HDMI sound output cannot be selected anymore

[Torsten Bronger]

In current Ubuntu 20.04, I cannot send sound to my HDMI interface anymore. This sound configuration is not selectable anymore. Symptoms seem to be the same as described at <https://askubuntu.com/q/1234499/16049>.

The attached screenshot of pavucontrol shows that all HDMI-related sound configurations are not working, while an audio-enabled HDMI device is plugged in.

Restarting ALSA or deleting Pulseaudio configuration – as mentioned in other places – does not work.

This used to work, however. I *think* it even worked in early 20.04 versions. I don’t know which updated broke it.

[Ubuntu Foundations Team Bug Bot (crichton)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. It seems that your bug report is not filed about a specific source package though, rather it is just filed against Ubuntu in general. It is important that bug reports be filed about source packages so that people interested in the package can find the bugs about it. You can find some hints about determining what package your bug might be about at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/FindRightPackage. You might also ask for help in the #ubuntu-bugs irc channel on Freenode.

To change the source package that this bug is filed about visit https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/1890285/+editstatus and add the package name in the text box next to the word Package.

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[Almo (almoendale)]

Having the same exact issue in the same timeframe; a recent update to 20.04 removed the ability to select HDMI audio devices. As it is not related to a specific package such as alsamixer or pavucontrol, I believe it to be a kernel issue. Sorry for the lack of clarity; I will attempt to install again from the original April 2020 release, and then slowly perform updates, to see if I can determine which package or kernel update created the problem.

[Almo (almoendale)]

Having reinstalled and updated/upgraded to kernel `5.4.0-42-generic #46-Ubuntu SMP Fri Jul 10 00:24:02 UTC 2020 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux` I can report the following info:
--used "third party drivers" and ticked the box for secure boot, entered a password, but never saw the BIOS/UEFI prompt to enter the MOK password
--turned *off* auto-login after installing; this may have been the source of the above-described issue, the problem environment had auto-login *on*
--installed and configured a variety of Gnome and other apps (Chrome, docker, pipenv, vim, and so on), then ran apt update;upgrade again
--have rebooted several time and not seen the issue, although the "normal" issue of defaulting to internal audio after reboot remains, if this solution https://askubuntu.com/questions/1038490/how-do-you-set-a-default-audio-output-device-in-ubuntu-18-04/1207638#1207638 fixed the issue in 18.04 wondering why it was left out of 20.04 GUI?
--very strange behavior noted previously: worked with one HDMI Monitor (ASUS, I believe), powered down the laptop (HP Evo x360), took it to Samsung 55" TV, no HDMI audio detected or seen with lspci. Powered down the laptop, returned to the HDMI monitor, and *both* audio and VGA worked great!

I will provide any further testing/reports requested, I'd like to assist with perfecting this product; 20.04 rocks!

[Torsten Bronger (bronger)]

@almo Please set “This bug affects me” so that it is confirmed.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Gail (gh0988)]

This bug is affecting me, too.

System /kernel: Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS
Linux 5.4.0-70-generic #78-Ubuntu SMP Fri Mar 19 13:29:52 UTC 2021 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

[Gail (gh0988)]

~$ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: ALC233 Analog [ALC233 Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
----------------------
HDMI device not detected