Headphones help?

Hey, I appear to be in the same boat as most people who are using Ubuntu, namely that I can't get it to recognize headphones that I plug into the headphone jack on my laptop. I'm using a Toshiba Satellite A135-S4427. GNOME ALSA Mixer has told me that I'm using something called Realtek ALC861-VD. I'm on Ubuntu 9.04. I've searched everywhere for some sort of solution, but nothing I've tried has worked. Well, that plus one of the "solution"s I found caused me to lose the ability to hear any sound at all; it somehow unmounted my sound card. Restarting fixed that, but I've been understandably wary of trying anything similar for fear it might happen again.

Is there a solution in sight, or should I just hang on and wait in hopes that the next version of Ubuntu fixes this problem?

 

Ya this is a common problem due to incorrect parameters for headphone sensing.

On Ubuntu this requires editing the ALSA module's config file:

Code:

gksudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf

If you are using an older version of Ubuntu than 9.04 it would be just alsa-base instead of alsa-base.conf.

At the bottom of the file, add a line that reads:

Code:

options snd-hda-intel model=modelfromlistbelow

Where 'modelfromlistbelow' is one of the following models from the left-hand column (found in /usr/src/linux/Documentation/sound/alsa/HD-Audio-Models.txt)

Code:

ALC861/660
==========
  3stack        3-jack
  3stack-dig    3-jack with SPDIF I/O
  6stack-dig    6-jack with SPDIF I/O
  3stack-660    3-jack (for ALC660)
  uniwill-m31   Uniwill M31 laptop
  <a>toshiba[/URL]       <a>Toshiba[/URL] laptop support
  asus          Asus laptop support
  asus-laptop   ASUS F2/F3 laptops
  auto          auto-config reading BIOS (default)

Try each of these options (replace the model=whatever in the alsa-base config file) until one works. Each time, restart ALSA:

Code:

sudo alsa force-reload

And then unplug and replug your headphone cable and try playing audio. One of these options will work but one may give you more options (more channels in the mixer for instance) than others, so you will probably want to try them all out. If there is a 'headphone' switch on your mixer, also experiment with that setting (sometimes it is not needed for headphone sensing to work).

 

Using those instructions on how to properly edit your alsa configuration file, (/etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf), this Ubuntu Wiki page suggests that the proper setting for your laptop sound hardware is to use the following options line;

Code:

options snd-hda-intel model=lenovo

If that doesn't work, you may then need to wait for an update to Ubuntu. One which specifically provides an upgrade to the Linux kernel, as these are in kernel drivers.

If you are feeling like you would like a challenge, you could always download the alsa package from Realtek by following the links from this webpage, and then try building and installing, that alsa driver on your system.

Good Luck..

 

Yep jas is right sometimes the only way to get it to work (I hope not in your case), is to get the latest ALSA. I have build instructions here. Ignore the wget line with the HDMI patch, which is just for my N10J. It's harmless but not needed for your system.

Also, nice find on that Ubuntu wiki

Lenovo isn't in the list for that chipset, so definitely a good tip.