Newbi here needs help troubleshooting

[LazyGuy]

I am Using Linux Lite 7.0 Alongside Windows 10 on Dual Boot (i have used the install alongside windows feture)

System Configuration..

Procerssor: Intel Core i5-4590s
Motherboard: H81 Generic (OEM Chinease Board)
Ram: G.Skill Ripjawsx DDR3 8 GB Dual Channel
SSD (OS): Samsung Evo 870 500GB (Half is used for Linux and other Half is used for Windows 10)
HDD: WD Green 1TB (NTFS) (General Storage, Shared with Windows)
Monitor: Acer Nitro y240 with built in speakers
Headphones:Soundcore Life Q 20
USB Wi-FI Dongle
USB Bluetooth Dongle
USB Logitech wireless Keyboard Dongle
USB Wired Logitech Mouse (Wireless one Died :60

Hello Guys, i am a Linux Noob.  After checking out a few OS, i Installed this one as it is very approachable and easy to configure and customize.

Everything is running fine except for one thing.. i do not have any sound in the system. it has been about a couple weeks and i found no solution. So after Lurking about, i Decided to Make a Account and bother you guys directly  :011:

here are the 3 peculiar things i noticed during various troubleshooting methods i used..

1- when connected to wireless headphone the system recognizes them and plays sound via them no problem.

2-when system is in no sound mode, videos on any website do not play. they load but do not play. but connecting the headphone and producing sound makes them play again.

3-everytime i restart, system automatically defaults to analog audio despite my connection being HDMI (both produce no sound).

from what i got after running various commands posted on linux forums is that my audio devices are recognized and working well.
Point to note that windows is playing sound no problem.

Thank you for reading this and plese move it to appropriate section if i have posted in wrong one.

on a side note: can i ask Hardware related questions on this forum or is it limited to Software (Linux) Only?

[stevef]

can i ask Hardware related questions on this forum or is it limited to Software (Linux) Only?

You can ask about pretty much anything legal. Trying to get support for or plugging other distros is discouraged.

from what i got after running various commands posted on linux forums is that my audio devices are recognized and working well.

This sounds useful information.  Can you post the commands you ran and the results they gave please ?

[LazyGuy]

can i ask Hardware related questions on this forum or is it limited to Software (Linux) Only?

You can ask about pretty much anything legal. Trying to get support for or plugging other distros is discouraged.

from what i got after running various commands posted on linux forums is that my audio devices are recognized and working well.

This sounds useful information.  Can you post the commands you ran and the results they gave please ?

Thanks for checking in, these are the commands

inxi -SMA
System:
  Host: khu-desktop Kernel: 6.8.0-36-generic arch: x86_64 bits: 64
  Desktop: Xfce v: 4.18.1 Distro: Linux Lite 7.0 LTS
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: N/A model: Intel H81 serial: <superuser required>
    BIOS: American Megatrends v: 4.6.5 date: 11/30/2022
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor HD Audio
    driver: snd_hda_intel
  Device-2: Intel 8 Series/C220 Series High Definition Audio
    driver: snd_hda_intel
  API: ALSA v: k6.8.0-36-generic status: kernel-api
  Server-1: PulseAudio v: 16.1 status: active
khu  ~ 

sudo alsa force-reload
sudo apt-get install --reinstall alsa-base pulseaudio
alsamixer
lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 4th Gen Core Processor DRAM Controller (rev 06)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 06)
00:03.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor HD Audio Controller (rev 06)
00:14.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family USB xHCI (rev 05)
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1 (rev 04)
00:1a.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family USB EHCI #2 (rev 05)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset High Definition Audio Controller (rev 05)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port #1 (rev d5)
00:1c.4 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port #5 (rev d5)
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family USB EHCI #1 (rev 05)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation H81 Express LPC Controller (rev 05)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family 6-port SATA Controller 1 [AHCI mode] (rev 05)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family SMBus Controller (rev 05)
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL810xE PCI Express Fast Ethernet controller (rev 05)

there are a few other i do not remember, they were to check if my device is recognized or not. from what i can tell it is.

one point to note is that i could not install the driver bundled with the motherboard as they were for windows only. but from what i can see there are no driver updates needed in update software.

[stevef]

Difficult to provide specific help without having similar hardware.

Neither of the two audio devices listed are obviously HDMI

Can you show us the output of these two commands

Code:

inxi -aA

Code:

journalctl -b | grep -i hdmi

please ?


If you look in Volume Control do things look right ?

Click 'Menu' and begin typing 'Volume Control' into the search box
When you see 'Volume Control in the list, click on it.
In the window that opens select the 'Output Devices' tab
Ensure 'Show' at the bottom is set to 'All Output Devices'

If your HDMI audio is recognised, I think there will be an entry for Built-in Audio Digital Stereo showing the Port as 'HDMI plugged in'.

If you see that, ensure the volume slider for it is near 100% and ensure it is set as fallback (the tick on the right).
Having done that, set an audio file to play, you should see the level meter responding if the system is trying to output over the HDMI.

[LazyGuy]

Difficult to provide specific help without having similar hardware.

Neither of the two audio devices listed are obviously HDMI

Can you show us the output of these two commands

Code:

inxi -aA

Code:

journalctl -b | grep -i hdmi

please ?


If you look in Volume Control do things look right ?

Click 'Menu' and begin typing 'Volume Control' into the search box
When you see 'Volume Control in the list, click on it.
In the window that opens select the 'Output Devices' tab
Ensure 'Show' at the bottom is set to 'All Output Devices'

If your HDMI audio is recognised, I think there will be an entry for Built-in Audio Digital Stereo showing the Port as 'HDMI plugged in'.

If you see that, ensure the volume slider for it is near 100% and ensure it is set as fallback (the tick on the right).
Having done that, set an audio file to play, you should see the level meter responding if the system is trying to output over the HDMI.

Sure thing, here is the output..

1- inxi -aA
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor HD Audio
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:03.0 chip-ID: 8086:0c0c
    class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: Intel 8 Series/C220 Series High Definition Audio
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1b.0 chip-ID: 8086:8c20
    class-ID: 0403
  API: ALSA v: k6.8.0-36-generic status: kernel-api
    tools: alsactl,alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: PulseAudio v: 16.1 status: active tools: pacat,pactl,pavucontrol

2- journalctl -b | grep -i hdmi
Jul 09 11:16:43 khu-desktop kernel: input: HDA Intel HDMI HDMI/DP,pcm=3 as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:03.0/sound/card1/input25
Jul 09 11:16:43 khu-desktop kernel: input: HDA Intel HDMI HDMI/DP,pcm=7 as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:03.0/sound/card1/input26
Jul 09 11:16:43 khu-desktop kernel: input: HDA Intel HDMI HDMI/DP,pcm=8 as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:03.0/sound/card1/input27
Jul 09 11:16:46 khu-desktop alsactl[954]: Found hardware: "HDA-Intel" "Intel Haswell HDMI" "HDA:80862807,80860101,00100000" "0x8086" "0x0c0c"

My Volume Control shows these things...
Output Devices-
1- Built in Audio Analog Stereo
2- FFt Based Equalizer on Built-in Audio Digital Stereo (HDMI)
3- Built in Audio Digital Stereo (HDMI)
4- Soundcore Life Q20
Output is selected to all output devices and streams is selected to all as well


As for volume control i have fft based equalizer installed to show if it plays or not and in HDMI the bar does not move.
selecting Built in Analog audio shows the equalizer moving as if the sound is playing (no sound is produced).
funny thing is that i have the headphone plugged in and selecting them even in VLC player starts producing sound (doesn't even matter what the audio control is set on).
One thing to note that i have not plugged in the front audio connecter as my headphone jacks are old and useless, but that should not be a problem as i have HDMI connected directly from motherboard to monitor.

[stevef]

What instructions did you follow to install FFt Based Equalizer ?

[LazyGuy]

What instructions did you follow to install FFt Based Equalizer ?

sorry I do not remember the exact command as i was installing everything audio related to solve the problem, i think i also installed something called pipewire but nothing worked.


Edit: I Have already purged pipewire as it disabled the Headphone. now it shows like this ..

pactl info
Server String: /run/user/1000/pulse/native
Library Protocol Version: 35
Server Protocol Version: 35
Is Local: yes
Client Index: 33
Tile Size: 65472
User Name: khu
Host Name:
Server Name: pulseaudio
Server Version: 16.1
Default Sample Specification: s16le 2ch 44100Hz
Default Channel Map: front-left,front-right
Default Sink: alsa_output.pci-0000_00_03.0.hdmi-stereo
Default Source: bluez_sink.88_D0_39_7F_1B_81.a2dp_sink.monitor
Cookie: 12c7:6c7c

[stevef]

Did it work as expected on first installation before any modifications ?
Does it work as expected if you boot from a Live Image ?

[LazyGuy]

Did it work as expected on first installation before any modifications ?
Does it work as expected if you boot from a Live Image ?

It did not work after the installation, as for live image i do not remember but now that you mentioned it i have the usb. going to check live booting then post here again give me a couple minuts.

[LazyGuy]

Did it work as expected on first installation before any modifications ?
Does it work as expected if you boot from a Live Image ?

After booting in live usb i checked and no sound, the system started with analog audio chosen as default again (front connecters are not even plugged in).
when i tried to play sound the analog bar moves as if the sound is being played but when i selected HDMI the bar remains totaly dead. system is not even trying to produce sound through HDMI. what could cause this?