Unusual sound problem on FC2?

[guy]

Possibly a newbie-type issue, but I've looked around and searched the Forum for a couple of days, and I can't see that anyone else has had this same problem.

Sound works fine through the computer's internal speaker, whether I'm listening to a CD, an MP3 or something online, but I can't get any sound through the speakers that are connected to the PCI sound card that I have. It's a C-Media L-8738-6C (L-shape) according to the box. I used the exact same setup in Suse Linux 9.0 without any problem. I've tried connecting the speakers to another source, and they work fine; I've connected them to every jack input on the soundcard too, just to check I'm not using the wrong one.

Soundcard detection recognises the 8738, but doesn't let me select it as the primary audio device, for some reason; each time I reopen it, another audio device is listed as primary.

It's all a bit confusing. Help!

[bob]

Just wondering if that other audio device is your motherboard's onboard sound. If so, you may have to disable it in the bios.

[guy]

That sounds like it could be the case- how do I go about doing what you suggest? I'm still new to a lot of things in Linux, so a really simple approach would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

[bob]

Well, you'd go into the bios generally by hitting the 'del' key during boot, although on some machines it could be another key (F1 or whatever) - you'll see the message during the boot sequence - something like "to enter setup, press ....." Anyway, once in the bios, look under the different tabs for the onboard sound and read the instructions on disabling it. Once you've done that, simply F-10 to save the change and exit. Hopefully, you'll be in business.

Of course, since the bios is the 'basic input-output system' and controls whether your machine knows it's a computer or thinks it's a piece of lead, be careful in there! If you think you may have messed up and can't remember what it was, you can always 'load safe defaults'.

[guy]

Well, in spite of the whole thing being in German, I managed to turn off the motherboard's sound just fine, and now sound comes from the speakers, just as I wanted. Thanks for the help!

Just one minor problem remains- I can't seem to get any sound when playing back a cd- if I extract the music and turn it into mp3 files, Mplayer plays them just fine, but no sound comes from the speakers when I use cd player. I'll do a search on the forum before I put up a new post on that though.

[heyguy]

Originally Posted by guy

Well, in spite of the whole thing being in German, I managed to turn off the motherboard's sound just fine, and now sound comes from the speakers, just as I wanted. Thanks for the help!

Just one minor problem remains- I can't seem to get any sound when playing back a cd- if I extract the music and turn it into mp3 files, Mplayer plays them just fine, but no sound comes from the speakers when I use cd player. I'll do a search on the forum before I put up a new post on that though.

Have you been able to figure this out? Thanks for any help you might be able to give.

[ganja420farmer]

Does your computer have a audio cable from the cd-rom to the soundcard? Sounds like you don't have that. If not, go to a pc shop, and buy one for a couple bucks.