Xubuntu 12.04 - sound not working

[Ric Moore]

On 09/21/2012 10:53 PM, Bill Stanley wrote:
> On 09/21/2012 09:07 PM, Steven Grace wrote:
>> On 09/21/2012 08:21 AM, Bill Stanley wrote:
>>> On 09/20/2012 10:10 PM, Steven Grace wrote:
>>>
>>>> Have you checked "Sound Settings" (Volume Control), accessed by
>>>> clicking
>>>> the speaker icon in the panel?
>>>
>>> That's the problem, I can't find anything related to the sound system. I
>>> always check if the sound has been somehow muted first. The only thing
>>> I found was "Pulse audio sound volume" in the Multimedia menu. Other
>>> than that, there is nothing. I tried playing around with that without
>>> any luck.
>>
>> I'm almost certain that the original Xubuntu 12.04 installation includes
>> the Indicator Plugin in the panel. If Indicator Plugin isn't there you
>> can add it back.
>>
>> It has icons of a speaker, an envelope, and a symbol indicating your
>> network connection type. I'm referring to the speaker icon in that group.
>>
>> You can also run "Volume Control" from a terminal. Enter: pavucontrol
>>
>
> I have that program under multimedia / "pulse audio volume control" and
> I ran that prior to asking the forum for help.  The problem is that
> there are many options and I can't tell which is the right one.  As far
> as I can tell, everything looks to be correct.  Then again, it's hard to
> tell from this program.  On the Output devices tab it shows:
>
> Port... HDMI / Display port it shows nothing on the drop down
>          list for this item
>
> PCM     is grey but also the check box for this item is enabled.
>
> Front Left and Front Right are grey but the slider is at 100%
>
> Built in Audio Analog stereo  .. there is a green check mark here.
>
> Show:  All output devices is selected.  The other options are Hardware
> output devices and Virtual output devices.
>
> Like I said, the output of pavucontrol is hard to make sense of.
>
>>>> If you can't figure it out, tell us about your hardware configuration,
>>>> especially sound cards and video cards. Xubuntu may have picked the
>>>> wrong sound card as your default.
>>>
>>> I do not have a separate sound card, it's on the motherboard. The specs
>>> say it is an integrated 7.1 channel, High Definition Audio with S/PDIF
>>> support. The computer is a Dell Studio XPS.
>>
>> That doesn't mean you don't have something else that's a "sound card."
>> My video card has HDMI, which includes audio and is treated as an
>> additional sound card. But in any case, the volume control program will
>> allow you to disable any sound cards you don't use.

Pavucontrol is not installed by default. Check and see if it's installed 
first. Then launch it from command line as you were asked to do. It's 
fairly easy to use. You select the layout of your sound system under 
Configuration. It should be showing all of your sound devices.

A paid of stereo speakers? Or 5.1 or 7.1? You have to tell pulse what 
you have installed externally. Same for a USB headset. If you don't have 
S/PDIF hardware connected to your sound chip, then you sure wouldn't 
select that as your hardware configuration. Because it's capable, 
doesn't mean it's used in the real world in your setup. This is easy.

Leave pavucontrol running and launch something that has audio while you 
are in the playback tab. Once your app launches, you should see the 
sound bar fluttering. If it's showing your 5.1 setup and you wish to use 
your USB headset, you can switch on the fly. THAT is when pulse makes 
sense. Your speakers are your "output devices" and input devices are 
things like microphones.

I have a 5.1 speaker system and I do not use a mike with my sound card. 
So, under configuration, I have 5.1 selected with no input. I use my USB 
headset and that is configured "stereo" and "mono" input for the boom 
mike. Once you wrap your brains around it, there is nothing simpler to 
use! Then, you'll love it. But swapping between devices, on the fly, is 
the best part. Plus, if you use your headset for Firefox, the next time 
you use firefox, it'll switch to headset, even if you just used your box 
speakers to watch a DVD. :) Ric




-- 
My father, Victor Moore (Vic) used to say:
"There are two Great Sins in the world...
..the Sin of Ignorance, and the Sin of Stupidity.
Only the former may be overcome." R.I.P. Dad.
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