So I got my HP laptop back on Monday. This evening, I noticed that the problem was back. On a whim, I rebooted Windows XP, and the hardware worked right again. Linux---broken.
Then an AHA moment. I had upgraded my kernel during the week before I first noticed the problem. I booted the old kernel. It worked.
So, I was wrong about it being a hardware problem. It was software after all.
Oh, I should make sure you understand---this is the problem with the internal speakers not working. The one HP agreed right away was a hardware problem, but which the service notice didn't say they'd done anything to correct. Not that problem with the touchpad. They replaced it and it seems to be working fine now.
Apparently the behavior of the internal speakers, the laptop headphone jack, and the jack on the optional docking station is under software control, and this problem was introduced somewhere along the line to fix somebody else's problem. See this google groups thread. Now I know the secret: In alsamixer there's something called "Headphone Jack Sense". If I mute it in kernel-2.6.10-1.770_FC2, my internal speakers and external speakers work exactly like I expect. Yay.
Entry first conceived on 13 April 2005, 2:30 UTC, last modified on 15 January 2012, 3:46 UTC
Website Copyright © 2004-2024 Jeff Epler