No external sound on Ubuntu 9.10

1

I have Ubuntu 9.10. Headphones appear to work fine. External speakers - nothing. There are so many sound preferences I have no idea what or which combination.

Went to terminal and ran alsamixer which seems to recognize my sound card, though the driver is not listed in System > Administration > Hardware Drivers; the only driver listed is my graphics card.

I have tried several forums and it seems no one is interested in responding to sound issues.
Here's hoping it is different here.

Walter

Posted 2011-03-08T15:18:32.673

Reputation: 31

Answers

1

Have you tried running alsamixer in a terminal? Alsamixer seems to be the most reliable for me at this point until updates come down....

so just open a terminal and digit

alsamixer

Alsamixer quickie tips: left - right to navigate up - down - change levels M - key - toggle mute/unmute B - key - balance channel pairs

Take care :)

Update kernel:

type in terminal: uname -r

Next find available kernel images typing in terminal:

sudo apt-cache search linux-image

Now install kernel by explicitly specifying version number typing in terminal:

sudo apt-get install linux-image-x.x.x-xx

Pitto

Posted 2011-03-08T15:18:32.673

Reputation: 1 766

Re: alsamixer. Master is at 100%, PCM is at 100% and mute is off. – Walter – 2011-03-08T15:27:37.467

Whoooops!

Did you try updating kernel?! – Pitto – 2011-03-08T15:31:16.867

Now you have me. I am somewhat pc savvy but no geek. I have no idea how to do that, and is that the problem? – Walter – 2011-03-08T15:35:39.890

Appreciate your help Pitto. But could you be more specific. I typed in -r and it says command not found. Okay maybe I am not that savvy...lol – Walter – 2011-03-08T15:54:56.573

Oh no....have you abandoned me? – Walter – 2011-03-08T16:27:01.370

Sorry I got a phone call :D

you should type uname -r :) – Pitto – 2011-03-08T16:34:56.553

Yikes, gives me a long list. how do i know what i want/need? – Walter – 2011-03-08T16:47:11.690

I'd get the newest :) – Pitto – 2011-03-08T16:48:14.273

Another question: why 9.10?

What about trying a 10.04 (LTS) from livecd to see if it works out of the box? – Pitto – 2011-03-08T16:49:46.470

The long story short. Windows crashed. Geek friend iped hard drive and installed ubuntu, which I had heard of but never used. Have no complaints except for this sound issue. So i should go to9 ubuntu.com and download a newer version? – Walter – 2011-03-08T16:53:28.577

While waiting your response I tried the kernel this is what it said: – Walter – 2011-03-08T17:04:43.057

$ sudu apt-get install linux-image-2.6.31-22 No command 'sudu' found, did you mean: Command 'tudu' from package 'tudu' (universe) Command 'sudo' from package 'sudo' (main) Command 'sudo' from package 'sudo-ldap' (universe) sudu: command not found – Walter – 2011-03-08T17:05:09.030

That should be sudo, with an o. You should be able to upgrade your installation of Ubuntu to a newer version using the Update Manager. @Walter – oKtosiTe – 2011-03-08T17:31:15.940

By the way: to make sure people know you've left them a message, reference them with an @ sign. Here's information on how that works. @Walter

– oKtosiTe – 2011-03-08T17:33:30.633

I am upgrading now via Update Manager. Say about 1/2 hour. I hope you two stick around, I am thrilled you are trying to help.@Pitto,@oKtosiTe – Walter – 2011-03-08T17:37:27.367

Keep up the good work! :D – Pitto – 2011-03-09T17:33:38.450

Any (hopefully good) news? :) – Pitto – 2011-03-11T14:38:29.917

1

Are your speakers active or passive?

If they are active then they'll need an external source of power. If they are passive then they'll take the power from the audio output, but that might not be enough to drive them.

Also (though this is a bit obvious) check that you've got the speakers plugged into the correct output of your sound card. Some have separate outputs for speakers & headphones etc.

ChrisF

Posted 2011-03-08T15:18:32.673

Reputation: 39 650

Active (plugged in). Almost positive but tried all, nothing. Could my preferences be set up wrong, tho I have tried all combinations. Very frustrating. – Walter – 2011-03-08T15:33:57.240

Asked: 2011-03-08T15:18:32.673

Viewed: 175 times

Active: 2011-03-08T17:36:32.443