Hello!
I currently use a Creative Soundblaster Z SE for my 5.1 sound on Garuda Linux. The sound is, after enabling bass redirection in alsamixer really good! But sadly this card is sometimes working, and sometimes not working. Garuda finds the card, but doesnt show it in the audio segment sometimes. About 60% it works, but sometimes I have to reboot multiple times till it finds it.
I then tried to use the mainboard soundcard, but its not redirecting the lower frequenzies to my bass. Alsamixer doesnt even give me the option, but gave me the option with the soundblaster one.
So my question is, is there a 5.1 soundcard with the 3 jack ports (Center/Bass, Front, rear) that work good or great under Linux? I heard many cards have problems under linux because of driver issues.
PS: I will post the garuda-inxi later this day at home.
╭─aether@aether in ~
╰─λ garuda-inxi
System:
Kernel: 6.16.7-zen1-1-zen arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 15.2.1
clocksource: tsc avail: hpet,acpi_pm
parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-linux-zen
root=UUID=3011f5f2-3e42-4bd8-80c3-5d7e2d013698 rw rootflags=subvol=@
quiet loglevel=3
Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 6.4.5 tk: Qt v: N/A info: frameworks v: 6.18.0
wm: kwin_wayland vt: 1 dm: SDDM Distro: Garuda base: Arch Linux
Machine:
Type: Desktop System: ASUS product: N/A v: N/A serial: <superuser required>
Mobo: ASUSTeK model: ROG STRIX B550-F GAMING v: Rev X.0x
serial: <superuser required> part-nu: SKU uuid: <superuser required>
UEFI: American Megatrends v: 3631 date: 08/08/2025
CPU:
Info: model: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Zen 3+ gen: 3
level: v3 note: check built: 2022 process: TSMC n6 (7nm) family: 0x19 (25)
model-id: 0x21 (33) stepping: 2 microcode: 0xA201213
Topology: cpus: 1x dies: 1 clusters: 1 cores: 6 threads: 12 tpc: 2
smt: enabled cache: L1: 384 KiB desc: d-6x32 KiB; i-6x32 KiB L2: 3 MiB
desc: 6x512 KiB L3: 32 MiB desc: 1x32 MiB
Speed (MHz): avg: 1738 min/max: 561/4654 boost: enabled scaling:
driver: amd-pstate-epp governor: performance cores: 1: 1738 2: 1738 3: 1738
4: 1738 5: 1738 6: 1738 7: 1738 8: 1738 9: 1738 10: 1738 11: 1738 12: 1738
bogomips: 88802
Flags-basic: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3
Vulnerabilities: <filter>
Graphics:
Device-1: Intel Battlemage G21 [Arc B580] vendor: ASRock driver: xe
v: kernel arch: Xe2 process: TSMC n4 (4nm) built: 2024+ pcie: gen: 1
speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 ports: active: DP-2,HDMI-A-3 empty: DP-1, DP-3,
HDMI-A-1, HDMI-A-2, HDMI-A-4 bus-ID: 0b:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:e20b
class-ID: 0300
Display: wayland server: X.org v: 1.21.1.18 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.8
compositor: kwin_wayland driver: X: loaded: modesetting
alternate: fbdev,intel,vesa dri: iris gpu: xe d-rect: 3360x1080
display-ID: 0
Monitor-1: DP-2 pos: primary,left model: Samsung LS24AG30x
serial: <filter> built: 2023 res: mode: 1920x1080 hz: 144 scale: 100% (1)
dpi: 93 gamma: 1.2 size: 527x296mm (20.75x11.65") diag: 604mm (23.8")
ratio: 16:9 modes: max: 1920x1080 min: 720x400
Monitor-2: HDMI-A-3 pos: right model: XIAJING19 serial: <filter>
built: 2019 res: mode: 1440x900 hz: 75 scale: 100% (1) dpi: 91 gamma: 1.2
size: 410x256mm (16.14x10.08") diag: 472mm (18.6") ratio: 16:10, 15:9
modes: max: 1440x900 min: 720x400
API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: intel iris platforms: device: 0 drv: iris
device: 1 drv: swrast gbm: drv: iris surfaceless: drv: iris wayland:
drv: iris x11: drv: iris
API: OpenGL v: 4.6 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: intel mesa v: 25.2.3-arch1.2
glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: Mesa Intel Arc B580 Graphics (BMG
G21) device-ID: 8086:e20b memory: 11.65 GiB unified: no display-ID: :1.0
API: Vulkan v: 1.4.321 layers: 13 device: 0 type: discrete-gpu name: Intel
Arc B580 Graphics (BMG G21) driver: mesa intel v: 25.2.3-arch1.2
device-ID: 8086:e20b surfaces: N/A device: 1 type: cpu name: llvmpipe
(LLVM 20.1.8 256 bits) driver: mesa llvmpipe v: 25.2.3-arch1.2 (LLVM
20.1.8) device-ID: 10005:0000 surfaces: N/A
Info: Tools: api: clinfo, eglinfo, glxinfo, vulkaninfo
de: kscreen-console,kscreen-doctor gpu: corectrl wl: wayland-info
x11: xdpyinfo, xprop, xrandr
Audio:
Device-1: Creative Labs CA0132 Sound Core3D [Sound Blaster Recon3D /
Z-Series BlasterX AE-5 Plus] driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 1
speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 05:00.0 chip-ID: 1102:0012 class-ID: 0403
Device-2: Intel vendor: ASRock driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie:
speed: Unknown lanes: 63 link-max: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s bus-ID: 0c:00.0
chip-ID: 8086:e2f7 class-ID: 0403
Device-3: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Starship/Matisse HD Audio
vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s
lanes: 16 bus-ID: 0e:00.4 chip-ID: 1022:1487 class-ID: 0403
Device-4: C-Media USB PnP Audio Device
driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid type: USB rev: 1.1 speed: 12 Mb/s
lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 3-1:2 chip-ID: 0d8c:0134 class-ID: 0300
API: ALSA v: k6.16.7-zen1-1-zen status: kernel-api with: aoss
type: oss-emulator tools: alsactl,alsamixer,amixer
Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.4.8 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse
status: active 2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin
4: pw-jack type: plugin tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
Device-1: Intel Ethernet I225-V vendor: ASUSTeK driver: igc v: kernel pcie:
gen: 2 speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: N/A bus-ID: 08:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:15f3
class-ID: 0200
IF: enp8s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Info: services: NetworkManager, smbd, systemd-timesyncd
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 1.14 TiB used: 37.67 GiB (3.2%)
SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Western Digital
model: WD5000AAKX-00ERMA0 size: 465.76 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B
logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s tech: N/A serial: <filter> fw-rev: 1H15
scheme: MBR
ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: Micron model: C400-MTFDDAK256MAM
size: 238.47 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: 040H scheme: GPT
ID-3: /dev/sdc maj-min: 8:32 vendor: Crucial model: CT500MX500SSD4
size: 465.76 GiB block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: 023 scheme: GPT
Partition:
ID-1: / raw-size: 97.42 GiB size: 97.42 GiB (100.00%)
used: 37.63 GiB (38.6%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sdb2 maj-min: 8:18
ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 100 MiB size: 96 MiB (96.00%)
used: 47.2 MiB (49.1%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/sdc1 maj-min: 8:33
ID-3: /home raw-size: 97.42 GiB size: 97.42 GiB (100.00%)
used: 37.63 GiB (38.6%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sdb2 maj-min: 8:18
ID-4: /var/log raw-size: 97.42 GiB size: 97.42 GiB (100.00%)
used: 37.63 GiB (38.6%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sdb2 maj-min: 8:18
ID-5: /var/tmp raw-size: 97.42 GiB size: 97.42 GiB (100.00%)
used: 37.63 GiB (38.6%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sdb2 maj-min: 8:18
Swap:
Kernel: swappiness: 133 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default) zswap: no
ID-1: swap-1 type: zram size: 31.25 GiB used: 4 KiB (0.0%) priority: 100
comp: zstd avail: lzo-rle,lzo,lz4,lz4hc,deflate,842 dev: /dev/zram0
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 47.4 C mobo: 39.5 C
Fan Speeds (rpm): fan-1: 710 fan-2: 0 fan-3: 0
Info:
Memory: total: 32 GiB available: 31.25 GiB used: 4.44 GiB (14.2%)
Processes: 516 Power: uptime: 2h 25m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: deep
avail: s2idle wakeups: 0 hibernate: platform avail: shutdown, reboot,
suspend, test_resume image: 12.47 GiB services: org_kde_powerdevil,
power-profiles-daemon, upowerd Init: systemd v: 258 default: graphical
tool: systemctl
Packages: pm: pacman pkgs: 1848 libs: 553 tools: octopi,paru Compilers:
clang: 20.1.8 gcc: 15.2.1 Shell: Bash v: 5.3.3 default: fish v: 4.0.8
running-in: konsole inxi: 3.3.39
Garuda (2.8.3-2):
System install date: 2025-09-15
Garuda release: 250907
Last full system update: 2025-09-22 ↻
Is partially upgraded: No
Relevant software: snapper NetworkManager dracut
Windows dual boot: Probably (Run as root to verify)
Failed units:
--- System Health Check Report ---
23/24 checks run in 1.20 seconds ⌛
Powered by garuda-health 🦅
--- INFO ---
- A reboot is pending (update applied since last reboot)
✅ System health check passed. No issues found.
╭─aether@aether in ~ took 3s
╰─λ
Here is the garuda-inxi