Ubuntu – Ubuntu 14.04 stuck in headphone mode (no sound through speakers)

14.04alsaheadphonespulseaudiosound

The basic symptom I was having is that sound was not working in Ubuntu 14.04.

However, I had recently used the front headphone jack, and after unplugging the headphones, I noticed in the sound settings control panel that the headphones output device briefly disappears, then immediately re-appears. This leaves the computer in a state where it doesn't play any audio.

In other words, it's stuck in headphone mode. This may be a hardware problem, but given the solution I found (below), I kind of doubt it.

Best Answer

To fix this problem, I did the following:

  • Plug in headphones
  • Click the speaker icon in the top-right and open the sound settings control panel. On the output tab, notice that it list the "Headphones Output" and the "Analog Output" (for you, you may be using Digital Output).
  • Select your "Analog Output" and click "Test Sound" to open the test sound menu
  • Click "Test" (either front left or front right), and quickly while the test sound is still playing, unplug the headphones.

This caused the headphone output to properly disappear, leaving the "Analog Output" in a working state.

Related Question