I am kinda new to Ubuntu as well. I have been having this issue with audio for quite sometime now. Initially, when I installed version 11.10 (I guess), I was able to use my 5.1 speakers without any issues. If my memory serves me right, it was after an update that the 5.1 audio stopped working and the video resolution would not get saved. I temporarily fixed the resolution issue by creating a start-up shell script that would update the resolution and load it.

But the issue with audio has been going on for quite sometime now. Even though I have option for 5.1, only two speakers seem to be working. I thought an upgrade should fix the issue and so upgraded the OS to version 12.04. I also tried uninstalling alsa and pulse audio, reinstalling them, changing the /etc/pulse/daemon.conf channels from 2 to 6. I have also tried installing pavucontrol but nothing seems to have worked and the issue still persists.

Is there anything else you could suggest?

The lspci log on my computer is as follows

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82G33/G31/P35/P31 Express DRAM Controller (rev 10) 00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82G33/G31/P35/P31 Express PCI Express Root Port (rev 10) 00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 82G33/G31 Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 10) 00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 01) 00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family PCI Express Port 1 (rev 01) 00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family PCI Express Port 2 (rev 01) 00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 01) 00:1d.1 USB controller: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 01) 00:1d.2 USB controller: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 01) 00:1d.3 USB controller: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 01) 00:1d.7 USB controller: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 01) 00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge (rev e1) 00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801GB/GR (ICH7 Family) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 01) 00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) IDE Controller (rev 01) 00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation N10/ICH7 Family SATA Controller [IDE mode] (rev 01) 00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family SMBus Controller (rev 01) 03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 01)

Would really appreciate a response that will assist me in resolving my issue.

Thanks in advance

Vipin