type="topic" style="problem"

      id="sound-nosound">

  <info>

    <link type="guide" xref="sound-broken"/>

    <revision pkgversion="3.4.0" date="2012-02-19" status="outdated"/>

    <revision pkgversion="3.13.92" date="2014-09-22" status="review"/>

    <revision pkgversion="3.18" date="2015-09-29" status="final"/>

    <credit type="author">

      <name>GNOME Documentation Project</name>

      <email>gnome-doc-list@gnome.org</email>

    </credit>

    <include href="legal.xml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"/>

    <desc>Check that the sound is not muted, that cables are plugged in properly,

    and that the sound card is detected.</desc>

  </info>

<title>I cannot hear any sounds on the computer</title>

  
If you cannot hear any sounds on your computer, for example when you try

  to play music, go through the following troubleshooting tips.

<section id="mute">

  <title>Make sure that the sound is not muted</title>

  
Open the <gui xref="shell-introduction#yourname">system menu</gui> and make sure that

  the sound is not muted or turned down.

  
Some laptops have mute switches or keys on their keyboards — try pressing

  that key to see if it unmutes the sound.

  
You should also check that you have not muted the application that you are

  using to play sound (for example, your music player or movie player). The

  application may have a mute or volume button in its main window, so check

  that.

  
Also, you can check the <gui>Applications</gui> tab in the <gui>Sound</gui>

  GUI:

  <steps>

    <item>

    
Open <app>Settings</app> from the <gui>Activities</gui> overview.

    </item>

    <item>

      
Click <gui>Sound</gui>.

    </item>

    <item>

      
Go to the <gui>Applications</gui> tab and check that your application

      is not muted.

    </item>

  </steps>

</section>

<section id="speakers">

  <title>Check that the speakers are turned on and connected properly</title>

  
If your computer has external speakers, make sure that they are turned on

  and that the volume is turned up. Make sure that the speaker cable is securely

  plugged into the “output” audio socket on your computer. This socket

  is usually light green in color.

  
Some sound cards can switch between the socket they use for output

  (to the speakers) and the socket for input (from a microphone, for instance).

  The output socket may be different when running Linux, Windows or Mac OS.

  Try connecting the speaker cable to a different audio socket on your

  computer.

 
A final thing to check is that the audio cable is securely plugged into the

 back of the speakers. Some speakers have more than one input, too.

</section>

<section id="device">

  <title>Check that the correct sound device is selected</title>

  
Some computers have multiple “sound devices” installed. Some of these are

  capable of outputting sound and some are not, so you should check that you

  have the correct sound device selected. This might involve some

  trial-and-error to choose the right one.

  <steps>

    <item>

      
Open the <gui xref="shell-introduction#activities">Activities</gui> overview and

      start typing <gui>Sound</gui>.

    </item>

    <item>

      
Click on <gui>Sound</gui> to open the panel.

    </item>

    <item>

      
In the <gui>Output</gui> tab, change the <gui>Profile</gui>

      settings for the selected device and play a sound to see if it works.

      You might need to go through the list and try each profile.

      
If that does not work, you might want to try doing the same for any

      other devices that are listed.

    </item>

  </steps>

</section>

<section id="hardware-detected">

 <title>Check that the sound card was detected properly</title>

  
Your sound card may not have been detected properly probably because 

  the drivers for the card are not installed. You may need to install the drivers

  for the card manually. How you do this depends on the type of the card. 

  
Run the <cmd>lspci</cmd> command in the Terminal to find out what sound

  card you have:

  <steps>

    <item>

      
Go to the <gui>Activities</gui> overview and open a Terminal.

    </item>

    <item>

      
Run <cmd>lspci</cmd> as <link xref="user-admin-explain">superuser</link>;

      either type <cmd>sudo lspci</cmd> and type your password, or type

      <cmd>su</cmd>, enter the root (administrative) password,

      then type <cmd>lspci</cmd>.

    </item>

    <item>

      
Check if an audio controller or audio device is listed:

      in such case you should see the make and model number of the sound card. 

      Also, <cmd>lspci -v</cmd> shows a list with more detailed information.

    </item>

  </steps>

  
You may be able to find and install drivers for your card. It is best to

  ask on support forums (or otherwise) for your Linux distribution for

  instructions.

  
If you cannot get drivers for your sound card, you might prefer to buy a

  new sound card. You can get sound cards that can be installed inside the

  computer and external USB sound cards.

</section>

</page>