2008-02-19 Sound! Finally!
This isn't going to be like my usual blog posts. It's going to be more of a forum thing, in the hope that people with a similar problem find it easier with Google.
Recently, I installed Ubuntu on my notebook. The installation went just fine, except for one thing: the sound didn't work. My notebook is a Medion MD 96290, which comes with the infamous 82801G Intel chipset. The Ubuntu version is 7.10 ("Gutsy Gibbon").
Here's what I did:
sudo apt-get install snd-hda-intel
That didn't help, 'cause it was already there.
sudo apt-get --purge remove linux-sound-base alsa-base alsa-utils
sudo apt-get install ubuntu desktop
(it was wiped by the previous command!)
sudo apt-get install linux-sound-base alsa-base alsa-utils
sudo cp /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.old
sudo cat options snd-hda-intel model=auto >> /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base
sudo reboot
Didn't help.
Next I downloaded the latest version of the driver (driver, utils and lib, all of them in version 1.0.16) from the alsa website, compiled and installed them. I won't go into detail about how I did it, because it didn't work.
I asked experts for advice. Not in a forum. In the flesh. Well, kind of. Chat, actually. I got some pretty good advice from them, but at the end of the day, it didn't work out.
Today I figured it out myself. It was my own bloody fault. No, I didn't mute the speakers or forgot to unplug the earphones. But almost. Here's the line that caused all the trouble:
sudo cp /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.old
See what I mean? Obviously, Ubuntu couldn't care less about the extension of the file name. My modified alsa-base was never used! After I deleted alsa-base.old, I finally had sound! Quite noisy, though. But then I discovered yet another fix on the Internet. Here's the final version of the line that should be added to /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base:
options snd-hda-intel position_fix=1 model=auto
A big shout out to the following people:
Axel: for staying up late and providing extraordinarily insightful tips and comments.
Mario: for doing the same and even logging into my system to take a look.
Alex and Sonja: for sympathizing during the weekend.
Brian: for spending precious working time on trying to fix a problem I had on my private notebook.
12 comments:
Hey i have a similar problem. My mic is not working in hardy, but i have found a solution. the only problem is when adding lines to the /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base file with gedit, it wont save and says the file does not exist. I was hoping you might have some clue as to whats going on.
That is indeed weird.
Have you tried
gksudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base ?
Since root access and graphical tools don't mix too well (in my humble opinion), I recommend pico. That would be
sudo pico /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base .
Just remember to copy the file to a safe place before you edit it.
gksudo didnt change anything........as for pico, that looks intimidating and i think out of my league. Do you think the problem could be with gedit itself? other people in a forum suggested some other editors,(vim, emac, nano)
thanks for your help btw,
Don't ever let software intimidate you. It's probably not out of your league but simply not intuitive enough. In nine out of ten times it's the software's fault, not yours.
Now, with the sermon out of the way, here's what I would do:
I would copy the file to my home directory (cp), change the permissions (chmod) and the owner (chown) to make it editable, edit it with gedit, change it all back and copy it back to the /etd/modprobe.d directory.
Again, don't forget the backup.
Good luck!
hi,
"sudo apt-get install ubuntu desktop" could be "sudo apt-get install ubuntu- desktop" :)
still ,i doesn't work out on my HP mini 1017TU :(
i have tried alsa-driver-1.0.19,and the "$less alsa-driver-1.0.19/SUPPORTED_KERNELS"displays Vanilla 2.6.25 or earlier and the kernel version of mine is 2.6.28.11,do you think that's the problem?
Sorry, you lost me there. I'm out of my depth.
But when the version is required to be 2.6.25 or earlier, and yours is 2.6.28.11, then this is probably a good place to start looking.
Your driver seems to be too modern. Who has ever heard of such a thing... ;-)
here:
http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?pid=538582#p538582
the type of the audio card is
IDT 92HD75B1/92HD75B2@Intel 82801 GBM ICH7-M-HIGH Definition Audio
but i've found nothing about "STAC92HD75"in the alsa-driver-1.0.19/sound/Documentation/HD-Audio-Models.txt ,the audio card is too new? lol
A big shout to you sir for sharing this solution. It's still good in 9.10 by the way.
Thanks Alain. The problem I had with 9.10 is that the command line amixer was unable to un-mute, which is why I was late for work today. (cronjob that un-mutes and starts mplayer at 7am on week days...)
But at least compiz is fast again ;-)
running mint 8 on USB, and this fixed my problem, thanks
this is still required on 10.04
Yeah, I know. Sad, really. Also, 10.04 broke my wifi. Again.
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