I'm using Kubuntu Edgy in my notebook (an Acer TravelMate 2313LCi) and had more permanent volume issues: the headphone slider always controlled the system volume, even with no headphones plugged in. So, when using the volume keys in the keyboard, everything worked as expected, except that the master volume didn't control anything. Using the suggested workaround fixed the issue and removed the headphone volume control.
-- [Regression] Master volume does not work when headphones are connected. https://launchpad.net/bugs/26150 -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs