How to Fix No Sound Issue on Ubuntu
Being a Ubuntu or any other OS user, you would have come across the problem of “No Sound” where you are unable to receive any sound output. Ubuntu does have the same issue occasionally. You might feel everything is good but you will be unable to get the sound.
In this post, we will explore the reasons and their respective solutions to fix the “Now Sound Issue on Ubuntu”.
How to Fix No Sound Issue on Ubuntu
Ubuntu sound depends on three components, i.e., the output device, sound driver, and sound server. Even if one component is not working properly, you won’t get the sound/output. Let’s discuss the reasons and fixes in detail:
Reason 1: Ouptut Device Not Working | Not Connected, Muted, Wrong Device Selected
If the output device is not plugged in or you have muted the sound of the Output device, you won’t be able to get the sound. Most of the No sound issues invoke due to the hardware/output device not being used properly.
Solution: Connect/Unmute/Change the Output Device
Locate/check the output device and connect/plug it properly and also test by adjusting the sound at different levels. You may need to replace the output device and then check the sound.
Moreover, you can also use “alsamixer” to adjust the volume settings (Run “alsamixer” in the terminal to launch it):
Moreover, you must look into Ubuntu’s sound settings (Settings>Sound) and check for the following:
- Check the sound by over-amplifying it for a while.
- Ensure the correct output device is selected.
- Test the output device.
- Check the sound by varying the levels of system sounds
If this has not resolved the issue, then your hardware device has no issues. Let’s dig into the second reason:
Reason 2: Audio Drivers | Missing/Outdated
The audio drivers communicate with the audio device and produce the requested output. If the audio drivers are missing (or corrupted/outdated), then you won’t be able to get the desired output.
Solution: Install/Update the Drivers
To fix the audio driver-related issue, install (reinstall) the following utilities. If the packages are missing, it will install else the command will update the already installed versions:
sudo apt install --reinstall alsa-base alsa-utils linux-sound-base pipewire
The utilities being installed are:
- linux-sound base: infrastructural and configurational support for the ALSA and other sound support on Ubuntu.
- ALSA is an Advanced Linux System Architecture that consists of the core drivers to manage the sound on Ubuntu/Other Linux systems.
- alsa-utils: Contains various utilities, i.e., alsamixer (to adjust sound card settings), arecord (to record audio), aplay (to play audio files from terminal), and amixer (to control mixer settings).
These packages provide the necessary support for configuring and managing the sound on Ubuntu. Don’t forget to examine the changes.
Reason 3: Sound Server Malfunctioning
The sound server integrates the driver and hardware. If the sound server is not working, it will create a temporary malfunction in the driver or your output device connectivity. Ultimately, this leads to the no sound issue.
Solution: Configure the Sound Server
First, you need to check which sound server your system is using:
lsof /dev/snd/*
It is PulseAudio. It would be either pulseaudio or pipewire. Check the status of the server, i.e., pulseaudio in our case:
systemctl restart --user pulseaudio systemctl status --user pulseaudio
Similarly, reload the alsa too:
sudo alsa reload
If that has not worked, you might have to remove the sound server and reinstall it. First, completely remove the sound server, i.e., pulseaudio in our case:
sudo apt autoremove pulseaudio alsa-base --purge sudo apt update sudo apt install pulseaudio alsa-base
Similarly, if your system has pipewire, you can remove and reinstall it using the below commands:
sudo apt autoremove pipewire alsa-base --purge sudo apt update sudo apt install pipewire alsa-base
After all these, restart your system to check the changes. If the sound has not been restored yet, then you might have to go for OS reinstall, as there are some serious disruptions at the hardware/software integration level.
This post has unveiled the possible reasons that cause the sound issues and the solutions to get out of it.
Bottom Line
First, you need to deeply examine the output device, its connectivity, and its integration with the system. If the output device is fine, then dig into the sound driver. Lastly, check the configuration/working of the sound driver and its integration with hardware. Doing this will get you out of this No sound issue on Ubuntu 22.04.
Read this post to get a detailed overview of the No Sound Issue on Ubuntu and its possible fixes.
