[SOLVED] need help with sound or lack thereof...

herakles_14 · 01-24-2013, 03:53 PM

Here is my situation as far as 'sound' goes. I can hear the sound from videos (YouTube) and other sources but when I try Skype for example, while I hear the prompts and my headset is properly connected it did not hear my audio. I have gone to the Sound setting and have discovered the bar for the setting for select device does not move. I also do not hear any of the sound effects. The screen indicating Output or Input are blank and the corresponding settings are greyed out. In the Output under 'Settings for selected device' the bar for the sub woofer does move.
I have installed Gnome ALSA Mixer as well as the ALSAmixergui.
This is where I am at this moment. If someone could give me a nudge in the right direction it would be appreciated.
herakles_14

herakles_14 · 01-24-2013, 04:47 PM

Okay an update. I forgot one thing and that was to do a reboot after which all the settings for 'Sound' showed up. This is great but and there is always a butt, while the microphone for the headset works the speaker (?) does not.

I moved to the back of my Dell Dimension 9100 and plugged the microphone and earphone jacks into the appropriate ports now I can hear from the earphones and use the microphone equally.

That being said I guess one can call this minor dilemma as solved

tommcd · 01-25-2013, 03:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by herakles_14

[SIZE="2"]... when I try Skype for example, while I hear the prompts and my headset is properly connected it did not hear my audio.

Is this a usb headset? If so, boot up the computer, plug in the headset, and run lsusb in the terminal to see if the usb headset is detected.

Quote:

Originally Posted by herakles_14

I have installed Gnome ALSA Mixer as well as the ALSAmixergui.

Have you tried simply running alsamixer in the terminal and using the arrow keys to move all of the sound settings all the way up? This is always the first thing you should try to troubleshoot sound problems.

So you hear sound from videos, and, I assume, audio files as well. Is that correct? Is it only the headset (and or the microphone) that is lacking sound?

herakles_14 · 01-26-2013, 01:48 AM

The headset is not USB it has separate jacks for the earphone and microphone for the headset, it was these that i plugged into the corresponding ports in the back of my Dell.
After rebooting the headset (earphone & microphone) was recognized and all appropriate functions are now working.
The problem with the sound or lack thereof had to do with the earphone connection/plug/port/whathaveyou in the front of the PC which for some unknown reason did not work thus the reason to check the rear of the Dell and make the connections there.
I am curious about the ALSA Mixer? Is there any particular settings that is optimal for best functionality?

tommcd · 01-26-2013, 02:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by herakles_14

I am curious about the ALSA Mixer? Is there any particular settings that is optimal for best functionality?

Not really, alsamixer just raises and lowers the sound levels for different audio inputs and outputs. If there is something listed in alsamixer that you do not use you can mute it my toggling the "M" key (lower case m). Other than that, just set the sound levels to your liking.