OpenSuse 11.2 - No Headphone Sound On Dell Studio

Hoping someone might be able to point me to a solution. I am using OpenSuse 11.2 on a Dell Studio laptop. I have sound through the internal speakers, but no sound through the headphones.

I am using KDE and Kmix does have a volume control for the headphone, and it is not muted. None of the sounds are muted.

I have run the alsa update as described in another thread and that did not help.

I also have run alsa-info.sh:

Your ALSA information is located at http://www.alsa-project.org/db/?f=7bd0b2a382beb4e14f3c285ae93daac48b166484

cat /etc/modprobe.d/50-sound.conf

options snd slots=snd-hda-intel,snd-hda-intel

u1Nb.q5iJRtIng9B:5 Series/3400 Series Chipset High Definition Audio

alias snd-card-0 snd-hda-intel

2Oa+.4DShUUubpP6:R700 Audio Device [Radeon HD 4000 Series]

alias snd-card-1 snd-hda-intel

Any ideas would be very much appreciated!

Thanks.

I do not know what ‘other’ thread you are refering to.

Your mixer selections available to you look inappropriate for a current version of alsa. It suggests to me the alsa update may have been performed incorrectly. Also, your version of alsa according to the diagnostic script output is 1.0.21/1.021a, but the latest is 1.0.23, also suggesting you did not update, or if you did update then the guidance you followed was only for a limited update.

Please provide the output of:

rpm -qa '*alsa*'
rpm -qa '*pulse*'
rpm -q libasound2
uname -a

I don’t have the link handy - but it was a thread that suggested using zypper after adding a multimedia repository to get the latest alsa software. After doing this, the repository needs to be removed from Yast.

Ok - I’ll revisit this if I can find more information on how to update to the latest for OpenSuse 11.2

rpm -qa ‘alsa
alsa-tools-1.0.21-2.5.x86_64
alsa-plugins-pulse-1.0.21-3.3.x86_64
alsa-oss-1.0.17-25.2.x86_64
alsa-plugins-32bit-1.0.21-3.3.x86_64
alsa-devel-1.0.21-3.2.x86_64
alsa-tools-gui-1.0.21-2.5.x86_64
alsa-driver-kmp-desktop-1.0.23.20101013_2.6.31.5_0.1-1.1.x86_64
alsa-utils-1.0.21-3.1.x86_64
alsa-plugins-1.0.21-3.3.x86_64
alsa-firmware-1.0.20-3.2.noarch
alsa-plugins-jack-32bit-1.0.21-3.3.x86_64
alsa-oss-32bit-1.0.17-25.2.x86_64
Performous-plugin-alsa-0.5.1-0.pm.1.26.x86_64
alsa-plugins-pulse-32bit-1.0.21-3.3.x86_64
alsa-plugins-jack-1.0.21-3.3.x86_64
alsa-driver-unstable-kmp-desktop-1.0.23.20100906_2.6.31.5_0.1-53.1.x86_64
alsamixergui-0.9.0rc1-743.1.x86_64
alsaplayer-0.99.80-1.pm.1.1.x86_64
alsa-1.0.21-3.2.x86_64
kalsatools-1.5.0-598.1.x86_64

rpm -qa ‘pulse
pulseaudio-lang-0.9.21-1.2.1.noarch
alsa-plugins-pulse-1.0.21-3.3.x86_64
libpulse-mainloop-glib0-0.9.21-1.2.1.x86_64
pulseaudio-0.9.21-1.2.1.x86_64
libxine1-pulse-1.1.18.1-1.pm.37.2.x86_64
alsa-plugins-pulse-32bit-1.0.21-3.3.x86_64
libpulse0-0.9.21-1.2.1.x86_64
libpulse0-32bit-0.9.21-1.2.1.x86_64

rpm -q libasound2
libasound2-1.0.21-3.2.x86_64

uname -a
Linux linux-tx5s 2.6.31.14-0.1-desktop #1 SMP PREEMPT 2010-09-17 11:32:00 +0200 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Thanks!

There is a problem with your PC’s alsa update. What is installed on your PC is incorrect.

I highlighted the version number of the applications where you have the WRONG version after updating. I also highighted the alsa-driver-unstable-kmp-desktop that is BIG mistake in installing at the same time as alsa-driver-kmp-default.

I recommend you do ALL of the following:
(1) remove BOTH alsa-driver-kmp-desktop AND remove alsa-driver-unstable-kmp-desktop.
(2) update the alsa versions above whose version numbers I highlighted in read, … ie update: alsa-tools, alsa-plugins, alsa-oss, alsa-plugins-32bit, alsa-devel, alsa-tools-gui,alsa-utils, alsa-plugins, alsa-firmware, alsa-plugins-jack-32bit, alsa-oss-32bit, alsa-plugins-pulse-32bit, alsa-plugins-jack, alsa, and libasound2 . There is guidance here for that: SDB:Alsa-update - openSUSE . Don’t forget libasound2.
(3) re-install ONLY alsa-driver-kmp-desktop. Do NOT install alsa-driver-unstable-kmp-desktop. There is guidance here for that: SDB:Alsa-update - openSUSE

Its important you remove BOTH alsa-driver-kmp-desktop AND remove alsa-driver-unstable-kmp-desktop before re-installing alsa-driver-kmp-desktop.

Then reboot and test.

Thanks - I realized why the first update did not really update the alsa packages - upon trying again, in YAST, there was a line of blue text that said something like “Switch packages?” or “Switch respositories” which I had not noticed before.

After doing that, the newer packages were installed:

rpm -qa ‘alsa
alsa-driver-kmp-desktop-1.0.23.20101015_2.6.31.14_0.1-1.1.x86_64
alsa-utils-1.0.23-25.2.x86_64
alsa-plugins-32bit-1.0.23-33.1.x86_64
alsa-oss-1.0.17-53.1.x86_64
alsa-1.0.23-69.1.x86_64
alsa-plugins-pulse-1.0.23-33.1.x86_64
alsa-tools-1.0.23-9.3.x86_64
alsa-plugins-pulse-32bit-1.0.23-33.1.x86_64
pyalsa-1.0.22-4.1.x86_64
alsa-plugins-1.0.23-33.1.x86_64
alsa-devel-1.0.23-69.1.x86_64
Performous-plugin-alsa-0.5.1-0.pm.1.26.x86_64
alsa-plugins-jack-32bit-1.0.23-33.1.x86_64
alsa-plugins-jack-1.0.23-33.1.x86_64
alsa-oss-32bit-1.0.17-53.1.x86_64
alsa-tools-gui-1.0.23-9.3.x86_64
alsamixergui-0.9.0rc1-743.1.x86_64
alsaplayer-0.99.80-1.pm.1.1.x86_64
alsa-firmware-1.0.23-8.1.noarch
kalsatools-1.5.0-598.1.x86_64

rpm -q libasound2

libasound2-1.0.23-69.1.x86_64

But still no headphone sound.

Updated alsa-info.sh:

http://www.alsa-project.org/db/?f=046500a272d64d4002df055ae2e1e2496b1105cf

Did you remove BOTH alsa-driver-kmp-desktop AND remove alsa-driver-unstable-kmp-desktop like I asked, before re-installing alsa-driver-kmp-desktop ? If you did not follow that sequence, then it won’t work.

Did you reboot as asked ?

You are certain the hardware is good ? (ie works under another OS ? )

You could also try forcing some model options upon booting to see if that helps (although theoretically it should not be necessary with 1.0.23 of alsa). For the IDT 92HD73C1X5
that is in your dell, the model options from the HD-Audio-Models.txt file are:

STAC92HD73*
===========
  ref		Reference board
  no-jd		BIOS setup but without jack-detection
  intel		Intel DG45* mobos
  dell-m6-amic	Dell desktops/laptops with analog mics
  dell-m6-dmic	Dell desktops/laptops with digital mics
  dell-m6	Dell desktops/laptops with both type of mics
  dell-eq	Dell desktops/laptops
  alienware	Alienware M17x
  auto		BIOS setup (default)

For example, lets say you wish to try te “dell-m6” option (because I have read that works for some Ubuntu users for the headset). To do that, add this line to the START of your /etc/modprobe.d/50-sound.conf file:

options snd-hda-intel model=dell-m6

such that the file now looks like:

options snd-hda-intel model=dell-m6
options snd slots=snd-hda-intel,snd-hda-intel
# u1Nb.q5iJRtIng9B:5 Series/3400 Series Chipset High Definition Audio
alias snd-card-0 snd-hda-intel
# 2Oa+.4DShUUubpP6:R700 Audio Device [Radeon HD 4000 Series]
alias snd-card-1 snd-hda-intel

then save that, and restart your alsa sound driver with:

su -c 'rcalsasound restart'

enter your root password when prompted for a password and test. If using KDE and asked if you wish to delete an old configuration say YES. We don’t want it. Note in KDE you should type ‘kmix’ as a regular user to restart your mixer for testing. In gnome it will be another mixer, … maybe alsamixer?

If “dell-m6” does not work, try another option model from that list. Say 'dell-eq". To do that simply replace “dell-m6” from the modified /etc/modprobe.d/50-sound.conf file with “dell-eq”, save the change, restart alsa as described above, restart your mixer, and test. Do that for each model option until your headset works !

Yes, yes, and yes to all.

Thank you!! ‘dell-eq’ got the headphones working! Awesome. Your help and guidance (as aways) is much appreciated.

Excellent! Glad to read this worked for you.

Well done in your determination and technical efforts to stick with this until you came up with the solution! Thanks for sharing your result.

Quick question - Yast advises that there is a kernel update. If I install it, will I have to update or reinstall alsa-driver-kmp-desktop?

Thanks!

Yes you will most likely need to re-install the latest version of the alsa-driver-kmp-desktop. Check to see if there is an rpm for that kernel version here (in the appropriate subdirectory):

 http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/multimedia:/audio:/KMP/openSUSE_11.3_Update/ 

if here is an update, then you are ok to proceed. Once the new kernel is installed, update your alsa-driver-kmp-desktop.