[Inspiron 11-3162, Realtek ALC3234, Black Headphone Out, Front] No sound output from earphones

[Douglas Silva]

Starting from Ubuntu 20.04 (tested Xubuntu and Ubuntu MATE), there is no sound output when you plug an earphone/headset. The built-in speakers, on the other hand, are working properly. This is a laptop, Dell Inspiron 11 3162.

I checked volume levels with alsamixer, I played with the device selection in the Pulseaudio mixer application, but nothing worked. I also tested Firefox (playing a YouTube video) and system sounds. None of them worked. The audio test made by apport-bug played no sound through the earphone.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 20.04
Package: alsa-base 1.0.25+dfsg-0ubuntu5
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 5.4.0-26.30-generic 5.4.30
Uname: Linux 5.4.0-26-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.20.11-0ubuntu27
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: dsilva 3990 F.... pulseaudio
                      dsilva 4791 F.... alsamixer
CasperMD5CheckResult: skip
CurrentDesktop: XFCE
Date: Sun Apr 26 18:12:06 2020
InstallationDate: Installed on 2020-04-24 (2 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Xubuntu 20.04 LTS "Focal Fossa" - Release amd64 (20200423)
PackageArchitecture: all
SourcePackage: alsa-driver
Symptom: audio
Symptom_AlsaPlaybackTest: ALSA playback test through plughw:PCH failed
Symptom_Card: Áudio interno - HDA Intel PCH
Symptom_DevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: dsilva 3990 F.... pulseaudio
                      dsilva 4791 F.... alsamixer
Symptom_Jack: Black Headphone Out, Front
Symptom_Type: No sound at all
Title: [Inspiron 11-3162, Realtek ALC3234, Black Headphone Out, Front] No sound at all
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 01/31/2018
dmi.bios.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.bios.version: 2.4.0
dmi.board.name: 0NM68T
dmi.board.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.board.version: A00
dmi.chassis.type: 8
dmi.chassis.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.chassis.version: Not Specified
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnDellInc.:bvr2.4.0:bd01/31/2018:svnDellInc.:pnInspiron11-3162:pvr2.4.0:rvnDellInc.:rn0NM68T:rvrA00:cvnDellInc.:ct8:cvrNotSpecified:
dmi.product.family: To be filled by O.E.M.
dmi.product.name: Inspiron 11-3162
dmi.product.sku: 0725
dmi.product.version: 2.4.0
dmi.sys.vendor: Dell Inc.

[Hui Wang (hui.wang)]

Please run amixer sset 'Capture Source' 'Internal Mic' or 'Headset Mic' first, make sure the capture source is not headphone mic,

then plug the headset/earphone, choose correct option from the pop-up dialogue.

thx.

[Douglas Silva (o-alquimista)]

Running amixer sset 'Capture Source' 'Internal Mic' returns error:

amixer: Unable to find simple control 'Capture Source',0

[Hui Wang (hui.wang)]

Or you could run alsamixer, press F4, navigate to "Input Source" or "Capture Source", use up or down to change the preferred options. then press ESC.

[Douglas Silva (o-alquimista)]

I have attached a screenshot of that screen, because I couldn't find any Capture Source or Input Source there. Maybe it has a different name or is missing.

[Hui Wang (hui.wang)]

OK

If you plug headphone/headset into the audio jack, does a audio-selection dialogue popup?

If yes,

Please run "amixer cget numid=6", Could you see Capture Source now?

If yes, please run "amixer cset numid=6 0 or 2, anyway not headphone mic", after it successfully set, please plug headphone/headset and select headphones, and test play sound via headpohone.

[Douglas Silva (o-alquimista)]

Oh, I can finally hear sound through the earphones by changing the capture source. Too bad the change doesn't persist after I remove and reinsert the connector. Every time that happens, I must change it to Headset Mic, otherwise there will be no sound output.

It also works when I do it through the Pulseaudio GUI mixer that comes with Xubuntu. Now I just wish the default selection could be one that works out of the box, as it was in previous Ubuntu versions.

[Hui Wang (hui.wang)]

If it could not persist, it is really a problem.

I will find a machine to reproduce it.

[Hui Wang (hui.wang)]

I just found a Dell laptop and installed the ubuntu 20.04 on it.

After plug the headset, there is a pop-up dialog shows, there are 3 options let users choose: headphones (if users plug a headphone), headset (if users plug a headset, here headset means headphone + mic, just like the headset for cellphones), microphone (if users plug a pure microphone).

before plugging anything, the "Capture Source", it is "internal microphone", I plug a headset, and choose headset, the capture source change to "headset mic", and both headphone and mic on headset work well. If I choose headphone from dialogue, the capture source is "internal microphone", the headphone on headset works well.

So everything works well on my testing machine.

[Hui Wang (hui.wang)]

So @Douglas,

Your machine also has internal mic, so the Capture source is either internal mic or headset-mic, so in what situation it is headphone-mic?

[Douglas Silva (o-alquimista)]

I forgot to tell you that I never see any dialog when I plug the earphone. It's a feature of some desktop environments, right? I have never seen it in Xfce.

The capture source changes to "headphone" every time I plug the earphone, and when that happens, there is no sound output. Changing it to any other source makes the sound work.

I don't remember how it worked in previous versions of Ubuntu. It just worked. I never had to worry about switching the capture source in order to have sound. If you think that's important to know, I can try a live ISO of 18.04 and report back what I find.

[Hui Wang (hui.wang)]

Will fix it in the ubuntu pluseaudio.

[Kai-Heng Feng (kaihengfeng)]

Please test PPA here:
https://launchpad.net/~kaihengfeng/+archive/ubuntu/fix-lp1869819