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[David Chatterton <dmchatterton@xxxxxxxxxx>]

After experiencing warmer weather and hence a warmer start-up
temperature for my laptop, I discovered that the sound system would not
work at all and would not respond to a re-boot. In order to prepare the
laptop for a possible return under the guarantee, I re-installed Ubuntu
14.04.02 LTS and confirmed the fault by running the built-in diagnostic
(selected through the options obtained by holding F12 on start-up). This
caused the circuit board to warm up appreciably and, surprise, surprise,
the audio system returned to functionality on re-booting. However, its
functionality did not remain as the laptop cooled to normal ambient
temperature.

I discussed these symptoms with Dell Technical support who offered to
send out a Technician (Engineer?) to change the sound board. He arrived
the next day and changed the board, explaining that sometimes, very
rarely, there might be a dry joint which is impossible to see visually.
On switch on, the sound worked perfectly. To date, I have not been able
to duplicate any faulty operation whatsoever including starting up from
cold (the weather is now cooler) and allowing the laptop to warm up by
running the diagnostics or running processor-intensive apps light
Flightgear that cause the fan to come on. It would seem that all my
previously reported problems were down to a possible dry joint.

Three cheers to Dell Technical support who responded to my query by
sending around a Technician who was able to complete the repair. I wish
that I had spoken to Technical support earlier although I did not want
to be in the situation of having the laptop returned with "No Fault
Found" especially when the fault was inconsistent and apparently related
to the operating system.

Thanks to all those in this forum who took the time to look at my fault
report and to confirm the operation of the software. I now have the
laptop running Ubuntu 15.04 and it preforms beautifully. I look forward
to the next release

-- 
You received this bug notification because you are a member of Desktop
Packages, which is subscribed to alsa-driver in Ubuntu.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1408110

Title:
  [XPS13 9333, Realtek ALC3661, Speaker, Internal] fails after a while

Status in alsa-driver package in Ubuntu:
  Confirmed

Bug description:
  When playing a video via the Videos app, the sound through the
  internal speakers develops crackles and sometimes disappears
  completely.

  I collected the data for the bug report at the instance that the sound
  had failed.

  Using the Sound panel in Systems Settings to test the sound produces
  no response.

  I have also selected the Volume Control app and attempted to switch
  the sound using the Configuration tab and switching the built-in audio
  between Off and Analogue Stereo Output. Sometimes this works and
  sometimes is does not.

  Having left the Videos app running whist typing this, I have noticed
  that the sound seems to start and stop whilst typing via the keyboard.

  I note that the Playback tab in the Volume Control window shows that
  the sound is being produced by the Videos app (the lower ribbon moves
  with the sound amplitude).

  This bug might be associated with intermittent recognition of the
  hardware on startup. The Sound window sometimes shows no audio device.
  At other times, the speakers are given the HDMI menu dropdown but this
  can be corrected by plugging in a pair of headphones and switching
  back to the speakers which then show the correct Test Sound legend.

  I have noticed several instances of the sound cutting out and cutting
  back in whilst typing this report as if the interrupts from the
  keyboard strokes are interrupting the sound connection.

  ProblemType: Bug
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.10
  Package: alsa-base 1.0.25+dfsg-0ubuntu4
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.16.0-29.39-generic 3.16.7-ckt2
  Uname: Linux 3.16.0-29-generic x86_64
  ApportVersion: 2.14.7-0ubuntu8
  Architecture: amd64
  AudioDevicesInUse:
   USER        PID ACCESS COMMAND
   /dev/snd/pcmC0D3p:   david      2288 F...m pulseaudio
   /dev/snd/controlC0:  david      2288 F.... pulseaudio
   /dev/snd/pcmC1D0p:   david      2288 F...m pulseaudio
   /dev/snd/controlC1:  david      2288 F.... pulseaudio
  CurrentDesktop: Unity
  Date: Tue Jan  6 21:15:39 2015
  InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-12-11 (26 days ago)
  InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Release amd64 (20140722.2)
  PackageArchitecture: all
  SourcePackage: alsa-driver
  Symptom: audio
  Symptom_Card: Built-in Audio - HDA Intel PCH
  Symptom_Jack: Speaker, Internal
  Symptom_Type: Sound works for a while, then breaks
  Title: [XPS13 9333, Realtek ALC3661, Speaker, Internal] fails after a while
  UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to utopic on 2014-12-11 (25 days ago)
  dmi.bios.date: 09/11/2014
  dmi.bios.vendor: Dell Inc.
  dmi.bios.version: A05
  dmi.board.name: 0D13CR
  dmi.board.vendor: Dell Inc.
  dmi.board.version: A00
  dmi.chassis.type: 8
  dmi.chassis.vendor: Dell Inc.
  dmi.chassis.version: 0.1
  dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnDellInc.:bvrA05:bd09/11/2014:svnDellInc.:pnXPS139333:pvr:rvnDellInc.:rn0D13CR:rvrA00:cvnDellInc.:ct8:cvr0.1:
  dmi.product.name: XPS13 9333
  dmi.sys.vendor: Dell Inc.

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