no audio

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bricedebrignaisplage
Posts: 8
Joined: Fri May 15, 2009 2:45 am

no audio

Post by bricedebrignaisplage »

I installed a Ubuntu+LXDE following that guide (more or less): wiki.dennyhalim.com/ubuntu-minimal-desktop

- installed a cli ubuntu jaunty from minimal cd
- install lxde: sudo aptitude install --without-recommends lxde
- install slim: sudo aptitude install slim

Got it running. Then I installed apps (openoffice, firefox, thunderbird, kdevelop, etc.), and everything working all right.

Then I proceeded to install multimedia apps: vlc and audacious. NO AUDIO. I get video in vlc but no sound. In audacious I can start a MP3 but no sound.

alsa is installed, as well as pulse audio. I tried to install amarok to see whether it would install some audio system but no.
What should I do?
Marty Jack
Posts: 381
Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2009 5:14 am

Re: no audio

Post by Marty Jack »

Most likely the audio is muted. Debug it using alsamixer. If you have pulse as your primary output you may need "alsamixer -c 0" to see your sound card.
If you Google "alsa troubleshooting" that may help you.
On my sound card the analog audio is muted unless I mute the SPDIF outputs.
archibald haddock
Posts: 148
Joined: Sun Jan 11, 2009 6:57 pm

Re: no audio

Post by archibald haddock »

Are Alsa and your cards in the kernel?
DixieDancer
Posts: 25
Joined: Mon May 04, 2009 1:15 pm

Re: no audio

Post by DixieDancer »

Marty Jack wrote:Most likely the audio is muted. Debug it using alsamixer.
I'm having a similar problem. Sound works fine on boot-up, then "auto-defaults" to mute. The first thing I do when the desktop appears is to open Volume Control and un-mute it. How can I keep it from "defaulting" to mute after I log off or shut down?

I wasn't able to find "alsamixer" in my usr/share/applications folder (Ubuntu 9.04) to "debug" anything. I'm still a newbie to Linux.

Thanks,
Robin
Marty Jack
Posts: 381
Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2009 5:14 am

Re: no audio

Post by Marty Jack »

alsamixer is a command line tool. "which alsamixer" tells you if you have it installed. It comes from the alsa-utils package.
You need to make sure you're doing "alsactl store" and "alsactl restore" on shutdown and boot. This should be done for you by the system scripts.

These questions are really better directed to the Ubuntu people, who are familiar with how they set up their bootscripts.
DixieDancer
Posts: 25
Joined: Mon May 04, 2009 1:15 pm

Re: no audio

Post by DixieDancer »

Thanks! I'll post the question on Ubuntu forums too. I've been bragging like crazy there about how fast and simple LXDE is! Thanks again for an awesome DE.

-Robin
Marty Jack
Posts: 381
Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2009 5:14 am

Re: no audio

Post by Marty Jack »

We certainly appreciate the compliment on LXDE. Good luck with getting it solved. In LXDE we do not do anything behind your back that is not visible in one of the configuration files.
bricedebrignaisplage
Posts: 8
Joined: Fri May 15, 2009 2:45 am

Re: no audio

Post by bricedebrignaisplage »

Thanks Marty, the audio was muted indeed.
bricedebrignaisplage
Posts: 8
Joined: Fri May 15, 2009 2:45 am

Re: no audio

Post by bricedebrignaisplage »

Sound works fine on boot-up, then "auto-defaults" to mute. The first thing I do when the desktop appears is to open Volume Control and un-mute it. How can I keep it from "defaulting" to mute after I log off or shut down?
You need to make sure you're doing "alsactl store" and "alsactl restore" on shutdown and boot. This should be done for you by the system scripts.
deed you manage to solve that problem? I would like to know the solution as I am having the same problem.
DixieDancer
Posts: 25
Joined: Mon May 04, 2009 1:15 pm

Re: no audio

Post by DixieDancer »

bricedebrignaisplage wrote: did you manage to solve that problem? I would like to know the solution as I am having the same problem.
I was offered some solutions that didn't work, or caused new problems. I figure it's some li'l bug in Ubuntu 9.04 I think, one that may be solved simply by some update. I'm content to "un-mute" it for now. These things are the price one pays for insisting on the "latest and greatest" cutting edge software (Ubuntu Jaunty) instead of something thoroughly tested and thoroughly stable (like Ubuntu Hardy, LTS). It's a minor little glitch and no more trouble than emptying the trash bin was in Windows. So I basically just live with it.

-Robin
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