Xubuntu 13.10 Sound issues (skype distorted, microphone crackling, sound indicator disabled)

Again, after upgrade to Xubuntu 13.10 (64bit) I have faced few issues with sound. Luckily all those were possible to easily fix.

Credits go to original post authors.

Crackling microphone (in all application, most in Skype)

As described here, edit file

/etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf

sudo mousepad /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf

Add to the end of the file:

options snd-hda-intel position_fix=3

Note: Some suggest to add options snd-hda-intel position_fix=1

Skype – no sound o distorted sound

Distorted sound or no sound at all in Skype can be fixed by modifying file

/etc/pulse/default.pa

sudo mousepad /etc/pulse/default.pa

Find line with

load-module module-udev-detect

and change it to

load-module module-udev-detect tsched=0

This fix was found here.

Sound (volume) indicator disabled

This is known issue in Xubuntu 13.10 release.
Until it is fixed, you can use this.

Edit file

/usr/share/dbus-1/services/indicator-sound.service

sudo mousepad /usr/share/dbus-1/services/indicator-sound.service

comment line

#Exec=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/indicator-sound/indicator-sound-service

and add new line after it

Exec=/bin/sh -c 'if [ -n "$(ps -U $USER | grep xfce4-panel)" ]; then /usr/lib/indicator-sound-gtk2/indicator-sound-service;else /usr/lib/$(arch)-linux-gnu/indicator-sound/indicator-sound-service;fi'

Ubuntu 11.04 Natty (fight for microphone)

Ubuntu 11.04 has been released. Since it is still possible to use Ubuntu classic desktop with 11.04 (I’m not sure if I ever get used to using Unity), I have decided to upgrade. Upgrade itself was smooth (as usually). After reboot, everything seemed OK, except for the fact  there was no sound capture on the (rear) Microphone. Sound preferences Input tab did not show any Connector (selector)  to choose input sink.

My audio device: nVidia Corporation MCP72XE/MCP72P/MCP78U/MCP78S High Definition Audio (rev a1)

It took me several hours to find a solution, which was rather easy.

• install gamix (Graphical sound mixer for ALSA)
• Change InputSource from Line (which seems to become default capture sink) to RearMic, change InputSource1 from FrontMic to Line (not needed)
• save ALSA settings with sudo alsactl store
• update .profile file to load saved ALSA settings with alsactl restore
• There is still no connector in the Sound preferences, but microphone works

To find this simple solution, I have tried to reinstall ALSA, which resulted in complete removal of sound card hardware setting from the system. It took several hours to find this script, which installed ALSA correctly back.