Soundcard for Linux HTPC

[MicroMagic]

I have been looking for information about a particular sound card for some time: Creative Sound Blaster Audigy Rx. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find any conclusive information yet as to whether this is 100% supported in Linux. The product has been on the market for about ten years now and may not be anything special from a technical perspective, but I definitely want to avoid a bad investment. If anyone knows the product and has experience with it in conjunction with Linux, I would be very grateful.

[jan5678]

according to this it is supported
https://www.linuxcompatible.org/compatibility/report/soundblaster-audigy

[MicroMagic]

According to this it is supported.
https://www.linuxcompatible.org/compatibility/report/soundblaster-audigy

Thanks Jan, based on the reports, no serious restrictions should be expected. Most of them are from 2008, but there are clear indications that the ALSA Utilities and Mixer should already be installed in the most current version. I think it wouldn't be a big risk to buy the card since the manufacturer and also the series are known.

[Hoser Rob]

According to this it is supported.
https://www.linuxcompatible.org/compatibility/report/soundblaster-audigy

Thanks Jan, based on the reports, no serious restrictions should be expected. Most of them are from 2008, but there are clear indications that the ALSA Utilities and Mixer should already be installed in the most current version. I think it wouldn't be a big risk to buy the card since the manufacturer and also the series are known.

Apparently no one here actually runs Linux. Since Linux doesn't have backwards compatibility like Windows does, any results that old are basically completely useless. And having alsa and/or alsamixer is irrelevant. I've never even heard of a GNU/Linux system that dis not run alsa.

A quick search of "linux Creative Sound Blaster Audigy Rx" gets tons of hits re problems with Creative Labs in Linux. Here's a recent one that was only the 6th hit: https://www.reddit.com/r/archlinux/comments/xwcp5r/sound_blaster_audigy_5rx_drivers/

I've been running just Linux for over a decade and have read a bunch of support forums. The name that seems to come up most often for problem audio cards is Creative Labs.

[jan5678]

@hoser Rob I actually DO use linux..

And your link is about drivers through wine, the topic starter wanted to know if that card is hardware supported, apparently it is. If that support is removed in newer kernels (that happens with older stuff) you are out of luck.

But this will end in discussion between me and hoser rob again i'm afraid, so i'm off

[MicroMagic]

Apparently no one here actually runs Linux.

This is definitely wrong, Jan and I actually run our machines with Linux and you can be sure that we are not the only ones!

Since Linux doesn't have backwards compatibility like Windows does, any results that old are basically completely useless.

You are wrong again, there are enough users out there who confirm that their cards run out of the box, at least after some adjustments.

And having ALSA and/or ALSA mixer is irrelevant.

Here too you are definitely wrong, ALSA's development is aimed precisely at the best-selling brands and is continuously adapted to the technical developments in this sector.

I've never even heard of a GNU/Linux system that is not run ALSA.

Really? And that's supposed to prove something?

A quick search of "linux Creative Sound Blaster Audigy Rx" gets tons of hits re problems with Creative Labs in Linux. Here's a recent one that was only the 6th hit: https://www.reddit.com/r/archlinux/comments/xwcp5r/sound_blaster_audigy_5rx_drivers/

A completely pointless example, as the distro in question is generally known to be problematic!

I've been running just Linux for over a decade and have read a bunch of support forums. The name that seems to come up most often for problem audio cards is Creative Labs.

So what?! What did you expect? The brand is one of the best-selling worldwide, so it's completely normal that problems arise here or there! I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but the only thing your post here proves is your bottomless incompetence regarding the Linux sound system.

(FYI from now on you are on my ignore list!)

[sophisticles]

https://www.alsa-project.org/wiki/Matrix:Vendor-Creative_Labs

https://alsa.opensrc.org/Alsa_Preferred_Soundcards

From what I can tell some Sound Blasters work fine, but since there is no official driver from the manufacturer, support is hit or miss.

I would not waste my money buying a sound card for a Linux box unless the manufacturer explicitly makes drivers for Linux.

[MicroMagic]

From what I can tell some Sound Blasters work fine, but since there is no official driver from the manufacturer, support is hit or miss.

From your point of view, the entire hardware support should be questioned, not just the sound system. Fortunately, this doesn't look that problematic in practice since most things work straight out of the box. In most cases even better than expected. The lists in the links shown are not up to date and incomplete, therefore not a suitable benchmark for assessing the actual situation.

I would not waste my money buying a sound card for a Linux box unless the manufacturer explicitly makes drivers for Linux.

The concern is completely unfounded, as the manufacturer expressly points out that the drivers provided are only intended for Windows. However, this does not exclude the possibility that there are still suitable drivers from other sources. In my opinion, the risk of something not working is extremely low, as the on-board sound system worked straight away without any restrictions. Apart from that, there is no financial risk whatsoever, as I can return the product to the seller at any time without giving any reason. Isn’t that awesome?!
(FYI I already ordered the card!)

Another option would be an external sound card, but that will most likely not be necessary!

[sophisticles]

@MicroMagic

By all means, once the card, please feel free to share your experiences, including what level of functionality you see under Linux, what distribution and kernel version, etc.

My experience with Linux is that for many devices, unless the manufacturer explicitly either offers proprietary drivers or contributes open source drivers to the kernel, the support is barely functional at best.

For instance HP contributes significant code and so their printers work just fine; AMD and Intel contribute tons of code and so their hardware is usually in pretty good shape.

NVIDIA, on the other hand, does not directly contribute any code to the kernel, at least not in the way AMD and Intel do, and so if you want full functionality you need to use the official NVIDIA driver because the Nouveau sucks big time.

[pandy]

IMHO you should verify what is supported, what is not supported by using HW ID (PCI/USB) - Linux can be tricky and also demanding - had experience in past wrong firmware installed for NIC and mother board - sometimes such issues need to be solved manually by uninstalling wrong and installing correct firmware - (and you must manually find proper firmware and download it in advance).
Creative never properly supported Linux, they offered some limited documentation and lot of work was done based on reverse engineering and available pieces of information (like patents).
So if you have access to HW then search if this particular HW is supported - names can be misleading (in past Creative used different HW within same name).

[MicroMagic]

By all means, once the card, please feel free to share your experiences, including what level of functionality you see under Linux, what distribution and kernel version, etc.

Oh yes? And why should I do that? For the extensive “help” I was able to get here?! No!
It's easy to criticize, question, or belittle all sorts of things, but substantial help looks different to me. No alternative suggestion has been made so far, only generalized claims without any background have been made. I'm sorry, but that's not enough.

My experience with Linux is that for many devices, unless the manufacturer explicitly either offers proprietary drivers or contributes open source drivers to the kernel, the support is barely functional at best.

This can happen, but is not the deciding factor. Unfortunately, what most Linux users have never understood to this day is that it's not the operating system that matters, but the distro software. If the distro is properly and permanently maintained and constantly adjusted, then most problems are limited and sometimes even solve themselves.* The system kernel is certainly an important part, but it isn't the only way to solve a problem, not everything has to be integrated into the kernel, it can also be installed independently from other sources.

* Now to the cardinal question: Why are some distros so incredibly problematic and a few not?
Answer: Because of a huge amount of money that flows into such a company to make its success possible!

[MicroMagic]

IMHO you should verify what is supported, what is not supported by using HW ID (PCI/USB) - Linux can be tricky and also demanding - had experience in past wrong firmware installed for NIC and mother board - sometimes such issues need to be solved manually by uninstalling wrong and installing correct firmware - (and you must manually find proper firmware and download it in advance).

I can confirm that, information in advance is already half the battle.

Creative never properly supported Linux, they offered some limited documentation and lot of work was done based on reverse engineering and available pieces of information (like patents).

I know that, but does that have to put me off? A lot of hardware is often only half-heartedly supported or not supported at all, but that shouldn't be a reason to give up straight away. Another choice would have been the ASUS Xonar AE, but here too, despite all the similarities, there is no direct support for Linux. So what should I do now? An external solution is not an option. By the way, the card has arrived, well packaged!

[sophisticles]

Oh yes? And why should I do that? For the extensive “help” I was able to get here?! No!

It's easy to criticize, question, or belittle all sorts of things, but substantial help looks different to me. No alternative suggestion has been made so far, only generalized claims without any background have been made. I'm sorry, but that's not enough.

This can happen, but is not the deciding factor. Unfortunately, what most Linux users have never understood to this day is that it's not the operating system that matters, but the distro software. If the distro is properly and permanently maintained and constantly adjusted, then most problems are limited and sometimes even solve themselves.* The system kernel is certainly an important part, but it isn't the only way to solve a problem, not everything has to be integrated into the kernel, it can also be installed independently from other sources.

* Now to the cardinal question: Why are some distros so incredibly problematic and a few not?
Answer: Because of a huge amount of money that flows into such a company to make its success possible!

I don't know what your major malfunction is and I really don't care.

You were given some good advice and feedback but you have decided that you would rather be combative.

You also have displayed a significant lack of basic understanding about the OS you desire to use and I know for a fact that you will not be able to use that sound card with Linux anywhere near to it's full capabilities.

Do whatever you want, the important thing to keep in mind is that my computer is running fine and I have the expertise to resolve Linux issues without having to go post silly questions on a forum.

[MicroMagic]

You were given some good advice and feedback but you have decided that you would rather be combative.

You certainly didn't give any good advice and I'm sure not everyone plays along with your ridiculous mind games either!

You also have displayed a significant lack of basic understanding about the OS you desire to use and I know for a fact that you will not be able to use that sound card with Linux anywhere near to it's full capabilities.

You are not in a position to judge me or others here, as you don't know me and don't have the slightest idea about my knowledge.

Do whatever you want, the important thing to keep in mind is that my computer is running fine and I have the expertise to resolve Linux issues without having to go post silly questions on a forum.

Really? Why are you here then? Probably because you have too much time to do anything more useful and are just waiting to find some opportunity to impose your nonsense on others!

[sophisticles]

You certainly didn't give any good advice and I'm sure not everyone plays along with your ridiculous mind games either!

You are not in a position to judge me or others here, as you don't know me and don't have the slightest idea about my knowledge.

Really? Why are you here then? Probably because you have too much time to do anything more useful and are just waiting to find some opportunity to impose your nonsense on others!

I did give you the correct answer, as you will come to find out when you finally get that card installed.

I am in a position to judge you, because of the statements you made. You tried googling to see if the card was supported but were incapable of understanding the results you found, so you asked here.

As for the rest, I just wish I could watch as you try to get that card working with Linux and then have the vendor refuse a refund.

It would be delightful.