I've just installed LL3.8 (32-bit) on a 12-year-old laptop (Packard-Bell MX37 model AJ300), given to me recently.
However, I'm able to hear sound (e.g. playing a music DVD using VLC media player) only with headphones plugged in; when the headphones are unplugged there isn't any sound coming out of the laptop's inbuilt speakers.

Clicking on the volume icon in panel to show the Output Devices (within Sound Settings), it shows "Speakers (unavailable)" but "Headphones (plugged-in)".

Using terminal:

gives this:
https://imgur.com/a/ijAcLZT    (also includes sound card info)

How do I fix this "speakers unavailable" issue, as the manual indicates this laptop has inbuilt speakers.
Many thanks in advance for your feedback.

So sound works


Check for mute enabled anywhere - thou speakers unavailable pretty much sum it up...
Perhaps - laptop has been opened and fiddled with, now speakers are unplugged or removed, depending where cables were ran, if along hinge area perhaps pinched or now bad cable - seen a few video cables suffer...


If you have spare parts can confirm with a different set - if similar connection

(09-08-2019, 03:37 PM)firenice03 link Wrote: So sound works
Check for mute enabled anywhere - thou speakers unavailable pretty much sum it up...
Perhaps - laptop has been opened and fiddled with, now speakers are unplugged or removed, depending where cables were ran, if along hinge area perhaps pinched or now bad cable - seen a few video cables suffer...
If you have spare parts can confirm with a different set - if similar connection

Thanyou for your reply, firenice03.
Following what you said I think I might consult the manual & open up the machine sometime this week to have a look inside
(never had this problem before) ...

Have you upped all the levels in Alsamixer? eg. The Master level for starters is at 1 out of 100. Make sure nothing is MM (muted)

(09-09-2019, 05:56 AM)Jerry link Wrote: Have you upped all the levels in Alsamixer? eg. The Master level for starters is at 1 out of 100. Make sure nothing is MM (muted)

Thanks Jerry.
Yep, I have upped all sound levels, but still only sound on headphones. You'll see on the screenshot that some of the alsamixer sound level columns remain on muted (MM), notably speaker & mic (I seem unable to unmute them, unless I'm doing something incorrectly): https://imgur.com/a/IMDQ8u4

I think firenice03's idea that it may be a hardware problem, such as a loss of cable connection with speakers, is worth investigating. However, opening up the laptop will be the last thing I do (only if all else fails) as the manual shows access to the speakers is a bit complicated.

It's a long shot but if you haven't already it might be worth checking whether the BIOS allows control of any audio functions.

Mechanically it's more likely to be the headphone jack than the speakers themselves. Sometimes because obviously they are so delicate when you unplug the headphones there is still contact to a channel which your system will read as headphones still plugged in even though they are not. You can replace/repair the jack or retask the jack using alsa-tools. I'd bet on this as it is somewhat common.

TC

All good. Please embed any images directly into your posts, rather than linking off site. For people with lower end machines every mb saved makes a difference. Cheers.

Sent from my Mobile phone using Tapatalk

(09-09-2019, 02:15 PM)Jerry link Wrote: Please embed any images directly into your posts, rather than linking off site. For people with lower end machines every mb saved makes a difference

I don't know how to do that - can you provide a link?
Couldn't find anything on this forum with search word "embed"
Thanks.

[member=6968]WytWun[/member]
[member=5916]trinidad[/member]


Many thanks to both of you for your ideas  8) 
You've given me some further things to consider ...