Ubuntu Studio
July 22, 2020 1:21 PM Subscribe
I recently installed Ubuntu Studio 20.04 on a Dell computer. I need to hire a Linux Desktop consultant to configure the sound. It doesn't work at all. Is it possible to hire someone remotely to do this?
The sound just isn't' working and I don't have the time to deal with it. I need:
The sound needs to work when:
- playing a video in a browser
- playing a video e.g. mp4 from the computer
- using Audacity
- using Flowblade
- using a MIDI keyboard (Akai MPK Mini) - using MuseScore
The sound just isn't' working and I don't have the time to deal with it. I need:
The sound needs to work when:
- playing a video in a browser
- playing a video e.g. mp4 from the computer
- using Audacity
- using Flowblade
- using a MIDI keyboard (Akai MPK Mini) - using MuseScore
Do you have the model of the Dell handy? Laptop or desktop? That might help.
And just for clarity: is it that sound doesn't work for the entire machine since installing Ubuntu Studio? Or just in Studio? Or you installed Linux and then Studio all at once and sound doesn't work? Or sound never worked even before Studio?
I'm very noob with Linux but I have had to resolve sound issues before with e.g. Mint, and it was painful but I eventually got it to work. Point is, it's a hardware/driver issue, usually, so knowing the model of machine you're running, and the circumstances of the sound not working, would help people more knowledgeable than I.
posted by turbid dahlia at 3:08 PM on July 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
And just for clarity: is it that sound doesn't work for the entire machine since installing Ubuntu Studio? Or just in Studio? Or you installed Linux and then Studio all at once and sound doesn't work? Or sound never worked even before Studio?
I'm very noob with Linux but I have had to resolve sound issues before with e.g. Mint, and it was painful but I eventually got it to work. Point is, it's a hardware/driver issue, usually, so knowing the model of machine you're running, and the circumstances of the sound not working, would help people more knowledgeable than I.
posted by turbid dahlia at 3:08 PM on July 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Dell Optiplex 7020 Desktop
I installed Ubuntu Studio 20.04. It is an operating system in and of itself. I think Ubuntu with various multimedia type stuff installed.
posted by falsedmitri at 3:22 PM on July 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
I installed Ubuntu Studio 20.04. It is an operating system in and of itself. I think Ubuntu with various multimedia type stuff installed.
posted by falsedmitri at 3:22 PM on July 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
Ahh roger that, my apologies, I figured it was a special audio editing package that loaded on top of Ubuntu!
posted by turbid dahlia at 5:17 PM on July 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by turbid dahlia at 5:17 PM on July 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
This is very basic and probably won't solve your problem, but I've actually been stymied by it more than once on installing a fresh distribution (not ubuntu studio, though). It takes a minute and you might as well rule it out:
Run alsamixer from the command line. (I'm assuming you have alsa-utils installed; if not, install it.) It will show you a bar (or multiple bars) that look/s like a thermometer. At the bottom of each bar there is a box that will either show a number (say, 00) or MM. Below the bar, you'll also see two numbers. The bottom numbers represent volume, and the Ms in the box stand for Mute. Make sure (a) that the numbers are somewhat high (use the up/down arrow keys to adjust) and (b) that you're not muted. If you see MM, then press the M key on your keyboard to unmute. (This all assumes that any mute key on your keyboard isn't being picked up for reasons; you can test it, as well as any volume keys, by pressing them and seeing if alsamixer responds.)
Having done that, press F6 to see if more than one sound card is listed. If you see more than one (for example, on my computer the list has two items:
To answer your actual question, one thing you could do is post to Metafilter Jobs.
posted by trig at 5:58 PM on July 22, 2020 [2 favorites]
Run alsamixer from the command line. (I'm assuming you have alsa-utils installed; if not, install it.) It will show you a bar (or multiple bars) that look/s like a thermometer. At the bottom of each bar there is a box that will either show a number (say, 00) or MM. Below the bar, you'll also see two numbers. The bottom numbers represent volume, and the Ms in the box stand for Mute. Make sure (a) that the numbers are somewhat high (use the up/down arrow keys to adjust) and (b) that you're not muted. If you see MM, then press the M key on your keyboard to unmute. (This all assumes that any mute key on your keyboard isn't being picked up for reasons; you can test it, as well as any volume keys, by pressing them and seeing if alsamixer responds.)
Having done that, press F6 to see if more than one sound card is listed. If you see more than one (for example, on my computer the list has two items:
-- (default)), then go down the list one by one and check all the bars for each.
0 HDA Intel
To answer your actual question, one thing you could do is post to Metafilter Jobs.
posted by trig at 5:58 PM on July 22, 2020 [2 favorites]
Ubuntu Studio points us to Peter Reppert's Audio Handbook, which has a getting started section which lists some hardware requirements:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuStudio/AudioHandbook/GettingStarted
The tech specs of the Dell 7020 mention nothing about audio capabilities. https://www.dell.com/ng/business/p/optiplex-7020-desktop/pd
posted by at at 6:26 PM on July 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuStudio/AudioHandbook/GettingStarted
The tech specs of the Dell 7020 mention nothing about audio capabilities. https://www.dell.com/ng/business/p/optiplex-7020-desktop/pd
posted by at at 6:26 PM on July 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
If all else fails, you could get a well know USB (or PCI) sound card that is well known to be linux ready.
posted by nickggully at 6:46 PM on July 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by nickggully at 6:46 PM on July 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
Best answer: The Optiplex models were marketed as business systems, and may only have the onboard audio available. From reading this page, I suspect the best you'll get is the system beeps and boops, not the kind of audio you're looking for. The best solution on the page I've linked to was to install a supported sound card.
Also, that model of Optiplex isn't listed as Ubuntu certified hardware. That doesn't mean it won't work with Ubuntu, but there may be things that Ubuntu can't get working.
The suggestion to post this to Metafilter Jobs was good. See if there is a Linux User Group in your area, they might be willing to help.
posted by ralan at 4:58 AM on July 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
Also, that model of Optiplex isn't listed as Ubuntu certified hardware. That doesn't mean it won't work with Ubuntu, but there may be things that Ubuntu can't get working.
The suggestion to post this to Metafilter Jobs was good. See if there is a Linux User Group in your area, they might be willing to help.
posted by ralan at 4:58 AM on July 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
I'd check the Pulse Audio output settings. You might be expecting sound out the line-out but it's being sent to the HDMI/DisplayPort instead. I don't know much about the Jack, but suspect that it would be yet another output-device as far as PA is concerned. I've had horrorshows with PA re-mute-ing devices and other various and sundries. But then again I've also managed to watch a video on my laptop while streaming the sound through my desktop into my stereo... it's just a PITA. Check out pavucontrol to make sure things are un-muted and probably pointed to the Jack thing.
Optiplex will at least have a headphone, line-out, mic-in, and HDMI/DisplayPort audio stuff. Generic basic audio for sure. I've never had an Optiplex that only did bleeps/bloops, you should be able to get passable sound out of it. Get an audio card/usb thing if you want fancy sound.
posted by zengargoyle at 8:43 AM on July 23, 2020 [2 favorites]
Optiplex will at least have a headphone, line-out, mic-in, and HDMI/DisplayPort audio stuff. Generic basic audio for sure. I've never had an Optiplex that only did bleeps/bloops, you should be able to get passable sound out of it. Get an audio card/usb thing if you want fancy sound.
posted by zengargoyle at 8:43 AM on July 23, 2020 [2 favorites]
If the internal audio device is the issue then a cheap USB interface may be the solution. Any class compliant USB sound device should work pretty well with Linux. I have used one of these on my linux machine without any issues.
Also, as mentioned by quatetframer, the tricky part might be getting ALSA, pulseaudio, and JACK to play nice together. However, if you don't need low latency recording or the ability to route audio between different applications then you may be able to get away with just using pulseaudio which could end up saving you a bit of trouble.
posted by Television Name at 8:51 AM on July 23, 2020 [2 favorites]
Also, as mentioned by quatetframer, the tricky part might be getting ALSA, pulseaudio, and JACK to play nice together. However, if you don't need low latency recording or the ability to route audio between different applications then you may be able to get away with just using pulseaudio which could end up saving you a bit of trouble.
posted by Television Name at 8:51 AM on July 23, 2020 [2 favorites]
I would be genuinely surprised if your computer straight up didn't have anything other than a system speaker. It should be able to do at least:
- playing a video in a browser
- playing a video e.g. mp4 from the computer
- using Audacity
Ubuntu Studio is more complicated; I suspect it's using JACK for low latency mixing / real time playback for DJs. Might be required for MIDI though? (not an audio professional).
As a debugging step, I would recommend testing out Ubuntu and Ubuntu Studio on live USB. If Ubuntu liveUSB can't do like, Youtube with sound, that's a bug.
posted by pwnguin at 11:57 PM on July 25, 2020
- playing a video in a browser
- playing a video e.g. mp4 from the computer
- using Audacity
Ubuntu Studio is more complicated; I suspect it's using JACK for low latency mixing / real time playback for DJs. Might be required for MIDI though? (not an audio professional).
As a debugging step, I would recommend testing out Ubuntu and Ubuntu Studio on live USB. If Ubuntu liveUSB can't do like, Youtube with sound, that's a bug.
posted by pwnguin at 11:57 PM on July 25, 2020
This thread is closed to new comments.
In short, you'll need to set up Ubuntu Studio Controls correctly. It's largely set and forget. Primarily you need to get your sound card set up right, and set up the bridges for ALSA and Pulse to JACK to hear audio from your browser and other non-JACK software.
AskUbuntu is the official support channel.
The LinuxMusicians forum can be quite helpful.
If you don't have time to deal with the learning curve (I totally understand) then audio production on Linux may not be for you. Set-up is 10x more futzy than a Mac or PC. The rewards are deep though if you stick with it... as are the $$ savings.
posted by quarterframer at 2:35 PM on July 22, 2020 [1 favorite]