Modern Linux distributions will auto-detect and configure the sound drivers for you. The purpose of this guide is to describe the problems you may have with your computer.
For more details on installing newer versions of ALSA on your computer have a look at our guides section which covers a number of different distributions.
There are a number of issues which can appear with certain systems. Below is a description of the problem and possible solutions.
Ensure the volume is turned up and is not muted.
Try running 'alsamixer' from the terminal and see if adjusting the volume settings from here works.
Again in alsamixer, try toggling some of the switches. 'External Amplifier' sometimes works.
Upgrade to the latest
ALSA drivers. You can view our
Guides for details on doing this on various distributions.
Head to the
ALSA bugs section and do a search for your laptop or motherboard. There is sometimes a workaround which other users have developed.
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This issue is common with newer laptops and motherboards which use the snd-hda-intel module.
Try running 'alsamixer' and toggle some of the switches. 'External Amplifier' sometimes works.
Upgrade to the latest
ALSA drivers. You can view our
Guides for details on doing this on various distributions.
Head to the
ALSA bugs section and do a search for your laptop or motherboard. There is sometimes a workaround which other users have developed.
Ensure the volume is turned up and is not muted.
Try running 'alsamixer' from the terminal and see if adjusting the volume settings from here works.
Again in alsamixer, try toggling some of the switches.
Upgrade to the latest
ALSA drivers. You can view our
Guides for details on doing this on various distributions.
Head to the
ALSA bugs section and do a search for your laptop or motherboard. There is sometimes a workaround which other users have developed.
Discussion
OK I have a Dell Presision M6300. I am now running Fedora 12 (uname -a Linux Inconcievable 2.6.31.12-174.2.3.fc12.i686.PAE #1 SMP Mon Jan 18 20:06:44 UTC 2010 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux) When the the box boots up and powers down I get sound. I can't seem to get any application to use the sound. For example the audio player (Amarok) seemed to wig out a bit after I followed all the instructions above. In addion I can't seem to get sound from the Firefox. I had very simiar issues running ubuntu but didn't like the interface and moved to fedora before the issue was resolved
Any thoughts.
Mic Not working in Skype or recorder
i have alsa- xxx1.0.16xxx ., i can hear from speakers when i talk in Mic , but when i use either skype or any tool to record via internal or external mic , cannot hear anything .? appreciate if some body can give work around.
Skype - Options → Sound devices → Sound IN → Try every options
HP 8710P
My Laptop worked fine just after i installed Ubuntu 8.04. It wasn't necessary to install any drivers at all. One small problem though with sound…the quality is not that good. Any suggestions?
HP 8710P
Just opposite to Paul, the sound here (Ubuntu 8.04 i386) is fine but I can't make the microphone working.
Dell Latitude D 630 with Fedora core 6
Fedora Core 6 installs everything with ease except the
sound and the wireless.
I got the wireless card 3945ABG working by following
the instructions at intellinuxwireless.org instructions.
The audio (hda-intel STAC9205) was a lot harder. I downloaded the latest kernel 2.6.22 and recompiled kernel with sound compiled in the kernel (ALSA). It worked partially - speakers were fine but mic was not working.
I then downloaded the “testing kernel” 2.6.23-rc7. Recompiled the kernel with sound as
a module. Sound worked partially. I downloaded the latest alsamixer 1.0.15rc2.
Compiled and installed. Now mic seems to be working but recording is rather noisy.
Mic works from both the built-in and external mic. I havenot tried this with
Skype or any other.
Strange thing - on resume after hibernate Headphones works, but speakers are silent. But after /sbin/service alsasound restart everything works fine