Alienware m14 (2013) sound sounds like comming from underwater.

Dheart · 2013-09-19 11:52:10

Hey,

I just got the brand new Alienware m14. Configuring it under linux was not that difficult and almost everything is working perfectly.

However sounds has a weird issue. It works "Out of the box" but the sound that comes out is hollow, like coming from underwater.

The problem only occurs when using the internal speakers, if headphones or external speakers are plugged, the sound comes out just fine.

[root@adjudicator dheart]# lspci -v | grep Audio
00:03.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor HD Audio Controller (rev 06)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset High Definition Audio Controller (rev 04)

[root@adjudicator dheart]# aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: MID [HDA Intel MID], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: MID [HDA Intel MID], device 7: HDMI 1 [HDMI 1]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: MID [HDA Intel MID], device 8: HDMI 2 [HDMI 2]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: ALC668 Analog [ALC668 Analog]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

Any ideas?

EDIT:

If anyone has the same problems, a workaround exists.

Go to alsamixer and turn automute to off. This will disable main speakers being muted when headphones are inserted. Then insert headphones and voilà! Sound comes out sounding normal.

Last edited by Dheart (2013-10-10 21:04:31)

Dheart · 2013-09-20 14:36:11

More info:
Latest ubuntu live cd produces the same result.
PulseAudio produces the same result (But at least allows multiple applications to use sound at once, yey)
OSSv4 can't find the device...

jemachehi · 2013-10-19 15:29:43

Hi there Dheart.

I have the same laptop you have and I'm having some issues, speakers included. I'd really like to ask you if you're having the same because I'm starting to think my laptop is defective. When I try to suspend my laptop, it refuses to wake. When I open the lid, the screen remains black, the speakers make a noise, like a blow, two times, and then it reboots. I thought this could be due to the linux kernel, but I noticed that when I'm using Winblows (please don't flame me people...) and I suspend it, the screen remains black when I wake it, but everything works fine excepting the screen (e.g. I can introduce my password and I can hear how it goes into desktop). Back to our Linux, I can't figure out how to change brightness, I tried this https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ac … ht_control and this https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/La … brightness. I was using nouveau, and I didn't want to use nvidia drivers, but I'll make a try with "EnableBrightnessControl"

I'd be very grateful if you confirm me that you are having this issues too since I don't know anyone more that have an Alienware 14...

And sorry for using your thread, I was afraid of opening a new one for this foolishness...

Thanks in advance

jemachehi · 2013-10-21 12:15:14

Bump!

It seems "I" solved the suspending issue (in Linux). I was using nouveau drivers when I had that issue. When I installed nvidia proprietary drivers the problem dissapeared. I do not know what exactly did, because when I tried the nvidia drivers on a live cd the problem was still there. I wanted to post it here hoping to be helpful to someone with the same problem. However, all the other issues remains there... u.u

calipr · 2014-06-29 05:10:36

Dheart wrote:

EDIT:
If anyone has the same problems, a workaround exists.
Go to alsamixer and turn automute to off. This will disable main speakers being muted when headphones are inserted. Then insert headphones and voilà! Sound comes out sounding normal.

I was wondering, did that solve your initial problem? I am having the same issue. The sounds comes out fine through headphones, but it sounds muffled through the speakers. When run in Windows, the speakers sound awesome so there's definitely something causing it. Turning automute off just mutes the speakers when headphones are plugged in, but doesn't fix the bad speaker sound issue.

hydn · 2014-10-26 04:33:27

Same problem. The workaround by OP works but it means I have to have the headphones plugged in. Otherwise its always ANALOG audio. I think it has something to do with the default device being loaded....
ALC668 Analog [ALC668 Analog] instead of PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0:

This is an old thread. Anyone had any luck?

Arch Linux

#1 2013-09-19 11:52:10

Alienware m14 (2013) sound sounds like comming from underwater.

#2 2013-09-20 14:36:11

Re: Alienware m14 (2013) sound sounds like comming from underwater.

#3 2013-10-19 15:29:43

Re: Alienware m14 (2013) sound sounds like comming from underwater.

#4 2013-10-21 12:15:14

Re: Alienware m14 (2013) sound sounds like comming from underwater.

#5 2014-06-29 05:10:36

Re: Alienware m14 (2013) sound sounds like comming from underwater.

#6 2014-10-26 04:33:27

Re: Alienware m14 (2013) sound sounds like comming from underwater.

Board footer