How do I install new Intel HDA sound drivers?

Question

In certain cases I might have an older kernel or release of Ubuntu where my sound driver might be too old or buggy, how can I get updated sound drivers for my built in Intel Audio chip?

Solution 1

Following these instructions will give you the latest ALSA driver, but only for internal "HDA Intel" sound cards (if your computer is from 2005 or newer, you almost certainly have a "HDA Intel" sound card for handling internal speakers, headphone jacks and microphones). USB or Bluetooth sound will not be affected.

1. Go to this page
2. Under the "Source label", check which DKMS package that is corresponding to your current distribution series (Maverick, Natty, Oneiric etc) and click the leftmost arrow to expand that section.

3. Under the new section "Package files", click the file ending with ".deb", download and install it:

   • You can either do this by selecting "open with", which will take you to the Ubuntu Software Center, where you can click "Install", or
   • Save the file to disk, open a terminal window, change to the right directory and execute "sudo dpkg -i "

4. Reboot.

Reference:

• https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Audio/UpgradingAlsa/DKMS

Solution 2

For a long time I used the method of Jorge Castro, but found it not worked from some time. The next command fix it perfectly:

sudo apt install linux-modules-extra-`uname -r`

Solution 3

I had the same issue and I was able to fix it using "HDAJackRetask" from "alsa-tools-gui". Enter the following command in the terminal:

sudo apt install alsa-tools-gui

Then open HDAJackRetask by entering hdajackretask in terminal or using the applications menu.

Select the proper hardware from the drop down menu on top (Conexant CX20641 in my case) and override the "Green Line Out, Rear side" (or any other connection you're using) from "Line out" to "Internal speaker".

In my case the "Apply now" button resulted in a "resource busy" error, but using the "Install boot override" I was able to reload the override configuration automatically during the boot process.

Comments

[Dave Jarvis]

These instructions will only work if there is a corresponding daily build. That is, installing on 16.04.2 is not possible using 16.04.1, so make certain that the distribution name and version both match.

[Jorge Castro]

@DaveJarvis Can you submit that as an edit to the answer?