Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Fix The Audio in Ubuntu 9.04 on the Dell Mini 9

After installing Ubnuntu 9.04 on your Dell Mini 9, you probably are not going to hear the familiar Ubuntu start-up sound or any sounds at all. Unlike Ubuntu 8.10 which required users to add a line to their alsa base-file to get sound working. Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope installs with sound enabled, it just that the speaker volume is turned completely down.

To fix this, left click on the volume applet in the upper right hand Gnome panel.
left_click_volume
-select Volume Control

Under the HDA Intel (Alsa Mixer)
Screenshot-Volume Control: HDA Intel (Alsa mixer)-1
Turn up the speaker volume (last entry to the right)

Now your sound will be able to be heard in Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope.

Have a question or problem that this article doesn't cover?
Ask our Ubuntu Mini 9 Google Group for help.

26 comments:

Unknown said...

FYI: This has been fixed in the daily builds of Ubuntu 9.04:

https://bugs.edge.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/alsa-utils/+bug/357166

Pablo Rosales said...

I've just buy a dell mini and your blog is being really useful!! thanks :)

Test said...

I've had an issue with either 8.10 and 9.04 beta,

it seems I can hear audio only from one application at a time.
For example if I have Firefox open (say in youtube, but probably even just having it open) I cannot hear audio in Skype (says there's a playback problem).

Any ideas?

Thanks

Test said...

I've fixed my issue with skype.
Now audio from skype mixes with audio coming from other sources.

I've setup skype to use "pulse" for both sound out and ringing, but i had to leave sound in to hda intel 0 and set the "mic boost" to almost its maximun (and internal mic boost to zero) in order to be able to capture my voice clearly.

hope you find this usefule.

Unknown said...

I just upgraded from the beta 9.04 to the full release version and now my sound is just static. I've followed the tutorials on this site but still don't have sound working. Can anyone confirm the same problem? Any solutions?

Max said...

Hi, I installed the 9.04 on my Vostro A90 (the business version of the Mini9), but can't fix in any way the sound issue. I can hear NO sounds at all (speakers, headphones, login window, vlc, flash, etc). In fact in sound > volume control I have NOT a "speakers" column. I checked in preferences, and thicked all voices: no "speakers". I spent 5 or 6 hours surfing on the ubuntu forums, trying pulse as well as various command line scripts, and the gnome alsa mixer. Nothing changed.
If someone perhaps knows how to fix this, please answer....

chrissharp123 said...

Max,

I'm looking at the same issue with my brand new Vostro. I haven't installed yet, but running from a Live USB, I don't have sound, nor do I have a speakers column to the Volume Control. I'll be very interested to see a fix...

Chris

Max said...

Chris,
I tried everything from the web, speaking with other users too.. It seems this problem to be typical of Vostro A90 only, probably the audio device is not exactly the same as Mini9. I tried everything possible, but couldn't fix. I'm waiting for someone more skillful to post a solution..

Max

chrissharp123 said...

Max,

I'm investigating these posts on the Ubuntu Forums right now in hopes that they at least give me some sort of foundation to work from:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=5931543
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=843012
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1130384

Maybe that will help us? I'm thinking about either living with the Dell default Hardy right now or installing Intrepid then adding the remix package from the PPA repos...

Chris

Unknown said...

Hello to everyone from Italy... I've installed UNR on my Mini 9 and I'm very satisfied. I turned up the speaker volume and I got all sounds, but the logon sounds doesn't start... Has anyone a solution for me, please? Thanks in advance...
Elena.

redDEAD said...

To all the Vostro users:

http://www.ubuntumini.com/2009/03/my-dell-mini-9-hardware-profile.html

I'd like to see the Vostro's lspci -vnn output

In a terminal type:
lspci -vnn

You can compare the audio section the one Mini 9 users have (link posted above).

chrissharp123 said...

redDEAD,

I went ahead and installed Intrepid and Ubuntu Netbook Remix from the PPA repos - thanks for the guides - they are very helpful. Here is my Vostro A90 lspci -vnn:

00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GME Express Memory Controller Hub [8086:27ac] (rev 03)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:02b2]
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
Capabilities: [access denied]
Kernel driver in use: agpgart-intel
Kernel modules: intel-agp

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GME Express Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:27ae] (rev 03)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:02b2]
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 16
Memory at f0000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=512K]
I/O ports at 1800 [size=8]
Memory at d0000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
Memory at f0300000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256K]
Capabilities: [access denied]

00:02.1 Display controller [0380]: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS/GME, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:27a6] (rev 03)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:02b2]
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
Memory at f0080000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=512K]
Capabilities: [access denied]

00:1b.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) High Definition Audio Controller [8086:27d8] (rev 02)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:02b2]
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 22
Memory at f0540000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
Capabilities: [access denied]
Kernel driver in use: HDA Intel
Kernel modules: snd-hda-intel

00:1c.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 1 [8086:27d0] (rev 02)
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
Bus: primary=00, secondary=02, subordinate=02, sec-latency=0
Memory behind bridge: f0100000-f01fffff
Prefetchable memory behind bridge: 0000000050000000-00000000500fffff
Capabilities: [access denied]
Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
Kernel modules: shpchp

00:1c.1 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 2 [8086:27d2] (rev 02)
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
Bus: primary=00, secondary=03, subordinate=03, sec-latency=0
Memory behind bridge: f0200000-f02fffff
Capabilities: [access denied]
Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
Kernel modules: shpchp

00:1c.2 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 3 [8086:27d4] (rev 02)
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
Bus: primary=00, secondary=04, subordinate=04, sec-latency=0
I/O behind bridge: 00002000-00002fff
Memory behind bridge: 50100000-501fffff
Prefetchable memory behind bridge: 00000000f0600000-00000000f06fffff
Capabilities: [access denied]
Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
Kernel modules: shpchp

00:1d.0 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 [8086:27c8] (rev 02)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:02b2]
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 23
I/O ports at 1820 [size=32]
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
Kernel modules: uhci-hcd

00:1d.1 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 [8086:27c9] (rev 02)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:02b2]
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 19
I/O ports at 1840 [size=32]
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
Kernel modules: uhci-hcd

00:1d.2 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 [8086:27ca] (rev 02)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:02b2]
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 18
I/O ports at 1860 [size=32]
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
Kernel modules: uhci-hcd

00:1d.3 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 [8086:27cb] (rev 02)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:02b2]
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 16
I/O ports at 1880 [size=32]
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
Kernel modules: uhci-hcd

00:1d.7 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller [8086:27cc] (rev 02) (prog-if 20)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:02b2]
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 23
Memory at f0544000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=1K]
Capabilities: [access denied]
Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
Kernel modules: ehci-hcd

00:1e.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge [8086:2448] (rev e2) (prog-if 01)
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
Bus: primary=00, secondary=05, subordinate=05, sec-latency=32
Capabilities: [access denied]

00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation 82801GBM (ICH7-M) LPC Interface Bridge [8086:27b9] (rev 02)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:02b2]
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0
Capabilities: [access denied]
Kernel modules: iTCO_wdt, intel-rng

00:1f.1 IDE interface [0101]: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) IDE Controller [8086:27df] (rev 02) (prog-if 8a [Master SecP PriP])
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:02b2]
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 19
I/O ports at 01f0 [size=8]
I/O ports at 03f4 [size=1]
I/O ports at 0170 [size=8]
I/O ports at 0374 [size=1]
I/O ports at 1810 [size=16]
Kernel driver in use: ata_piix
Kernel modules: ata_piix

00:1f.3 SMBus [0c05]: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) SMBus Controller [8086:27da] (rev 02)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:02b2]
Flags: medium devsel, IRQ 10
I/O ports at 18a0 [size=32]
Kernel modules: i2c-i801

02:00.0 System peripheral [0880]: JMicron Technologies, Inc. SD/MMC Host Controller [197b:2382]
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:02b2]
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 16
Memory at f0100000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
[virtual] Expansion ROM at 50000000 [disabled] [size=64K]
Capabilities: [access denied]
Kernel driver in use: sdhci-pci
Kernel modules: sdhci-pci

02:00.2 SD Host controller [0805]: JMicron Technologies, Inc. Standard SD Host Controller [197b:2381] (prog-if 01)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:02b2]
Flags: fast devsel, IRQ 16
Memory at f0100400 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
Capabilities: [access denied]
Kernel modules: sdhci-pci

02:00.3 System peripheral [0880]: JMicron Technologies, Inc. MS Host Controller [197b:2383]
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:02b2]
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 7
Memory at f0100800 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
Capabilities: [access denied]

03:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4312 802.11b/g [14e4:4315] (rev 01)
Subsystem: Broadcom Corporation Device [14e4:04b5]
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 17
Memory at f0200000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
Capabilities: [access denied]
Kernel driver in use: wl
Kernel modules: wl

04:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8101E/RTL8102E PCI Express Fast Ethernet controller [10ec:8136] (rev 02)
Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:02b2]
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 220
I/O ports at 2000 [size=256]
Memory at f0610000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=4K]
Memory at f0600000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=64K]
[virtual] Expansion ROM at f0620000 [disabled] [size=128K]
Capabilities: [access denied]
Kernel driver in use: r8169
Kernel modules: r8169

barney_1 said...

I've posted the printout of:
lspci -vnn

from my Vostro A90

http://pastebin.ubuntu.com/165830/

I also have no sound and would love to find a solution.

Max said...

redDEAD,

the output of lspci -vnn on my Vostro has ONE difference from the Mini9 one:

Capabilities: access denied

Other string are identical.

Max said...

Chris,

I posted the same issue here in the past days:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/368629

It seems that all Vostro A90 users have this problem.

chrissharp123 said...

Sorry - should have thought of a pastebin. :-)

Max - if you preface it with sudo, the "access denied" messages will be replaced with the correct information - I didn't use sudo for my output...

Max said...

Hi all,

following the soultion suggested on the launchpad forum, I simply added the line:


options snd-hda-intel model=dell

To:

/etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf

then rebooted.

Rebooting, I immediately heard the system startup sound and all other system or music sounds.
I don't know what this is, but for me is solved...

redDEAD said...

For Vostro usesrs the fix has been on the site the whole time. Use the howto at the end of this article:

http://www.ubuntumini.com/2008/10/installing-ubuntu-on-dell-inspiron-mini.html

Seems that there some magic that happens when you install Ubuntu on a Mini 9 that doesn't when you install it on a Vostro.

Unknown said...

I've added
options snd-hda-intel model=dell
to:
/etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf
... but nothing to do on my Mini 9... Absolutely no startup sound.
Have someone some new idea?
Many thanks, Elena.

redDEAD said...

Go to System>Administration>Login Window

Under the Accessibility Tab check your SOund settings there.

This is not a mission critical bug or error, it is probably unique to your setup. If it really bothers you and this doesn't work reinstall your / partition or Ubuntu.

Max said...

redDEAD,

sorry for that. In fact I tried that fix before posting here, but on my Vostro, without the ".conf" extension, which is not written in the 8.10 fix, that file opens blank: being quite new at ubuntu lines, I thought this fix not to be running on 9.04.

However, it enabled audio, but didn't really "fix" it: from the speakers you can continuously hear a kind of bzzzz noise (independent from the volumes), and the mic recording quality (skype) is very poor. Moreover, while shutting down, I hear not a system sound, but a double beep.

Unknown said...

Thanks to Max. The fix worked for me. I have an Vostro A90 as well. Thanks so much.

Unknown said...

I've just resolved my problem!
I add the command:

/usr/bin/canberra-gtk-play --id="desktop-login" --description="GNOME Login"

to Preferences > Startup application > Startup program

Now startup sound runs every time I start my Mini 9.
It runs on Acer One, too.

I hope it will be usefull to someone else.

Elena.

Unknown said...

I tried Max's solution of pasting options snd-hda-intel model=dell
but I cannot save the file because I don't have the necessary permission. Not really sure why this happens because I am the only user.

Jocelyn Nadeau said...

Thanks Max. The fix worked for me. I have a Dell Mini 9 but since I upgraded the BIOS, it boots up saying it's a Vostro A90.

Unknown said...

@Jocelyn
You probably took a wrong BIOS file (one for Vostro, and not for mini9).