External audio set detection issues on Alienware M17x R4
 

I can't seem to get working the automatic detection of headphones or external speakers being plugged in (i.e. sound output doesn't switch to headphones and remains on the built-in speakers) on my Alienware M17x R4 laptop (Arch Linux x64, kernel v3.8.7-1 at the time of writing this). As far as I understand, the problem might be with incorrect parameters being passed to snd_hda_intel (mine are options snd-hda-intel index=0 model=alienware) but I can't seem to find any answers as to what the correct ones may be and perhaps I'm thinking in the wrong direction to begin with. Thanks in advance for any suggestions. hints, or tips.

lsmod is a command that will list (ls) the modules (mod) installed by the current running kernel.

Sound modules usually have the notation snd.

find a cli console to the shell and type,
Grep is a sorting app. grepping for snd will show us any lines that contain snd from the output of lsmod.

Paste the output here please.

It has a nVidia graphics card, maybe you need to disable sound through hdmi.

You can do this by adding this line to your /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf (/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-mga.conf on my Mageia (rpm) system).
Now after a reboot, or reload the modules anotherway (??), you should have sound from the snd_hda_intel module.

Check with lsmod and grep.

lspci will show more info on hardware devices, use v for verbose. like, lspci -vv.

pciids (web search) has a comprehensive list of devices to search.

But, IMHO, it will be the nvidia hdmi module blocking.

There was indeed an active snd_hda_codec_hdmi module, which I blacklisted, but detecting when audio jack being plugged in and switching over to the new output still doesn't work (output through the internal speakers worked fine and keeps working).

Not real sure of laptops, power conserv. etc, but

The auto jack sense on my desktops works no matter what operating system (win7, win8, winxp, kubuntu, mint, mageia and Studio-13.37)....,

which leads me to think..... bios settings.

I believe you may pick 7.2 (5.1 on some) surround OR stereo,

you might need to decide over surround and (stereo) headphones.

Just a stab in the dark, not seeing your machine.

One more thing, dust and fluff in the 3.5mm sound socket, debri may stop the switch if it's mechanical.

I am rather sure it's neither BIOS nor dust in the socket since the jack detection works without any problems on Windows (I have a dual-boot setup, Windows 7/Arch Linux).

Hmmm, OK. Do you know anybody else that has one?

Your laptop may be too new. Most reports I've just seen mention both alsa and kernel updates fixed the problem.

This is normal for new devices in the linux kernel. Bit behind, but getting there never the less.

I personally have delt with this kind of issue on my systems numerous times.

Persist, it will come.

That might be actually the case. Let's see if the upcoming 3.9.x'es will bring any change.

Alas, Not here.

another module to look for...
If so, you may load it by adding it's name to /etc/modprobe.preload.

tip, kernel module names, snd-intel-mod = snd_intel_mod.

That may apply to upper and lower case chars too, but not generally in the Linux file system (is case sensitive)

If I were you I would make a request on pciids website. That will probably flow through to the rest of the system.

look for pciid with lspci.

Take note and look for the module that matches at pciids website.

If your lappy is really new, you can disregard all the old docs. Cut's down on history research.

One last thing,
1. check pulse config for "sense"
2. Do you have jack (jackit, jackd, ...qjackctl) installed, it has "jack-sense" too.

If you have an external sound card, turn off the motherboard sound chip in bios, you'll still need the blacklist for the nvidia hdmi.

Untill the new module comes out.

All the best.

Did you find a solution to this problem? I'm having the same issues with Ubuntu and the latest Arch linux. I tried using the snd-ctxfi module and blacklisting the the nvidia hdmi. The normal audio works just fine. Only the headphonejack does not. The laptop is already 1 year old, so I don't think you can call it new. I've been searching for a solution for quite some time already...

Thank you in advance