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Sahil
Asked: 2024-10-20 22:14:41 +0800 CST

laptop audio sometimes works, sometimes doesn't in Ubuntu 24.04

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Problem:

While booting into Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, the laptop's audio works only 1 out of 10 times. I either "HDMI/Display port" (with this, audio from external monitor's headphone jack works fine), or a normal functional laptop audio (sound is from laptop's internal speakers). I get "HDMI/Display Port" most of times when I boot with external monitors plugged in. Also, booting without external monitor mostly gives "Dummy Output", with which both the laptop's internal speakers and the headset jack are non-functional.

However, bluetooth audio works completely fine in either case, without any issues.

What I am trying to achieve is a consistent functional laptop internal speaker.

What I have tried so far:

  1. Adding the following lines with different combinations in alsa-base.conf located in /etc/modprobe.d:

    options snd-hda-intel model=dell
options snd-hda-intel model=generic
options snd-hda-intel model=clevo-p950
options snd_hda_intel index=0,1 id=PCH,HDMI

  2. Restarting PulseAudio using:

    systemctl --user restart pulseaudio

  3. Countless other tweaks mentioned in similar problems.

  4. Cross-verified any potential hardware issues in audio using Windows (which is installed in a separate disk). Audio works perfectly fine each time, so this rules out any issues with hardware.

  5. Tried out other kernels using Mainline Kernels.

Relevant system information:

Additional Information:

OS: Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS x86_64 
Host: Inspiron 15 7000 Gaming (Dell 7567)
Kernel: 6.8.0-47-generic
CPU: Intel i7-7700HQ (8) @ 3.800GHz
GPU: Intel HD Graphics 630
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mobi
NVIDIA Driver Version: 560.35.03 (proprietary)

External Monitor: BenQ GW2270
sound

1 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    When HDMI/Display port was the audio, loaded alsa modules were:

    snd_hda_intel (card 0)
snd_soc_avs_probe (card 1)

    When laptop's internal speakers were working, loaded alsa modules were:

    snd_hda_intel (card 0)
snd_hda_intel (card 1)

    So, intuitively, snd_soc_avs_probe was the troublemaker, and I followed this lead.

    Also, with dmesg, I received error message very similar to the following:

    snd_soc_avs 0000:00:1f.3: Direct firmware load for intel/avs/hda-8086280b-tplg.bin failed with error -2
snd_soc_avs 0000:00:1f.3: request topology "intel/avs/hda-8086280b-tplg.bin" failed: -2

    Error message source: https://www.reddit.com/r/linuxaudio/comments/1d2i1rg/problem_with_sound_in_ubuntu_2404/

    Also, as mentioned in this archlinux subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/archlinux/comments/1be4olj/why_did_sound_stop_working_after_upgrade/

    grep for snd_soc_avs instead. It seems to have gotten introduced in the 6.7 kernel and tries to grab some devices it can't actually handle, and depending on whether it or your actual kernel module wins the enumeration race you have devices or not.

    Ergo, if the grep gives you something, blacklist snd_soc_avs in your /etc/modprobe.d somewhere.
    Source V1del

    further reference: https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2500092

    So, simply balcklisting snd_soc_avs in blacklist.conf in /etc/modprobe.d seems to have solved the problem. I haven't ran into any issues since then. Huge thanks to the community.

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