You can certainly store alsamixer settings using:
sudo alsactl store
I don't know about saving pulse audio profile changes myself, but just found this:
This pertains to alsamixer, but these generally look fine. However good to know it uses /var/lib/alsa/asound.state , maybe I can find something there.
Regarding the persistent profile, this is not a problem. The profile is kept on reboot, the problem is setting to the maleficent profile, causing a dummy output.
I'm thinking of trying to force set the part
hw:1,0-D surround51:1,0from the speaker-test, as default, one way or another.
Might try again tomorrow.
In your Software & Updates app, do what drivers are displayed under Additional Drivers?
I thought all audio related drivers are included in the kernel.
Especially in this case, the card was first released 2013. The driver for ALC898 should be a part of the kernel by now.
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Not sure if this topic will do any help
First, be sure to blacklist any other sound sources such as HDMI:
Next dump pulse audio by creating a 'pulse off' folder in /etc and moving 'pulse audio' into it - pulse will then never launch! - as stated here - scroll down to last answer that got a -1 vote - it worked great for me:
Use synaptic Package Manager to install the SoundBlaster emu10k files and all the apps starting with QAS: QasTools, QasConfig and QasMixer and all ALSA sound packages, plus 'apulse'.
The only issue I have got with surround sound (I have Logitech Surround Sound System) is that in all current Linux Distros I get the 5.1 Suround sound but right front is churning out subwoofer and subwoofer front right - plus front left is centre speakers and centre is left speaker!
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Thank you for responding while I was away, I'll address as much as I can in this post.
Only the video card is shown:
@FrenchPress
I can't remember having to install anything before testing the card, so that's my guess too.
@swarfendor437
I have to check your linked post still. So far I had HDMI output turned off in pavucontrol and the machine is using the SoundBlaster as default (as long as I don't select a wrong (broken?) profile.
I wouldn't mind blacklisting the HDMI, will follow up!
So, funny thing:
So when going to nano /etc/modprobe.d/sound.blacklist.conf as instructed, I would have to disable "snd_hda_intel", which would blacklist both.
I seem to recall reading somewhere about someone who changed what driver the HDMI output was using to something like "snd_hda_intel_nvidia" to prevent the identical driver.
It seems I will have to check that out first.
I may be asking you a silly question, but did you disable the M/B built-in sound card in BIOS? I think I disabled mine since I installed a PCI sound-card.
No problem, I'd rather double-check than ignore.
BIOS onboard audio is indeed disabled to prevent a third card from showing up and interfering.
There is yet one more Linux forum page regarding Audigy FX:
But it is quite old posting - so it may not applicable to the current kernel we are using.
Thanks! This is the one I was recalling with renaming the driver.
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HDMI shows up as snd_hda_intel - just blacklisting that will disable hdmi on all your graphics cards.
I disabled pulse as it causes more problems than it is worth - that is why I ditched it in favour of ALSA - far superior - it is just a Red Hat thing who want to spread their C R A P everywhere, including the automotive audio industry!
I remember to read somewhere that to disable PulseAudio one needs to disable LightDM GDM also. Was that what you did?
GDM, not LightDM.
Thanks for the correction!
Are we using GDM in Zorin 16 Core/Pro?
Yes, Zorin OS 16 Core uses GDM (But I do not)
And sorry. I was typing in a Huge Hurry and my post above sounds shorter than it was intended.
If that is the case, perhaps it might help @Daedelus to disable/replace it to remove Pulseaudio to make his surround work properly with Alsa.
Thanks for the update guys, in the meantime I was doing some more research, due to the speaker-test working correctly when using -D to specify the settings/card.
I ran across this:
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=246758
which is purely ALSA if i'm not mistaken.
I'll have to keep digging for a bit, but that will be tomorrow. Starting to see double already haha.
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