Intel sound avs driver still too immature

Easy Scarthgap version 6.6 has the 6.12.11 kernel. Forum member anilraj reported that sound does not work on his laptop, see this thread, page-1:

https://forum.puppylinux.com/viewtopic.php?t=13731

Yes, Intel developers have been working on a replacement for the legacy sound drivers, named "Audio Voice Speech" (AVS). It has been under development for many years; however, now in the 6.12 kernel it is being forced upon us, see Phoronix post:

https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-6.12-Sound-Drivers

I found one computer, my Acer Aspire 1 laptop, that hits the same sound problem that anilraj has reported. This is interesting, as I tested on my collection of seven laptop and desktop computers with Intel chipsets, and running with the 6.12.11 kernel they all load the legacy sound driver and sound works -- except one, the Aspire 1.

My Aspire 1 attempts to load the kernel 'snd_soc_avs.ko' kernel module, but "dmesg" shows that some firmware is missing. There is relevant firmware at /usr/lib/firmware/intel/avs in the "linux-firmware" package, but incomplete. However, I found the missing firmware here:

https://packages.debian.org/sid/firmware-intel-sound

But now it is very frustrating, as the snd_soc_avs module loads and dmesg reports all required firmware loaded, and the pulseaudio mixer shows the audio interface exists ...but there is no sound.

So, as was suggested in the forum thread, snd_soc_avs can be blacklisted. You can do this in the BootManager, that you can run by clicking on the deskup "setup" icon, then choose the "EasyOS" tab, then click on the "Bootup" button.

Or, you can do it directly. Open /etc/rc.d/MODULESCONFIG and edit the "SKIPLIST" variable -- make sure there is a trailing space. Reboot, saving the session.

If this is done, my Aspire 1 falls back to loading the "snd_hda_intel" kernel module, and sound works. Interesting, because according to the Phoronix article, a lot of legacy sound drivers have been removed. Yet, they are still there in all seven of my computers. The Aspire 1 has an Intel Broxton chipset, and from online reading I thought that this is one of the legacy drivers that has been removed.

Here is some more information about audio changes in 6.12:

https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/87wmje9oav.wl-tiwai@suse.de/

So, a solution is to blacklist "snd_soc_avs". Yes, could do that; however, given that all my computers still work with the legace sound drivers, same thing from tests in the forum thread and other online reports, I am tempted to recompile the kernel with AVS disabled. At least until the Intel developers get their act together.   

Tags: easy