snd_seq_dummy 10756 0
snd_seq_oss 37760 0
snd_seq_midi 14336 0
snd_rawmidi 29696 1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_midi_event 15104 2 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi
snd_seq 56880 6 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_timer 29704 2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device 14988 5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq
snd 62628 11 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_seq_oss,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
soundcore 15200 1 snd
snd_page_alloc 16904 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm

I cannot hear sound in both, headphones and speakers..

hi Mark, the step 8 which u told, the user and root user are members of
 pulse
 pulse-access
 pulse-rt

but audio and video is missing. Should i add them? if so, what will be the group id for those two (audio and video)?

Hi,

Please try this procedure:

1. copy-paste the following command into the Terminal:

gksudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf

2. and add these lines to the end of the /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf file:

# Keep snd-pcsp from being loaded as first soundcard
options snd-pcsp index=-2
alias snd-card-0 snd-hda-intel
alias sound-slot-0 snd-hda-intel
options snd-hda-intel model=3stack-6ch-dig
options snd-hda-intel enable_msi=1

3. Then navigate to System>Preferences>Sound and change everything to ALSA

4. reboot and retest sound

5. In the Mixer control panel, make sure to unmute all channels and increase the volume on all channels

6. If the 3stack-6ch-dig alsa-base.conf option does not work, please try one of the following model options, reboot your pc and retest sound:

 ALC662/663
   3stack-dig 3-stack (2-channel) with SPDIF
   3stack-6ch 3-stack (6-channel)
   3stack-6ch-dig 3-stack (6-channel) with SPDIF
   6stack-dig 6-stack with SPDIF
   lenovo-101e Lenovo laptop
   eeepc-p701 ASUS Eeepc P701
   eeepc-ep20 ASUS Eeepc EP20
   ecs ECS/Foxconn mobo
   m51va ASUS M51VA
   g71v ASUS G71V
   h13 ASUS H13
   g50v ASUS G50V
   asus-mode1 ASUS
   asus-mode2 ASUS
   asus-mode3 ASUS
   asus-mode4 ASUS
   asus-mode5 ASUS
   asus-mode6 ASUS
   auto auto-config reading BIOS (default)

7. Also try connecting the external speakers or headphones to a different audio jack on the sound card and retest sound

Regards,

Mark

i tried that mark, it didnt workout. I just dont hear anything.. :(

Hi,

Please try this procedure then:

1. copy-paste the following command into the Terminal:

gksudo gedit /etc/asound.conf

2. and add these lines to the end of the /etc/asound.conf file (which may not exist yet):

pcm.!default {
type hw
card 0
device 0
}

pcm.pulse {
    type pulse
}
ctl.pulse {
    type pulse
}
pcm.!default {
    type pulse
}
ctl.!default {
    type pulse
}

3. Save the change and reboot and retest sound.

4. If it still does not work, try the following /etc/asound.conf configuration, save the change, reboot and retest sound again:

pcm.!default {
type hw
card 0
device 1
}

pcm.pulse {
    type pulse
}
ctl.pulse {
    type pulse
}
pcm.!default {
    type pulse
}
ctl.!default {
    type pulse
}

Regards,

Mark

added these too. but still no sound.

Mark, when i installed Ubuntu, it automatically detected and suggested to install a driver for video. ATI/AMD proprietary FGLRX graphics driver. but no driver for audio was suggested. Is this an issue?

Hi,

It is not an issue that no driver for audio was suggested during or after the install of Ubuntu, because audio devices are normally supported out-of-the-box by the Linux kernel and alsa. It is normally a matter of no configuration at all or a minor reconfiguration of the alsa-base.conf file.

Are you sure you tried every single one of these model options?

You need to save the alsa-base.conf file, reboot and retest sound after each change to the alsa-base.conf file.

ALC662/663
   3stack-dig 3-stack (2-channel) with SPDIF
   3stack-6ch 3-stack (6-channel)
   3stack-6ch-dig 3-stack (6-channel) with SPDIF
   6stack-dig 6-stack with SPDIF
   lenovo-101e Lenovo laptop
   eeepc-p701 ASUS Eeepc P701
   eeepc-ep20 ASUS Eeepc EP20
   ecs ECS/Foxconn mobo
   m51va ASUS M51VA
   g71v ASUS G71V
   h13 ASUS H13
   g50v ASUS G50V
   asus-mode1 ASUS
   asus-mode2 ASUS
   asus-mode3 ASUS
   asus-mode4 ASUS
   asus-mode5 ASUS
   asus-mode6 ASUS
   auto auto-config reading BIOS (default)

I also see you have 2 audio mixers and maybe Ubuntu is sending audio output to the wrong audio device as a default setting. Or maybe the headphone cable is connected to the wrong audio jack/port on the wrong audio card. There are several possibilities.

Regards,

Mark

hey Mark, I have a question. previously i installed other versions of ubuntu, 8.04 and 8.10 in my Dell vostro 420. but i had d same sound issue in all versions. but when i used the same disc to install in other computers, they worked fine, no problem in hearing sound. why s that? maybe some issue with hardware in my new computer?

Hi,

That's because your Dell Vostro 420 contains audio hardware that is different from the audio hardware in your other computers. The audio hardware in the other pc's works better in Ubuntu because their hardware is different and better supported.

Linux simply supports certain audio hardware better than others.

Regards,

Mark

i tried out all those model options, it still doesn't work. also, when i did "system testing" under system>administrator, it didnt not test my system sound.. dono whats happening..

Hi Mark

Thakns very much for your information. Updating ALSA with your link

http://monespaceperso.org/blog-en/2009/05/09/upgrade-alsa-1020-on-ubuntu-jaunty-904/

did work very well on my Vostro 420. After that there was super sound.

Kind regards

Beat

thanks a lot Mark, upgrading the alsa worked.. :) Thank u so much..

Thanks Mark Rijckenberg, that solved my question.

Just wanted to say thanks to Mark on this one, really helped me after a couple of hours of serious pain and searching! Good deal :).

Saravanan and/or Luke, could you please post the current contents of your /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf so I can see what you ended up with?

I'm in the same boat (Vostro 420, Ubuntu 9.04, no sound -- though my sound actually used to work fine, I think it died in the latest round of recommended system updates). My specs are all the same as saravanan's, and I'd already tried most of these steps, including the upgrade to alsa 1.0.20, by the time I found this thread. After trying the remainder of Mark's suggestions here (like /etc/asound.conf) still no love for me. I am reduced to trying every combination of snd-hda-intel options I can think of. What do you guys have?

thanks

holy crap, my problem turned out to be embarrassingly stupid. Sort of.

In my early attempts to fix this, I somehow lost the standard speaker icon in the top right panel that gives you the audio mixer. I didn't bother about it much, instead using alsamixer in terminal to check my levels. And every time I checked the levels, this tiny voice in my head said "make sure mute isn't enabled", but I didn't see anything that said "mute" anywhere, so I would always just decide it wasn't muted.

Well gee whiz, it turns out that "MM" at the bottom of a channel means mute. And you type "m" to toggle it. Oookay. I didn't even discover that until I specifically looked it up in the alsamixer documentation, which I didn't think to do until I installed and ran gnome-alsamixer (as a random measure of desperation) which actually has a checkbox that actually says "Mute".

So 3 failures combined to make me a victim of the oldest and retarded-est problem in the history of electronic sound:

1. A standard system update (via Update Manager) muted my master volume

2. The standard (?) desktop mixer disappeared in the middle of troubleshooting (I think in one of my attempts to restart alsa?) and I never figured out how to get it back.

3. The alsamixer ncurses interface is just graphic enough to make you think you know what you're doing, when you really don't.

I'm probably the only person in the world that will have this same exact problem, but figured I'd post anyway, in case. FWIW, I ended up with "model=3stack-6ch-dig" in alsa-base.conf, though I bet it doesn't even matter now that &%# mute is off.

guh.