• Realtek Alc1220 Audio Codec
• Realtek Alc887 Audio Codec
• Realtek Alc892 Review

First, I must state I am a total Linux noob. I can see why Linux is not mainstream with all the difficulties in setup, but I am sticking with it.

I installed Ubuntu 10.04 on the machine I recently built because I was not willing to shell out $$$$ for Windows 7. XP is installed in dual boot. Anyway, back to the subject. The system I built uses the Gigabyte 890GPA -UD3H.

I chose it for my particular needs. USB3, Sata 3.0, good on board graphics (I play old games, really old games!), and lastly Realtek ALC892 sound with Dolby Theater. Original plan was to continue with Windows XP, so Linux was not a consideration.fast forward a week. Gigabyte does not offer any Linux support, and refers Linux users to vendor proprietary drivers or 3rd party sources.

So I went looking for support for the ALC892 codec. The ALC892 is fairly new to the scene. What I have found is fairly confusing. I do have sound at this point, but don't have the full feature set.

There is mention here that the Ubuntu 10.04 default kernel ( 2.6.32) does not support ALC892 and that a back port to kernel 2.6.33.xx will allow for full function. So this seems promising But then I found which was last updated May 24, 2010. The screen shots below seem to show a control panel very similar to the one distributed with the Gigabyte motherboard when running under Windows.

So this looks good too. Then there is this The interesting thing here is that it states: The source code copy from www.alsa-project.org (ver:5.14 Linux Source Code for ALC audio codec. Then there is this from Realtek website (at the very bottom of the page of course). Which seems to be an very recent update of the previous link. And finally this which gives no details, so I am very wary of trying it. Which one should I try?

I would think the driver listed on the Realtek website should be the best. But should I just back port instead? Or should I back port and install the driver from the Realtek website? Looking for suggestions thanks! BTW, my first download from the Ubuntu software center was Rosegarden.

As I said in the other thread, I was thinking of buying this board. Running Ubuntu 10.04 with a 2.6.34 kernel stereo analog sound burst forth from the speakers without any configuration or outside drivers. I cannot test it with 5.1 as this computer only has stereo connections.

Realtek Alc1220 Audio Codec

However clicking on the speaker icon, then sound preferences, then Hardware, then Internal Audio, then Settings for the selected device I get all the expected options up to 5.1 Analog (no 6.1 or 7.1) plus digital stereo out and digital stereo duplex (two way). I would be confident that if I connected the spdif out to an amp and selected AC3 passthrough in VLC that DVDs would play in 5.1. Stereo music, video and flash all play as expected. Cheers ps you can install drivers over the installed ones, in fact it is quite difficult to remove the installed ones. To remove them you would have to dig around in /lib to find them then rename them to disable them. There is no simple unistall of individual drivers.

Linux is not like Windows, generally the built in drivers are the best, with the exception of Nvidia and ATI video drivers. Then there is the issue of an update blithely overwriting your hard work with the default drivers. Anyway the supplied Linux kernel drivers work for me. Personally, I would grab kernel and headers packages from: (, install them, boot into the new kernel and run ALSA upgrade script: This is exactly what I did. I back ported the Lucid kernel to 2.6.34. I did not mention it here, but I did do the back port previously and it caused some issues with the proprietary ATI Catalyst drivers.

The back port knocked out the driver and I couldn't seem to get it to function again even by trying to install the latest 10.5 catalyst. Since I don't have anything valuable on the computer right now (new build) I did a fresh 10.04 install and started over.

This time however, I did the back port first. Right now the open source drivers are in use for graphics, but I hope to get the proprietary drivers working soon.

But for now at least I have increased audio function with the back port. I still do not have full function.

Like no option for 7.1 (I doubt I will use it anyway). And i am not sure if I will be able to have the ability to change the input/output configuration of the analog like I can under windows. I also have not had the ability to test any digital output yet. The analog stereo seems to work well.

I have an old Cambridge Soundworks 5.1 system that I have used for 12 years. It does not have optical, but does have coax AC-3 input. The standard output for the Gigabyte 890GPA -UD3H only has optical and analog in/out. But a coax header can be plugged into the mobo. I will most likely make a header from spare bits.

So, I hope to test the 5.1 digital function soon. I hope down the road to provide comparison of feature under Linux and under Windows to see which features are not available in Linux. Do you know if the upgrade script changes anything?

Odinorion The ATI driver issue is simply that ATI ties each update to kernel releases and they are always behind. Ubuntu have to get a special version for each release because ATI never have one ready. Nvidia are always up to date with the latest and greatest. For you the only solution is to wait.

When Ubuntu 10.10 is released it will have everything you need. If you continue to use 2.6.34 then you will be tied to the open source video driver, which is always going to work irrespective of the kernel.

There are experimental PPAs for the latest open source stuff but they might be more work than is sensible, and are mainly aimed at older ATI chipsets. The good news is that the open source driver will soon be using Gallium 3d drivers and you will be then able to forget ATI drivers forever.

By soon I mean 6 - 12 months. If you are not using Linux to play high end 3d games then the open source driver is better anyway as it updates happily and just works for normal desktop and video work. I also have an older Gigabyte board with onboard HD3200 graphics chip driving a 46' 1920x1080 LCD TV and it plays full screen avis and DVDs without effort using the current standard Ubuntu 10.04 supplied open source driver.

So unless you are a gamer I would not stress about the ATI drivers. You can try running the ALSA script while you're booted into this kernel. Maybe replacing the 2.6.32 ALSA kernel modules with fresh ones built from ALSA 1.0.23 will do the trick without having to use a 2.6.34 kernel. I have no doubt that installing ALSA 1.0.23 would do the trick and allow OdinOrion to use fglrx with a 2.6.32 kernel. He would have to keep the install in a folder to re-run in the event a routine update killed the ALSA overwrite, unless he wanted to play with apt pinning. For me, I will be staying with 2.6.34, I am happy with the performance of the open source radeon driver and very happy with my new Gigabyte 890GPA-UD3H motherboard, complete with USB 3 and SATA 3.

Fglrx has been a pain for years, the sooner we have Gallium 3d and open source drivers the better. Odinorion The ATI driver issue is simply that ATI ties each update to kernel releases and they are always behind. Ubuntu have to get a special version for each release because ATI never have one ready. The good news is that the open source driver will soon be using Gallium 3d drivers and you will be then able to forget ATI drivers forever. By soon I mean 6 - 12 months. If you are not using Linux to play high end 3d games then the open source driver is better anyway as it updates happily and just works for normal desktop and video work. So unless you are a gamer I would not stress about the ATI drivers.

Ok, I kinda get it now. Well, I guess my issue is that I don't want to nerf any functional potential of the board. I am not a huge gamer, and I have dual boot set up with XP anyway. So if I want to game, I can just boot to XP. The real issue, is that I don't know exactly what I will do in the Linux world, but I want to explore its full range. One example, is that have installed Cairo-Dock. I like it because it is functional, but there is the eye candy aspect.

When you install the Cairo-Dock, there is two versions. One with Open GL and one without Open GL. Guess what, the Open GL version does not function without fglrx. I don't know how many boards are out there with some combination of ALC892 and ATI graphics, either with integrated graphics or separate card, but it may be quite a few. Tried the ALSA upgrade script: alone on original Lucid 10.04 kernel. First part of compilation worked. Alsa packages sucessfully downloaded - run compilation -c next.

So i did as instructed: andrew@andrew-desktop:/Downloads$ sudo./AlsaUpgrade-1.0.23-2.sh -c It did a bunch of crap and then got this: cp././alsa-kernel/include/ac97codec.h. As I posted in the other thread, it is a problem with the script: Ok, well did as you suggested and did the upgrade, and then re-ran the script. Everything seemed to work, and I did not get any errors this time. Under the Alsa Mixer I now have additional features such as surround, center, LFE volume control.

The Alsa Mixer top panel reads: HDA ATI SB: Realtek ALC892. This is good!

However, nothing has changed under the Sound Preferences tab. With the back port, under the Sound Preferences tab, I was able to select from various output types, analog, analog duplex, analog 5.1, digital, ect. Something still has not worked. I do have sound because I have analog cables running to the Desktop Theater 5.1. But this does not enable 5.1. I made digital output AC-3 header bracket from some spare bits and plugged it into the motherboard. I know that this homemade header works, because it operates under Windows XP.

So, in the end, I am not sure the upgrade script really did anything other than what I see under the Alsa Mixer. It looks like I am back to the original solutions. 1) back port 2) trying the LinuxPkg-5.15rc1.tar.bz2 I downloaded direct from the Realtek support page. I just did a manual install of the driver offered on the Realtek support page. Now under the Sound preferences and then the Hardware tab I have the following choices: 1)Bt878 Audio Capture, 1 input, Analog Stereo Input.

2)Internal Audio, 1 Output, Analog Stereo Output 3) RS880 Audio Device Radeon HD 4200, 1 Output, Digital Stereo (HDMI) Output. 1) This is my old TV/FM tuner card that I haven't even begun to think about 2) What I am trying to get to work 3)HDMI output, not even going there Under item 2) profile drop down box, I get the following options (NOTE: these options were NOT available after running the Alsa Script!) The only two options for anything digital are near the bottom of the list. Both have IEC958 in the description. Removed the Gamix interface and installed Gnome-alsamixer. Same deal, no sound. It won't even let me change the volume sliders for iec958. I think I will go and back port again on top of another fresh install (I swear this must be my 7th or 8th install), just to see if I can get it work at all with native support.

If I can't get it to work with the backport, then I think something must be seriously amiss. Of course I will not use the updated kernel in the end because it messes up the ATI graphics drivers, but I just want to see if the digital out will work under any circumstance. Again, everything works fine under Windows XP.

Realtek Alc887 Audio Codec

I have the same motherboard as OdinOrion. I have been using MS operating systems since DOS (though I was a kid with little understanding of DOS beyond how to get a few programs running). I want to switch to Ubuntu because I want to develop and customize my computer experience, and hopefully contribute to the software that I use. I use an nVidia gfx card which seems to work fine, but I am having trouble with sound. I would like to be able to use the on-board sound as well as my USB headphones (Logitech G35).

Unfortunately, I am a complete Linux noob, and the only way I know to install programs is to run a install program. I am looking forward to learning the Linux way of doing things though. I do not understand what you guys doing in this thread, but I would like to. Is there somewhere I can go to get a better understanding? I don't know how to mess with the kernel or anything else.

Linux does not seem to be detecting my sound card at all (I ran something that a stickied thread recommended from the terminal, and nothing showed up for sound). I have the same motherboard as OdinOrion. I have been using MS operating systems since DOS (though I was a kid with little understanding of DOS beyond how to get a few programs running). I want to switch to Ubuntu because I want to develop and customize my computer experience, and hopefully contribute to the software that I use. I use an nVidia gfx card which seems to work fine, but I am having trouble with sound. I would like to be able to use the on-board sound as well as my USB headphones (Logitech G35).

Realtek Alc892 Review

Unfortunately, I am a complete Linux noob, and the only way I know to install programs is to run a install program. I am looking forward to learning the Linux way of doing things though. I do not understand what you guys doing in this thread, but I would like to. Is there somewhere I can go to get a better understanding? I don't know how to mess with the kernel or anything else.

Linux does not seem to be detecting my sound card at all (I ran something that a stickied thread recommended from the terminal, and nothing showed up for sound). Can you post the output of these terminal commands for me please: uname -a aplay -l dpkg -l grep 'alsa' head -n 1 /proc/asound/card./codec#. Terminal='Applications-Accessories-Terminal' Please also include the make/model of your PC/Laptop.

Please post text output using code tags (the # in toolbar). Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version 1.0.23. Compiled on Aug 2 2010 for kernel 2.6.31-22-generic-pae (SMP).

Same problem here too; mobo is M488TD-M/USB3 I've upgraded to alsa 1.0.23 can now see S/PDIF but no sound on any of the outputs Do you have any resolution on your install? Any help would be much appreciated, I'm loathing the thought of rebuilding my new HTPC with Win 7. Edit. I checked alsa version and I was still on 1.0.22 so went through the build and compile again; originally I had a mix of.21 and.22 so I'm assuming thats why I didn't get.23 complete.

After reboot checked alsa with the following stuart@stue-htpc:$ cat /proc/asound/version Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version 1.0.23. Compiled on Aug 28 2010 for kernel 2.6.32-24-generic (SMP). Still no sound so manually ran configurator sudo alsaconf and that seems to have done the trick hope this helps someone. Well, I abandoned Ubuntu after so many frustrating hours messing with this sound issue. I never did get the digital sound to work. In fact, I messed around enough to make the system freeze and got all sorts of errors. Well now I have downloaded and installed 10.10 beta.

And I don't have digital sound again. I haven't bothered to pull out the analog cables yet. Still, I was hoping the issue would be resolved either through the latest version or through Realtek. But it doesn't seem anything has changed. Very frustrating to say the least. All this 'user friendly' aspect to Ubuntu that is touted seems to be off the mark.

I really just want it to work right. A tweak here or there is OK, but I literally spent hours upon hours trying different approaches. Most of the time I wasn't really sure what I was doing, so most attempts made me feel like I was flailing about like a mad monkey. I am sure that some in the Linux world would insist that if I can't handle a little code, than I should just buck up and buy Windows 7 because obviously Linux is not for me. I have sooo many other things that require my time and energy. I don't have a lifetime to figure this out. Am I crazy to expect this to work right the first time?

Anyway, I am still hoping someone has come up with a solution. If not, I guess I will enjoy my XP for another ten years. Asus M4A88TD-M motherboard with realtek ALC892 chipset. Mythbuntu 10.04. SPDIF optical was not working! I followed the instructions here which upgraded me to the ALSA 1.0.23 drivers (from 1.0.21). Manually ran 'sudo alsaconf' then went to mythtv frontend audio settings (Utilities / Setup Setup General Audio systetm), changed Audio output Device to ALSA:spdif and bingo!

You may need to mess with more settings in this audio section - my amp didn't like myth trying to upconvert stereo to 5.1 and I changed the 'Digital output device' to ALSA:iec958. Obviously your settings will differ depending on what amp you have. Thanks shunte88 for mentioning the last step of alsaconf. I knew it had to work because we've got almost the same mobo.

Mavericks: Audio ​ Realtek ALC AppleHDA For Realtek ALC885 through ALC1150 on board audio codecs Change Log. v2.1 - 8/15/2014 - 9 Series/EAPD added to 887, 892, 898, 1150, credit: kidalive. v2.0 - 8/12/2014 - v2 AppleHDA.kext patch scripts available; easier, simpler and faster. I am on Mavericks and have ALC888 and used multibeast to install the w/o DSDT ALC888 Legacy v100202. In this guide Requirements 2 1 supported codecs says - '#3. 10ec0888 (v100202 and v100302) - ALC888/ALC888s' Then under Unsupported/Non-working Realtek ALC AppleHDA.kext it lists 888v100202 and earlier So i'm totally confused, if it is supported or unsupported?? Then it says 'Workaround: alternate Platforms.xml.zlib' which I have no idea what that means.

I used IORegistryExplorer and can verify. Can anyone shed some light on what to do here? Click to expand.Well as stated I tried this and had no success. On my previous Snow Leopard install, I had audio working. It may have been with Voodoo I really don't remember bc I didn't have any issues, but using voodoo on this Mavericks install, I had no volume control, using the slider did not change the volume except for mute. I wouldn't care except that even with the speaker volume 100% its not loud at all. Any suggestions for this?

Can I add in an audio card? If so any suggestions? Thanks for your help! Hello, My System: Supermicro X8DAH+-F nVidia GTX 460 Realtek ALC888 (according to manual) 10.9 Mavericks I've tried kexts from online and when I look up the device shows up as 'ALC888S-VD' but the manual lists it as ALC888. Anyways, the kexts I tried would list the devices right but I can't hear any audio. I tried MultiBeast using both '887/888 Legacy and Current versions' since I saw one of your post saying 888s is indeed 887. It lists the device in System information, but there is no audio devices to select under System Preferences-Sound.

Now, I used ALC888 Legacy and Current version. I don't get audio from both. But in Legacy version I have the option to select audio devices under System Preferences-Sound. I'm attaching screenshot of System Information and IOReg file using 'ALC888 Legacy' version.