On Tuesday 08 April 2014 15:43:29 Alexandre wrote:
> > I have a client whose sound has suddenly died, after running well
> > since the system was installed.  (Six months??  A bit more?)  The
> > obvious explanations are user error (clicked something without
> > realising) or dead hardware.
> >
> > She is running Debian Wheezy with TDE 3.5.13.2 on an oldish Dell
> > laptop.  Since I haven't got the laptop here, I haven't got its
> > specs.  I cannot have the laptop to work on for the moment, since
> > she is using it a lot for now.
> >
> > All suggestions or explanations welcomed,
> > Lisi
>
> Hi Lisi,
>
> At first, I think that checking that all of the on/off check boxes
> in Kmix is a good option. Then, some laptops has a function keys,
> on the same keys as F1, F..., where you can press FN+ (the mute
> button) to turn on or off the sound. On some lappies, these keys
> are driven by the software (in linux), or on older lappies, it is
> directly controlled by the hardware, which is more multi-platform
> friendly. Also, does the laptop has a hardware volume control,
> probably on the side of it?
>
> Then, if none of these works, I'd test the computer with a livecd,
> which is know to support the sound chip of this computer and play a
> sound file.
>
> Running ''alsaconf'' form Konsole, as a root user, is also good for
> reconfiguring the sound card, but I am not sure if this program is
> still included on linux distros of these years.
>
> Good luck!
> -Alexandre

Thanks, Alexandre.  Your help is much appreciated.

Lisi