Sony VGN-AR770 Headphone jack not working.

*sigh* All I want is sound through the headphone jack...

Hello everyone. I've seen this problem a lot over the internet. I've tried to fix it myself, as other people have managed to, but it's funny how the same model of machine could have so many solutions to the same problem.

Some things that might help you:
The command:

Code:

grep Codec /proc/asound/card0/codec#*

Yeilds:

Code:

/proc/asound/card0/codec#0:Codec: SigmaTel CXD9872AKD
/proc/asound/card0/codec#1:Codec: Conexant ID 2c06

Also:
The command:

Code:

aplay -l

will return:

Code:

**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 0: HDA Generic [HDA Generic]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 2: ALC262 Analog [ALC262 Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

I've tried many "option THIS" fixes and none of them have worked, but I'm willing to try them again with guidance this time. Those go at the very end of the /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base file, correct?

Thank you for all your help!

 

Yes. This is a common problem with headphone sense. It's going to be one of the options snd-hda-intel model=whatever. You can find one list at:
http://www.mjmwired.net/kernel/Documentation/sound/alsa/ALSA-Configuration.txt#809

That list isn't the most up to date. You can find a better list in:
/usr/share/doc/alsa-base/driver/ALSA-Configuration.txt.gz

You'll have to try a number of settings by trial and error.

After you try a new model and save the alsa-base file, run update-modules (as root) and try using the headphone jack.

 

If I use

Code:

update-modules

I get this message:

Code:

************************************************************************
*
* The update-modules command is deprecated and should not be used!
*
************************************************************************

Was that a way for me to test without having to restart all the time? Because that'd be sweet.

 

Oh... yeah... try depmod -a instead... but yea the idea is to not have to reboot every time

 

So like, say I'm playing a music file. I can hear it through the main speakers. If I update my alsa-base file and sudo depmod -a, when I get it working it will switch to output through the headphone jack?

 

Well, I don't think depmod is working because if I change the alsa-base to something that I know doesn't work and depmod, the audio is still playing, whereas if I reboot there is no sound at all through any speaker.

 

What have you added to
/etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base
?

 

I've tried things from the list, but if it doesn't work, I erase it so I can get sound back to make sure I don't mess up everything.
Here's a rough list of what I've tried already:

Code:

hippo   Hippo (ATI) with jack detection, Sony UX-90s
hippo_1   Hippo (Benq) with jack detection
sony-assamd   Sony ASSAMD
ultra   Samsung Q1 Ultra Vista model
vaio	  Setup for VAIO FE550G/SZ110
vaio-ar   Setup for VAIO AR

And from http://multidisciplinary.wordpress.com/2009/01/15/sound-headphones-fix-in-linux-on-sony-vaio-vgn-ar51su-laptop/,

Code:

options snd-hda-intel model=vaio enable=1 index=0 position_fix=1

*Note on this one: my /etc/modprobe.d/sound file is completely empty.

Also from http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=953973, I've tried

Code:

options snd-hda-intel model=vaio

, but I didn't do the following step:

Code:

sudo apt-get install linux-backports-modules-$(uname -r)

, because I have no idea what it does.

 

try adding this
options snd-hda-intel model=vaio probe_mask=1

to
/etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base

Might want to reboot just in case.

 

That's a no-go, proxima. No sound at all.

 

Okay I didn't quite get the problem from your posts.
Do you get sound from the laptop speakers with no headphone plugged in?
When you plug the headphones in, does the laptop speakers still give sound?

 

I do get sound with no headphones in, from the main speaker. If I do not have anything in the headphone jack and plug something in, I get no sound from anywhere until I unplug it from there.

If I boot up my computer with something in the jack, however, sound will play out of the main speakers. Weird, huh?

 

Running Ubuntu 8.10?

 

Yessir. I am.

 

I really don't know what to tell you, stuff you've tried and what I suggested seemed to get audio working with folks with the same laptop.
Perhaps someone on the ubuntu thread can think of something.

 

Well thanks anyway. My friend is going to give me a crash course on Ubuntu on Sunday, so maybe he'll be able to help me.

 

I've had this same problem with Debian, the only way I fixed it was to keep trying different options from that list I posted earlier... good luck

 

Hey, guess what? It's working now! I just noticed the volume was low and brushed my speaker volume control by habit (plugged in through the headphones, you see), and the volume got louder!

So of course I immediately checked my alsa-base configuration, and sure enough, I had erased whatever previous attempts I had made, so it's at the default configuration. But for some reason it's working!

Thanks, everyone for your help! Yay!