How do I get my sound card to work on Ubuntu 13.04?
 

I had been using Ubuntu 10.10 in a dual boot/operating system with Windows XP for the last two years, but recently it would not boot, and I reinstalled it. However, since 10.10 was no longer supported, I could not get programs to load. So, I had to upgrade, and decided to install the most current version which is 13.04. I was never able to get my sound card to work as it should in 10.10, and would only deliver about half the volume level I get from Windows XP. But when I installed 13.04, I have been unable to get any sound at all. I know that my wiring and plug-ins are correct because it works great in XP. I have done considerable research on the Internet to get my sound card to work, but nothing I have read and tried works. For example, I tried 'alsamixer' at the Terminal command line, and when I explicitly followed the simple directions, it didn't make any difference.
The brand/manufacturer of my sound card is Creative Labs. I have seen their sound card products in most every major electronics store I have been in. So, as I understand it, this is a popular and widely used brand. On most of the websites I have queried about this issue say that the device driver for most sound cards are included in most versions of Linux, and should work with no effort. Because it did not automatically work, I searched the Internet and found the Linux driver for this card (which is a .tar.gz file, and I unzipped it to the /dev/snd directory using the 'tar -xzvf DeviceDriverName.tar.gz. Is this a directory that could be successful in getting the sound card to work from? Anyway, that didn't work either.
Bottom line is I need to get a sound card to work in Linux, and since this one was a pricey one that I bought and used since about 2007, I would rather keep this one and use it if I/we can get it to work. It puts out a very good quality of sound in XP. Surely some of you have had success with installing this brand of sound card in Linux, so if you know what I need to do, I would greatly appreciate it if you would let me know what I need to do to make it work correctly.

aplusguy333

Hi can you try all Troubleshooting Steps listed:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SoundTroubleshooting
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingSoundProblems

Then can you paste your outputs here and the methods you tried.

Can you also not write everything on one line and space it out so we can read it?

Thanks

Please provide more information about your sound card by running:

lspci | grep audio

and paste the output here, and someone should be able to tell you what to do next.

If the card worked at all with 10.10, its probably just set to the wrong output (eg its trying to use digital output when you want the analog outputs).

If you were using 10.10 up until recently, I'd stongly suggest NOT using 13.04.

10.10 end of life was April 10, 2012, which means you're been using an usupported OS for a year. 10.10 had 18 months support, 13.04 only has 9 months support. So your 13.04 will be out of support in less than a year, its end of life is January 2014 . If you want to use a ubuntu, get 12.04, its supported untill April 2017.

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Releases

Its not just about getting programs to 'load' (though thats not the issue you were having, it was actually 'unable to downalod and instal software from the repos'). Getting new software from the repos is just part of why using a supported OS is good, its also for your own protection and the protection of the rest of us. Unsupported OS = no security updates.

Sound card problem resolved
 

I investigated the websites and tried all of the suggestions you folks gave me. I also checked all of the sound settings, and they looked okay; most importantly, I checked to be sure the volume control was not muted, and it was not muted. Since I was not trying to have Rhythmbox play any songs for a while, I'm not sure what I did or when, but when I went to Systems Settings, and did a sound test, it worked!
My sound card is a Creative Labs X-Fi Sound Blaster, Model #SB0460, and is not on the http://www.alsa-project.org/main/index.php/Matrix:Main website that shows a list of Sound Cards that have the device driver in Linux. Mine is not on that list, so I can only conclude that the Linux driver that I downloaded and installed caused it to work; I just don't know what I did to activate it.
I will probably install Ubuntu 12.04 since support on it lasts longer, but I think I will enjoy my sound card working for at least a few months before making that change.
I thank all who responded for your help.

aplusguy333

[QUOTE=aplusguy333;4953410]My sound card is a Creative Labs X-Fi Sound Blaster, Model #SB0460, and is not on the http://www.alsa-project.org/main/index.php/Matrix:Main website that shows a list of Sound Cards that have the device driver in Linux. Mine is not on that list, so I can only conclude that the Linux driver that I downloaded and installed caused it to work; I just don't know what I did to activate it./QUOTE]

SB0460 is normally known as 'X-Fi XtremeMusic'-

http://www.ask.asia.creative.com/wwe...list_audio.htm

It is listed as 'Partially supported on 1.0.21; EAX and Advanced sound options like crystalizer not available' on the lasa page like the other PCI emu20k1 X-Fi cards.

This is why you dont buy creative, they have pretty bad to awful support with linux (and the drivers have been known to cause problems even with windows....)