No sound after kernel update

I had similar issues yesterday with a new Inspiron 530 that came with ubuntu installed.

 

Had to do some major editing to get the sound working using the ALSA sound drivers and alsamixer commands. Advanced Linux

 

ALSA = the Advanced Linux Sound Architecture

 

I have Kubuntu running on my pc so forgive any mention of KDE stuff . In your konsole/terminal type :

 

sudo alsamixer

 

then your password

 

You will then see a basic sound mixer showing the status of all sound-related
devices. Check which ones have MM under, then select them one by one and press M key
to unmute them.

 

You can also increase the levels up and down with your arrow buttons

 

I have also just found an excellent guide to ALSA here:

 

http://www.debianhelp.co.uk/sound.htm

 

Y

Have you tried the wiki:

http://linux.dell.com/wiki/index.php/Ubuntu_8.04/Issues/No_Sound_After_Distribution_Or_Kernel_Upgrade

I have, except I replaced the line:

 

$ sudo dpkg -r linux-backports-modules-2.6.22-14-generic

 

With $ sudo dpkg -r linux-backports-modules-2.6.24-19-generic.

 

(As that was the last kernel version).

 

Still no sound. I purchased this 1525N laptop with Gutsy, and was successfully able to restore the sound after upgrading to Hardy as per the Dell Wiki. The wiki needs an upgrade.

 

StewartM

Shanix: That is most weird. I was aware of that page, however it describes problems with switching to Ubuntu / kernel versions that were before my previous kernel anyway. So I was already successfully using a kernel later than the ones on that page without sound problems (apart from problems with Flash hogging sound resources). Indeed because of the Flash problems I tried the steps on that page but I didn't have that replaced-by-modem driver so everything seemed fine.

Now with the -21 kernel the appropriate folder does have a renamed driver file. o_O So I followed the steps and everything works just fine again...

So, thanks for that!

 

andybleaden: alsamixer failed because the sound card wasn't recognised so I couldn't do anything with that.

 

StewartMM: Did you try the steps in the section "If already running Ubuntu 8.04 and upgrading to kernel 2.6.24-17-generic"?

I should add that I can boot successfully with sound to kernel 2.6.24-19-generic.

 

StewartM

good luck!
let us know how you got on

Yes, I tried that first. However, I think I made a simple error. I'm going to reboot now and try it.

 

StewartMM

It works!

 

I'm using GNOME commander in lieu of having to type in some of the commands (using the shell is easier than typing the path of like 8 directories) and when I renamed the driver file, I noticed I didn't take out the "hsfmodem".

 

Going back, doing that, and thing typing in the last three lines:

 

$ sudo depmod -a

$ sudo update-initramfs -u

$ sudo reboot

 

Took care of everything!

 

But what's really nice about Linux was that even before I was helped with the fix, I still had a usable system, as I just booted up using 2.6.24-19-generic until I was helped the fix.

 

(BTW, will the modem fix work? I don't really need the modem, but I suspect the same driver which previously worked, if I chose to install it, would work. I probably won't install it again (to avoid this happening again, but just checking to see if anyone knew).

 

StewartM

Hi,

 

I tried going to the Wiki article and doing what it says, however when I paste the first line:

 

$ cd /lib/modules/2.6.24-17-generic/ubuntu/sound/alsa-driver/pci/hda

 ...in the 'Terminal' thing, it tells me: bash: $: command not found

 I would really appreciate it if anyone could help me with this.

Also, I'm not too good with computers so the simplest language possible would be nice. :)

 

Thank you!

 

 

 

 

 

oops!

a friend just told me not to put the '$' sign. 

 

it stilll says:

 

bash: cd: /lib/modules/2.6.24-17-generic/ubuntu/sound/alsa-driver/pci/hda: No such file or directory

anybody have any suggestions?

If you've just upgraded to 2.6.24-21, which I supposed you did (hence the title of the thread) then that should be:

 

 cd /lib/modules/2.6.24-21-generic/ubuntu/sound/alsa-driver/pci/hda

 

After all, you're trying to change the settings for the current kernel you're running, not a previous one, right? Proceed in all the subsequent steps by replacing "2.6.24-17-generic" with "2.6.24-21-generic" and hopefully you'll be OK.

 

What probably is the problem is that your computer does not have the 2.6.24-17-generic kernel, so that folder does not exist. Take a peek in the /boot menu in your computer, that will list the files associated with your computer. Mine, I see the files associated with:

 

2.6.24-14-generic

2.6.24-15-generic

2.6.24-18-generic

2.6.24-19-generic

2.6.24-21-generic

 

One of the cool things about Linux is that it *does not* remove by default the old kernel when you upgrade to the next one. In fact, when your machine is booting, you can hit the "Escape" key and it will show you the list of available kernels, and give you an option of selecting which kernel you want to load.

 

That is a handy feature to have if an upgrade breaks something. Until I had figured what I had done wrong in this particular problem with the upgrade, I just (for the time being) reverted back to booting to 2.6.24-19-generic and everything ran fine just like it had done before.

 

One final tip: you might consider installing GNOME-commander. It's in the Ubuntu repositories. GNOME-commander is a handy shell file manager that gives you a simple GUI in which you can do these things, so you don't have to type all those long directory strings (say, /lib/modules/2.6.24-21-generic/ubuntu/sound/alsa-driver/pci/hda). You just point and click your way to that directory, and right-click to rename a file.

 

Of course, for this type of work you'll need adminstrator privileges. You can get them (after installing GNOME commander) by (and this will have to be done in an account which has administrative privileges and hence can use sudo):

 

a) Right-click on the "Applications" Menu;

b) Click on "Edit Menus"

c) Click on "Accessories" in the Left-Hand Menu;

d) Right-click on "GNOME commander";

e) Select "Properties";

f) Replace in the Command box: "gnome-commander" with "gksudo gnome-commander"

 

When you start GNOME commander from the menu, you'll get a box asking for your password, just like you would if you were, say, making an upgrade or some other task. That way you can point-and-click through the directories like you're used to.

 

But be careful, you'll have temporary administrative privileges, so you can mess up your system if you don't know what you're doing. 

 

Some people have a similar gksudo set-up for nautilus (the GNOME file browser) for make it easier for such work but I prefer to use GNOME-commander.

 

Let us know how it works for you.

 

StewartM

alright. ignore the previous post.

i went through all the steps once and it didnt tell me that it didn't recognize anything. im guessing *something* was removed and thats why it doesnt recognize it now. 

anyway, its still not working.

 

i was wondering, could i possibly go back to a previous kernel and just use my computer with that?

 

Thanks so much for all that info!

I tried the '21' kernel and it *did* recognize it, but after I pasted the second line, it tells me:

 

mv: cannot stat `snd-hda-intel.ko.REPLACEDBYhsfmodem': No such file or directory

Any idea what this means?

---

@tanya_814 wrote:

alright. ignore the previous post.

i went through all the steps once and it didnt tell me that it didn't recognize anything. im guessing *something* was removed and thats why it doesnt recognize it now. 

anyway, its still not working.

 

i was wondering, could i possibly go back to a previous kernel and just use my computer with that?

 

---

 

Look in the /lib/modules directory. This is what I see in mine (note, this is a way to show all the linux kernels you have)

 

 

 

 

 

And then dig deeper into the path and see if you have a single file that looks like this: (note the path along the top)

 

 

 

 

What you're doing is actually renaming the file that got mistakenly renamed (snd-hda-intel.ko.REPLACEDBYhsfmodem) during the upgrade process (and which broke the sound) to its proper name, which is just snd-hda-intel.ko.

 

That, and deleting the wrong .ko files in the subsequent steps that the upgrade wrongly substituted in the /lib/modules/2.6.24-21-generic/updates folder:

 

$ cd /lib/modules/2.6.24-17-generic/updates
$ sudo rm snd-hda-intel.ko
$ sudo rm snd-hda-codec.ko 

 

Is what gives you back your sound.If you do things correctly, that is what you should have.

 

While you're typing in the commands if the terminal, if you choose to do it that way, you can have these Nautilus windows open and see the path so you can conceptualize what you're actually doing. That might make it easier.

 

And, if you want to reboot to the previous kernel, hitting the "escape" key on bootup gives you a list of kernels to boot to.

 

StewartM

 

 

Wow, thank you so much for the visuals.

That was very helpful.

I followed everything you said, except I opened the 'hda' file, and it had nothing in it. 

I might have deleted it by accident without knowing it, while I was typing in all those terminal codes. 

Is there any way for me to retrieve it?

There was a 'snd-hda-intel.ko' file in the 19-generic but I tried using that (19 instead of 21) and it didn't work. 

(I'm guessing because I'm already upgraded to 21? ...I thought I would try anyway)

 

Any suggestions on what to do here?