3.5 mm audio output failure

Question

I get sound from the speakers but not the 3.5 mm audio output. To my surprise Ubuntu knows when headphones are plugged in, so this has the potential to be an operating system or software issue. The following shows how the settings change when the 3.5 mm plug gets inserted.

Before insertion...

After inserting the 3.5 mm headphone plug...

I changed from one external audio device to another and they have a different audio cable. Both external audio devices fail so it is probably not an external hardware problem. There is still the chance there is a hardware problem internal to the computer that prevents 3.5 mm audio output but the fact that Ubuntu can detect the device means there is potential for a mode change that prevents correct operation when a device gets plugged in. Rebooting does not fix the problem.

This hardware is a HP Elitebook 840 G2.

Answer 1

One way to narrow down the cause of your problem is to boot into a LiveCD/LiveUSB by selecting the "Try Ubuntu" option when booting from installation media.

If your audio is working on the LiveUSB, then this will indicate that the problem exists within your currently installed OS.

If the audio still is not working in the LiveUSB, it is possible that the problem is hardware related. It is also still possible that the problem has to do with drivers. ie: the drivers for your audio devices are not automatically configured and need additional set-up. In this case, try to research or look for Linux drivers for your specific hardware device(s).