if you go into volume control, then select the “Output Devices” … is the “Port” set to “Speakers”, and the “Front right” and “Front left” set to 100% (0db) and unmuted ?
i’m looking in preferences > sound. Is that right? If so… in the output devices
the slider bar is showing 100% for output volume
the settings for the selected device are in the center (that is between left and right)
mute is off
but i don’t see a setting for port = speakers
what happens if you open a terminal and run:
pavucontrol
does “Volume control” open ?
if not, what’s the output from:
dpkg -l | grep pulse
and
ls -a ~/.config/pulse
pavucontrol want installed, so i installed it and now it opens.
the port = digital output (S/PDIF). I can only change this through the configuration tab which gives a varying set of options, none of them is speaker though. (may be some experimentation is needed here)
All checkboxes are clear except PCM which is greyed out
the two outputs are for dpkg -l | grep pulse
wayne@wayne-System-Product-Name ~ $ dpkg -l | grep pulse
ii gstreamer0.10-pulseaudio:i386 0.10.31-3+nmu1ubuntu2 i386 GStreamer plugin for PulseAudio
ii gstreamer1.0-pulseaudio:i386 1.0.6-1ubuntu1 i386 GStreamer plugin for PulseAudio
ii libcanberra-pulse:i386 0.30-0ubuntu2 i386 PulseAudio backend for libcanberra
ii libpulse-mainloop-glib0:i386 1:3.0-0ubuntu6 i386 PulseAudio client libraries (glib support)
ii libpulse0:i386 1:3.0-0ubuntu6 i386 PulseAudio client libraries
ii libpulsedsp:i386 1:3.0-0ubuntu6 i386 PulseAudio OSS pre-load library
ii mate-media-pulse 1.6.0-2+raring i386 MATE media utilities (PulseAudio backend)
ii mate-settings-daemon-pulse 1.6.0-2+raring i386 daemon handling the MATE session settings (PulseAudio version)
ii pulseaudio 1:3.0-0ubuntu6 i386 PulseAudio sound server
ii pulseaudio-module-bluetooth 1:3.0-0ubuntu6 i386 Bluetooth module for PulseAudio sound server
ii pulseaudio-module-x11 1:3.0-0ubuntu6 i386 X11 module for PulseAudio sound server
ii pulseaudio-utils 1:3.0-0ubuntu6 i386 Command line tools for the PulseAudio sound server
ii vlc-plugin-pulse 2.0.6-1 i386 PulseAudio plugin for VLC
and for ls -a ~/.config/pulse
wayne@wayne-System-Product-Name ~ $ ls -a ~/.config/pulse
.
…
7799fc85266d4f0d61afdf215179697f-card-database.tdb
7799fc85266d4f0d61afdf215179697f-default-sink
7799fc85266d4f0d61afdf215179697f-default-source
7799fc85266d4f0d61afdf215179697f-device-volumes.tdb
7799fc85266d4f0d61afdf215179697f-stream-volumes.tdb
cookie
OK first of all experimnet in pavucontrol … it DEFINITElY shouldn’t be set to “digital output (S/PDIF)”
doing that now…although nothing seems to make much difference…its hard to explain but imagine seeing a band when you can tell that the man doing the sound mixing is drunk…
If you get no joy … try running:
sudo mv -v ~/.config/pulse ~/.config/pulse-old
then log off/on (or reboot)
Now see if audio works.
no joy at all…still like hearing the music itself well but the voices are too faint…
if you run:
alsamixer
is PCM still not available ?
What’s available in there ?
[EDIT]
Have you got a LiveCD/LiveUSB handy ?
yep PCM is there…
the values are
Master
3d control
PCM
Synth
Line
LIne in
CD
Mic
Master, PCM and Synth and green with 77<>77
What’s under “Line” ?
and have you got a LiveCD/LiveUSB handy ?
line = 0<>0 - and yep , got the install CD from this afternoon…
Do me a favour now you’ve disabled the onboard soundcard … boot to the LiveCD and see if audio works from there ?
hi there - done that, that is booted from the CD and then played the same tune using VLC…same result…tinny unbalanced sound
OK, I’m gonna guess this card isn’t happy with Mint 16
Are you SURE there are no sockets for the onboard card on the back of the PC ?
Come to think of it, are you SURE you’re not plugged into the onboard card ?
no, there are no sockets connected. what there are are some ports on the front which could - if desiredt - connect to pins linking to the onboard sound. But ive never used this and have in any case lost the cable to do so. So def, speaker cables are going into a physical card.
I’m on Mint 15 BTW…is there any value with trying with Mint 16? or should I just try a more modern sound card? and if so any ideas? proper brand name or cheap stuff I can pick up at the computer fair?
Can come back tomorrow evening and I’ll try to do some research on your particular card … it’s odd because CMI card usually “just work”
[EDIT]
Up to you if you want to try audio from a Mint 16 LiveCD in the meantime 
will do - thanks you ever so much for your patience with this - are you London based?- if so I’ll buy you a pint…speak tomorrow
No problem … see the edit above.
Nah … Cornwall 
pity!!! - and hope you havent been flooded out.
Anyway MInt 16 MATE is exactly the same same. This suggests that the card is just no use…but not sure how to find one which will work…