Member Avatar for KF4SQB

I've installed Slackware 12.0 to my Acer Aspire 5520, and the sound doesn't work. It recognizes the soundcard, and it appears that the drivers are installed, but I don't get any sound. Where should I check, and what should I look for.

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Dani AI

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Basic, practical checklist tailored for Slackware (and to follow up on and ): first identify that ALSA sees the card, confirm the kernel driver is loaded, check mixer channels (they're often muted by default), and then run a short playback test. If Windows overwrote LILO (as you mentioned), restore access to your Linux install before deep troubleshooting.

Run these checks as root to gather facts:

cat /proc/asound/cards
aplay -l
lsmod | grep snd
dmesg | grep -i snd
alsamixer
speaker-test -c 2 -t wav

How to interpret results and quick fixes:

  • If the card appears in /proc/asound/cards but lsmod shows no snd-* modules, load the appropriate module (e.g., the HDA driver) and re-check dmesg for codec or firmware errors.
  • Use alsamixer to unmute channels (press M in the UI) and raise Master/PCM. Many laptops have an "Auto-Mute" or separate Headphone control; toggle that if only one output works.
  • If sound still fails but the driver is present, try reloading the module and watch kernel messages for clues about unsupported codecs or required module options. Save good mixer settings with alsactl store so they survive reboots.

If you cannot boot into Slackware because LILO was overwritten: boot a Slackware rescue medium, mount your root partition, chroot into it and reinstall LILO (this restores access so you can continue ALSA troubleshooting). Once you can boot Linux again, capture and post the outputs above (card listing, lsmod, and relevant dmesg lines) so recommendations can be specific to the exact codec and driver.

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Member Avatar for linux

Well, there should be something like System > Preferences > Sound or something. I'm on Ubuntu, so I can't help you.

If you're new to Linux, I don't suggest Slackware.

Member Avatar for John A

What's the output of lspci ?

Member Avatar for KF4SQB

I'll have to check that later. I'm running Linux and WinXP dual-booted on the system in question, and I had to reload XP. That, of course, wiped out lilo, and I haven't had a chance to try to reload it yet. Most likely, I'll be back here shortly asking for help on how to do that, but I'll try to get it myself first.

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