Headset doesn't work for HP EliteBook 755 G2

[Derick Eddington]

My laptop is an HP EliteBook 755 G2 (from mid 2015) that has a combined headset (headphone + mic) jack that doesn't work. The speakers work fine and they mute when a headset is plugged in but the headphones don't work.

This problem exists in Xenial Xerus and in 15.04 (I use the MATE flavor of both).

A fix in the kernel has recently been made. I've already reported the problem to the ALSA developers [1] and Takashi Iwai has already committed a fix which is currently queued for inclusion in the official kernel:

https://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/tiwai/sound.git/commit/?id=f883982dc1b117f04579f0896821cd9f2e397f94

I'd like to ask that this fix be included in Xenial Xerus's kernel.

If it's helpful, see [1] for more details and links to other people having the same problem.

[1] http://mailman.alsa-project.org/pipermail/alsa-devel/2016-February/104883.html

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 16.04
Package: linux-image-4.4.0-8-generic 4.4.0-8.23
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.4.0-8.23-generic 4.4.2
Uname: Linux 4.4.0-8-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: wl fglrx
ApportVersion: 2.20-0ubuntu3
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/pcmC1D0p: d 1192 F...m pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/controlC1: d 1192 F.... pulseaudio
                      d 2874 F.... alsamixer
 /dev/snd/controlC0: d 1192 F.... pulseaudio
CurrentDesktop: MATE
Date: Sat Feb 27 10:42:07 2016
InstallationDate: Installed on 2016-02-20 (7 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu-MATE 16.04 LTS "Xenial Xerus" - Alpha amd64 (20160219)
MachineType: Hewlett-Packard HP EliteBook 755 G2
ProcFB: 0 VESA VGA
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-4.4.0-8-generic root=/dev/mapper/VGany-U1604a ro intremap=off priority=low
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-restricted-modules-4.4.0-8-generic N/A
 linux-backports-modules-4.4.0-8-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.156
SourcePackage: linux
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 10/20/2015
dmi.bios.vendor: Hewlett-Packard
dmi.bios.version: M84 Ver. 01.10
dmi.board.asset.tag: Base Board Asset Tag
dmi.board.name: 221C
dmi.board.vendor: Hewlett-Packard
dmi.board.version: KBC Version 63.16
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: 5CG5100JQN
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: Hewlett-Packard
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnHewlett-Packard:bvrM84Ver.01.10:bd10/20/2015:svnHewlett-Packard:pnHPEliteBook755G2:pvrA3009DD10303:rvnHewlett-Packard:rn221C:rvrKBCVersion63.16:cvnHewlett-Packard:ct10:cvr:
dmi.product.name: HP EliteBook 755 G2
dmi.product.version: A3009DD10303
dmi.sys.vendor: Hewlett-Packard

[Brad Figg (brad-figg)]

This change was made by a bot.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Derick Eddington, thank you for reporting this and helping make Ubuntu better.

To clarify, have you personally tested the commit for your hardware and confirmed it works?

[Derick Eddington (derick-eddington)]

I have not.

If compiling Xenial's kernel isn't difficult, I can apply the patch and test. I'll read about how to do this.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Derick Eddington, one document that may help here is https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/KernelBisection#Testing_a_newly_released_patch_from_upstream .

[Derick Eddington (derick-eddington)]

I've now tested the kernel fix with my hardware and confirmed it works. I compiled Xenial's 4.4.0-14-generic kernel after applying the patch, by following https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/BuildYourOwnKernel . With the patched kernel, my headset's headphones and microphone work and the background noise isn't present, without needing an /etc/modprobe.d/snd-hda-intel.conf for module option fix and without needing to disable Loopback Mixing.

I had to slightly adjust Takashi Iwai's patch, with regards to line numbers and surrounding context lines, to get it to successfully apply, and I've attached this.

[Joseph Salisbury (jsalisbury)]

Commit f883982dc was cc'd to stable, so it will make it's way into Ubuntu through the normal stable update process.