Hey everyone! I recently tried to install CachyOS on my Dell Latitude 12 Rugged Extreme 7204, but I ran into a big issue: there's no sound output at all. I double-checked my speakers in Windows, and they work fine there, so I thought it was just a CachyOS issue. But when I tried various other Linux distros like Arch, Ubuntu, and Fedora, I still had no luck. I even tried reinstalling the OS and restarting the audio service, but nothing seems to work. I've had my share of problems with specific distros before, but never something so widespread across all Linux systems. I've included some command output links that might help diagnose the issue. Any ideas on what I could try?
4 Answers
Have you tried checking the headphone jack? Sometimes, audio gets misassigned in the chipset. I recommend running `hdajackretask` to see if you can override the settings to get it to use the 'Internal Speaker.' Since your Dell should be good about this, it might work!
Since your laptop isn't the newest, you might want to consider using a distro with an older kernel. Distros like Rocky Linux or AlmaLinux 8 are known to handle older hardware better. I've had success with those on similar Dell models. If you go for Oracle Linux 8, try the 4.18 kernel; it might be more stable for your setup.
That's odd because I’ve run CachyOS without issues on older laptops before, but this one just won’t cooperate, especially with sound.
Try checking out DistroWatch.com for the latest distributions; maybe one with a newer kernel could help, but keep in mind that updating or changing kernels hasn't solved my issues in the past either.
I’ve tried different kernels already, but it didn’t help. It's such a headache!
Audio issues can be tricky! It’s worth checking your sound settings to make sure your internal speakers are selected as the default source. Also, check if anything is muted or set really low in the mixer. Sometimes there are multiple output options, so make sure you’re picking the right one. I had a similar issue that cleared up when I switched kernels from the 5s to the 6s.
I’ve checked all that! I can get sound through headphones and Bluetooth, but nothing from the built-in speakers, even after going through all the settings.
I tried that, and sound works through the headphone jack, but there’s a popping noise when audio starts. It's like the sound card is waking up or something.