audio problem

[sunny-O0WJhd4tT3hg9hUCZPvPmw at public.gmane.org (Laura Conrad)]

>>>>> "dan" == dan moylan <jdm-LPA1KyJyIuz1P9xLtpHBDw at public.gmane.org> writes:

    dan> a month ago, the sound worked fine -- now it doesn't.
    dan> could there be some software switch i've inadvertantly
    dan> thrown, or is this likely to be a hardware failure?

When you say "now it doesn't", does it give an error message, or does
it just not sound?

In my experience, just not sounding usually means the mixer has a
screwed up setting.  Get a good mixer -- I usually use
gnome-alsa-mixer on ubuntu.  There are several check boxes with
incomprehensible names, and they need to be set right, and nobody can
tell you what "right" is.  Set a file playing and check and uncheck
boxes until you can hear it.

If there's an error message about the device not being available, try
restarting alsa ("/etc/init.d/alsa-utils restart" on ubuntu), and also
running as root.  If restarting alsa works, it's an alsa problem; if
root works and a user doesn't, it's a permission problem.

Sometimes just getting out of firefox fixes that kind of problem, too.

If it's a laptop, there might be a mute button on the keyboard that
you pushed by accident.  If it's dual boot and it doesn't work in
either linux or windows, that's the likely answer.

Any of those possibilities is more likely than hardware just ceasing
to function without making horrible noises.

It would really be nice if LINUX sound would some day work as well as
many other things on LINUX do.

-- 
Laura   (mailto:lconrad-O0WJhd4tT3hg9hUCZPvPmw at public.gmane.org http://www.laymusic.org/ )
(617) 661-8097	233 Broadway, Cambridge, MA 02139   

The good Christian should beware of mathematicians, and all those who
make empty prophecies. The danger already exists that the
mathematicians have made a covenant with the devil to darken the
spirit and to confine man in the bonds of Hell.

St. Augustine, De Genesi ad Litteram, Book II, xviii, 37