[ICH4 - Intel 82801DB-ICH4, playback] No sound at all

[David]

Upgrade to 11.10 and no sound with [ICH4 - Intel 82801DB-ICH4, playback

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.10
Package: alsa-base 1.0.24+dfsg-0ubuntu2
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.0.0-15.26-generic 3.0.13
Uname: Linux 3.0.0-15-generic i686
AlsaVersion: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version 1.0.24.
ApportVersion: 1.23-0ubuntu4
Architecture: i386
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: lanie 3476 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/pcmC0D0c: lanie 3476 F...m pulseaudio
Card0.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:0 'I82801DBICH4'/'Intel 82801DB-ICH4 with Cx20468-31 at irq 17'
   Mixer name : 'Conexant Cx20468-31'
   Components : 'AC97a:43585430'
   Controls : 23
   Simple ctrls : 16
Date: Sat Feb 4 23:41:17 2012
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.04 "Natty Narwhal" - Release i386 (20110427.1)
PackageArchitecture: all
ProcEnviron:
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: alsa-driver
Symptom: audio
Symptom_AlsaPlaybackTest: ALSA playback test through plughw:I82801DBICH4 failed
Symptom_Card: Internal Audio - Intel 82801DB-ICH4
Symptom_DevicesInUse:
 3476 3476/dev/snd/controlC0: lanie F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/pcmC0D0c: lanie F...m pulseaudio
Symptom_Type: No sound at all
Title: [ICH4 - Intel 82801DB-ICH4, playback] No sound at all
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to oneiric on 2012-01-30 (6 days ago)
dmi.bios.date: 10/05/2004
dmi.bios.vendor: AMI
dmi.bios.version: NOTE BIOS Version /52.00.14
dmi.board.name: Gateway M520
dmi.board.vendor: Gateway
dmi.board.version: KBC K52.00.06
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: Gateway
dmi.chassis.version: Rev 1.0
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAMI:bvrNOTEBIOSVersion/52.00.14:bd10/05/2004:svnGateway:pnGatewayM520:pvr52.00.14:rvnGateway:rnGatewayM520:rvrKBCK52.00.06:cvnGateway:ct10:cvrRev1.0:
dmi.product.name: Gateway M520
dmi.product.version: 52.00.14
dmi.sys.vendor: Gateway

[madbiologist (me-again)]

This has been fixed upstream in kernel 3.3-rc4. From the changelog:

author Daniel T Chen
Tue, 14 Feb 2012 04:44:22 +0000 (23:44 -0500)
committer Takashi Iwai
Tue, 14 Feb 2012 08:33:47 +0000 (09:33 +0100)
commit 27c3afe6e1cf129faac90405121203962da08ff4
tree f8a5cf6ad004cb83ca5f2224aeb1f39195750a63
parent 675c67afb6a05907d9683ef176f41852bb1b5b9d
ALSA: intel8x0: Fix default inaudible sound on Gateway M520

BugLink: https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/930842

The reporter states that audio is inaudible by default without muting
'External Amplifier'. Add a quirk to handle his SSID so that changing
the control is not necessary.

Reported-and-tested-by: Benjamin Carlson
Cc: <email address hidden>
Signed-off-by: Daniel T Chen
Signed-off-by: Takashi Iwai

A PPA of this kernel can be found at http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/

[madbiologist (me-again)]

In the meantime, a workaround is described in comments #14 and #15 of bug #930842.