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alfC
Asked: 2012-11-03 17:09:30 +0800 CST

How to activate subwoofer in Inspiron 17r?

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I have a Dell Inspiron 17r, after a fresh install of 12.10, the subwoofer seems to be not utilized. No sound comes from it and in the Sound Control Panel the settings appear grayed out (see screenshot). How can I activate the subwoofer?

no subwoofer

I tried adding the line

options snd-hda-intel model=dell

in the file /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf and 

enable-lfe-remixing = yes
default-sample-channels = 3

in the file /etc/pulse/daemon.conf, but still doesn't work.

EDIT: related question: Subwoofer doesn't work on Dell Inspiron 17R after upgrade to 13.10

sound

5 Answers

  1. Try options snd-hda-intel model=ref in /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf.

    Control for subwoofer doesn't work in sound settings but sound can be heard.

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  2. I'm not sure this completely answers the question, but maybe it gets 90% there...

    First, edit the following file:

    sudo gedit /etc/pulse/daemon.conf

    Uncommment and change the values of these lines:

    enable-lfe-remixing = yes
default-sample-channels = 3
default-channel-map = front-left,front-right,lfe

    Second, edit the following file:

    sudo gedit /etc/pulse/default.pa

    Add the following line to the end:

    load-module module-combine channels=3 channel_map=front-left,front-right,lfe

    At this point, I hear noise from the Subwoofer in the Test Sound option under the volume control. I can't tell that it comes from the subwoofer though. Maybe this is the way it is supposed to work.

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  3. Best Answer

    On this answer: https://askubuntu.com/a/481831/307523, I found this comment I wrote last year: March 5, 2017 - Just to confirm this activates the sub-woofer for the Dell Inspiron 17R 7720 SE in Ubuntu 16.04.

    Firstly you will need to install alsa-tools & alsa-tools-gui from either the software center or from terminal.

    sudo apt-get install alsa-tools alsa-tools-gui

    Open HDAJackRetask

    Select the IDT 92HD91BXX codec

    Check the “Show unconnected pins” box (the internal speakers do not show as connected)

    1. Remap 0x0d (Internal Speaker, which is your Front side) to Internal speaker.
    2. Remap 0×10 (“Not connected”, which is the subwoofer) to “Internal speaker (LFE)”

    Select “Install boot override” to save the settings to apply at boot time. Reboot. When it comes back, you should have full sound from all speakers.

    Note: Option 2. was removed due to new testing by alfC. It used to say:

    1. Remap 0x0f (“Not connected”, which is the under-display speakers) to “Internal speaker”
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  4. Ok I seem to have found a working fix for it with headphones enabled in my elemntary OS luna [ with lts-raring HWE for precise]

    In /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf , add :

    options snd-hda-intel model=ref

    now you can enable sub-woofer with command :

    amixer set 'Mono Mux' DAC1

    but headphone jack sensing doesnt work for sub-woofer

    and you need to manual deactivate by command :

    amixer set 'Mono Mux' Mixer

    To Automate it acpi events could not be used , but pulseaudio configs are to be used. :

    In /usr/share/pulseaudio/alsa-mixer/paths/analog-output.conf , add the following at the bottom just before .include analog-output.conf.common

    [Element Mono Mux]
    enumeration = select
    [Option Mono Mux:DAC1]
    name = analog-output

    and also in /usr/share/pulseaudio/alsa-mixer/paths/analog-output-headphones.conf , add the following at the bottom just before .include analog-output.conf.common

    [Element Mono Mux]
    enumeration = select
    [Option Mono Mux:Mixer]
    name = analog-output-headphones

    After that either restart the pc or run pulseaudio -k && sudo alsa force-reload

    Now check if it has worked . either by playing out a song or opening alsamixer and connecting and disconnecting the headphone .

    It seems that adding options snd-hda-intel model=ref to alsa-base.conf doesn't work in Ubuntu 13.10 Saucy as pointed out in this askubuntu question. and i dont know if headphones jack sensing works if following the answer mentioned in that question or if there is chirping noise from audio , as i haven't yet installed a 13.10 saucy or lts-saucy HWE.

    And also hda-jack-retask can be obtained in older versions using ppa:diwic/ppa

    Hope it helped.

    EDIT : Editing more confs . analog-output-speaker.conf , anolog-output-speaker-always.conf etc.. in the same manner was required.

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  5. This configuration worked for me.

    Basically using HDAJackRetask (from the package alsa-tools-gui) using Internal Speaker (Back) for Pin 0x10 and from and a specific device Output (Sound configuration). The profile "Test Speaker" doesn't show the subwoofer, yet I tested it with https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PC7WEQsiz08 and the vibration is noticeable and the depth of the music sound is very good.

    All is summarized in this screenshot:

    alltheconfiguration

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