Trying to get my sound card to work with ArchLinux

xithilinx · 2008-10-10 22:32:49

Okay, let me tell you my problem. I'm still somewhat of a noob when it comes to linux so don't be hard on me . And, yes that's half of my problem, anyways I've got a sound card called the Soundblaster X-FI USB and I've been trying it to get it to work with the alsaconf command which hasn't worked of course Let me point out that whenever I use my backup flashdrive with PuppyLinux it the Alsaconf inside of it see's the card that I'm using and automatically sets it up.. Plus whenever I type the ' cat /proc/asound/cards ' command I get this..

0 [Intel ]: HDA-Intel - HDA Intel
HDA Intel at 0xefffc000 irq 21
1 [S51 ]: USB-Audio - SB X-Fi Surround 5.1
Creative Technology SB X-Fi Surround 5.1 at usb-0000:00:1d.2-2, full speed

*(The first one being my dead onboard audio)

So please help me out here I really want to have sound again and hey maybe I'll learn something new about linux!

xithilinx · 2008-10-10 23:51:56

I'd really like to figure this out.. Does anybody have a solution?

ZenMystic · 2008-10-11 00:15:36

just a thought [wild guess], can the onboard audio be disabled in the bios?

xithilinx · 2008-10-11 00:35:50

ZenMystic wrote:

just a thought [wild guess], can the onboard audio be disabled in the bios?

Thanks for the reply, but my revision of bios won't allow that. Also I don't think that would help my problem either since I'm trying to get it to work within ArchLinux. The only soundcard I see in my Alsaconf is my onboard, but that really doesn't matter since that isn't what I want anyways, so I would never install the driver for that. All I'm trying to do is to get my Creative Soundblaster X-FI to show up in Alsa so it configures it so I can be happy again (with sound), lol.

z0phi3l · 2008-10-11 03:53:38

Does any USB device work? Or is the problem with just the USB Sound Card?

Mookfish · 2008-10-11 10:21:57

Have you blacklisted the onboard soundcard in rc.conf? I have sound built into my vga card but don't use it, that stopped alsa from using my pci sound card until I blacklisted its module,

!snd-hda-intel is the module for the sound I don't use so the ! blacklists it in the MODULES section of rc.conf, hope that's of some help.

konni · 2008-10-11 17:33:54

mhhm... the creative x-fi support for linux seems to be rather bad...
--> http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=n … &px=Njc3Mg

there's some experimental driver that maybe makes it work with alsa, see here:
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=n … &px=Njc3NQ

xithilinx · 2008-10-18 18:31:07

konni wrote:

mhhm... the creative x-fi support for linux seems to be rather bad...
--> http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=n … &px=Njc3Mg
there's some experimental driver that maybe makes it work with alsa, see here:
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=n … &px=Njc3NQ

My card is a USB which isn't compatible with the driver that they include. So no help there ;(. I've loaded Ubuntu recently and it has worked perfectly with my soundcard (Creative X-FI USB Surround 5.1) right out of the box. I personally think there has to be a way to get it to work in Archlinux since it worked in Ubuntu...

Although. I suppose I could just use Ubuntu but I'm more of a fan of Arch. So does anyone have any idea what Ubuntu used as in drivers wise to get my card to work in linux??

xithilinx · 2008-10-18 19:59:03

Could somebody help? I know that this is able to be done since two other distros have already shown me that they can work.

heleos · 2008-10-18 20:01:11

I bought a PCI X-FI, but had to return it because it was unable to work with linux. I don't know about USB, but if the card version doesnt work, there's a good chance that wont either.

I ended up getting M-Audio. While they don't have x64 windows drivers, it works great in linux

edit: I should probably read the entire thread before posting. Looks like it works in Ubuntu. I'm out of idea's!

Last edited by heleos (2008-10-18 20:04:03)

xithilinx · 2008-10-18 20:27:15

I got it to work finally!! Which is of course awesome and it sounds great. The only problem I have is that I can't control the sound though the volume control.

Although I've fixed that with a quick remedy. Re-routing the audio to my sound system and plugging my headphones in, therefore ultimately I can control the volume.

Xyne · 2008-10-18 21:04:52

I'm guessing that you only have your onboard sound card working as ALSA doesn't yet support the Creative X-Fi series (they've had the specs for a while now, and OSS has supported the series for a few months).

If you want to get your X-Fi card working, install OSS. It's worked for me without any hiccups. http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/OSS

edit: the mixer works btw

Last edited by Xyne (2008-10-18 21:05:13)

xithilinx · 2008-10-18 21:23:54

Wrong. My on-board is broken as stated in an earlier post. Actually it doesn't even have a jack at the moment because I had to get it to work with some special modifications before it fully broke down.

As I said my x-fi work with ALSA. It took me a long time to get this to work - 4 hours to be exact. (From the first time I made this post I just said the hell with it and switched to ubuntu, until now.)

Since I've got ALSA up and running with my X-FI than, I won't currently need OSS. Plus my way of dong things, I no longer get the crackling and popping that I got in Ubuntu.

EDIT: Also the Mixer really isn't needed for me because of my plugging it into my stereo. Plus it's not even a big deal because other programs such as Rhythmbox and Games are able to control the sound levels just fine.

Last edited by xithilinx (2008-10-18 21:25:54)

Louis de Broglie · 2008-10-19 10:28:40

Can you please describe how did you do that ? I have x-fi xtreme audio pci card and i am using oss for that reason.

Xyne · 2008-10-19 16:08:27

I'd also like to know how you got it working with ALSA. I double-checked the site and it still lists the X-Fi cards as unsupported.

Anonymo · 2009-08-09 19:57:22

I found this today:

http://support.creative.com/downloads/d … adId=10792

Some directions from the forum:
http://forums.creative.com/creativelabs … ing&page=7

1. If you are using some integrated audio, it is better to disable it in bios, unless you need it for something else
2. If you are using OSS, remove the following diretories and files:
/lib/modules/<your_kernel>/kernel/oss
/usr/lib/oss
/isr/lib64/oss (if your system is x86-64)
/etc/init.d/oss
and reinstall your kernel package
3. Enter creative driver directory and run the following as root:
make clean
make
make install
4. Reboot system or run as root: modprobe ctxfi

Last edited by Anonymo (2009-08-09 20:14:06)

Anonymo · 2009-08-09 20:23:41

Found some more information here:

http://mndar.phpnet.us/usbxfi/

Arch Linux

#1 2008-10-10 22:32:49

Trying to get my sound card to work with ArchLinux

#2 2008-10-10 23:51:56

Re: Trying to get my sound card to work with ArchLinux

#3 2008-10-11 00:15:36

Re: Trying to get my sound card to work with ArchLinux

#4 2008-10-11 00:35:50

Re: Trying to get my sound card to work with ArchLinux

#5 2008-10-11 03:53:38

Re: Trying to get my sound card to work with ArchLinux

#6 2008-10-11 10:21:57

Re: Trying to get my sound card to work with ArchLinux

#7 2008-10-11 17:33:54

Re: Trying to get my sound card to work with ArchLinux

#8 2008-10-18 18:31:07

Re: Trying to get my sound card to work with ArchLinux

#9 2008-10-18 19:59:03

Re: Trying to get my sound card to work with ArchLinux

#10 2008-10-18 20:01:11

Re: Trying to get my sound card to work with ArchLinux

#11 2008-10-18 20:27:15

Re: Trying to get my sound card to work with ArchLinux

#12 2008-10-18 21:04:52

Re: Trying to get my sound card to work with ArchLinux

#13 2008-10-18 21:23:54

Re: Trying to get my sound card to work with ArchLinux

#14 2008-10-19 10:28:40

Re: Trying to get my sound card to work with ArchLinux

#15 2008-10-19 16:08:27

Re: Trying to get my sound card to work with ArchLinux

#16 2009-08-09 19:57:22

Re: Trying to get my sound card to work with ArchLinux

#17 2009-08-09 20:23:41

Re: Trying to get my sound card to work with ArchLinux

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