Ubuntu

no sound - unbuntu 7.10 on Dell Vistro

Asked by ktym08

I am new to linux and just bought a Dell Vistro 1400 laptop. I have installed unbuntu 7.10 partitioned with Window XP home edition. The sound works fine when switch to the Windows, but no sound at all with unbuntu. I have checked the Sound Volume control (upper right on tool bar) and the sound preference, but cannot make any sound even though the volume is not muted. I also tried command : “cat /dev/urandom > /dev/audio” and it gives no sound either.

Could this has to do with the sound card compatibility? Would really appreciate if I can get some help.

Below are the results from command "lspci" and "lsmod"

LSPCI:
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile PM965/GM965/GL960 Memory Controller Hub (rev 0c)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile PM965/GM965/GL960 PCI Express Root Port (rev 0c)
00:1a.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Contoller #4 (rev 02)
00:1a.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5 (rev 02)
00:1a.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller (rev 02)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 02)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 2 (rev 02)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 4 (rev 02)
00:1c.5 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 6 (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev f2)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801HEM (ICH8M) LPC Interface Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801HBM/HEM (ICH8M/ICH8M-E) IDE Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 82801HBM/HEM (ICH8M/ICH8M-E) SATA AHCI Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 02)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation GeForce 8400M GS (rev a1)
03:01.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Ricoh Co Ltd R5C832 IEEE 1394 Controller (rev 05)
03:01.1 Generic system peripheral [0805]: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C822 SD/SDIO/MMC/MS/MSPro Host Adapter (rev 22)
03:01.2 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C843 MMC Host Controller (rev 12)
03:01.3 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C592 Memory Stick Bus Host Adapter (rev 12)
03:01.4 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd xD-Picture Card Controller (rev 12)
09:00.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation NetLink BCM5906M Fast Ethernet PCI Express (rev 02)
0c:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 4965 AG or AGN Network Connection (rev 61)

LSMOD:
Module Size Used by
aes 28608 1
nls_iso8859_1 5120 1
nls_cp437 6784 1
vfat 14080 1
fat 54300 1 vfat
ext2 67208 1
rfcomm 42136 2
l2cap 26240 11 rfcomm
bluetooth 57060 4 rfcomm,l2cap
ipv6 273892 12
ppdev 10244 0
acpi_cpufreq 10568 1
cpufreq_conservative 8072 0
cpufreq_powersave 2688 0
cpufreq_ondemand 9612 1
cpufreq_userspace 5280 0
cpufreq_stats 7232 0
freq_table 5792 3 acpi_cpufreq,cpufreq_ondemand,cpufreq_stats
video 18060 0
button 8976 0
dock 10656 0
ac 6148 0
sbs 19592 0
battery 11012 0
container 5504 0
sbp2 24072 0
parport_pc 37412 0
lp 12580 0
parport 37448 3 ppdev,parport_pc,lp
af_packet 24840 4
arc4 2944 2
ecb 4608 2
blkcipher 7556 1 ecb
snd_hda_intel 263712 1
snd_pcm_oss 44672 0
snd_mixer_oss 17664 1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm 80388 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm_oss
snd_seq_dummy 4740 0
iwl4965 101480 0
iwlwifi_mac80211 175112 1 iwl4965
snd_seq_oss 33152 0
snd_seq_midi 9600 0
snd_rawmidi 25728 1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_midi_event 8448 2 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi
cfg80211 7304 1 iwlwifi_mac80211
snd_seq 53232 6 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_timer 24324 2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device 9228 5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq
usblp 15104 0
snd 54660 11 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_seq_oss,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
joydev 11328 0
sdhci 18828 0
mmc_core 28420 1 sdhci
i2c_core 26112 0
soundcore 8800 1 snd
serio_raw 8068 0
snd_page_alloc 11400 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
shpchp 34580 0
pci_hotplug 32704 1 shpchp
pcspkr 4224 0
psmouse 39952 0
intel_agp 25620 0
agpgart 35016 1 intel_agp
evdev 11136 5
ext3 133896 1
jbd 60456 1 ext3
mbcache 9732 2 ext2,ext3
sd_mod 30336 6
sg 36764 0
sr_mod 17828 0
cdrom 37536 1 sr_mod
usb_storage 73024 2
ide_core 116804 1 usb_storage
libusual 18448 1 usb_storage
ata_piix 17540 0
ahci 23300 2
tg3 110980 0
ohci1394 36528 0
ieee1394 96312 2 sbp2,ohci1394
ata_generic 8452 0
libata 125168 3 ata_piix,ahci,ata_generic
scsi_mod 147084 6 sbp2,sd_mod,sg,sr_mod,usb_storage,libata
uhci_hcd 26640 0
ehci_hcd 36492 0
usbcore 138632 6 usblp,usb_storage,libusual,uhci_hcd,ehci_hcd
thermal 14344 0
processor 32072 2 acpi_cpufreq,thermal
fan 5764 0
fuse 47124 1
apparmor 40728 0
commoncap 8320 1 apparmor

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Revision history for this message
Chakib (chakib007) said : 		#1

Try this:

When Ubuntu Linux is loaded on many laptops, the sound does not work initially. This is true for the Gateway MX7118. So what's up? Well, it's pretty simple. Linux is sending the sound to an external speaker. The problem is that you don't have an external speaker. So here is how to fix the issue.

1) Double click on the speaker icon in the System Tray to bring up the mixer.

2) Go into preferences and make sure that "External Amplifier" is selected to show on the mixer.

3) When you go back to the mixer, you will have a new tab "Switches." Select that tab.

4) Uncheck the only box on that tab. It's the box marked external amplifier.

5) Close mixer. Your sound will now work!

Please let me know if it helps. I found that information here:

http://techloaf.com/index.php?/archives/61-Making-Sound-Work-in-Ubuntu-7.10-on-Laptops,-even-the-MX7118.html

Revision history for this message
ktym08 (kittymama) said : 		#2

Hello Chakib, Thanks a lot for the tips - you have given the right root cause. Since the "internal speaker" should go through earphone jack, I tried the sound with earphone and there is indeed sound! Now the problem is that I cannot find the "External Amplifier" in the "Sound Preference" dialog box under "System" > "Preference", nor can I find it under "Volume Preferences". Maybe I am missing something?

Revision history for this message
ktym08 (kittymama) said : 		#3

sorry - I meant "external sound" should go through the earphone jack...

Revision history for this message
ktym08 (kittymama) said : 		#4

I am going to close this question because it is a different question now.
The status is that there is sound from the earphone, but no sound from the on-computer-speakers.

I have gone through the trouble shoot link
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SoundTroubleshooting

and found that there is no driver support for the intel sound card sigmatel 9228 (ICH8 family) at link

http://www.alsa-project.org/main/index.php/Matrix:Main.

Revision history for this message
ktym08 (kittymama) said : 		#5

The problem is now completely solved by installing the newest test version ubuntu8.04 (hardy-alpha5).
The way I did it is to test the new version with a live CD first.

With Hardy-alpha5, there are more controls to chose in the "volume control".
In "volume control", go to "edit"->"preference", and check all boxes including "surround" sound.
Now the "surround" slider will show up in the "volume control" -> "playback" panel.
I found that, for my system, the sliders (buttons) which are responsible for the speaker sound are
"Master", "PCM" and "Surround".
If either one of the above three is muted, there will be no sound from the speaker.
With ubuntu7.10, the "surround" choice does not exist, therefore I could not turn the speaker on.