[Other] Jack output not working on kubuntu 20.04

[Somix]

Hi everyone,
I recently switched to kubuntu 20.04 , and since the very first boot i've got this problem with the audio system, basically:
- Speakers works
-Any Bluetooth audio device works just fine as well
But when i plug in some headphone through the jack ouptut i got no sound, even though checking in the audio settings it seems that the headphones are recognized.

Moreover i find out that executing this command in a terminal :

$ alsactl restore

while the headphones are plugged in actually solves the problem, but just untill i plug out and back in the cable.
Can anybody help me sort this out?

[jlittle]

I suggest maximizing a konsole window, and run alsamixer. Sometimes one sees stuff off to the right that a 80 column window hides. Or press right-arrow a lot.

[Somix]

I suggest maximizing a konsole window, and run alsamixer. Sometimes one sees stuff off to the right that a 80 column window hides. Or press right-arrow a lot.

I already looked at the alsamixer and everything seems fine since the headphones are recognized and the volume and gain seems correctly set, anyway i uploaded a picture of it here https://pasteboard.co/J7rs8t3.png

[doomedlung]

Hi everyone,
I recently switched to kubuntu 20.04 , and since the very first boot i've got this problem with the audio system, basically:
- Speakers works
-Any Bluetooth audio device works just fine as well
But when i plug in some headphone through the jack ouptut i got no sound, even though checking in the audio settings it seems that the headphones are recognized.

Moreover i find out that executing this command in a terminal :

$ alsactl restore

while the headphones are plugged in actually solves the problem, but just untill i plug out and back in the cable.
Can anybody help me sort this out?

This is very similar to the issue I'm facing.. I ran the update to Kubuntu 20.04 from 19.10 following the advice here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/FocalUpgrades/Kubuntu. My audio phone jack decided to stop working, I tried everything I could find online, to fix it namely sudo alsa force-reload and a few other options mentioned here https://askubuntu.com/questions/768463/laptop-headphone-jack-produces-no-sound#884528 nothing worked. I thought it must have been a bad upgrade. So I ran a few checks and attempted to fix possible broken packages to no avail. I noted the the kernel that was used when I upgraded to 20.04, which is: 5.4.0-29-generic. not sure if this was the cause of the issue. Fortunately I have backups using Timeshift, so I restored to a version that I know for sure worked. Then I ran the upgrade again using the advice in the first link above. Nope, no audio phone jack working!

So I've restored my machine back to its original state once again. I'm kinda bricking it now, as I'd like to upgrade but cannot afford to be without audio as I require conferencing with my headphones for work. My machine/current set up is as follows:

OS: Kubuntu 19.10 x86_64
Host: Dell XPS 15 7590
Kernel: 5.3.0-51-generic
DE: KDEWM: KWin
CPU: Intel i9-9980HK (16) @ 5.000GHz
GPU: Intel UHD Graphics 630
GPU: NVIDIA NVIDIA Corporation Device 1f91
Memory: 32GB


I'm currently running Nvidia OnDemand profile.

[doomedlung]

I think this issue may have something to do with the 5.4 kernel. I ran a few experiments, first I flashed a live usb with Manjaro 19.0 Kyria edition (Plasma 5.17) running the 5.6 kernel, booted into it and the phone jack is working as expected. I then created a live usb with Kubuntu 20.04 running the 5.4 kernel, booted into it and experienced the exact issue I have when upgrading from 19.10.

I haven't be able to find anything on the Ubuntu forums regarding this, possibly since it's such at an early stage of the release. Would be good to know if anyone else has come across the same issue or have read similar problems.

[Schwarzer Kater]

No jack output issues here, but modifying /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf helped with general sound problems of Kubuntu 20.04 on a friend's computer:
https://itsfoss.com/fix-sound-ubuntu-1304-quick-tip/

[doomedlung]

No jack output issues here, but modifying /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf helped with general sound problems of Kubuntu 20.04 on a friend's computer:
https://itsfoss.com/fix-sound-ubuntu-1304-quick-tip/

Thanks for this. I'll give the recommendation in the link a shot and reply with my findings.

[doomedlung]

Unfortunately, none of the solutions worked described in the link here: https://itsfoss.com/fix-sound-ubuntu-1304-quick-tip/

However, I think I found the cause of my issue with the audio jack not working,.. it seems every time I've plugged a pair of headphones into my laptop, the "Microphone" option under System Settings -> Audio Volume Settings -> Recording Devices, is selected and muted. Selecting the "Internal Microphone" and unmuting it brings back sound to the audio jack. I've been able to re-produce this every single time.

For now I can live with this, but plugging in my headphones shouldn't de-select my "Internal Microphone" to a "Microphone" option, when my headphones don't have a mic attached.

Anyways, I'll hopefully raise a bug with the Kubuntu team and maybe try to find a solution to prevent the switch of mics.

[Avi512]

Ok so I am on Kubuntu 20.04 now.
This is what I did to solve my audio issues:
On Terminal type these:

• sudo apt install gedit
  
• sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf

Add the following line to the end of this file: options snd-hda-intel dmic_detect=0
Save and close the file and reboot your system.

[Don B. Cilly]

sudo apt install gedit?

[claydoh]

sudo apt install gedit?

Probably the how-to used gedit, which is far more commonly used than kwrite or kate

Sent from my LM-V600 using Tapatalk

[Somix]

Unfortunately, none of the solutions worked described in the link here: https://itsfoss.com/fix-sound-ubuntu-1304-quick-tip/

However, I think I found the cause of my issue with the audio jack not working,.. it seems every time I've plugged a pair of headphones into my laptop, the "Microphone" option under System Settings -> Audio Volume Settings -> Recording Devices, is selected and muted. Selecting the "Internal Microphone" and unmuting it brings back sound to the audio jack. I've been able to re-produce this every single time.

For now I can live with this, but plugging in my headphones shouldn't de-select my "Internal Microphone" to a "Microphone" option, when my headphones don't have a mic attached.

Anyways, I'll hopefully raise a bug with the Kubuntu team and maybe try to find a solution to prevent the switch of mics.

I verified that this happens on my system as well, so i found a workaround that should do the work. Basically you need to disable the 'Microphone' port that it's enabled by default when you plug in headphones. To do this you can run the commands

cd /usr/share/pulseaudio/alsa-mixer/paths
sudo mv  analog-input-headphone-mic.conf analog-input-headphone-mic.config.backup

Then restart.

This only changes the name of the file leaving the option for you to go back if the method doesn't work.

You shoul'd verify fist that "analog-input-headphone-mic" is the port that's giving you problems, you can do that issuing the command:

pacmd list-sources

[abury]

I had this same issue on my Dell laptop
I don't think that this has anything to do with the kernel because on Ubuntu (20.04) the headphones work as expected
so this seems to be a Kubuntu problem
so far... none of the "solutions" that I'd seen and tried have worked
I use my headphone jack for my external speakers so I really need that stuff to work...
my recourse was to go back to 19.10 (on Kubuntu with backports not latest Gnome) and wait to see how the next "Groovy Gorilla" performs...

[Ignitem]

On my Dell laptop I changed the option "Microphone" to "Headset Microphone" in the Audio settings and all of a sudden my headset connector worked and played sound.
Strange because my laptop doesn't have a microphone connector and I just plugged in a bunch of speakers.

[Don B. Cilly]

Strange because my laptop doesn't have a microphone connector

Oh, that must be your malware malfunctioning, then
Just kidding, obviously. Most laptops have a built-in mic though.

Still, it's interesting that it's so "easy" to use your speakers/headphones as microphones...