External HDMI monitor audio always reported as "unplugged"

[gratefulfrog]

Hello my Ubuntu friends,

I can no longer play sound over my external HDMI connected TV.

The image displays perfectly, but all the HDMI output devices are listed as "unplugged"

I have spent a huge amount of time trying every solution that Internet searching will bring but this has changed nothing.

I have tired all available video drivers, including Xorg and NVIDEA 396.26, 340.107, and 384.130.

This failure is recent because in the past I could play both audio and video through the HDMI connector.

The laptop is dual boot with Windows 10 and the HDMI works perfectly on that OS, although I rarely use it...

I am wondering if upgrading my Xubuntu to the latest LTS could potentially solve this issue, but I fear such an update since I depend on this computer and an outage would be very hard for me...

Any thoughts would be great.

Thanks for making Linux great!
Bob

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 16.04
Package: xorg 1:7.7+13ubuntu3.1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.4.0-170.199-generic 4.4.200
Uname: Linux 4.4.0-170-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.20.1-0ubuntu2.21
Architecture: amd64
CurrentDesktop: XFCE
Date: Sun Dec 29 17:00:14 2019
InstallationDate: Installed on 2015-05-11 (1693 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Xubuntu 15.04 "Vivid Vervet" - Release amd64 (20150422.1)
SourcePackage: xorg
Symptom: display
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

If you have an Nvidia GPU in this laptop then it's possible and even likely the HDMI port is wired to Nvidia and not Intel. This means the feature depends on the Nvidia driver installed.

When you say:

> but all the HDMI output devices are listed as "unplugged"

can you please explain what you are looking at there?

[gratefulfrog (gratefulfrog)]

Hello,

Thank you for the quick response.

The "unplugged" status is reported by the pulse audio volume control as
you can see in attached png.

For info, I attach the output of pacmd list-cards which would seem to
indicate that the hdmi audio is connected to the Intel Corporation
Broadwell-U Audio Controller.

I am happy to run commands and/or tests if that could help you to figure
this out! I am a fully qualified computer scientist with 45 years of IT
experience and program every day!

Happy Holidays,
Bob

On Mon, 30 Dec 2019 at 03:55, Daniel van Vugt <email address hidden>
wrote:

> If you have an Nvidia GPU in this laptop then it's possible and even
> likely the HDMI port is wired to Nvidia and not Intel. This means the
> feature depends on the Nvidia driver installed.
>
> When you say:
>
> > but all the HDMI output devices are listed as "unplugged"
>
> can you please explain what you are looking at there?
>
> ** Package changed: xorg (Ubuntu) => ubuntu
>
> ** Changed in: ubuntu
> Status: New => Incomplete
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1857821
>
> Title:
> external HDMI monitor always "unplugged"
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/1857821/+subscriptions
>

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Thanks. It looks like "unplugged" is just what the GUI says when ALSA reports available as "no" or "unknown". So as a first step this sounds like a kernel change and not a problem with the configuration GUI. This possibly also rules out PulseAudio since I think we're seeing the same problem directly from the kernel.

Please try some newer or older kernels to see if any of them avoid the problem:

  https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/

If that's too much work then I suggest installing Ubuntu 18.04 instead. Or at least live boot it from USB just to test:

  http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/18.04.3/release/

[gratefulfrog (gratefulfrog)]

I just tried the live xubuntu 18.04 and the HDMI display and sound both
work perfectly using the Xorg display driver.

I am hesitant to try the upgrade process from 16.04 to 18.04 for fear of
losing the use of my computer...

Cheers,
Bob

On Mon, 30 Dec 2019 at 11:10, Daniel van Vugt <email address hidden>
wrote:

> Thanks. It looks like "unplugged" is just what the GUI says when ALSA
> reports available as "no" or "unknown". So as a first step this sounds
> like a kernel change and not a problem with the configuration GUI. This
> possibly also rules out PulseAudio since I think we're seeing the same
> problem directly from the kernel.
>
> Please try some newer or older kernels to see if any of them avoid the
> problem:
>
> https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/
>
> If that's too much work then I suggest installing Ubuntu 18.04 instead.
> Or at least live boot it from USB just to test:
>
> http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/18.04.3/release/
>
> ** Summary changed:
>
> - external HDMI monitor always "unplugged"
> + External HDMI monitor audio always reported as "unplugged"
>
> ** Package changed: ubuntu => linux (Ubuntu)
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1857821
>
> Title:
> External HDMI monitor audio always reported as "unplugged"
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1857821/+subscriptions
>

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Great! Sounds like a newer kernel is all you need.

If you can't risk upgrading then I suggest just installing the latest stable kernel:

  https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.4.6/

Please try that (and run 'uname' to confirm it's active).

[gratefulfrog (gratefulfrog)]

Hi!

Thanks for the tip.

When I ran my PC on the 18.04 live OS, I noticed that by plugging the HDMI
cable on the normal HDMI port, that HDMI*2* was indicated as *plugged*.

Later when I went back to the installed 16.04, the HDMI2 port was indicated
as unplugged (all the ports were) but it still worked correctly, sending
sound and video to the HDMI monitor.

Although odd, this works so I will wait to upgrade until I have a backup
system available.

As to trying the v5 kernels, in the past they were not compatible with my
v4 system so I will also wait on that as well.

In summary, I learned that :

   - the standard HDMI connector maps to port HDMI2
   - the mini display connector maps to port HDMI1
   - despite being indicated as "unplugged" in the pulseaudio volume
   control, the HDMI2 port works properly.

Thank you for all your help - this is a great improvement!

I hope you and all the Ubuntu team have a happy new year!
Cheers,
Bob

On Tue, 31 Dec 2019 at 03:00, Daniel van Vugt <email address hidden>
wrote:

> Great! Sounds like a newer kernel is all you need.
>
> If you can't risk upgrading then I suggest just installing the latest
> stable kernel:
>
> https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.4.6/
>
> Please try that (and run 'uname' to confirm it's active).
>
> ** Changed in: linux (Ubuntu)
> Status: Incomplete => Fix Released
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1857821
>
> Title:
> External HDMI monitor audio always reported as "unplugged"
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1857821/+subscriptions
>

[gratefulfrog (gratefulfrog)]

Well the workaround that I reported last suddenly stopped working today...
Sigh

I assume the change in behavior us due to some recent update...

I am at a loss as to how to get this to work..

Cheers,
Bob

On Tue, 31 Dec 2019, 10:06 Grateful Frog, <email address hidden> wrote:

> Hi!
>
> Thanks for the tip.
>
> When I ran my PC on the 18.04 live OS, I noticed that by plugging the HDMI
> cable on the normal HDMI port, that HDMI*2* was indicated as *plugged*.
>
> Later when I went back to the installed 16.04, the HDMI2 port was
> indicated as unplugged (all the ports were) but it still worked correctly,
> sending sound and video to the HDMI monitor.
>
> Although odd, this works so I will wait to upgrade until I have a backup
> system available.
>
> As to trying the v5 kernels, in the past they were not compatible with my
> v4 system so I will also wait on that as well.
>
> In summary, I learned that :
>
> - the standard HDMI connector maps to port HDMI2
> - the mini display connector maps to port HDMI1
> - despite being indicated as "unplugged" in the pulseaudio volume
> control, the HDMI2 port works properly.
>
> Thank you for all your help - this is a great improvement!
>
> I hope you and all the Ubuntu team have a happy new year!
> Cheers,
> Bob
>
> On Tue, 31 Dec 2019 at 03:00, Daniel van Vugt <
> <email address hidden>> wrote:
>
>> Great! Sounds like a newer kernel is all you need.
>>
>> If you can't risk upgrading then I suggest just installing the latest
>> stable kernel:
>>
>> https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.4.6/
>>
>> Please try that (and run 'uname' to confirm it's active).
>>
>> ** Changed in: linux (Ubuntu)
>> Status: Incomplete => Fix Released
>>
>> --
>> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
>> report.
>> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1857821
>>
>> Title:
>> External HDMI monitor audio always reported as "unplugged"
>>
>> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
>>
>> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1857821/+subscriptions
>>
>

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Please start by testing the latest kernel version:

  https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.5-rc7/

[gratefulfrog (gratefulfrog)]

My current kernel is a version 4 kernel
$ uname -a
Linux UX303LNB 4.4.0-171-generic #200-Ubuntu SMP Tue Dec 3 11:04:55 UTC
2019 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

You ask me to try a version 5 kernel...

Do you think that it can work without installing loads of dependencies and
having to remove them later in case of failure?

Are there instructions as to how to install a kernel outside the normal
system update?

Thanks for your help!
Cheers,
Bob

On Tue, 21 Jan 2020 at 02:50, Daniel van Vugt <email address hidden>
wrote:

> Please start by testing the latest kernel version:
>
> https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.5-rc7/
>
>
> ** Changed in: linux (Ubuntu)
> Status: Fix Released => Incomplete
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1857821
>
> Title:
> External HDMI monitor audio always reported as "unplugged"
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1857821/+subscriptions
>

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

The kernel packages have no dependencies. The ones you would need for desktop are:

https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.5-rc7/linux-headers-5.5.0-050500rc7_5.5.0-050500rc7.202001192030_all.deb

https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.5-rc7/linux-headers-5.5.0-050500rc7-generic_5.5.0-050500rc7.202001192030_amd64.deb

https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.5-rc7/linux-image-unsigned-5.5.0-050500rc7-generic_5.5.0-050500rc7.202001192030_amd64.deb

https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.5-rc7/linux-modules-5.5.0-050500rc7-generic_5.5.0-050500rc7.202001192030_amd64.deb

Download them then install them simultaneously:

  sudo dpkg -i *.deb

When testing is done the same packages can be cleanly removed using the dpkg or apt commands.

[gratefulfrog (gratefulfrog)]

Hi!
Thanks for that help but in the meantime I installed the v5.5-rc7 kernel
using ukuu. It gave some warnings (see attached) but still booted.

After boot, the HDMI/Display port 2 displayed as "plugged in" in the pulse
audio volume control and the audio did come through the HDMI cable and out
the TV.

Here's the strange part : I then booted on the previous 4.4.0-171-generic
kernel and removed the v5.5-rc7 and rebooted. At this point the
HDMI/Display port 2 displayed as "unplugged" but the sound still worked
over the HDMI connection to the TV. I have no idea why this is or if it
will continue to work.

I've attached screenshots.

Any thoughts would be welcome.
Cheers,
Bob

On Wed, 22 Jan 2020 at 09:30, Daniel van Vugt <email address hidden>
wrote:

> The kernel packages have no dependencies. The ones you would need for
> desktop are:
>
> https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.5-rc7/linux-
> headers-5.5.0-050500rc7_5.5.0-050500rc7.202001192030_all.deb
>
> https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.5-rc7/linux-
> headers-5.5.0-050500rc7-generic_5.5.0-050500rc7.202001192030_amd64.deb
>
> https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.5-rc7/linux-image-
> unsigned-5.5.0-050500rc7-generic_5.5.0-050500rc7.202001192030_amd64.deb
> <https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.5-rc7/linux-image-unsigned-5.5.0-050500rc7-generic_5.5.0-050500rc7.202001192030_amd64.deb>
>
> https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.5-rc7/linux-
> modules-5.5.0-050500rc7-generic_5.5.0-050500rc7.202001192030_amd64.deb
>
> Download them then install them simultaneously:
>
> sudo dpkg -i *.deb
>
> When testing is done the same packages can be cleanly removed using the
> dpkg or apt commands.
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1857821
>
> Title:
> External HDMI monitor audio always reported as "unplugged"
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1857821/+subscriptions
>

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for linux (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]

[shag00 (shag00)]

This is still a problem.

[Kai-Heng Feng (kaihengfeng)]

Can you please attach output of `sudo alsa-info.sh`?

[gratefulfrog (gratefulfrog)]

Here it is!
Thanks for your help!
B

[Kai-Heng Feng (kaihengfeng)]

Ok, kernel reports HDMI audio is not connected.

Please test latest mainline kernel:
https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.10-rc6/amd64/

Quite likely we'll need to do a kernel bisect later on :)

[gratefulfrog (gratefulfrog)]

Ok, when I get some time, I'll give it a try. Right now I'm programming day and night so can't risk destroying my computer...

Thanks for your help!

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for linux (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]