Kubuntu 12.04 Precise Thoughts

[bobk]

Open a Konsole and issue

sudo alsamixer


Hit F5 to make visible all of the controls. You may have to use the right and left arrows to slide the "windows" one way or the other to see all the controls.

If a control has "MM" at the bottom arrow over to it to highlight it, and press the "M" key.

Make sure the Master Volume, the PCM and the Digital sliders are at the top of the white region but not into the red, if you can. KMixer and Pulse don't often give the user access to the "Digital" slider. Also make sure the "Capture" slider is in the white.

thanks. I found that control , and set everything as you suggest still nothing. I used F6 select sound card, and it has, what I believe is the card, but when i select that, i only get s/pdif, no volume controls. I think. but am not sure, that the default, is the built in chipset vid. I have the proprietary driver, the top one activated. would the second one, listed as update make any difference? could this be a ati thing? this card worked well, under win 7, SP1, so I know the card is OK...any other ideas?
thank you for your time, I know linuz, is not as easy to configure as other OS's. but I still would like to get open source stuff working...

[Teunis]

In (recent) the past I've found interesting differences between the 'regular' and 'updated' driver, it's worth giving it a shot!

In case something of pulsaudio is installed there is pavucontrol to set it up.

[bobk]

In (recent) the past I've found interesting differences between the 'regular' and 'updated' driver, it's worth giving it a shot!

In case something of pulsaudio is installed there is pavucontrol to set it up.

is pavucontrol, a terminal sudo thingie also?

I am D/l the other driver now, I will report. it is important, as that is the main reason
for this build, and this point, it is sitting next to the TV, and doing nothing....

thanks

[The Liquidator]

No it isn't. Pavucontrol is a full-blown gui with which you configure the pulse audio system. Command-line not necessary. You install it via the package manager and then hit kmenubutton and start to type the name in the box and reference to it will appear below.

You can then either just click it to launch or if you like drag to the desktop or send to panel (you need to unlock widgets to do the latter).

I believe you are trying to hear the audio through USB? It can be a little tricky but this may help. Plug in your usb device and do kemenu/system settings/multimedia. Select phonon /device preference and look under the various headings for your device. Select it and using the "prefer" button move it to the top of the list. Try the "test" button. Does it work? That's progress. It will mean that whenever you boot up the machine with the USB device plugged in KDE "should" use it as the default. (in my experience it's not infallible!)

Now importantly, what application are you trying to use to watch your video? It may well be that you need to tell the application to use the device you need. For example if the USB speaker has muted onboard sound, it may be that you need to tell the application to use it. Certainly VLC and audacity seem to work that way. Doesn't seem to be a Linux only issue as my daughters iTunes needs exactly the same thing.

Hope that helps

[bobk]

No it isn't. Pavucontrol is a full-blown gui with which you configure the pulse audio system. Command-line not necessary. You install it via the package manager and then hit kmenubutton and start to type the name in the box and reference to it will appear below.

You can then either just click it to launch or if you like drag to the desktop or send to panel (you need to unlock widgets to do the latter).

I believe you are trying to hear the audio through USB? It can be a little tricky but this may help. Plug in your usb device and do kemenu/system settings/multimedia. Select phonon /device preference and look under the various headings for your device. Select it and using the "prefer" button move it to the top of the list. Try the "test" button. Does it work? That's progress. It will mean that whenever you boot up the machine with the USB device plugged in KDE "should" use it as the default. (in my experience it's not infallible!)

Now importantly, what application are you trying to use to watch your video? It may well be that you need to tell the application to use the device you need. For example if the USB speaker has muted onboard sound, it may be that you need to tell the application to use it. Certainly VLC and audacity seem to work that way. Doesn't seem to be a Linux only issue as my daughters iTunes needs exactly the same thing.

Hope that helps

no I am not wishing to use the USB, only tried that to see if it would work. if the speakers on the TV would work with the HDMI, I would be a happy camper.
I just tried to update the post release ATI driver, and it failed. refered me to a log "jockey" file in var folder. that was full of gobblede gook, no idea what it means.
now the other ati driver has disappeared...I have to go out for a while, and deal with real life stuff, but will mess around more when I return. I really want the ATI
video, and sound over hdmi...I guess, I could run a mini jack wire, from the built in audio, to the tv, but I think I tried that last night, and no result..shame that
these things don't just plug and play...thanks for your suggestions.....later...Bobby

[SteveRiley]

When you're prepared to part with money for a Mac I'd suggest to first look at the offerings of Lenovo.
I am seriously impressed by it's Linux compatibility.

I'll second Teunis's recommendation of Lenovo. Great stuff.