Laptop speakers do not mute

[mushroom_cloud]

Hi there,

Well, i've been trying to fix sound on my Dell vostro ever since i managed to get gutsy installed on it. Well, i have alsa drivers installed on my laptop but i'm not able to use my laptop in public places while using headphones, because i can't use headphones on it.

I mean, i can plug in headphones and i get sound on the phones, the sound on the laptop (i.e. the laptop speakers don't mute) so it's really annoying, because i can't take the machine down to the library or listen to music on it when my room mates are sleeping etc..

i found this thread on ubuntu forums but i don't think it was of any help;
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=314383

and https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Gutsy_Intel_HD_Audio_Controller

but couldn't get anything working off it. the second link has a flaw which it mentions in itself..

Do you think anyone can help me out with this?

[MoonRise]

Re: Laptop speakers do not mute

I may be wrong, but when one uses the phones jack, the computer is suppose to bypass the system speakers not the OS. I'd check back with Dell Customer Support on that one.

[mushroom_cloud]

Re: Laptop speakers do not mute

ugh

I got it working.

Here's how;

Installed ALSA drivers like i normally do,

now

sudo apt-get install linux-backports-modules-generic

I don't know how you do the next step using the terminal, since i'm a newbie..but here's how i do it anyway.

Open /etc/modprobe.d (if you're a newbie like me, press alt + F2 and enter /etc/modprobe.d onto the window/box that comes up.

right click on the file named alsa-base, actions> open as root

Now add this line onto the end

options snd-hda-intel model=dell

Reboot, and you're ready to go (at least on a Vostro 1500) i assume there will still be issues with standby mode where this will stop working, but at least you're not helpless.

Cheers

[MoonRise]

Re: Laptop speakers do not mute

Glad to hear that!

[mushroom_cloud]

Re: Laptop speakers do not mute

Ironically,

this just lasted for one reboot after which my system went back to the same state. This sucks, how can a fix work at the first reboot and then juts stop working after? This is the second time it's happening to me..

Is there any way i can manually shut off the internal speakers while still keeping sound on the headphone jack? I tried adjusting the 'front' on the alsamixer but it reduces the overall sound.

In the hardware section of sound, the sudio device is set to autodetect..i hope that's okay?

[mushroom_cloud]

Re: Laptop speakers do not mute

People running Ubuntu on the same machine have managed to get it working with the backports code that i mentioned in the beginning. I'm beginning to think this is a Kubuntu specific problem.

[MoonRise]

Re: Laptop speakers do not mute

Have you looked at kmix setings? When I was having problems making a "fix" stick, it was because kmix was overriding that fix. It turned out to be a simple switch that had to be turned on.

[mushroom_cloud]

Re: Laptop speakers do not mute

Well, i have looked at it generally..there's nothing much i can do on Kmix..

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e3...snapshot14.png


http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e3...snapshot11.png


http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e3...snapshot12.png

here's what my alsamixer looks like

[img width=400 height=306]http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e37/mushroomcloudwarrior/snapshot13.png[/img]
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e3...snapshot13.png

[MoonRise]

Re: Laptop speakers do not mute

Can you verify that the line you added is still there?

Open /etc/modprobe.d (if you're a newbie like me, press alt + F2 and enter /etc/modprobe.d onto the window/box that comes up.

right click on the file named alsa-base, actions> open as root

Now add this line onto the end

options snd-hda-intel model=dell

Have to say this has me stumped.

[mushroom_cloud]

Re: Laptop speakers do not mute

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Gutsy_Intel_HD_Audio_Controller

this page (Method F) addresses this problem, but i'm unsure of how to go ahead with it..If someone could point me in the right direction. I have a SATA hard drive as well..

[mushroom_cloud]

Re: Laptop speakers do not mute

Can you verify that the line you added is still there?

Open /etc/modprobe.d (if you're a newbie like me, press alt + F2 and enter /etc/modprobe.d onto the window/box that comes up.

right click on the file named alsa-base, actions> open as root

Now add this line onto the end

options snd-hda-intel model=dell

Have to say this has me stumped.

Yep, it's still there and i've just rebooted, so it should be working, just that it's not.

[MoonRise]

Re: Laptop speakers do not mute

Looked at that link.. What Model Vostro did you say you had?

[mushroom_cloud]

Re: Laptop speakers do not mute

Vostro 1500


and i've had people on ubuntu forums telling me how they had the same model with nearly the same config, and they got their problem fixed by installing the backports way.

[MoonRise]

Re: Laptop speakers do not mute

OK... Two things, What kernel are you booting with?

Also from that link for the line you added is the last part about model. There example had

his is for Dell Vostro 1400 and will vary based on your machine. Check out this link to identify the line appropriate for your machine

  * options snd-hda-intel model=dell-3stack

   [url]https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HdaIntelSoundHowto[/url]

Can you verify what model? The link above gave more info. You may have already been here.

[MoonRise]

Re: Laptop speakers do not mute

Well, I have to say. I've done a lot of poking around and actually found a few places where people were having problems with the sound for even Windows XP. Very interesting.

This was interesting: http://www.mail-archive.com/ubuntu-b...msg505706.html

I wonder if you remove ALSA and all and then reinstall it? Before re-installation I would make sure all previously downloaded packages are removed from your system so that a fresh copy can be downloaded.