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Asked: 2024-09-25T18:00:07+05:30 In:

I’m experiencing an issue with my audio on Ubuntu MATE 21.04 running on a Chromebook. Despite my attempts, I cannot seem to get any sound output. Does anyone have insights or solutions to resolve this problem?

So, I’m in a bit of a bind here, and I really need some help. I’ve got this Chromebook running Ubuntu MATE 21.04, and I’m trying to get the audio working. It was fine at first, but now, for some reason, there’s absolutely no sound coming out. I’ve fiddled with all the settings I could find, and I thought I had everything set up right, but nothing I do seems to fix it.

I’ve checked the volume settings and adjusted them multiple times. I’ve made sure nothing is muted, and I looked into the sound settings where it shows output devices – but there’s just silence from everything. When I play music or videos, I can see the volume indicator moving, but no sound actually comes through. I even tried using headphones thinking that maybe the speakers were the issue, but still nothing. It’s so frustrating!

I’ve done some digging online, but the troubleshooting steps I’ve found are either too complicated or just don’t work for my setup. I’ve tried restarting the system, updating everything, and even checking if there were any drivers I might have missed. One article mentioned something about PulseAudio and ALSA, but I don’t really know where to start with that. I’m not a complete noob when it comes to Linux, but this is getting beyond me.

Has anyone else dealt with this? It’s honestly driving me nuts, and I really need some guidance. If you’ve got any ideas, whether it’s tweaking settings or downloading specific packages, I’m all ears. I just want to be able to listen to some music or watch videos without having to jump through a million hoops. Any help would be super appreciated!

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    2 Answers

    1. Sounds frustrating! Here’s a few suggestions you can try to get your audio working again on Ubuntu MATE:

      1. Check ALSA Mixer

      Open a terminal and type:

      alsamixer

      This opens up a mixer interface. Use the arrow keys to navigate. Make sure the Master and Speaker are not muted (look for “MM” changing it to “00” to unmute). Adjust the volume levels here.

      2. Restart PulseAudio

      Sometimes, PulseAudio can run into issues. In the terminal, you can restart it by:

      pulseaudio -k && pulseaudio --start

      This command will kill the current instance of PulseAudio and start it fresh.

      3. Check Sound Settings

      Go to Sound Settings (you can find this in the menu). Ensure the correct output device is selected, and adjust the output volume. Also, check if you have multiple profiles and try switching between them to see if one works.

      4. Install or Reinstall Audio Drivers

      In the terminal, you can try installing or reinstalling the sound drivers:

      sudo apt-get install --reinstall alsa-base pulseaudio

      5. Check User Permissions

      Sometimes, audio groups can mess things up. Make sure your user is part of the ‘audio’ group:

      sudo usermod -aG audio $USER

      Log out and log back in for this to take effect.

      6. Update Your System

      Ensure everything is up-to-date:

      sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

      If you’ve still not had any luck after trying these, you might want to search for audio issues specific to your Chromebook model and Ubuntu MATE.

      Keep at it! You’ll get it to work eventually. Good luck!

    2. To troubleshoot the audio issues you are experiencing with your Chromebook running Ubuntu MATE 21.04, first, ensure that PulseAudio is properly installed and functioning. Open a terminal and run the command pulseaudio --start to start the PulseAudio sound server if it isn’t already running. Additionally, you can check for any volume misconfigurations by running pavucontrol, which opens the PulseAudio Volume Control interface. Look under the ‘Playback’ tab to confirm that the application you are using (like a media player) is not muted and that the correct output device is selected. In the ‘Output Devices’ tab, verify that the output is set to the right device, such as your speakers or headphones, and that the volume level is adequately adjusted.

      If the problem persists, you may need to reset PulseAudio. This can be done by executing pulseaudio -k to kill the current PulseAudio session, which will automatically restart it. In case this still does not resolve the issue, consider checking for ALSA driver updates. Run sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade to ensure all your packages are up to date, then check for any missing ALSA packages with sudo apt install --reinstall alsa-base pulseaudio. Lastly, ensure that your user is part of the ‘audio’ group by running groups and check if ‘audio’ is listed; if not, add your user with sudo usermod -aG audio your_username, replacing your_username with your actual username. Afterwards, restart your Chromebook, and hopefully, your audio issues will be resolved.

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