My volume is either max volume or muted, no middle ground

Question

Asus Zenbook UX550, running Ubuntu Gnome 17.04.

Like the title says, my volume is either max or muted. I tried following this, but nothing helped. In fact, prior to applying that fix, I could hear the volume indicator noises, now I can't even hear those. (By indicator noises, I mean those beeps that are made when adjusting the volume via keyboard).

score 18 · Answer 1 · answered Nov 08 '18 at 18:24

18

I have the same laptop and couldn't get volume control work well for a long time. Any level of volume was at the highest volume of the laptop speakers so I used it always on mute. This issue only affected speakers and not headphones (from plug or bluetooth).

I found a working solution based on this answer:

Edit the file /usr/share/pulseaudio/alsa-mixer/paths/analog-output.conf.common (with sudo):

sudo vi /usr/share/pulseaudio/alsa-mixer/paths/analog-output.conf.common

Add the following lines before the [Element PCM] block:

[Element Master] switch = mute volume = ignore

Kill the running daemon:

pulseaudio -k

After this steps I got the volume level working for my speakers. I assume a new daemon started automatically after killing the runnig daemon. If the daemon does not start, try to start it manually with:

pulseaudio -D

Hope this helps!

answered Nov 08 '18 at 18:24

manuelmatas

346
2
4

This recommendation has also worked on my ASUS Zenbook UM-431 laptop. Thanks @manuelmatas! It was helpfull! – Giorgos Gaganis Jul 01 '20 at 10:40
Also confirmed for Zenbook UX490UA using Mint 20 – Aug 04 '20 at 20:10
Works on my Asus Zenbook UX430 as well. Thank you so much!! – Anis R. Dec 11 '20 at 22:48
Works perfect on Asus ROG Strix G17 G712LW. Many thanks – tenta4 Feb 24 '21 at 10:27
Does not work on Asus rog strix – rvimieiro Apr 07 '22 at 20:21

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 23 '17 at 18:29

3

I had the same issue on my UX550 until I activated two bottom speakers.

apt install alsa-tools-gui

hdajackretask

Select a codec: Realtek ALC295

Click Show unconnected pins

Then you need to override Pin ID: 0x1b and Pin ID: 0x1e and select Internal speaker (Back) or Internal speaker (LFE) - I didn't noticed any difference between them.

Next click Apply now and Install boot override.

answered Dec 23 '17 at 18:29

Optiman

31

1

This fixed my issue as well! However, whenever I plug in headphones, all I hear is a repeating popping sound. Did you experience anything similar? Any idea how to fix that? – Pavlin Jan 18 '18 at 21:20
No, I didn't have such issue with my headphones. But I'm using Linux Mint 18.3, maybe that's the reason. – Optiman Jan 19 '18 at 10:43
How did you come up with these settings? I get no sound with these settings on UX550VD. – rustyx Oct 05 '21 at 14:41
@rustyx I noticed, that only 2 out of 4 speakers were active. So I launched the hdajackretask and activated all other "Internal speakers" that the GUI showed. That's it. – Optiman Oct 06 '21 at 21:32

My volume is either max volume or muted, no middle ground

2 Answers2

Linked