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Question for LINUX users re: sound

Posted on 08/23/2024 5:09:46 PM PDT by Jamestown1630

I have a question for LINUX users:

We ran updates for LINUX last night, and when I turned on the computer this morning, I had no sound. It doesn't seem to be a problem with the speakers, and my Bluetooth ear buds are still getting sound when I listen to various YT sites; but nothing is coming out of the computer/speakers otherwise.

Has anyone experienced this? We have Mint, I think it's 21. We have never had an issue like this.

Thanks to anyone who has time to respond.


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Computers/Internet
KEYWORDS: audio; linux; mint; sound; vanity
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To: Jamestown1630

Every keyboard has dual function use of the F keys at the top. Most Linux support these and have drivers for these also. Some control screen brightness and there should be a mute button and volume up and down options. If for some reason the Function key at the bottom is pushed simultaneously as a top F key it will activate these function key options. They are mechanical control options that override any software settings. Had someone the other day who lost their top and bottom bars, it was just the cat walked over the keyboard and stepped on the F11 key which hides these of course so that is why I joked about the cat. Not saying that is it but it is worth checking to make sure one of these key controls is not the problem.

In the mean time I am looking to see if anyone else had the same issue with the update.:)


21 posted on 08/23/2024 10:58:18 PM PDT by Openurmind (The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world it leaves to its children. ~ D. Bonhoeffer)
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To: Jamestown1630; rdb3; JosephW; martin_fierro; Still Thinking; zeugma; Vinnie; ironman; Egon; ...

22 posted on 08/24/2024 3:49:28 AM PDT by ShadowAce (Linux - The Ultimate Windows Service Pack )
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To: George from New England

That’s weird. Every now and again my dad’s phone will either switch itself to Chinese or some foreign language, or he will so ehow do it without realizing it- not sure which- so I have to go back in and reset the keyboard to default. I spend more time fixing their phones than working on my computer it seems lol- but seriously, all these gadgets that are supposed to make life easier, faster, better, etc- I think not.


23 posted on 08/24/2024 5:58:27 AM PDT by Bob434
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To: Red Badger; Jamestown1630; ShadowAce
Hi Red Badger,

I'm almost inclined to do a Windows Ping List ping for this, just to see if anybody says "Get Windows!".

Almost. :-)

My experience is that sound in Windows and Linux is often a royal PITA, and if you ever get it working, cross yourself and back away slowly, don't touch it, and say a small prayer every day when you boot up.

My experience with MacOS is somewhat better but still not great.

Of the three, Linux has improved considerably in recent years.

24 posted on 08/24/2024 8:59:29 AM PDT by dayglored (“Courtesy is owed. Respect is earned. Love is given.” - Kinky Friedman 1944-2024)
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To: Jamestown1630

Try the following cli-

pulseaudio —start


25 posted on 08/24/2024 9:49:47 AM PDT by taxcontrol (The choice is clear - either live as a slave on your knees or die as a free citizen on your feet.)
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To: dayglored

I still don’t get all the comments saying that sound in Linux is so touchy - this is the first time we’ve ever had a problem with it...


26 posted on 08/24/2024 10:06:26 AM PDT by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
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To: Jamestown1630

To be fair, I have not had problems with Linux sound in at least a few years. But my environment is not typical. Most of my Linux machines are virtual, meaning that the VM sound output goes to its hypervisor host and then to the outside world. I have recently installed Ubuntu 24 directly on an HP laptop, but I have not really done anything with the sound on that machine yet. I guess I will find out, hopefully a pleasant experience.


27 posted on 08/24/2024 10:29:08 AM PDT by dayglored (“Courtesy is owed. Respect is earned. Love is given.” - Kinky Friedman 1944-2024)
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To: Red Badger; ShadowAce; dayglored; All

Well, just now something weird happened. My sound came back for all of five seconds, all by itself, for no reason. Then it went away again.

Does that sound like hardware?


28 posted on 08/24/2024 12:16:43 PM PDT by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
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To: Jamestown1630
My sound came back for all of five seconds, all by itself, for no reason. Then it went away again.

Well, if it was me, I'd boot up a USB Live distro and see if your sound works under that. If it does, it's not hardware. If it doesn't, it's probably hardware, but it's not a definitive answer unless you try that test under multiple distros.

29 posted on 08/24/2024 12:39:23 PM PDT by ShadowAce (Linux - The Ultimate Windows Service Pack )
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To: ShadowAce; Jamestown1630

Alternatively, or if a USB live distro is not readily available, wiggle all the connectors. Seriously. :-)


30 posted on 08/24/2024 12:53:16 PM PDT by dayglored (“Courtesy is owed. Respect is earned. Love is given.” - Kinky Friedman 1944-2024)
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To: dayglored

Thanks :-)

Husband is coming home tonight, so we’ll try all the suggestions.


31 posted on 08/24/2024 12:54:39 PM PDT by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
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To: Jamestown1630

Yep!..........


32 posted on 08/24/2024 1:19:00 PM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: George from New England

Settings.

Turn off AUTOCORRECT.............


33 posted on 08/24/2024 1:19:56 PM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: Red Badger; All
Well, quel désastre!

Trying to fix this, we lost everything - the OS, all the files, everything.

It's not really terrible, because most of the important stuff was backed-up; so, we loaded Linux again - but, still no sound.

I ordered new speakers, to see if that's the issue; but if that doesn't work, we don't know what to do.

(I'm starting to believe in 'planned obsolescence'; we got a message a while back telling us that our support contracts - on this 6-month-old CPU - will expire in a few months...)

Thanks again to everyone.
34 posted on 08/24/2024 5:53:22 PM PDT by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
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To: Jamestown1630

Based on your post #13 where you report 10 seconds of speaker sound:

I’d guess that some bluetooth audio device is connected. While connected the audio is directed there if you selected that option previously.

I have wired speakers and a bluetooth speaker.
Once I select bluetooth for ‘audio stream’ output, the wired output ends whenever the bluetooth device connects. It automagically restarts the speaker output when I turn the bluetooth speaker off after about 10 seconds of silence.

This behavior is due to the fact that I have my wired speakers chosen as my default audio ‘device’.

I use a KDE Linux desktop environment.
In KDE the audio setup is accomplished in system-settings -> audio.

*This is in the main System Settings in KDE, there may be many different volume controls and they may or may not be relevant or control the same specific audio settings.

I select bluetooth for specific ‘Playback Streams’ and it uses bluetooth when available.

Other desktop environments will have similar ‘features’ :-)

Check to make sure wired speakers are default ‘Device’
Check to see if you have bluetooth selected for any ‘Stream’
Try completely turning off the bluetooth radio/connection.

It is possible to have different things on different speakers at the same time too, it can be confusing when you get under the hood. Just work on one thing at a time and question assumptions.

Subdivide and conquer :-)


35 posted on 08/27/2024 11:45:37 AM PDT by Hermes37
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To: Hermes37

Well, before everything ‘crashed’, there was no problem using both the bluetooth earbuds and the speaker sound - everything would automatically switch to bluetooth as soon as the earbuds connected.

Now, even with new speakers (wired) sound doesn’t come out of the speakers, and now the bluetooth doesn’t work either..

We’re kind of afraid to do anything, since we screwed the whole computer trying to fix it in the first place :-)

We’ll just keep researching.
(We’re in an Ubuntu)


36 posted on 08/27/2024 12:01:34 PM PDT by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
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