[alsa-devel] Headset doesn't work for HP EliteBook 755 G2

[Derick Eddington]

Hi, first time here, following suggestion [1] to report non-working
default configuration, which I found how to make work.

I checked using the latest stable kernel 4.4.2 and my headset jack
doesn't work by default but my fix does work, on Scientific Linux 7.2
using the 4.4.2 kernel from the ELRepo repository.  I also checked using
Ubuntu 16.04 alpha with its 4.4.0 kernel and the problem and fix are the
same.

My laptop is an HP EliteBook 755 G2 from mid 2015 [2] that has a
combined headset (headphone + mic) jack that doesn't work by default.
The speakers work fine by default and they mute when a headset is
plugged in, but the headphones don't work.

The snd-hda-intel module handles my device.
The codec is Realtek ALC3228.
I have the latest BIOS update from HP.

I got it working by passing model=hp,headset-mic to snd-hda-intel.  I
found this fix in an alsa-user message about a different HP laptop with
the same codec [3], but I had to modify the message's fix by only
including the module option for model= and omitting the other options
and aliases that seem to be specific to Arch Linux.  I tried using only
"hp" or only "headset-mic" as the value for model= but neither worked.

Attached are my outputs of alsa-info.sh from before and after I did
model=hp,headset-mic.

Also, there's another problem after enabling model=hp,headset-mic, which
I found how to fix:  There is a very annoying squeaky background noise in
the headphones that's independent of adjusting the volume level but it
does stop when the headphones are muted.  I tried a different headset
and it's the same.  I found how to suppress this by using the
white_noise_fix.py script from [4] as described at [5,6], which
apparently does some ioctl verbs to adjust the amp gain.  I thought this
might be something that should be fixed/adjusted in the kernel module(s)
that handle this device, so that the white_noise_fix.py isn't needed.
If so, maybe it's worth mentioning that when my laptop resumes from
sleep, the background noise comes back, so I have to run
white_noise_fix.py again.

I'm willing to help investigate my hardware more or try other
configurations or distros if requested.  If it's worth mentioning, I
found someone else with the same laptop who has the same non-working
headset problem, see [7].

I'd like to help get this fixed in Ubuntu 16.04 before its release.  If
the proper fix is in the kernel ALSA, I'm willing to go through Ubuntu's
process for asking them to incorporate it in 16.04.

Apologies if I've misdirected this report.

Thanks for your work on ALSA!
-- Derick

[1] linux-doc/sound/alsa/ALSA-Configuration.txt
[2] Product number L9H51UT#ABA
[3] https://sourceforge.net/p/alsa/mailman/message/33087916/
[4] http://xps13-9333.appspot.com/root/usr/local/bin/white_noise_fix.py
[5] http://xps13-9333.appspot.com/#background_noise
[6] http://askubuntu.com/questions/524344/noise-from-headphones
[7] http://askubuntu.com/questions/714920/audio-card-alc3228-issue

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