This post is not specific to a particular version of Kubuntu.
To start off, there was a post elsewhere which included a video from YouTube. Using FF, I clicked the video and it played, and the sound worked.
Ok, I had not really THOUGHT about that very much but then it occurred to me that quite often folks post about sound problems, whether through onboard speakers or through headphones.
The point is.....
It is not necessarily a "problem" with Kubuntu or Ubuntu or Debian, or "the sound system" WITHIN the OS.
Quite often it is a decision made by the hardware manufacturer as to how the "sound" is "handled" within the hardware itself.
Sometimes the hardware manufacturers are forthcoming with information so that upstream developers have a known target with which to work and sometimes they do not.
That is why 'sound cards" used to, and still some do, come with a driver cd for Windblows.
Laptop makers do not provide such cds because they often have TWEAKED hardware/software interfaces to produce quite nice sound IN WINDBLOWS, not necessarily Linux. That is why a Macbook produces good sound, Apple controls the whole "chain of events".
So, the point here is....
Please be VERY EXPLICIT about the hardware and the OS. In other words, name of lappy manufacturer, the "make and model" number as it were, possibly with a link to the hardware's specifications, not just the 'selling points',
And also, please be very explicit about what happens, not, "just the sound is not working", In other words, does it play a "chime sound" as a test of the hardware, or is it problem with "headphones / external speakers" or is it a problem with speakers / headphones that are wired or Bluetooth, or is it a problem with a media player.
Some media players use certain kind of "back ends" and are specific in their requirement and default to a particular sound system, like Phonon, ALSA, etc.....particularly if they are a) "older and don't have a lot of development" or are tweaked for a certain OS.
Quite often looking in "preferences" and comparing the setup there with what the sound system is in Kubuntu (or ANY other OS) will fix the problem with one click and....sometimes a restart.
More...."mature" media players have the software to "look for the hardware' as in "default" and provide the output for that hardware IN ADDITION to the "OS".
that is one of the reasons that "purists" complain about "bloat" in the media player; because the "bloat' is often more than just the pretty face, or having a bunch of provided streams, there is other stuff going on in the guts of it that provides a "works with all" application.
In other words, more information is greatly helpful, and if your hardware is some kind of brand spankin' new,high end system more information is even more important.
Me.... my old Toshiba lappy's sound works fine, sometimes older is better! Especially since I often put the "old" woodsmoker before my moniker!
woodsmoke
To start off, there was a post elsewhere which included a video from YouTube. Using FF, I clicked the video and it played, and the sound worked.
Ok, I had not really THOUGHT about that very much but then it occurred to me that quite often folks post about sound problems, whether through onboard speakers or through headphones.
The point is.....
It is not necessarily a "problem" with Kubuntu or Ubuntu or Debian, or "the sound system" WITHIN the OS.
Quite often it is a decision made by the hardware manufacturer as to how the "sound" is "handled" within the hardware itself.
Sometimes the hardware manufacturers are forthcoming with information so that upstream developers have a known target with which to work and sometimes they do not.
That is why 'sound cards" used to, and still some do, come with a driver cd for Windblows.
Laptop makers do not provide such cds because they often have TWEAKED hardware/software interfaces to produce quite nice sound IN WINDBLOWS, not necessarily Linux. That is why a Macbook produces good sound, Apple controls the whole "chain of events".
So, the point here is....
Please be VERY EXPLICIT about the hardware and the OS. In other words, name of lappy manufacturer, the "make and model" number as it were, possibly with a link to the hardware's specifications, not just the 'selling points',
And also, please be very explicit about what happens, not, "just the sound is not working", In other words, does it play a "chime sound" as a test of the hardware, or is it problem with "headphones / external speakers" or is it a problem with speakers / headphones that are wired or Bluetooth, or is it a problem with a media player.
Some media players use certain kind of "back ends" and are specific in their requirement and default to a particular sound system, like Phonon, ALSA, etc.....particularly if they are a) "older and don't have a lot of development" or are tweaked for a certain OS.
Quite often looking in "preferences" and comparing the setup there with what the sound system is in Kubuntu (or ANY other OS) will fix the problem with one click and....sometimes a restart.
More...."mature" media players have the software to "look for the hardware' as in "default" and provide the output for that hardware IN ADDITION to the "OS".
that is one of the reasons that "purists" complain about "bloat" in the media player; because the "bloat' is often more than just the pretty face, or having a bunch of provided streams, there is other stuff going on in the guts of it that provides a "works with all" application.
In other words, more information is greatly helpful, and if your hardware is some kind of brand spankin' new,high end system more information is even more important.
Me.... my old Toshiba lappy's sound works fine, sometimes older is better! Especially since I often put the "old" woodsmoker before my moniker!
woodsmoke