Realtek ALC1220-VB USB Audio

[vitkor]

Hi! I'm Gigabyte TRX40 Aorus Extreme owner.
Ubuntu 18.04 with kernel 5.3.18.
I have exactly the same problem - there is no sound on the optical output.
dmesg | grep snd
[Сб дек 28 14:49:23 2019] snd_hda_intel 0000:21:00.1: Disabling MSI
[Сб дек 28 14:49:23 2019] snd_hda_intel 0000:21:00.1: Handle vga_switcheroo audio client
[Сб дек 28 14:49:23 2019] snd_hda_intel 0000:23:00.4: enabling device (0000 -> 0002)
[Сб дек 28 14:49:23 2019] snd_hda_intel 0000:23:00.4: no codecs found!

I have exactly the same problem - there is no sound on the optical output.
I searched the entire Internet for drivers or a workaround. But so far there is nothing. If I find a solution, I will write in this thread. Thanks.

[mattlach]

[ 8.760872] snd_hda_intel 0000:21:00.1: Disabling MSI
[ 8.760878] snd_hda_intel 0000:21:00.1: Handle vga_switcheroo audio client
[ 8.764080] snd_hda_intel 0000:23:00.4: no codecs found!
[ 11.879124] usbcore: registered new interface driver snd-usb-audio

Looking at this a little more closely, I wonder if this output is relevant. snd_hda_intel doesn't seem like the right module for our audio devices.

The one I am trying to troubleshoot on the other forum is snd_usb_audio

[mattlach]

ROG-Strix-TRX40-E-Gaming with 3960x owner here.
I got exactly same issue. No audio from S/PDIF Out. Using Line Out do work fine.
On my side it's even worse as in Windows I do get crackling / popping / audio not working after some time. Maybe it's due outdated windows version (1803).

I posted on Asus forum question, obviously no one from Asus check those so no answer but I got reply from support that my question was forwarded to technical stuff.

I did wrote Your use case on Asus forum as DOA for My motherboard but apparently it's not only my mobo so that would mean that there is something more fundamentally wrong with this entire platform or it's just not mature enough.

As for the Linux, I tested:

- debian testing
- kubuntu / ubuntu 19.10
- mint 19.3

Result is exactly same no audio and missing codec in dmsg:

[ 8.760872] snd_hda_intel 0000:21:00.1: Disabling MSI
[ 8.760878] snd_hda_intel 0000:21:00.1: Handle vga_switcheroo audio client
[ 8.764080] snd_hda_intel 0000:23:00.4: no codecs found!
[ 11.879124] usbcore: registered new interface driver snd-usb-audio

Apparently TR platform doesn't support HD Audio so they convert USB port into audio that's why all those "USB Audio devices". And it's done via ALC4050H (I don't know about Asus, suspecting based on KitGuru review, as they don't specify what "SupremeFX S1220 CODEC" actually is)

https://youtu.be/UdoN2f7mbJE?t=664

This is nicely explained in Aorus diagram for panel (something that Asus doesn't do at all):
https://download.gigabyte.com/FileLi...ter_1001_e.pdf page 8.

1 x Realtek® ALC4050H codec+1 x Realtek® ALC1220-VB codec (Rear audio)
1 x Realtek® ALC4050H codec+1 x ESS SABRE9218 DAC chips (Front audio)

Bottom line I did found out online mentions regarding audio on Asus Strix motherboard dating back 2017 but it was not specified if issue was with optical out or codec itself (it was added in kernel 4.11).

Probably asking on alsa forum would yield some more answers.

A kind member on the Linux Mint forums who seems pretty good with ALSA has been helping me troubleshoot.

You can see my thread here if interested.

We don't have a solution yet, but we continue to work on the issue.

mattlach Question regarding SSD performance: do You see degradation of performance in RAID mode on Your motherboard (assuming that You use RAID). Just asking because now I'm wondering about returning my Strix and going with MSI mobo (plus for me is that it doesn't have fans for VRMs). Issue is that my RAID drives perform same as on x299 but single ones drop in performance. I'm using 4 x Samsung SSD 860 EVO 4TB, 2 in RAID 0, 2 stand alone.

Unfortunately I can't speak to the RAID features on these things, but in general my understanding is that RAID0 is pretty disappointing with NVMe drives. They are already so paralleled that striping them has little benefit, and whenever you combine multiple drives you wind up increasing latency. I pretty much gave up on all RAID0 in the early 2000's.

Only thing I use RAID for now is on my NAS, and there I stick with ZFS.

[Noname]

ROG-Strix-TRX40-E-Gaming with 3960x owner here.
I got exactly same issue. No audio from S/PDIF Out. Using Line Out do work fine.
On my side it's even worse as in Windows I do get crackling / popping / audio not working after some time. Maybe it's due outdated windows version (1803).

I posted on Asus forum question, obviously no one from Asus check those so no answer but I got reply from support that my question was forwarded to technical stuff.

I did wrote Your use case on Asus forum as DOA for My motherboard but apparently it's not only my mobo so that would mean that there is something more fundamentally wrong with this entire platform or it's just not mature enough.

As for the Linux, I tested:

- debian testing
- kubuntu / ubuntu 19.10
- mint 19.3

Result is exactly same no audio and missing codec in dmsg:

[    8.760872] snd_hda_intel 0000:21:00.1: Disabling MSI
[    8.760878] snd_hda_intel 0000:21:00.1: Handle vga_switcheroo audio client
[    8.764080] snd_hda_intel 0000:23:00.4: no codecs found!
[   11.879124] usbcore: registered new interface driver snd-usb-audio

Apparently TR platform doesn't support HD Audio so they convert USB port into audio that's why all those "USB Audio devices". And it's done via ALC4050H (I don't know about Asus, suspecting based on KitGuru review, as they don't specify what "SupremeFX S1220 CODEC" actually is)

https://youtu.be/UdoN2f7mbJE?t=664

This is nicely explained in Aorus diagram for panel (something that Asus doesn't do at all):
https://download.gigabyte.com/FileLi...ter_1001_e.pdf page 8.

1 x Realtek® ALC4050H codec+1 x Realtek® ALC1220-VB codec (Rear audio)
1 x Realtek® ALC4050H codec+1 x ESS SABRE9218 DAC chips (Front audio)

Bottom line I did found out online mentions regarding audio on Asus Strix motherboard dating back 2017 but it was not specified if issue was with optical out or codec itself (it was added in kernel 4.11).

Probably asking on alsa forum would yield some more answers.

mattlach Question regarding SSD performance: do You see degradation of performance in RAID mode on Your motherboard (assuming that You use RAID). Just asking because now I'm wondering about returning my Strix and going with MSI mobo (plus for me is that it doesn't have fans for VRMs). Issue is that my RAID drives perform same as on x299 but single ones drop in performance. I'm using 4 x Samsung SSD 860 EVO 4TB, 2 in RAID 0, 2 stand alone.

[mattlach]

Hey all,

Apparently this "USB Audio" chipset is being used by Gigabyte on most of their recent motherboards.

I just upgraded to a Threaderipper 3960x, using Gigabytes TRX40 Aorus Master (silly "gaming" product names to the max!) and I am having no luck with this chip under Linux at all.

I'm on Linux Mint 19.3, Kernel 5.3.0-24. The device shows up as a "Generic USB Audio" in the sound dialog. I select the Optical Out (as I am using an External DAC) but there is no sound output no matter what I do.

It works in Windows, so I know it is not a hardware problem.

I'd appreciate any suggestions. I have been using Linux for 20+ years and am fairly knowledgeable, but the sound system is one area I am mostly clueless about how it works.