[XPS 13 9343, Intel Broadwell HDMI, Digital Out, HDMI] No sound at all

[Francisco Cribari]

I installed Ubuntu 15.04 64 bit (desktop editition) on a DELL XPS 13 notebook (model 9343) and I have no sound at all. Before installing Ubuntu I upgraded bios to A03.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 15.04
Package: alsa-base 1.0.25+dfsg-0ubuntu4
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.19.0-15.15-generic 3.19.3
Uname: Linux 3.19.0-15-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: wl
ApportVersion: 2.17.2-0ubuntu1
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: cribari 1733 F.... pulseaudio
CurrentDesktop: Unity
Date: Thu Apr 23 15:46:30 2015
InstallationDate: Installed on 2015-04-23 (0 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 15.04 "Vivid Vervet" - Release amd64 (20150422)
PackageArchitecture: all
SourcePackage: alsa-driver
Symptom: audio
Symptom_AlsaPlaybackTest: ALSA playback test through plughw:HDMI failed
Symptom_Card: Built-in Audio - HDA Intel HDMI
Symptom_DevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: cribari 1733 F.... pulseaudio
Symptom_Jack: Digital Out, HDMI
Symptom_Type: No sound at all
Title: [XPS 13 9343, Intel Broadwell HDMI, Digital Out, HDMI] No sound at all
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 03/25/2015
dmi.bios.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.bios.version: A03
dmi.board.name: 0310JH
dmi.board.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.board.version: A00
dmi.chassis.type: 9
dmi.chassis.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnDellInc.:bvrA03:bd03/25/2015:svnDellInc.:pnXPS139343:pvr01:rvnDellInc.:rn0310JH:rvrA00:cvnDellInc.:ct9:cvr:
dmi.product.name: XPS 13 9343
dmi.product.version: 01
dmi.sys.vendor: Dell Inc.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[Martin Babutzka (martin-babutzka)]

Can confirm this bug. Sound via HDMI worked in 14.04 and 14.10 but not in 15.04. Pavucontrol shows in the configuration tab a long list of HDMI outputs claiming all are "unplugged" (compare attached screenshot). Previous Xubuntus only showed a single HDMI output that worked.

Output from "pacmd list-sinks | grep -E 'index:|name:' "
    index: 1
 name: <alsa_output.pci-0000_00_14.2.analog-stereo>
  * index: 5
 name: <alsa_output.pci-0000_01_00.1.hdmi-stereo>

[Francisco Cribari (cribari)]

I found the solution here: http://bartongeorge.net/2015/04/09/4th-gen-dell-xps-13-developer-edition-available/ : "If dual booting with Windows 8.1 and kernel 4.0 or earlier you will need to cold boot twice into the OS for audio to work."

[Garry Marliss (g-mar-5)]

Thank you for your response. I do not have an XPS and Ubuntu 15.4 dual
boots with Windoz XP professional. Incidentally, Windoz sound works as
it should.

I tried two cold boots into Ubuntu, but unfortunately that did not fix
the problem.

Tomorrow, I'll look into updating the BIOS.

Thank you again,

Garry Marliss

On 04/26/2015 09:12 PM, Francisco Cribari wrote:
> I found the solution here: http://bartongeorge.net/2015/04/09/4th-gen-
> dell-xps-13-developer-edition-available/ : "If dual booting with Windows
> 8.1 and kernel 4.0 or earlier you will need to cold boot twice into the
> OS for audio to work."
>

[Martin Babutzka (martin-babutzka)]

Ok RESOLVED for me:

In my case a single cold reboot worked. Thanks for the hint. But actually I am not using an XPS 13 but a totally different PC with Radeon 8750 HDMI. I joined this bug because I expected a generic problem with HDMI sound on Ubuntu 15.04.

@Garry: Be aware that cold booting on a notebook should include a power off with detaching the power cord and a combined short removal of the notebook battery pack.

[Garry Marliss (g-mar-5)]

Thank you for the message. I'm using a desktop and even a double cold
boot didn't help.

Unfortunately, all suggestions have produced deep silence from my
computer's audio system.,

Garry Marliss

On 04/27/2015 09:25 AM, Martin Babutzka wrote:
> Ok RESOLVED for me:
>
> In my case a single cold reboot worked. Thanks for the hint. But
> actually I am not using an XPS 13 but a totally different PC with Radeon
> 8750 HDMI. I joined this bug because I expected a generic problem with
> HDMI sound on Ubuntu 15.04.
>
> @Garry: Be aware that cold booting on a notebook should include a power
> off with detaching the power cord and a combined short removal of the
> notebook battery pack.
>

[Alex (alex-chartier)]

Garry,

Did you ever update the BIOS, and did it fix the problem? I'm using a Dell XPS 13 and have this problem following a recent install of 14.04.

Alex

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Thank you for reporting this bug to Ubuntu.
Ubuntu 15.04 (vivid) reached end-of-life on February 4, 2016.

See this document for currently supported Ubuntu releases:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Releases

We appreciate that this bug may be old and you might not be interested in discussing it any more. But if you are then please upgrade to the latest Ubuntu version and re-test. If you then find the bug is still present in the newer Ubuntu version, please add a comment here telling us which new version it is in and change the bug status to Confirmed.