After using alsamixer sound is muted or set to zero upon reboot

[Doug McMahon]

Binary package hint: alsa-utils

When booting up the sound level is restored as previously set except if alsamixer has been used just once. From then on the system will boot to muted and or sound at level 0

The workaround had been to comment this line in default.pa

load-module module-device-restore

What has been brought up by VinDSL on ubuntuforums is the diff between /sbin/alsa-utils in lucid and maverick which is this line (385

mute_and_zero_levels "$TARGET_CARD" || EXITSTATUS=1

Removing the line or changing the 1 to 0 seems to resolve the sound at boot issue and allow use of alsamixer

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.10
Package: alsa-utils 1.0.23-2ubuntu1 [modified: sbin/alsa-utils]
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.35-17.23-generic 2.6.35.2
Uname: Linux 2.6.35-17-generic i686
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
Architecture: i386
Date: Sun Aug 22 20:14:39 2010
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 10.10 "Maverick Meerkat" - Alpha i386 (20100705)
ProcEnviron:
 PATH=(custom, user)
 LANG=en_US.utf8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: alsa-utils

[Nizamov Shawkat (nizamov-shawkat)]

I have a different problem - after upgrading from lucid to maverick my notebook always starts with sound at maximum.
I am not sure if this is another bug. Proposed workaround (commenting out "load-module module-device-restore" line in default.pa) had no effect.

[Dave Jones (dgjones)]

"What has been brought up by VinDSL on ubuntuforums is the diff between /sbin/alsa-utils in lucid and maverick which is this line (385

mute_and_zero_levels "$TARGET_CARD" || EXITSTATUS=1

Removing the line or changing the 1 to 0 seems to resolve the sound at boot issue and allow use of alsamixer"

CHanging the exitstatus=1 to exitstatus=0 has solved this on my system

I had a similar bug on Karmic & had to edit /etc/alsa-utils and the same line

[Colin Watson (cjwatson)]

alsa-utils (1.0.23-2ubuntu2) maverick; urgency=low

  * debian/init: Restore change from 1.0.21-1ubuntu2 lost during merge
    that skips muting and zeroing levels prior to shutdown/reboot,
    which was a hack for broken drivers. This change closes LP: #21804,
    LP: #208920, #227505, #360108, #432660, #449783, #553132, #564472,
    LP: #584609, #592016, #596360, #613054, #617516, #622487, #632019.
  * debian/patches/alsactl_init_update_to_52bd2f8a_head.patch: Add
    upstream git changesets:
    dcb90a77 - Use "Found hardware:" instead "Unknown hardware:"
    7f6a55e2 - use "generic method" instead "guess method"
    52bd2f8a - Handle "Capture Source" and "Mic Boost"
    ef919a47 - Initialize also "Master Front Playback Volume" & "Switch"
    (yes, this last changeset is included despite the patch filename)

 -- Daniel T Chen <email address hidden> Sun, 05 Sep 2010 11:57:59 -0400

[Trev Peterson (trev-advanced-reality)]

I am experiencing this same problem since upgrading to Natty. alsa-utils 1.0.24.2-0ubuntu6. Let me know if additional information is needed.