No sound through speakers on 12.04

[Dariusz Gadomski]

I observe a somewhat buggy behavior in comparison to 11.10. I have a desktop PC with audio out on the back (I use it for speakers) and audio out in the front (used for headphones). I have both: speakers and headphones connected all the time. In 11.10 it used to provide output to both, so I just switched the speakers off when I wanted to use the headphones.

No the behavior is as follows:
1. Boot Ubuntu 12.04 with speakers and headphones plugged in.
Result: Audio only on headphones
2. Unplug headphones.
Result: No audio heard at all.
3. Unplug and plug speakers.
Result: No audio heard at all.
4. Plug headphones.
Result: Audio only on headphones.
5. Suspend to RAM and wake computer.
Result: Audio on both: speakers and headphones.
6. Unplug headphones and reboot.
Result: Audio on speakers.
7. Plug the headphones
Result: Audio on both: speakers and headphones.

The bottom line is: if I want to have sound on speakers I need to either boot Ubuntu with headphones unplugged or boot normally (with both speakers and headphones plugged in) and perform suspend-to-ram and wake procedure.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.04
Package: pulseaudio 1:1.1-0ubuntu5
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.2.0-14.23-generic 3.2.3
Uname: Linux 3.2.0-14-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
AlsaVersion: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version 1.0.24.
ApportVersion: 1.91-0ubuntu1
Architecture: amd64
ArecordDevices:
 **** List of CAPTURE Hardware Devices ****
 card 0: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 0: VT1708S Analog [VT1708S Analog]
   Subdevices: 2/2
   Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
   Subdevice #1: subdevice #1
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC1: darek 2146 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/controlC0: darek 2146 F.... pulseaudio
Card0.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:0 'NVidia'/'HDA NVidia at 0xf9e78000 irq 21'
   Mixer name : 'VIA VT1708S'
   Components : 'HDA:11060397,104383c4,00100000'
   Controls : 42
   Simple ctrls : 21
Card1.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:1 'NVidia_1'/'HDA NVidia at 0xfbffc000 irq 18'
   Mixer name : 'Nvidia GPU 0d HDMI/DP'
   Components : 'HDA:10de000d,10de0101,00100100'
   Controls : 24
   Simple ctrls : 4
Date: Mon Feb 6 16:59:24 2012
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.04 "Natty Narwhal" - Release amd64 (20110427.1)
ProcEnviron:
 PATH=(custom, user)
 LANG=pl_PL.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: pulseaudio
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to precise on 2012-02-03 (2 days ago)
dmi.bios.date: 03/12/2010
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: 0903
dmi.board.asset.tag: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.board.name: M4N75TD
dmi.board.vendor: ASUSTeK Computer INC.
dmi.board.version: Rev 1.xx
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: Asset-1234567890
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: Chassis Manufacture
dmi.chassis.version: Chassis Version
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvr0903:bd03/12/2010:svnSystemmanufacturer:pnSystemProductName:pvrSystemVersion:rvnASUSTeKComputerINC.:rnM4N75TD:rvrRev1.xx:cvnChassisManufacture:ct3:cvrChassisVersion:
dmi.product.name: System Product Name
dmi.product.version: System Version
dmi.sys.vendor: System manufacturer

[Dariusz Gadomski (dgadomski)]

I have an update on the above scenario:
5. Suspend-to-ram, unplug speakers and wake computer.
Without unplugging speakers I still get no sound after waking the computer.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[Shanekpiper (shanekpiper)]

I have been doing some testing and by adding 'options snd-hda-intel model=auto' to /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf then rebooting my computer I see in the sound output

Digital Output (S/PDIF)
Built in Audio

Headphones
Built in Audio

Speakers
Built in Audio

and I can select Analogue modes for duplex, 4.0, 4.1, 5.0 & 5.1 with Analogue Stereo input.

I have sound out of Headphones only.

Chaning the /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf options snd-hda-intel model=auto to model=acer or acer-aspire. Everything works correctly apart from I am unable to select the audio mode for surround. This was working fine in Ubuntu 11.10

[Shanekpiper (shanekpiper)]

Forgot to mention I have an Acer-Aspire 8930 where I have seen a post from http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1043568 where it suggests that the options snd-hda-intel model should be set to auto for my device.

[Shanekpiper (shanekpiper)]

When snd-hda-intel model is set to acer or acer-aspire, the test sound function does not work, but I have only stereo sound. Not all speakers play sound only front left & right.

[Shanekpiper (shanekpiper)]

Dariusz - I can see that you have upgraded from 11.04 to 12.04
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.04 "Natty Narwhal" - Release amd64 (20110427.1)

Even if you did a fresh install I am sure the problem will still remain, as I did a clean install of 12.04 beta 1

[Dariusz Gadomski (dgadomski)]

Shanekpiper - Yes, I've originally installed 11.04, but later I've upgraded to 11.10 and eventually to 12.04. It was working correctly all the time up to upgrade to 12.04.

[Shanekpiper (shanekpiper)]

As a temporary fix even though it reduces the speaker output to just stereo left and right, try adding the following to alsa-base.conf

Open up a terminal:

sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf

add at the bottom of the conf file:

options snd-hda-intel model=asus

Save it and then restart your computer, this should work, but I hope they come up with a solution for all.

[Dariusz Gadomski (dgadomski)]

Thanks Shanekpiper.
Unfortunately adding
options snd-hda-intel model=asus
to file
/etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf
and rebooting afterwards did not help.

After the reboot with headphones plugged in I can't get any output from speakers no matter whether I plug in or out the headphones jack.

[Dariusz Gadomski (dgadomski)]

I consider this invalid now. I think it was the fault of my BIOS settings. I have changed the Onboard Devices / Front Panel Select setting from 'AC97' to 'HD Audio' and the jack detection behaves as expected:
1. I boot with my headphones plugged in to the front panel -> I have no sound through speakers, but I hear it through headphones.
2. I unplug the headphones jack -> the sound is heard from the speakers.