Arch Linux

wsliang

Member

Registered: 2012-01-30

Posts: 10

sound only works from one port

My sound only works when I use the output port on the back of my computer, but I'd also like to use the one at the front of my computer for convenience. What setting am I supposed to change to do this? Here is some information about my system.

~ > cat /proc/asound/version
Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version 1.0.24.
~ > aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: VT1705 Analog [VT1705 Analog]
  Subdevices: 0/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 2: VT1705 HP [VT1705 HP]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 7: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 8: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 9: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

My guess is that I want to use device 2 of card 0, so I tried creating a ~/.asound.rc containing

defaults.pcm.device 2

but this didn't seem to do anything.

masutu

Member

Registered: 2010-01-30

Posts: 40

Re: sound only works from one port

To rule out typos, did you create a ~/.asound.rc or a ~/.asoundrc file? It should be the latter.

wsliang

Member

Registered: 2012-01-30

Posts: 10

Re: sound only works from one port

oops, yeah, i meant to type ~/.asoundrc. that's the file I used on my computer.

d3snoopy

Member

Registered: 2010-08-28

Posts: 14

Re: sound only works from one port

Try messing with your "front" channel in alsamixer.

My guess is that the two devices are actually the analog and digital outputs of card, and you want to stick to the analog output.

wsliang

Member

Registered: 2012-01-30

Posts: 10

Re: sound only works from one port

Still not working -- changing the "front" channel affects the volume when I use the output port on the back of the computer, but does nothing for the front headphone port.

I think it's more than just an issue with the channel volumes, since plugging something in to the headphone port should mute the output from the back, but this doesn't happen.

Last edited by wsliang (2012-02-22 15:16:58)

DSpider

Member

From: Romania

Registered: 2009-08-23

Posts: 2,273

Re: sound only works from one port

Do you dual boot with something (eg. Windows) ? If not, try running a "Live" Linux distribution (either from CD or USB) like Ubuntu or Linux Mint.

Because if the front panel doesn't work there either, it may not be enabled in the BIOS. In which case you would need to refer to the motherboard manual on how to enable it.

---

"How to Succeed with Linux"

I have made a personal commitment not to reply in topics that start with a lowercase letter. Proper grammar and punctuation is a sign of respect, and if you do not show any, you will NOT receive any help (at least not from me).

wsliang

Member

Registered: 2012-01-30

Posts: 10

Re: sound only works from one port

Yeah, I'm dual booting Windows, and everything works as expected there.

DSpider

Member

From: Romania

Registered: 2009-08-23

Posts: 2,273

Re: sound only works from one port

The "Front" channel isn't the same thing as the front panel. From the ALSA wiki:

"Front, Surround, Center, LFE (subwoofer) and Side (these are the names of the channels with Intel HD Audio, they may vary with different hardware)."

How many sounds cards do you have?

[dspider@arch ~]$ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 0: HDA Generic [HDA Generic]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
[dspider@arch ~]$ 

What are the other HDMI devices? The video card?

And have you tried googling the problem?
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1462288

---

"How to Succeed with Linux"

I have made a personal commitment not to reply in topics that start with a lowercase letter. Proper grammar and punctuation is a sign of respect, and if you do not show any, you will NOT receive any help (at least not from me).

mrdark

Member

Registered: 2012-03-27

Posts: 1

Re: sound only works from one port

Hello wsliang,

I had a similar problem with the same VT1705 card. After messing around in alsamixer, I found that enabling "Loopback Mixing" fixed the problem with the front headphone jack not working. Hope this helps you as well.

brebs

Member

Registered: 2007-04-03

Posts: 3,742

Re: sound only works from one port

but this didn't seem to do anything.

You got the filename wrong.

~/.asoundrc

Everyone, like everyone and his dog, gets this filename wrong