Sound: Headphones - yes, speakers - no

[NoOp]

On 06/13/2010 05:45 PM, Cameron Hutchison wrote:
> Frans Ketelaars <ketelaars at wanadoo.nl> writes:
> 
>>On Sun, 13 Jun 2010 05:04:39 +0000, Cameron Hutchison wrote:
> 
>>> I have just installed Ubuntu 10.04 on a Compaq Presario CQ42-210AU
>>> laptop. I cannot get the speakers in the laptop working. It does work if
>>> I plug in the headphones. It is not a volume or mute issue. Pulseaudio
>>> is set up to use the device (and clearly does when the headphones are
>>> plugged in).
> 
>>See https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HdaIntelSoundHowto .
> 
> Thanks Frans.
> 
> From that page, I learnt this: 
> $ grep Codec /proc/asound/card0/codec#*
> Codec: Realtek ID 270
> 
> ID 270 looks like an unrecognised codec, otherwise it would have a name.
> This lead me to:
>   http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=9446938&postcount=63
> 
> from which I added another PPA and installed
> linux-alsa-driver-modules-2.6.32-22-generic . After a reboot:
> $ grep Codec /proc/asound/card0/codec#*
> Codec: Realtek ALC259
> 
> ....and now I'm getting sound from the internal speaker.
> 
> Now I have a problem where the volume is rather low. Anywhere between 0
> to 50% is too soft to hear. Apparently pulseaudio has problems if the
> hardware reported incorrect dbm values.

Install gnome-alsamixer ($ sudo apt-get install gnome-alsamixer) and
then Applications|Sound & Video|Gnome Alsamixer and then adjust your PCM
channel. You can do the same via the CLI:

$ alsamixer

(F1 for help)

<minor rant on>
Be aware that adding the ubuntu-audio-dev/ppa can sometimes create
problems when you wish to back down to standard revisions. For example:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/573284/comments/10
[my comment]
Adding the ubuntu-audio-dev/ppa seems to be a common response to alsa
bug issues. It seems to matter not that that is a developers PPA
(Personal Package Archive) and "This PPA will be used to provide testing
versions of packages for supported Ubuntu releases.", and requires a
'force-versions' to back out & removes the ubuntu-desktop package in the
process.
  So, let's say that the devs actually fix the bug related to your
system. How do you, as a standard user, figure out how to revert back to
normal so that you're no longer running the 'testing versions'? It's not
that easy, and a 'standard user' is unlikely to know how to revert back.
<minor rant off>