Enable sound for Linux on Dell Vostro laptops

Sound is a big problem in Dell Vostro laptops (and maybe also some other Dell models). At the first time I installed Fedora Core 9, speaker, mic and even sound card did not work. I had to spend serveral hours on finding the way to solve it.

Here are some useful tips to get they work:

1. Append this line to the file /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base (this file may not exist) to enable the sound card:
   options snd-hda-intel probe_mask=1 model=5stack
   After this, you will see the sound card and speaker work. You can listen to the music.
   (see comments in this article for newer compiled kernel)
2. Open gnome-volume-control, select Options tab (just make sure you have all ticked in Edit->Preferences) and change Digital Input Source to Digital Mic 1; then recording is fine using the integrated microphone in the laptop.
   The external mic has not worked yet but I don’t care. Internal mic is enough for me.

Hope this helps.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any further comments or questions.

Tuan

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