Sound does not switch to headphones after plugging jack on Alienware 15
 

Hello everyone

This is a known issue: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=210923

In the Arch Wiki, this solution is posted:

Neither this, nor changing options in PulseAudio Volume Control has helped.

Any ideas?

Remove the 'options snd-hda-intel position_fix=1' line and reboot.

Get more info: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Audio/AlsaInfo
(It's an Ubuntu doc page, but it should work on Arch as well)/)

On manjaro and arch based systems /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf was moved to /usr/share/alsa/alsa-base.conf - just in case someone was looking for it.

Have the same problem on Alienware 17 R3.

Also 'options snd-hda-intel position_fix=1' didn't help. In fact I had no sound after applying it so I had to remove it. Besides, such solutions are frustrating because alsa-base.conf is a file with lot of text so I have no idea where to put that line. Should it be in some brackets or not? So maybe the solution works if it's correctly applied. Such half advices are the worst thing people can post, because it promises fix but gives us lot of work, tries, frustration and often no real solution.

I haven't used Arch in a while, but I doubt it's the same file, despite the similar name.

If you read the description of position_fix, it doesn't make any sense that it would apply to this issue. position_fix deals with the position of playback buffer and not the position of audio jacks or anything like that.

Again, you're probably using the wrong file. If you're trying to use a line that begins with "options", then that line should go in a file in /etc/modprobe.d (and that file could be named anything as long as the name ends with '.conf'). A lot of examples use /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf since Debian-based distros usually have such a file, but it's not necessary. In fact, it would be better not to touch a configuration file belonging to a package. Just make your own /etc/modprobe.d/whatever.conf file, and then you can just delete it if it proves unhelpful.

Well, take it up with whoever wrote it. If you follow random advice and copy/paste commands or settings without understanding exactly what they're doing, you're in for a lot of frustration regardless of what OS you're using.

i don't have /usr/share/alsa/alsa-base.conf on my archlinux desktop.
the other files in /usr/share/alsa/ have NOTHING to do with modprobe.


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johnny metal, just in case this wasn't clear to you, this:actually means "please PROVIDE more info".

Strange. Then it has to be manjaro thing. Usually the same things apply to manjaro and arch but on occasions some things are in different folders or named differently. I guess I assumed wrong in this case. Although... If your arch installation is not fresh, then maybe some files stayed in old places and on newly installed ones they are already somewhere else, but I can be wrong. Rolling release system updates with names and places but sometimes new install have differences with old one.

That's confusing but ok. I don't have time to wait years to finally understand the solution to apply it. I bet most newbies just use any fix they can find in hope it will work, because they have no possibilities to dig to such amount of data to understand it all. At the beginning when I didn't find the proper file I created it with the entry as provided but nothing happened so I deleted it. On /usr/share/alsa/alsa-base.conf I didn't find any option section so it probably really is not the file, although I found location through some forum where they claimed that the conf file was moved there (or maybe the author found it there and assumed it was moved and I repeated that info).

Advice was given on arch wiki and I don't have means to poke the author about it. In fact there is little info about it on the web.

Back to the main topic thou. How to set one of the jacks for phone and other for microphone? In windows it happens during first plug when the sound blaster option canter asks for setting how the jacks would work (they are multi purpose plugs and one jack can be for phone/microphone and other sound devices).

goddammit, i got so annoyed by this that i installed manjaro to a vm. the arrogance of youth. i must be getting old.
anyhow, on manjaro it is exactly the same as on my baremetal install:
there's a file /usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf (NOT alsa-base.conf)
the content of that file has NOTHING to do with modprobe (Add and remove modules from the Linux Kernel).


actually you have the means, and you should do something about it. that is exactly what a wiki is for.



Amen.

I'm working on getting the info available, but i'm having trouble connecting to alsa-project.org right now. I'll display it as soon as i can.

Thanks for the help thus far.

There's a utility call hdajackretask that can help. Google it because I have no idea where it is in Arch.

Sorry for the late reply, but only now i've been able to access the website to provide the requested information.

Here is the link: http://www.alsa-project.org/db/?f=c6...5535b97911d03f

You might try toggling these settings in alsamixer. I'm pretty sure I've recommended that to someone with the same codec (Creative CA0132) in the past and it didn't work. It's worth a try though.

Do you actually mean a configuration file, such as for exammple /etc/asound.conf ? It doesn't seem that alsamixer is where i should change those settings.

No. Look in alsamixer. Hold the right arrow to scroll over.

Found it. The two options are set to false by default.

EDIT: Sorry, you meant to turn them on. It worked! Thank you very much!


PS: Would you suggest contacting someone in charge to report them of the possibility of this being a fix, and thus possibly edit the Arch Wiki page accordingly?