[Techtalk] Sound problem

[David Sumbler]

I have an HP laptop which came with Ubuntu 14.04 installed, but some
weeks ago I did a new install of Ubuntu Studio 16.04.  The reason I
chose this is because one of my projects involves recording and editing
MIDI, and I thought that Ubuntu Studio would perhaps make things
easier.

I can get sound from the speakers or earphones when I use QjackCtl and
programs such as Qtractor, because I can choose the output device.  So
I can get on with my MIDI project.

But for programs which don't naturally interface with Jack I can get no
sound at all.  When I use Chrome, VNC etc. I have no sound available.
 And I do want to use this laptop as a general-use computer when I am
away from home.

I have asked on the ubuntu-studio-users list and received some advice
from one person, but to no avail.  I have also asked on the Ubuntu
forums, but I have had no replies.

I'm wondering whether one of our technical experts on this list can
tell me what I need to do to sort out the problem - I dare say it's
just a matter of some basic settings.

In QjackCtl I have input and output sources set to hw:Generic which is
HD-Audio Generic (hw:1). Using this I can get sound via Jack through
the computer speakers or headphones, but not from VLC etc. which don't
have an option to direct sound through Jack, so far as I can see.

The other main option is hw:HDMI which says HDA ATI HDMI (hw:0). The computer has an HDMI socket, but when I have tried connecting this to a TV I still get no sound. In any case, I don't generally want to use the HDMI output.

Using alsamixer I have lots of controls for input and output volumes if I select Sound Card 1 (HD-Audio Generic), but if I select Sound Card - (default) or Sound Card 0 (HDA ATI HDMI) I just get a little square in the middle of the screen showing "00" and labelled "S/PDIF", whatever that means.

In fact alsamixer is the only sound control I have (I think): when I
click on the "All settings" icon, I see most of the expected items such
as Display, Keyboard, Printers etc. etc., but there is no entry for
Sound or anything similar. Equally I have no sound icon in the panel at
the top of the screen.

Incidentally, I normally have pulseaudio disabled, but I have also
tried having pulseaudio running; I still get no sound from VLC etc.


Can anyone suggest how I can get sound working generally (not just for
specialized programs) on this computer?

David