No sound over HDMI with nouveau over old nvidia GTX210

firekage · 2026-08-18 14:32:07

Hi. Sorry for this noobish question but could someone help me to restore sound? I've been using so far nvidia drivers from AUR and they worked fine but after few recent Arch upadates i ended again with no picture at all so had to remove nvidia and installed them again from the AUR ended with the same result - like in kernel there is no nvidia module for my old GPU.
I had to switch for nouveau and i have right now screen but no sound over HDMI. I tried to read Arch wiki but the sound over linux is complex - ALSA, PipeWare, PulseAudio and there are so many of them, that i tried to install that maybe i did something wrong here.

Could you help me, i know that i ask a lot but with the sound over Linux i have always some problems due the many sound servers to be applicable.

If there is something to post, please let me know. I have 2 years ago also question and no answers:

https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=295714

Lone_Wolf · 2026-08-18 17:12:53

Please post the outputs of

$ pacman -Qs "nouveau|nvidia"
$ aplay --list-devices --list-pcms

firekage · 2026-08-20 11:16:32

Thank you for an reply. I see that the issue is more complicated than i initially thought.

I used so far connection via DVI to HDMI cable type and this was plugged to HDMI splitting device that gives me 3 input and 1 output. Right now i connected the same computer directly via DVI-HDMI type cable to the HDMI monitor input, without the additional HDMI device that has 3 inputs 1 outputs and i see that sound over nouveau is working here. So im confused right now. I will try to check if the sound would be again when computer is connected via this HDMI splitter. Either this is some configuration over one of the GPU outputs that i do not understand or HDMI splitter (but with nvidia it always worked) or cable itself?

[firekage@7500 ~]$ pacman -Qs "nouveau|nvidia"
local/egl-wayland 4:1.1.21-1
    EGLStream-based Wayland external platform
local/lib32-vulkan-nouveau 1:26.1.7-1
    Open-source Vulkan driver for Nvidia GPUs - 32-bit
local/libvdpau 1.5-4
    Nvidia VDPAU library
local/libxnvctrl-470xx 470.256.02-3
    NVIDIA NV-CONTROL X extension
local/linux-firmware-nvidia 20260810-2
    Firmware files for Linux - Firmware for NVIDIA GPUs and SoCs
local/nvidia-470xx-settings-debug 470.256.02-3
    Detached debugging symbols for nvidia-470xx-settings
local/vulkan-nouveau 1:26.1.7-1
    Open-source Vulkan driver for Nvidia GPUs
local/xf86-video-nouveau 1.0.18-1 (xorg-drivers)
    Open Source 3D acceleration driver for nVidia cards
[firekage@7500 ~]$

and here is this:

[firekage@7500 ~]$  aplay --list-devices --list-pcms
null
    Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)
lavrate
    Rate Converter Plugin Using Libav/FFmpeg Library
samplerate
    Rate Converter Plugin Using Samplerate Library
speexrate
    Rate Converter Plugin Using Speex Resampler
jack
    JACK Audio Connection Kit
oss
    Open Sound System
pipewire
    PipeWire Sound Server
pulse
    PulseAudio Sound Server
speex
    Plugin using Speex DSP (resample, agc, denoise, echo, dereverb)
upmix
    Plugin for channel upmix (4,6,8)
vdownmix
    Plugin for channel downmix (stereo) with a simple spacialization
default
    Default ALSA Output (currently PulseAudio Sound Server)
sysdefault:CARD=PCH
    HDA Intel PCH, ALC1150 Analog
    Default Audio Device
front:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
    HDA Intel PCH, ALC1150 Analog
    Front output / input
surround21:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
    HDA Intel PCH, ALC1150 Analog
    2.1 Surround output to Front and Subwoofer speakers
surround40:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
    HDA Intel PCH, ALC1150 Analog
    4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
    HDA Intel PCH, ALC1150 Analog
    4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
    HDA Intel PCH, ALC1150 Analog
    5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
    HDA Intel PCH, ALC1150 Analog
    5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
    HDA Intel PCH, ALC1150 Analog
    7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
iec958:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
    HDA Intel PCH, ALC1150 Digital
    IEC958 (S/PDIF) Digital Audio Output
usbstream:CARD=PCH
    HDA Intel PCH
    USB Stream Output
hdmi:CARD=NVidia,DEV=0
    HDA NVidia, 2D FHD LG TV
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=NVidia,DEV=1
    HDA NVidia, AG346UCD
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=NVidia,DEV=2
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 2
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=NVidia,DEV=3
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 3
    HDMI Audio Output
usbstream:CARD=NVidia
    HDA NVidia
    USB Stream Output
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: ALC1150 Analog [ALC1150 Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 1: ALC1150 Digital [ALC1150 Digital]
  Subdevices: 0/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 3: HDMI 0 [2D FHD LG TV]
  Subdevices: 0/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 7: HDMI 1 [AG346UCD]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 8: HDMI 2 [HDMI 2]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 9: HDMI 3 [HDMI 3]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
[firekage@7500 ~]$

Edit: yes. I rebooted PC, right now tried to heard a sound over AOC OLED which is connected via DVI-HDMI cable to the HDMI splitter, and there is no sound over nouveau, where over the nvidia it worked correctly with the same cable type, the same HDMI converter. Unfortunately this GPU does not have 2x HDMI but DVI, HDMI, and the older one used long time ago - DSUB. So the issue is with this type of connection over nouveau.

This is the output of second command with AOC OLED no sound:

[firekage@7500 ~]$  aplay --list-devices --list-pcms
null
    Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)
lavrate
    Rate Converter Plugin Using Libav/FFmpeg Library
samplerate
    Rate Converter Plugin Using Samplerate Library
speexrate
    Rate Converter Plugin Using Speex Resampler
jack
    JACK Audio Connection Kit
oss
    Open Sound System
pipewire
    PipeWire Sound Server
pulse
    PulseAudio Sound Server
speex
    Plugin using Speex DSP (resample, agc, denoise, echo, dereverb)
upmix
    Plugin for channel upmix (4,6,8)
vdownmix
    Plugin for channel downmix (stereo) with a simple spacialization
default
    Default ALSA Output (currently PulseAudio Sound Server)
sysdefault:CARD=PCH
    HDA Intel PCH, ALC1150 Analog
    Default Audio Device
front:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
    HDA Intel PCH, ALC1150 Analog
    Front output / input
surround21:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
    HDA Intel PCH, ALC1150 Analog
    2.1 Surround output to Front and Subwoofer speakers
surround40:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
    HDA Intel PCH, ALC1150 Analog
    4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
    HDA Intel PCH, ALC1150 Analog
    4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
    HDA Intel PCH, ALC1150 Analog
    5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
    HDA Intel PCH, ALC1150 Analog
    5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
    HDA Intel PCH, ALC1150 Analog
    7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
iec958:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
    HDA Intel PCH, ALC1150 Digital
    IEC958 (S/PDIF) Digital Audio Output
usbstream:CARD=PCH
    HDA Intel PCH
    USB Stream Output
hdmi:CARD=NVidia,DEV=0
    HDA NVidia, 2D FHD LG TV
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=NVidia,DEV=1
    HDA NVidia, AG346UCD
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=NVidia,DEV=2
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 2
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=NVidia,DEV=3
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 3
    HDMI Audio Output
usbstream:CARD=NVidia
    HDA NVidia
    USB Stream Output
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: ALC1150 Analog [ALC1150 Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 1: ALC1150 Digital [ALC1150 Digital]
  Subdevices: 0/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 3: HDMI 0 [2D FHD LG TV]
  Subdevices: 0/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 7: HDMI 1 [AG346UCD]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 8: HDMI 2 [HDMI 2]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 9: HDMI 3 [HDMI 3]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
[firekage@7500 ~]$

Edit 2: i checked something more. I just powered on the second monitor, which is LG 27 ionch connected directly and as soon as this second monitor was detected i hear a sound over this monitor asap.

Last edited by firekage (2026-08-20 11:24:41)

seth · 2026-08-20 13:32:40

LG 27 ionch connected directly and as soon as this second monitor was detected i hear a sound over this monitor

connected via DVI-HDMI cable

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Visual_Interface is generally not capable of transmitting audio.

firekage · 2026-08-21 13:26:02

seth wrote:

LG 27 ionch connected directly and as soon as this second monitor was detected i hear a sound over this monitor
connected via DVI-HDMI cable
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Visual_Interface is generally not capable of transmitting audio.

I saw some behaviour right now. I plugged the LG to the HDMI splitter and with nouveau i have the sound but when the same splitter has different input choosen than there is no sound. I crossed the outputs to check if the splitter is damaged but no, it is ok so the sound is really only when im using nouveau trough HDMI output from Graphic Card, but not while using DVI-HDMI cable. So, maybe the limitation of nouveau? The sound is only via HDMI with the nouveau, no when using DVI output from GPU. This should also works i think as suggested in the link.

Last edited by firekage (2026-08-21 14:10:19)

seth · 2026-08-21 14:15:32

nouveau trough HDMI output from Graphic Card, but not while using DVI-HDMI cable

Again: DVI cannot officially transmit audio.
There're apparently some unofficial hardware hacks around, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_V … patibility

But if audio works on a connection that is HDMI - HDMI and does not on a connection that is DVI - HDMI, the *by far* most likely reason is the DVI connection.
=> Can you make the same hardware configuration w/ the same plugs provide audio by changing only software components?

firekage · 2026-08-22 16:53:56

Yes i can change the software mainly the driver but recently i swtiched to nouveau because again after some update (kernel propably) i ended with not being able to see the desktop screen due the lack of some "nvidia-modules" in the kernel itself. I use AUR because my nvidia is old and needs special drivers (according to the nvidia Arch page) so if they make not correctly the driver itself against the LTS kernel than driver looks like is installed but during the installation i see that some nvidia modules are missing and after reboot i end with Arch not being able to launch desktop due missing driver - it stays like frozen in terminal mode. I can only do CTRL+F1/Fn to switch terminals but as soon i tried to enter the "GUI" mode, no picture. I was tired of this because seen this lately much time so wanted to switch to nouveau because it always worked.

So if i try again to change to nvidia i could end again with the broken AUR driver.

seth · 2026-08-22 18:38:24

To make this absolutely clear: when using the binary nvidia driver you get audio output through the DVI/HDMI adapter?
https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/nvidia-470xx-dkms has a 7.0 patch and the (legacy) driver is still maintained by nvidia anyway.
I suggest that you try to install it, if that poses any problems we'll work through that and then you check that the driver provides output through that adapter before we're chasing a wild goose here.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Dynami … le_Support - people usually forget to install the linux-*headers for their kernel.
Pay attention to the dkms build and whether it fails with an error (and post the make log in that case, dkms tells you which one)

Arch Linux

#1 2026-08-18 14:32:07

No sound over HDMI with nouveau over old nvidia GTX210

#2 2026-08-18 17:12:53

Re: No sound over HDMI with nouveau over old nvidia GTX210

#3 2026-08-20 11:16:32

Re: No sound over HDMI with nouveau over old nvidia GTX210

#4 2026-08-20 13:32:40

Re: No sound over HDMI with nouveau over old nvidia GTX210

#5 2026-08-21 13:26:02

Re: No sound over HDMI with nouveau over old nvidia GTX210

#6 2026-08-21 14:15:32

Re: No sound over HDMI with nouveau over old nvidia GTX210

#7 2026-08-22 16:53:56

Re: No sound over HDMI with nouveau over old nvidia GTX210

#8 2026-08-22 18:38:24

Re: No sound over HDMI with nouveau over old nvidia GTX210

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