[sf-lug] FW: hello

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Norma Harrison (normaha at pacbell.net):

> I have a specific problem.  Through a series of needs and requests I've got
> linux - I guess - on my other computer. A couple of years ago I had it
> working as I needed it.  Now, I can't get the sound.  I could get it if it
> were the other system - is that Windows, ? well anyway - I need someone to
> walk me through tapping whatever it is on this system that shows I have
> Ubuntu, to get the sound, again.

So, it's some release or other of Ubuntu?  Yes?  No?  (The answer to
this question matters.)

Ms. Harrison, it's very challenging to try to help with this sort of
problem with so very little information about your system, but I'm aware
that this is all difficult to deal with.  It would, for example, be very
useful to know if you have Ubuntu on this machine, and if so which
release.  

If it actually is Ubuntu Linux, then a  /etc/lsb-release file (a
plaintext file) should exist, and its contents will indicate the Ubuntu
release number.  You could check that and report back to this mailing
list.

Check by opening a terminal window and typing the following at its shell
prompt:

   cat /etc/lsb-release 

Generically, when we hear 'Sound used to work, but now it doesn't', a
natural and logical question is 'Well, some change obviously occurred.
What change happened to your system some time between the last time
sound worked and the first time you noticed it wasn't working?'  It has
to have been something.  If you can unearth the answer to that question,
it would very likely point directly to the solution.

Web-searching for 

   ubuntu sound stopped working

I find that this sequence of shell commands (that you type in a terminal
window) often does the trick on Ubuntu for situations like yours,
because it forcibly removes and then reinstalls from scratch and
reconfigures the system sound software:

  sudo apt-get remove --purge alsa-base pulseaudio
  sudo apt-get install alsa-base pulseaudio
  sudo alsa force-reload

But, before you do that:  Sometimes, just the last of those commands,
alone, suffices, by simply resetting the low-level Advanced Linux Sound
Architecture (ALSA) software without removing and reinstalling anything.

Try those two things, please -- assuming your Linux system is indeed
Ubuntu.  It might quickly resolve your problem without any other fuss.

Thank you for contacting SF-LUG.  I hope this helps!