Bug 1650963 - Default alsa setup causes no sound output from internal laptop speakers and headphone jack
Summary: Default alsa setup causes no sound output from internal laptop speakers and h...
Keywords:
Status: CLOSED UPSTREAM
Alias: None
Product: Fedora
Classification: Fedora
Component: alsa-lib
Version: 29
Hardware: x86_64
OS: Linux
unspecified
unspecified
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: Jaroslav Kysela
QA Contact: Fedora Extras Quality Assurance
URL:
Whiteboard:
Depends On:
Blocks: AlsaVolume
TreeView+ depends on / blocked
 
Reported: 2018-11-18 05:37 UTC by stevenmcfeely42
Modified: 2019-11-10 03:22 UTC (History)
2 users (show)

Fixed In Version:
Doc Type: If docs needed, set a value
Doc Text:
Clone Of:
Environment:
Last Closed: 2019-11-10 03:22:21 UTC
Type: Bug
Embargoed:


Attachments (Terms of Use)
alsa-info (41.39 KB, text/plain)
2018-11-18 05:37 UTC, stevenmcfeely42
no flags Details
alsamixer before workaround (1.65 KB, text/plain)
2018-11-18 05:38 UTC, stevenmcfeely42
no flags Details
alasmixer after workaround (1.65 KB, text/plain)
2018-11-18 05:38 UTC, stevenmcfeely42
no flags Details
Output from hdajacksensetest with headphones plugged in (293 bytes, text/plain)
2018-12-27 21:20 UTC, stevenmcfeely42
no flags Details
Output from hdajacksensetest with nothing plugged in (293 bytes, text/plain)
2018-12-27 21:21 UTC, stevenmcfeely42
no flags Details

Description stevenmcfeely42 2018-11-18 05:37:31 UTC
Created attachment 1506885 [details]
alsa-info

Description of problem:

With a fully up to date version of Fedora 29, as of 11/17/2018, there is no audio output from either my laptops internal speakers or the headphone jack. 

Note: The laptop is an Acer Predator Helios 500

How reproducible:
The problem with the headphone jack always occurs, while the problem with the built in speakers has a workaround.

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Attempt to play any audio.

Actual results:
No audio output.

Expected results:
Audio output.

Additional info:
The workaround for the internal laptop speakers is to open a terminal and run:

alsamixer -c1 

Once in alsamixer, change Auto-Mute Mode from enable to disable. Then, switch the output target in pulseaudio from its default, 'Headphones', to 'Speakers (unavailable)'. 

The last step in the workaround must be performed every time the laptop boots because no matter what 'Headphones' are always automatically selected as the output device by the system. 

As for the headphone jack, I have attempted every permutation of settings I could see in alsamixer and pulseaudio to no avail.



Hypothesis (assuming that alsamixer's auto-mute is not still muting the headphones):
My hypotheses is that whatever mechanism is used to detect output devices has the the internal speakers and headphone jack swapped. This detection mechanism is then used by alsa and the drivers to have the Realtek chipset mute/power-down the output channel that has nothing detected, the headphone jack, because that detection mechanism thinks it is for the internal speakers. While at the same time, alsa auto-mutes the speakers so that both the hardware and software are muting the 'same' output device. This would explain why headphones do not work even though they are not muted by alsa, the chipset has never been told to unmute that output device.

For the headphone jack, it sounds like it is more than just muted. It sounds like it has been powered down as you cannot hear the static you would normally hear when plugging in headphones to a device that is powered up. This would explain why plugging in headphones does not cause the drivers/alsa to detect the internal speakers - without power to the headphone jack nothing can be detected when plugged in.

Comment 1 stevenmcfeely42 2018-11-18 05:38:18 UTC
Created attachment 1506886 [details]
alsamixer before workaround

Comment 2 stevenmcfeely42 2018-11-18 05:38:53 UTC
Created attachment 1506887 [details]
alasmixer after workaround

Comment 3 Hans de Goede 2018-12-25 22:22:52 UTC
Ok, this seems to be a jack-detection problem, can you run:

sudo hdajacksensetest -a

and report the output here before and after you plug something in the headphone or line out jack?

Comment 4 stevenmcfeely42 2018-12-27 11:31:52 UTC
Hi Hans de Goede,

When I run sude hdajacksensetest -a I get the following:

sudo: hdajacksensetest: command not found

Is there a specific package that I need to install? I am running Fedora 29's KDE spin. So, if it is a command from a Gnome app, then I may need to install it.

Comment 5 Hans de Goede 2018-12-27 11:37:01 UTC
hdajacksensetest is part of alsa-tools, to install this run:

sudo dnf install alsa-tools

Tip next time you are missing a command try:

sudo dnf install /usr/bin/hdajacksensetest

That will also install alsa-tools

Comment 6 stevenmcfeely42 2018-12-27 21:20:49 UTC
Created attachment 1517114 [details]
Output from hdajacksensetest with headphones plugged in

Comment 7 stevenmcfeely42 2018-12-27 21:21:24 UTC
Created attachment 1517115 [details]
Output from hdajacksensetest with nothing plugged in

Comment 8 stevenmcfeely42 2018-12-27 21:28:10 UTC
I never knew you could run dnf install /usr/bin/"missing command". If the package the command is from is not installed how would it know what package needs to be installed? Can dnf search the repositories by commands?

Either way, I have attached the output from hdajacksensetest -a in two text files - one for each run.

Comment 9 Hans de Goede 2019-01-11 14:44:04 UTC
Hi,

Thank you for the hdajacksensetest output, unfortunatelty it does not provide any clues.

It is probably best to file a bug with the upstream alsa developers for this, hopefully they will have an idea what is going on / how to fix this.

To file a bug upstream go here:
https://bugzilla.kernel.org/enter_bug.cgi

And as component select "Sound(ALSA)"

Thanks,

Hans

Comment 10 Ben Cotton 2019-10-31 20:11:18 UTC
This message is a reminder that Fedora 29 is nearing its end of life.
Fedora will stop maintaining and issuing updates for Fedora 29 on 2019-11-26.
It is Fedora's policy to close all bug reports from releases that are no longer
maintained. At that time this bug will be closed as EOL if it remains open with a
Fedora 'version' of '29'.

Package Maintainer: If you wish for this bug to remain open because you
plan to fix it in a currently maintained version, simply change the 'version' 
to a later Fedora version.

Thank you for reporting this issue and we are sorry that we were not 
able to fix it before Fedora 29 is end of life. If you would still like 
to see this bug fixed and are able to reproduce it against a later version 
of Fedora, you are encouraged  change the 'version' to a later Fedora 
version prior this bug is closed as described in the policy above.

Although we aim to fix as many bugs as possible during every release's 
lifetime, sometimes those efforts are overtaken by events. Often a 
more recent Fedora release includes newer upstream software that fixes 
bugs or makes them obsolete.

Comment 11 stevenmcfeely42 2019-11-10 03:22:21 UTC
I thought this was closed after I was instructed to contact the upstream ALSA developers. That said, they were able to fix the issue and everything now works correctly.


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