EVGA Nu Audio

[tigerdog]

I've read through the forum and found several mentions of a Linux driver, but I cannot find a link to the driver itself.  Would someone be so kind as to re-post here? 
 

Many thanks in advance!

[tigerdog]

3 hours ago, Miska said:

 

Driver is part of the Linux kernel. It is not distributed anywhere separately.

 

Thanks, Miska.  Does this mean the EVGA Nu expects to be supported like any USB 2.0 pluggable sound device (from ALSA's perspective?)

 

[tigerdog]

8 hours ago, Miska said:

 

Driver is part of the Linux kernel. It is not distributed anywhere separately.

 

I suspect my inability to interoperate is probably due to the firmware version on the card - it was reflashed to EVGA's latest during a Windows test, before I started LInux testing.  I see people had better luck with earlier versions, from the posts in 2019.  Can anyone say what firmware version they were using when it did work?  Or at least what version of Windows software had been loaded at the time?

[tigerdog]

6 hours ago, Miska said:

I did the kernel driver work in September 2019, so I think at the time I had firmware from Audio_0.2.0.7_WIN10.exe. But I think I have after that installed also Audio_0.2.1.2_WIN10.exe which I think my card at the moment has.

 

Which kernel release incorporates the changes?  Did it make it into 5.4?   I'd like to duplicate your environment exactly (kernel, ALSA, etc.) to see if maybe I'm fighting a different issue (mobo/chipset, maybe)

[tigerdog]

5 hours ago, Miska said:

 

Yes, it is in 5.4 kernel. You shouldn't need anything else than 5.4 kernel in case your base OS is relatively up to do date (Ubuntu 18.04, Debian Buster, etc)

 

So, I am using a clean install of Ubuntu 20.04LTS with 5.4.0-26 kernel,  ALSA Driver k5.4.0-26-generic, Library 1.2.2, utilities 1.2.2.   Device is seen in lspci (ASMedia ASM1042 host controller) and lsusb (EVA Corporation EVGA Nu Audio)  that much is good.  Card is visible to ALSA as seen in alsamixer, but input and output volume is not changeable using normal arrow-key controls.  alsa speaker-test returns "Setting of hwparams failed: Invalid argument"  and results in "usb 10-1: 1:1: usb_set_interface failed (-71) written to dmesg logs.  My thought is to get it working with ALSA first, before worrying about why it doesn't show up in Pulse.
 

@Miskadoes alsa work to control the card in your system? 

 

[tigerdog]

@Miska my experience is similar, but not identical to, the_bat, so we have three different experiences:

1. miska - everything "just works"
2. tigerdog - everything looks like it should work but there's no sound, alsamixer cannot adjust the volume, and errors are thrown to dmesg when any operation is attempted on the card (like playing music)
3. the_bat - cannot load mixer controls: Protocol error causes alsamixer to abort.  (BTW, I saw that under 19.10 on a different system)

Miska's is the furthest away from an "out of the box" software environment since his version of ALSA is older (1.1.3 vs 1.2.2) but his system kernel is newer than what ships with Ubuntu 20.04 (5.4.22 vs 5.4.0) 

@the_bat Could you provide a little more detail about your 20.04 installation (clean install vs upgrade?, alsa and kernel versions, etc.)

 

My machine was wiped clean, then a completely clean 20.04 install, then applied only updates to modules already installed.  You are correct, the speaker test defaults to 48KHz sampling rate.  @Miska are you implying that it is not possible to set the input or output sampling rate, that the card can only handle PCM at the max rate?  That might be OK for playing, assuming the upstream chain can do the signal rate conversion in software.  It is not helpful when trying to record at a specific rate.

[tigerdog]

30 minutes ago, Miska said:

 

It's 2:25am here.

 

@Miska You're as obsessive as me!  Sleep well.

[tigerdog]

@the_bat  our systems are similar - I'm at 5.4.0-26, not -28  but very similar.  I'm beginning to wonder if the firmware distributed by EVGA breaks (or never fully complied with) the USB 2.0 audio spec.  The main processor on the module is by XMOS (maybe the xCORE-200 USB?  XMOS web site indicates they support USB 1.0 and USB 2.0 audio and at least for Windows, both their own stereo driver and the Thesycon multichannel driver. https://www.xmos.com/software/usb-audio/driver-support/

 

I can say my use case is definitely more mundane than what Miska is doing.  I just want to use it like a normal sound card (but with very high quality.)  No output to external DACs, just quality capture and quality playback, using the usual tools (alsa, pulse, etc.)

[tigerdog]

now at 5.4.0-28, same issue.  EVGA card will not accept parameters passed by alsa.  alsamixer shows level meters but arrow keys will not move them.  aplay shows card, but trying to play just results in an error like so:

[tigerdog]

I think I am making some progress here.  Most of my audio files are CD quality, or 96/24 that I've remastered from vinyl and stored as FLAC.  Before I say too much more, I want to make sure a) all expected audio modes are working, and b) make sure what I've done is repeatable.  One thing I can't easily test is passthrough of Dolby and other formats.  I don't have access to any DSD source files, either, so I'm not quite sure how to go about testing this.  Suggestions welcome.  If all goes well, we'll end up with a repeatable solution, without major Linux-fu needed, for those of us who are interested in quality audio.

 

[tigerdog]

On 4/29/2020 at 5:25 PM, tigerdog said:

I think I am making some progress here... If all goes well, we'll end up with a repeatable solution, without major Linux-fu needed, for those of us who are interested in quality audio.

 

It seems like I have a reasonable handle on this and would like to see if someone else can repeat my success.  @Miska looks to be correct - the 5.4 Linux kernel has everything we need for the card to work, except a way to insure the proper firmware is on the Nu.  I have tested with the current firmware 0x032 from Windows driver version 0.2.1.10, as well as previous versions 0x02B, 0x028, and 0x027.  Of these, only firmware 0x027 allows the card to be recognized and controlled by ALSA and Pulseaudio. 

To test under Linux, the card must first be updated under Windows.  Easiest way is to delete whatever driver version is currently loaded, and install EVGA driver version 0.1.0.1 or 0.1.1 (both use 0x027 fimrware.)  The restart Linux and from a terminal, open alsamixer to make sure the card can be selected, and the arrow keys actually change the volume.  This has worked for me on two different systems, both running Xubuntu 20.04LTS.  I have not tested pass-through of Dolby AC-3, or DSD because I don't have the capability, but I trust Miska's word that these work.

A couple of things I've found during testing: 

Outputs default to about 50% volume and somehow, pulseaudio does not take them to full.  I had to use alsamixer to set the outputs to 100%, then control the listening volume using pulse.   "PCM rear" appears to control the line-out RCA jacks.

 

Inputs appear to be connected to the Cirrus Logic CS5436 ADC, as even when set to sample at 384000, there is no information present at the upper reaches of the frequency spectrum.  This is too bad, since the line input's AKM5572 is one of the main reasons I bought the card.

So, if anyone is still following this thread and still having trouble under linux, please try flashing firmware to 0x027 and see if this makes the card work in your system, and please post your results.

 

[tigerdog]

2 hours ago, EVGA_Lee said:

Our Audio team put together a little firmware package that allows you to flash different firmware between Windows and Linux options for the original NU Audio Card.

 

w00t!!!  Lee, my thanks to you and your audio team for sticking with the Linux community.   I'll be trying the updated firmware this evening.  I'm looking forward to the line-in option in Linux!  I'll post here and share my results.