Codec + Mixer: Realtek ALC888 - ALC888 Analog [ALC888 Analog] Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) HD Audio Controller [8086:293e] (rev 02) - no sound on Dell Inspiron 530 Mini Tower in Ubuntu 8.10 - using ALSA driver version 1.0.21

At least, I think it died. When I try the Sound Tests, all I hear is some crackling. If this still might be a driver issue, I'd be happy to try to fix it.

Are you hearing any system sounds? when you open sound preferences in 9.10 sound effects and change themes does it make a difference? Does going to system>preferences>multimedia systems selector 1.show the correct plugin 2.show the correct device 3. show the same pipeline as aplay -l and aplay -L

I don't have a preference on card just chip I like the CMI chips

My 'System/Preferences/' does not have a selection for 'Multimedia systems selector'. How would I add it? Is that something added in Ubuntu 9.04?

Let's first try to fix your sound issue. Maybe the audio chip is not broken.

Please send us output from step 3 and step 4 from the following procedure:

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

Here is the info you requested. After upgrading the ALSA driver, the sound started working again.

~$ bash alsa-info.sh --pastebin
ALSA Information Script v 0.4.58
--------------------------------

This script visits the following commands/files to collect diagnostic
information about your ALSA installation and sound related hardware.

  dmesg
  lspci
  lsmod
  aplay
  amixer
  alsactl
  /proc/asound/
  /sys/class/sound/
  ~/.asoundrc (etc.)

See 'alsa-info.sh --help' for command line options.

Automatically upload ALSA information to pastebin? [y/N] : y
Uploading information to www.pastebin.ca ... Done!

Your ALSA information is located at http://pastebin.ca/1665195
~$ cat /proc/asound/cards; sudo aptitude install paman gnome-alsamixer alsa-utils flashplugin-nonfree-extrasound; aplay -l; sudo lshw -C sound; ls -lart /dev/snd; cat /dev/sndstat; lspci -nn; sudo which alsactl; sudo fuser -v /dev/dsp /dev/snd/* ; dpkg -S bin/slmodemd; lsmod | grep snd
 0 [Intel ]: HDA-Intel - HDA Intel
                      HDA Intel at 0xfdff4000 irq 22
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Initializing package states... Done
Writing extended state information... Done
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  flashplugin-nonfree-extrasound gnome-alsamixer libgconfmm-2.6-1c2{a} libglademm-2.4-1c2a{a} libpulse-mainloop-glib0{a}
  padevchooser{a} paman paprefs{a} pavucontrol{a} pavumeter{a} pulseaudio-module-zeroconf{a}
The following packages will be REMOVED:
  discover1-data{u} libdb4.4++{u} libdb4.4-dev{u}
0 packages upgraded, 11 newly installed, 3 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 385kB of archives. After unpacking 934kB will be freed.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n/?] y
Writing extended state information... Done
Get:1 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com intrepid/multiverse flashplugin-nonfree-extrasound 0.0.svn2431-3 [8160B]
Get:2 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com intrepid/universe gnome-alsamixer 0.9.7~cvs.20060916.ds.1-1 [55.6kB]
Get:3 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com intrepid/main libgconfmm-2.6-1c2 2.24.0-0ubuntu1 [31.1kB]
Get:4 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com intrepid/main libglademm-2.4-1c2a 2.6.6-1 [21.1kB]
Get:5 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com intrepid-updates/main libpulse-mainloop-glib0 0.9.10-2ubuntu9.4 [23.9kB]
Get:6 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com intrepid/universe paman 0.9.4-1ubuntu1 [95.3kB]
Get:7 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com intrepid-updates/main pulseaudio-module-zeroconf 0.9.10-2ubuntu9.4 [17.8kB]
Get:8 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com intrepid/universe paprefs 0.9.6-2ubuntu1 [31.6kB]
Get:9 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com intrepid/universe pavucontrol 0.9.6+svn20080426-1ubuntu1 [51.1kB]
Get:10 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com intrepid/universe pavumeter 0.9.3-1ubuntu1 [29.2kB]
Get:11 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com intrepid/universe padevchooser 0.9.3-2ubuntu3 [20.2kB]
Fetched 385kB in 1s (216kB/s)
(Reading database ... 197567 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing discover1-data ...
Removing libdb4.4++ ...
Removing libdb4.4-dev ...
Selecting previously deselected package flashplugin-nonfree-extrasound.
(Reading database ... 197537 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking flashplugin-nonfree-extrasound (from .../flashplugin-nonfree-extrasound_0.0.svn2431-3_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package gnome-alsamixer.
Unpacking gnome-alsamixer (from .../gnome-alsamixer_0.9.7~cvs.20060916.ds.1-1_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package libgconfmm-2.6-1c2.
Unpacking libgconfmm-2.6-1c2 (from .../libgconfmm-2.6-1c2_2.24.0-0ubuntu1_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package libglademm-2.4-1c2a.
Unpacking libglademm-2.4-1c2a (from .../libglademm-2.4-1c2a_2.6.6-1_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package libpulse-mainloop-glib0.
Unpacking libpulse-mainloop-glib0 (from .../libpulse-mainloop-glib0_0.9.10-2ubuntu9.4_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package paman.
Unpacking paman (from .../paman_0.9.4-1ubuntu1_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package pulseaudio-module-zeroconf.
Unpacking pulseaudio-module-zeroconf (from .../pulseaudio-module-zeroconf_0.9.10-2ubuntu9.4_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package paprefs.
Unpacking paprefs (from .../paprefs_0.9.6-2ubuntu1_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package pavucontrol.
Unpacking pavucontrol (from .../pavucontrol_0.9.6+svn20080426-1ubuntu1_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package pavumeter.
Unpacking pavumeter (from .../pavumeter_0.9.3-1ubuntu1_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package padevchooser.
Unpacking padevchooser (from .../padevchooser_0.9.3-2ubuntu3_i386.deb) ...
Processing triggers for man-db ...
Setting up flashplugin-nonfree-extrasound (0.0.svn2431-3) ...
Setting up gnome-alsamixer (0.9.7~cvs.20060916.ds.1-1) ...

Setting up libgconfmm-2.6-1c2 (2.24.0-0ubuntu1) ...

Setting up libglademm-2.4-1c2a (2.6.6-1) ...

Setting up libpulse-mainloop-glib0 (0.9.10-2ubuntu9.4) ...

Setting up paman (0.9.4-1ubuntu1) ...

Setting up pulseaudio-module-zeroconf (0.9.10-2ubuntu9.4) ...
Setting up paprefs (0.9.6-2ubuntu1) ...

Setting up pavucontrol (0.9.6+svn20080426-1ubuntu1) ...

Setting up pavumeter (0.9.3-1ubuntu1) ...

Setting up padevchooser (0.9.3-2ubuntu3) ...

Processing triggers for libc6 ...
ldconfig deferred processing now taking place
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Reading extended state information
Initializing package states... Done
Writing extended state information... Done

**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 0: ALC888 Analog [ALC888 Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 1: ALC888 Digital [ALC888 Digital]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
  *-multimedia
       description: Audio device
       product: 82801I (ICH9 Family) HD Audio Controller
       vendor: Intel Corporation
       physical id: 1b
       bus info: pci@0000:00:1b.0
       version: 02
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list
       configuration: driver=HDA Intel latency=0 module=snd_hda_intel
total 0
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116, 1 2009-11-10 13:21 seq
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116, 33 2009-11-10 13:21 timer
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116, 26 2009-11-10 13:21 pcmC0D2c
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116, 17 2009-11-10 13:21 pcmC0D1p
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116, 25 2009-11-10 13:21 pcmC0D1c
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116, 6 2009-11-10 13:21 hwC0D2
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116, 0 2009-11-10 13:21 controlC0
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 220 2009-11-10 13:21 .
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116, 24 2009-11-10 13:21 pcmC0D0c
crw-rw----+ 1 root audio 116, 16 2009-11-10 13:22 pcmC0D0p
drwxr-xr-x 14 root root 14340 2009-11-10 13:31 ..
Sound Driver:3.8.1a-980706 (ALSA v1.0.21 emulation code)
Kernel: Linux dell 2.6.27-9-generic #1 SMP Thu Nov 20 21:57:00 UTC 2008 i686
Config options: 0

Installed drivers:
Type 10: ALSA emulation

Card config:
HDA Intel at 0xfdff4000 irq 22

Audio devices:
0: ALC888 Analog (DUPLEX)

Synth devices: NOT ENABLED IN CONFIG

Midi devices: NOT ENABLED IN CONFIG

Timers:
7: system timer

Mixers:
0: Realtek ALC888
00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation 82G33/G31/P35/P31 Express DRAM Controller [8086:29c0] (rev 02)
00:01.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82G33/G31/P35/P31 Express PCI Express Root Port [8086:29c1] (rev 02)
00:19.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Intel Corporation 82562V-2 10/100 Network Connection [8086:10c0] (rev 02)
00:1a.0 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 [8086:2937] (rev 02)
00:1a.1 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5 [8086:2938] (rev 02)
00:1a.2 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #6 [8086:2939] (rev 02)
00:1a.7 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2 [8086:293c] (rev 02)
00:1b.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) HD Audio Controller [8086:293e] (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 [8086:2934] (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 [8086:2935] (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 [8086:2936] (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1 [8086:293a] (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge [8086:244e] (rev 92)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation 82801IR (ICH9R) LPC Interface Controller [8086:2916] (rev 02)
00:1f.2 IDE interface [0101]: Intel Corporation 82801IR/IO/IH (ICH9R/DO/DH) 4 port SATA IDE Controller [8086:2920] (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus [0c05]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) SMBus Controller [8086:2930] (rev 02)
00:1f.5 IDE interface [0101]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) 2 port SATA IDE Controller [8086:2926] (rev 02)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: nVidia Corporation GeForce 8300 GS [10de:0423] (rev a1)
/usr/sbin/alsactl
                     USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
/dev/snd/controlC0: les 5891 F.... pulseaudio
                     les 6007 f.... mixer_applet2
/dev/snd/seq: root 5654 F.... timidity
dpkg: *bin/slmodemd* not found.
snd_hda_codec_realtek 209668 1
snd_hda_intel 35968 3
snd_hda_codec 87808 2 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel
snd_hwdep 15492 1 snd_hda_codec
snd_pcm_oss 46496 0
snd_mixer_oss 23040 1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm 84612 3 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_pcm_oss
snd_seq_dummy 11012 0
snd_seq_oss 36992 0
snd_seq_midi 14624 0
snd_rawmidi 30240 1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_midi_event 15360 2 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi
snd_seq 58352 7 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_timer 29448 2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device 15500 5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq
snd 68004 21 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hwdep,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
soundcore 15328 1 snd
snd_page_alloc 16776 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
~$

Thanks Mark Rijckenberg, that solved my question.