I have not yet made the switch to Linux but I will be soon after previewing Windows post-7 versions. I have been testing out several versions on LiveDVDs. The first time I tried a couple months ago, most of them (including the audio) worked well with no problems. But now, I'm trying a few again, and EVERY SINGLE ONE fails to detect the audio line.

Editing to add: I did find ONE LiveDVD where audio worked the first time. This was Antix. Not sure that's the version I want to keep. Like the others, it's got its pros and cons. I'm not sure that helps in solving the problem, but it makes me wonder if the bug isn't in this Pulse Audio, seeing that didn't seem to be in Antix?

I have a line plugged in to a stereo with speakers to the front audio jack of my computer. This works without a problem in Windows for audio output.

But to get it to work in any version of Linux, I now have to go into Pulse Audio, change the selection in the last tab from digital output to "analog output (unplugged)" AND change the "line in (unplugged)" to "headphone (unplugged)." The problem is that it IS plugged in, and it's not a headphone. Regardless, it's not detecting that it's the analog output, and it's not distinguishing headphone/line connections properly. It is detecting the sound card.

This has been on all distributions I've tried (PCLinuxOS, Q4OS, Mint, Peppermint, LXLE, Manjaro, and Antergos). I haven't added any new sound devices or changed anything. I have only ever used the default built-in Intel sound card and the front audio jack.

I don't understand what's changed, and why the exact same LiveDVDs (or some of them) would now consistently fail not only to detect the proper audio input jack but report it as unplugged. It's easy enough to change the settings, but it's obviously not working correctly. I'm wondering if anyone could tell me what might have happened?

Thanks in advance!

Underneath Pulseaudio is alsa; drivers have been written for alsa, but people use pulseaudio because it's user friendly :-/. I don't.

Sounds to me like it's an audio config issue. Live DVDs have to have some drivers, and some config, but they might not suit your box. Ignore the problem on a live dvd; You can fix it when you install. That's my advice.

Don't get discouraged. Try alsamixer to configure the sound. If you only have 2 audio ports, like on a laptop, headphone and line out are the same jack. Sometimes, with certain setups, those get confused.

I'm confused more than anything and trying to learn how this works having used Windows since 3.1.

First, why would it work on the same live DVDs originally?

Second, how does Antix generate and play audio that differs from most others?

Third, why does PulseAudio want to default to this "Digital Stereo (IEC958) Output" rather than the "Analog Stereo Output (Unplugged)" which is plugged in and should be the default.

Fourth, if the distro were installed, would I have to reset this every time I started up the computer?

Fifth, why is this change only configurable in the Configuration tab of Pulse Audio, not in alsa (from what little I know from reading about it). All the bars look fine in the alsa command line output. Disabling Pulse doesn't restore sound, nor does uninstalling it.

I'm just curious as to what's changed (and how) or where the bug or user error is.

Thanks!

You're new to linux. There's swings and roundabouts. You need to install stuff, and configure it ONCE. Then it will stay working.

That's good to know.

I did try yesterday a "mini" version of a PCLinuxOS community distribution using the Trinity Desktop that did not come with PulseAudio. I installed XMMS2 and Audacious, and it worked perfectly with no configuration needed. It would be interesting to see if uninstalling Pulse on another distro and then installing those apps would work. I suspect PulseAudio has a bug if only a very minor one. From what I've read though, a lot of people don't like it.

Thanks!

I don't like PulseAudio. Alsa (which pulse manipulates, but which has the soundcard drivers) works on it's own, but it's like the Sphynx - a bit inscrutable. Pulse is worse imho

You know about linux bugs because they
1. Get reported.
2. Get fixed - unlike certain commercial software I could mention!

If you don't believe me, check the Changelog of any linux package.

Thanks for the information