I got into something in alsamixer, but now cannot get back into it. It had the options for selecting sound card and the default had nothing. Then even though my volume control shows the internal card at max, when I saw it pop up, it was muted. So I increased volume there.
Just wondering if something in here needs correcting, but I have no idea how to use this. Hitting F6 does not bring it up for choosing sound card. It only brought up vol control which was muted and clicking that unmuted it.
And after I selected the internal (not Nvidia) sound card in alsa mixer, MX now shows that as the default sound card.
Thanks for reminding me of that. I dual boot Garuda with MX and in Garuda, internal speakers work there!! I tested it after they stopped working in MX.
Sheila
Okay, despite the alsamixer saying use function keys to select sound card, you click on it and the options appear. So I chose the internal driver card âsof-hda-dspâ but still no sound. But what does the r.h. side âDisabledâ imply?
There is also a list of files for sound found in the system, but I have no idea which ones could be helpful.
Sheila
It may be Fn+F6.
Still on the pavucontrol: on the configuration tab what options do you get for Tiger Lake?
Do you see there something like analog stereo (duplex???) ?
Only Play Hifi quality music or OFF. And play is selected.
As I said before, you know sound is being output because the bars âsurgeâ when testing speakers. It is just that you hear no sound in Mx Linux.
Seems if it is working in Garuda Linux, it is definitely not hardware failure.
Sheila
I see it for auto mute.
That is for muting speakers when headphones are plugged in.
Itâs shurely a config problem.
Start to playback something, which causes gauges to move as they measure volume.
Can you post screenshots of all tabs from pavucontrol, while playing a sound?
For me that seems OK.
Ok so the problem is not hardware but a setting in mx
Are there any updates to do ?
Here are the individual tabs in pavucontrol:
No, I do the updates immediately upon notification. Right now, sudo apt update returns nothing to do.
I did want to post this screenshot of AlsaMixer when I switch sound card to Nvidia as I am unsure of the meaning of 00 in all items displayed:
Sheila
Strange, I donât see the problem yet.
What if you logout, then login back?
Edit: just one thing you may try: in alsamixer headphones are now muted.
Toggle it to enbale! (Navigate with lef/right arrow keys, and press âMâ on keyboard).
Maybe the outputs are cross-named, headphone renamed to speaker, and vice versa.
Doesnât change. Still no sound from using either card but you know sound is playing. Has to be some setting, but dern if I know.
Sheila
I had been looking at this post on MX forum, but there were so many variables, the solution was not clear for that user on exactly what was blocking sound. As I stated earlier, I did try what user did with trying to run the commands for alsa-base but do not have it installed either.
The only other solution involved was way over my head and that was this part:
Thanks,
Sheila
As it began with switching to a BT device and then back, I doubt this problem is system wide - unless you got some updates/upgrades meanwhile.
Can you create a new user on your system, say âtestuserâ. Then login as testuser. This testuser will get everything system-default, including pipewire settings. So if thereâs no sound for that testuser, the problem is system-wide. If there is sound, we can be sure the problem lies somewhere in you users configs.
I look up how to reset pipewire, I did not such thing before 
Sorry, @kovacslt. New User has no sound either. I checked and there was no default sound card selected, so chose the one for internal speaker, not Nvidia. Went into AlsaMixer and did same, ensured volume was up and tried several sound files without success and I used MX Sound to select audio card and test speakers, no sound.
Sigh. This is why I have put it off so longâŚLOL.
Sheila
Then itâs a system-wide problem.
Can you maybe restore your system to a time before?
Thanks @kovacslt. That would be a lot of updates since Dec 2, 2024.
Maybe I can take the time to look at older Clonezilla images and see if I can find the difference between right before I left on the trip (when speakers still worked) and a few weeks later to see any changes.
Timeshift can fill up a drive fast with my large system, so I only keep a monthâs worth. So oldest is currently Jan 2025 and this happened in early December.
Otherwise, I will either just keep using the ext speakers or make a new Clonezilla image and then try reinstalling to see if that fixes it.
If after a new install I could see all of the configuration while speakers work, maybe I could go in and change those settings once I laid my current image back on the drive? Maybe that would resolve without me having to redo everything?
Sheila
One more thought:
Back when I had to resize partitions on MX and get Garuda back on its GRUB menu, that was July 2024. I still have an ext SSD with that exact install of just MX Linux on it (did not want to lose my MX if resizing messed it up). So that would have been before speakers stopped working.
If I wanted to compare config changes between that install and my current, what all would I need to check besides what we have discussed today?
Maybe that would give us some clues.
Thanks,
Sheila
I wouldnât know what the problem was caused by or can offer a solution but maybe do a clean install of the OS as a VM to see if sound works in that.
If not already done so?
Maybe get a clue from there?
Just my novice 2 cents.
