[SOLVED] Only mono sound from Intel HDA controller?

marcus-s · 2016-09-26 19:05:37

Hi all,

I'm pulling the last straw by writing on the forums. I have tried quite some things to solve it... but I'm out of options. I have a fairly standard PC (nothing fancy) with a standard Intel HDA controller on board. I noticed that I only have mono output when plugging in my small speaker set (left/right/sub). The sound is only coming out of the left speaker.

I have tried several options in the default file of PulseAudio, including many different remaps of sinks - all of which have gained no result.

For the kicks I connected the speakers to my smartphone (independent from PC), and I noticed a clear and crisp stereo sound. Therefore I am concluding for the moment that I have either a PulseAudio config issue, or an actual hardware issue with the controller itself.

I also searched the forums which did have interesting pointers, but nothing specific to the issue.

I'm thankful for any suggestions and pointers guys.

Last edited by marcus-s (2016-09-27 21:22:17)

V1del · 2016-09-26 19:37:57

Give us something to work with, make sure you revert all pulseaudio changes you have done (or post them, but often better to start from a clean slate), reboot and afterwards post

aplay -l
amixer -c$index according to aplay -l of the card you wish to play with
pacmd list-cards
pacmd list-sinks

R00KIE · 2016-09-27 16:00:49

You will have to provide details on how you connect it, specifically the type of connector.

Slithery · 2016-09-27 16:07:14

Are you certain you've pushed the connector all the way into your computer?

If not you will only get mono sound.

marcus-s · 2016-09-27 17:30:07

Let's just say I know how to plug in connectors

marcus-s · 2016-09-27 21:21:51

Okay so it turns out that my on-board sound card might actually be defective. I solved the issue by connecting my old USB "sound card", and then piping the output to that card each time I log in by doing

pacmd set-default-sink alsa_output.usb-Generic_USB_Ear-Microphone_0000000001-00.analog-stereo

Seems to work fine and I'm okay with that. Please close.

Last edited by marcus-s (2016-09-27 21:22:29)

V1del · 2016-09-27 21:25:04

It's a valid concern, there are numerous threads that went way too long before the OP noticed that his connectors weren't plugged in correctly (or into the wrong port, and certain ports are specifically for mono channels), but unless you post the outputs requested all we can do is guesswork which won't go anywhere even if the connectors are plugged correctly.

Edit: Well that's more of a work around than anything, and you shouldn't have to do that on each login, if you really have to for some reason, you could append the line without pacmd to your /etc/pulse/default.pa at the end which will have the same effect.

Last edited by V1del (2016-09-27 21:27:09)

R00KIE · 2016-09-27 22:10:15

I was thinking more along the lines of 3.5mm TRRS vs TRS connector types, I've cursed before at something that apparently wasn't working properly only to later find out that a TRRS jack on a TRS plug might not work as expected.

marcus-s · 2016-09-28 17:22:14

I see. But in this case it's actually just a normal jack connector. I also pushed it all the way in, into the green port (I have nothing else). In my case it seems more and more likely that either the sound card is defective, or maybe incorrectly wired or connected on the mainboard, since it's an onboard controller.

Arch Linux

#1 2016-09-26 19:05:37

[SOLVED] Only mono sound from Intel HDA controller?

#2 2016-09-26 19:37:57

Re: [SOLVED] Only mono sound from Intel HDA controller?

#3 2016-09-27 16:00:49

Re: [SOLVED] Only mono sound from Intel HDA controller?

#4 2016-09-27 16:07:14

Re: [SOLVED] Only mono sound from Intel HDA controller?

#5 2016-09-27 17:30:07

Re: [SOLVED] Only mono sound from Intel HDA controller?

#6 2016-09-27 21:21:51

Re: [SOLVED] Only mono sound from Intel HDA controller?

#7 2016-09-27 21:25:04

Re: [SOLVED] Only mono sound from Intel HDA controller?

#8 2016-09-27 22:10:15

Re: [SOLVED] Only mono sound from Intel HDA controller?

#9 2016-09-28 17:22:14

Re: [SOLVED] Only mono sound from Intel HDA controller?

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