[OptiPlex 7040, Realtek ALC3234, Speaker, Internal] No sound at all

[Suvam Mukherjee]

I am not getting any sound at all from my Dell Optiplex 7040 (running Ubuntu 16.04).

The volume control icon is showing up next to the clock, and I am able to change the volume levels: but this has no effect. There is absolutely NO sound at all.

In Settings -> Output, no devices are listed. Strangely enough, aplay -l results in:

**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: ALC3234 Analog [ALC3234 Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 7: HDMI 1 [HDMI 1]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 8: HDMI 2 [HDMI 2]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

which indicates that the sound card is getting detected. I tried

sudo alsa force-reload

following which I rebooted. That doesn't fix the problem. I opened alsamixer: it is detecting the sound card perfectly and nothing is muted. Still, there is no audio. I then tried the following:

sudo apt-get remove --purge alsa-base pulseaudio
sudo apt-get install alsa-base pulseaudio
sudo alsa force-reload

And still there is no audio. I'd be really grateful if you could look into this. Thanks.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 16.04
Package: alsa-base 1.0.25+dfsg-0ubuntu5
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.4.0-36.55-generic 4.4.16
Uname: Linux 4.4.0-36-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.20.1-0ubuntu2.1
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: suvam 4522 F.... pulseaudio
                      suvam 5594 F.... alsamixer
CurrentDesktop: Unity
Date: Wed Aug 24 15:59:21 2016
DistributionChannelDescriptor:
 # This is a distribution channel descriptor
 # For more information see http://wiki.ubuntu.com/DistributionChannelDescriptor
 canonical-oem-somerville-trusty-amd64-osp1-20150720-0
InstallationDate: Installed on 2016-02-12 (193 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 14.04 "Trusty" - Build amd64 LIVE Binary 20150720-04:06
PackageArchitecture: all
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=en_IN:en
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
 LANG=en_IN
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: alsa-driver
Symptom: audio
Symptom_AlsaPlaybackTest: ALSA playback test through plughw:PCH failed
Symptom_Card: Built-in Audio - HDA Intel PCH
Symptom_DevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: suvam 4522 F.... pulseaudio
                      suvam 5594 F.... alsamixer
Symptom_Jack: Speaker, Internal
Symptom_Type: No sound at all
Title: [OptiPlex 7040, Realtek ALC3234, Speaker, Internal] No sound at all
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to xenial on 2016-08-11 (13 days ago)
dmi.bios.date: 12/04/2015
dmi.bios.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.bios.version: 1.2.1
dmi.board.name: 0HD5W2
dmi.board.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.board.version: A00
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnDellInc.:bvr1.2.1:bd12/04/2015:svnDellInc.:pnOptiPlex7040:pvr:rvnDellInc.:rn0HD5W2:rvrA00:cvnDellInc.:ct3:cvr:
dmi.product.name: OptiPlex 7040
dmi.sys.vendor: Dell Inc.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[Luke Yelavich (themuso)]

Could you please try updating the HDA audio driver, as outlined here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Audio/UpgradingAlsa/DKMS.

Thanks.

[Suvam Mukherjee (suvam.m)]

Hi Luke,
Thanks for the response!
Tried it. Doesn't help. There's still no audio.

[Suvam Mukherjee (suvam.m)]

Alsamixer is detecting the sound card. However, when I access "Sound" from Settings, the "Play Sound Through" section is blank.

[Luke Yelavich (themuso)]

Ok, looking more closely, a card is found, but its only finding a line-out connectino. What physical connections do you have?

Secondly, cyould you try and get a log from PulseAudio, as outlined here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/PulseAudio/Log.

Thanks.

[Suvam Mukherjee (suvam.m)]

Hi,

Sorry for the late reply. Currently, the following are the physical connections to the tower: HDMI connection with monitor, USB connections for keyboard and mouse, and of course the power.

I am still not getting any sound either through the built in speakers, or when I plug in headphones.

I have attached the log with this file.

Thanks for all the help, and please let me know if you need further information.

[Luke Yelavich (themuso)]

Sorry, I should have been more clear. What audio connections does your system have? Around the back, there should be at least 2 3.5mm sockets.

Thanks for the log.

[noha7 (xxxscaryxxx)]

Hello, I have the same desktop running Ubuntu 16.04.1 and I just finished troubleshooting of this problem. Last steps I remember and which should be solution was:
1] During troubleshooting I broke sound driver... so i did what is written here in my last comment: https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/alsa-driver/+question/381228

2] after aplay -l was showing card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: ALC3234 Analog [ALC3234 Analog] ... I tried both jacks in front of the desktop case.

3] That on the right side was working, left one (one with the headphones sign) wasn't. I opened Gnome ALSA Mixer and enabled "Headphone" and sound starts working.

[Suvam Mukherjee (suvam.m)]

@Luke: There is a single 3.5mm connection in the front of the tower.

@Noha7: Thanks for the help. Unfortunately, it did NOT work in my case. There is still no sound.

[Suvam Mukherjee (suvam.m)]

Hi,

Any updates on this issue?

Thanks.

[Luke Yelavich (themuso)]

So there is no 3.5mm connectinos at the rear?

[Suvam Mukherjee (suvam.m)]

Hi Luke,

I apologise: there is a single 3.5mm connection at the rear as well. So overall there are 2 3.5 connections: one in the front, one at the rear.

Thanks.

[Suvam Mukherjee (suvam.m)]

Hi,

Any updates on this bug?

Thanks,
Suvam.

[Suvam Mukherjee (suvam.m)]

Hi,

Any luck with a fix?
I am still having a problem despite upgrading to 16.10.

Suvam.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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