I’m new to Lubuntu, and semi-new to Linux.
I installed Lubuntu (and Spiral Linux, and previously Zorin Lite and Xubuntu) on my new laptop, Lenovo Ideapad 1 15IGl7
With Windows 11 (now erased), HDMI video & audio output to TV worked fine.
But with the Linuxes, there have been problems.
Video: intermittent (a few seconds on, a few seconds off). Bands of green or red flecks moving over the screen.
Audio: Undetected. Pulse Audio Volume Control just has no mention at all of HDMI output.
The video problem did not occur with Zorin Lite 16.3.
The video problem did occur with latest Xubuntu and Spiral, but was fixed once I changed from 2-metre HDMI cable to 1-metre HDMI cable. But with Lubuntu it occurs even with the 1m cable.
The audio problem happens with all Linuxes on this laptop so far.
For comparison, another laptop (old HP) with Zorin Lite 16.3 installed has no problems at all outputting both video and audio to the same TV, using either cable or either HDMI socket on the TV. I also just tried Lubuntu live USB on that old HP, and it also worked just fine.
I read a few things online (which got me to try another cable) and I’ve added lubuntu-restricted-extras and tried Additional Drivers, but it says there are no proprietary drivers for my hardware.
Same problem whatever Monitor Settings / Fast Menu option I choose: Unified, Extended, Only Second. I don’t know what to do with other settings (e.g. refresh rate?)
Any ideas to get HDMI video and audio working in Lubuntu would be much appreciated.
I’m not super qualified but I had to deal with similar issues, so here’s what my experience has been:
Looking at the info you provided, you seem to be on integrated graphics. HDMI audio is provided by the GPU, so is is the responsibility of the IGPU in this case.
I was without a discrete GPU, and from my understanding, IGPUs don’t always have full drivers because the expectation for many of the CPUs is that they are a fallback. In the case of a laptop it’s likely a different story, however.
I was not able to get HDMI working until I installed a GPU and also downloaded the (AMD) proprietary driver, which I did because one out of many of the pages I read included a note that it did not work on the open source version currently.
HDMI audio seems to just be one of those strange half-standard half-wild west things. It might not be possible without writing a driver for your IGPU (ie, CPU?), or some strange adapter process to hijack it (since a laptop might not plug it directly like a normal GPU/motherboard).
Yeah, it’s a pity HDMI is still so problematic for free-libre OSes. And thanks for the insights into integrated chipsets.
Re audio, there are some other things that I will try when I have the time, info and/or equipment etc all together. I’ve seen some posts online about enabling the HDMI audio pins in deep audio settings (or in the kernel or somewhere). I’ll find them and give that a try.
And if I can’t find a software way, I guess I’ll try using the stereo jack output, maybe with some adapter for the TV’s inputs. (Hopefully that will also get the sound coming out of the connected sound bar.)
Re video, just changing to another cable is enough to fix the issue for other distros (and it wasn’t even a problem in Zorin with the longer cable), including Xubuntu 23.04, presumably very closely related to Lubuntu 23.04. Which makes me think there must be a software fix for the video problem.
(I don’t think I’m ready yet for engineering wizardry like changing a laptop’s GPU )
Solution 2 (pulseaudio -k) didn’t work as Lubuntu 23.04 has pipewire. (I didn’t try killing pipewire as I am not an expert and I’m wary of improvising when it comes to the command line. If someone who knows better and can tell me how to get pipewire back if it doesn’t work, I’ll give it a try.)
Solution 3 (Pulse Audio Volume Control > Configuration > Built-in Audio > Digital Stereo (HDMI) (unavailable) ) kind of worked! But not well.
I do get sound coming out of the TV & soundbar, but it crackles and pops (no snaps! ). Also the sound is often intermittent out of the TV but continuous out of the sound bar.
And when the video turns off intermittently, so does the sound. Also there are more black lines across the screen when the video is on.
(I’ve also noticed that when the web browser is minimized, the video doesn’t cut out as much. With the web browser viewed, the video and audio cut out every few seconds.)
After about a minute, video and sound came on. But the video stayed on for only a few seconds, went off and didn’t come back. Sound stayed on, but much more intermittent thru the TV. Fairly continuous through soundbar. Still crackling thru both.
On my Lubuntu setup, the laptop screen and TV have slightly different refresh rates, and there is no way to change them in Monitor Settings.
eDP-1 (AU Optronics)
Refresh rate: 60.0591 Hz
HDMI-1 (WD32HN1640)
Refresh rate: 59.7895 Hz
The native resolution for both screens is the same (1366x768). I tried changing Lubuntu Monitor Setting for TV to 1280x 720 but that just resulted in no video or audio whatsoever.
So I was sat there at my desk, running out of ideas for what to do about this problem. The TV in the middle of the desk, the old HP laptop running Zorin Lite 16.3 at the left of the desk (with perfect video & audio connection to the TV), and the new Lenovo laptop with Lubuntu 23.04 on the right (with the problematic video & audio connection to the TV).
Just sat there thinking, staring at the keyboard, the HP’s fan whirring. And whirring. And whirring.
“Surely not?!?” I think to myself. I turn off the HP, try outputting the Lenovo to the TV again and… bingo! Perfect video and audio connection.
For some reason, the HP works just fine without interference for its own video & audio output, but just being turned on, it causes interference for other nearby devices, at least ones connected to this TV.
So now (after Pulse Audio Volume Control > Configuration > Built-in Audio > Digital Stereo (HDMI) (*unavailable*)) I get both video and audio outputting just fine via HDMI to the TV.
Problem solved!
(Now onto the next problem: video tearing both on laptop screen and on TV.)
)
). Also the sound is often intermittent out of the TV but continuous out of the sound bar.