Headphones problem with Acer Extensa

[satelliteuser083]

My wife has an Acer Extensa 5620Z, running 2007, which does not switch from loudspeaker to headphones when the latter are inserted in the approp. jacks. When I do the same using XP-Pro, this action is detected (a little message-window pops up) and the headphones are activated/loudspeakers deactivated, presumeably by software :unsure: . I'm therefore assuming that a similar thing is missing in 2007.

The soundsystem is 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller, using ‎the snd_hda_intel driver and Threaded-OSS. If anyone else has experienced this problem, could you help me out/point me in the right direction? Thanks.

 

 

[moved from Software by spinynorman]

[superphysics]

...When I do the same using XP-Pro, this action is detected (a little message-window pops up) and the headphones are activated/loudspeakers deactivated, presumeably by software :unsure: . I'm therefore assuming that a similar thing is missing in 2007...

 

I'm not sure, but sound in Linux seems to be handled differently. I had a similar issue with OpenSUSE 10.3 on my Acer Ferrari. I simply found out that KMix has a different channel for the loudspeakers and the output jack, and that for the output jack was muted. I simply unmuted it, raised the volume, and zeroed the volume for my loudspeakers...

Hope it helps you.

[Lexicon]

You insert to /etc/modprobe.conf one line

 

options snd-hda-intel model=xxxxx

'hmmm xxxxx here type example acer, lenovo maybe other name

Upgrade system to MDV2008 Spring if can you do it?

.....Lex

 

http://www.pclinuxos.com/index.php?option=...ic=26204.0;wap2

Edited July 15, 2008 by Lexicon

[satelliteuser083]

Things seem to be deteriorating; although I haven't done anything to the system (that I can remember, anyway :unsure: ), at boot the following appears

Sound server informational message:
Error while initializing the sound driver:
device /dev/dsp can't be opened (No such file or directory)
The sound server will continue, using the null output device.

.

Have looked in dmesg and there's no mention of alsa. Also, kmix displays a blank box. Any further tips? Thanks.

[Greg2]

Please post the output of

grep sound-slot /etc/modprobe.conf

and

arecord -l

and

/usr/bin/artsshell status

and (as root)

ls -l /dev/dsp

You may simply have to run 'alsaconf' as root to fix this.

[satelliteuser083]

Thanks, Greg. The results are as follows:

[margit@localhost ~]$ grep sound-slot /etc/modprobe.conf
alias sound-slot-0 snd_intel8x0

and....

[margit@localhost ~]$ arecord -l
arecord: device_list:207: no soundcards found...

and....

[margit@localhost ~]$ /usr/bin/artsshell status
Error: "/home/margit/.kde/socket-localhost" points to "/tmp/ksocket-margit" instead of "/home/margit/tmp/ksocket-margit".

Link points to "/tmp/ksocket-margit"
Error: "/home/margit/.kde/socket-localhost" points to "/tmp/ksocket-margit" instead of "/home/margit/tmp/ksocket-margit".
Creating link /home/margit/.kde/socket-localhost.
Created link from "/home/margit/.kde/socket-localhost" to "/home/margit/tmp/ksocket-margit"
server status: suspended
real-time status: real-time
server buffer time: 40.6349 ms
buffer size multiplier: 1
minimum stream buffer time: 40.6349 ms
auto suspend time: 60 s
audio method: null
sampling rate: 44100
channels: 2
sample size: 16 bits
duplex: half
device: null
fragments: 7
fragment size: 1024

finally....

[root@localhost ~]# ls -l /dev/dsp
ls: /dev/dsp: No such file or directory

 

Hope you can make something out of it all. :)

Edited July 24, 2008 by satelliteuser083

[Greg2]

I'm not sure how you have done this. :huh:

 

This

[margit@localhost ~]$ arecord -l
arecord: device_list:207: no soundcards found...

and this

[root@localhost ~]# ls -l /dev/dsp
ls: /dev/dsp: No such file or directory

are telling us that someone has stolen your soundcard (or your permission to use it), or you are not loading the proper drivers.

So, please post the output of

grep -i audio /etc/group

and

id

and (as root)

lsmod |grep -i snd

[satelliteuser083]

Thanks again. The sound-card has not been stolen (phew.. B) ) because it seems to work well under Windoze. And here are the results as requested:

[margit@localhost ~]$ grep -i audio /etc/group
audio:x:81:margit

[margit@localhost ~]$ id
uid=501(margit) gid=501(margit) groups=81(audio),82(video),501(margit)

and

[root@localhost ~]# lsmod |grep -i snd
snd_pcm_oss			43072  0
snd_mixer_oss		  16608  1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_intel8x0		   33020  0
snd_ac97_codec		 95268  1 snd_intel8x0
snd_ac97_bus			2400  1 snd_ac97_codec
snd_pcm				76868  3 snd_pcm_oss,snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec
snd_timer			  22884  1 snd_pcm
snd					52708  6 snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm,snd_timer
soundcore			   9824  1 snd
snd_page_alloc		 10152  2 snd_intel8x0,snd_pcm

BTW, in MCC-> Hardware-> "Look...configure hardware" -> "82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller" -> "Run config tool" this message appears:

Error: the "snd_hda_intel" driver for your soundcard is unlisted

. Don't know what's happened there, I'm sure that the driver was present at one time. Does this help in any way?

Edited July 25, 2008 by satelliteuser083

[Greg2]

You may simply have to run 'alsaconf' as root to fix this.

You have all the modules loaded and you have the permissions, so let's try it. :)

[satelliteuser083]

Yes, Greg, alsaconf seems to have fixed it, although volume is very low. Below about 50% in Kmix the sound is practically zero; strange, although I have seen in a couple of fora that this may be a general problem with this acer model.

 

Your suggestion didn't have any effect, I'm afraid, Lexicon, but at least audio didn't deteriorate B).

 

And, superphysics, in Kmix there's absolutely no mention of "output jack", only "Output".

 

Interestingly, in wengo (the reason for this topic), in "Audio settings" all three boxes - Input Device, Output Device and Ringing Device - are empty.

 

So, looks like it's back to the drawing-board.

 

Many thanks to you all. :D