After experiencing warmer weather and hence a warmer start-up temperature for my laptop, I discovered that the sound system would not work at all and would not respond to a re-boot. In order to prepare the laptop for a possible return under the guarantee, I re-installed Ubuntu 14.04.02 LTS and confirmed the fault by running the built-in diagnostic (selected through the options obtained by holding F12 on start-up). This caused the circuit board to warm up appreciably and, surprise, surprise, the audio system returned to functionality on re-booting. However, its functionality did not remain as the laptop cooled to normal ambient temperature.
I discussed these symptoms with Dell Technical support who offered to send out a Technician (Engineer?) to change the sound board. He arrived the next day and changed the board, explaining that sometimes, very rarely, there might be a dry joint which is impossible to see visually. On switch on, the sound worked perfectly. To date, I have not been able to duplicate any faulty operation whatsoever including starting up from cold (the weather is now cooler) and allowing the laptop to warm up by running the diagnostics or running processor-intensive apps light Flightgear that cause the fan to come on. It would seem that all my previously reported problems were down to a possible dry joint. Three cheers to Dell Technical support who responded to my query by sending around a Technician who was able to complete the repair. I wish that I had spoken to Technical support earlier although I did not want to be in the situation of having the laptop returned with "No Fault Found" especially when the fault was inconsistent and apparently related to the operating system. Thanks to all those in this forum who took the time to look at my fault report and to confirm the operation of the software. I now have the laptop running Ubuntu 15.04 and it preforms beautifully. I look forward to the next release -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Touch seeded packages, which is subscribed to alsa-driver in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1408110 Title: [XPS13 9333, Realtek ALC3661, Speaker, Internal] fails after a while Status in alsa-driver package in Ubuntu: Confirmed Bug description: When playing a video via the Videos app, the sound through the internal speakers develops crackles and sometimes disappears completely. I collected the data for the bug report at the instance that the sound had failed. Using the Sound panel in Systems Settings to test the sound produces no response. I have also selected the Volume Control app and attempted to switch the sound using the Configuration tab and switching the built-in audio between Off and Analogue Stereo Output. Sometimes this works and sometimes is does not. Having left the Videos app running whist typing this, I have noticed that the sound seems to start and stop whilst typing via the keyboard. I note that the Playback tab in the Volume Control window shows that the sound is being produced by the Videos app (the lower ribbon moves with the sound amplitude). This bug might be associated with intermittent recognition of the hardware on startup. The Sound window sometimes shows no audio device. At other times, the speakers are given the HDMI menu dropdown but this can be corrected by plugging in a pair of headphones and switching back to the speakers which then show the correct Test Sound legend. I have noticed several instances of the sound cutting out and cutting back in whilst typing this report as if the interrupts from the keyboard strokes are interrupting the sound connection. ProblemType: Bug DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.10 Package: alsa-base 1.0.25+dfsg-0ubuntu4 ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.16.0-29.39-generic 3.16.7-ckt2 Uname: Linux 3.16.0-29-generic x86_64 ApportVersion: 2.14.7-0ubuntu8 Architecture: amd64 AudioDevicesInUse: USER PID ACCESS COMMAND /dev/snd/pcmC0D3p: david 2288 F...m pulseaudio /dev/snd/controlC0: david 2288 F.... pulseaudio /dev/snd/pcmC1D0p: david 2288 F...m pulseaudio /dev/snd/controlC1: david 2288 F.... pulseaudio CurrentDesktop: Unity Date: Tue Jan 6 21:15:39 2015 InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-12-11 (26 days ago) InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Release amd64 (20140722.2) PackageArchitecture: all SourcePackage: alsa-driver Symptom: audio Symptom_Card: Built-in Audio - HDA Intel PCH Symptom_Jack: Speaker, Internal Symptom_Type: Sound works for a while, then breaks Title: [XPS13 9333, Realtek ALC3661, Speaker, Internal] fails after a while UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to utopic on 2014-12-11 (25 days ago) dmi.bios.date: 09/11/2014 dmi.bios.vendor: Dell Inc. dmi.bios.version: A05 dmi.board.name: 0D13CR dmi.board.vendor: Dell Inc. dmi.board.version: A00 dmi.chassis.type: 8 dmi.chassis.vendor: Dell Inc. dmi.chassis.version: 0.1 dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnDellInc.:bvrA05:bd09/11/2014:svnDellInc.:pnXPS139333:pvr:rvnDellInc.:rn0D13CR:rvrA00:cvnDellInc.:ct8:cvr0.1: dmi.product.name: XPS13 9333 dmi.sys.vendor: Dell Inc. To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/alsa-driver/+bug/1408110/+subscriptions -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~touch-packages Post to : touch-packages@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~touch-packages More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
