Hello,
I have suse 11.4 installed and I wish to replace the on-board sound chip with an add-on sound card. The following are available at my local shop but they cannot advise whether any will work on Linux Suse 11.4.
Anyone know which of these cards will work on Suse 11.4?
Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD
Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio
Asus Xonar DS
Many thanks,
Mark
I have (2) Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium FatalITY (No HD) and they work great! I use the optical out to a Sony Receiver on one card and daisy change from the other (Op Out to Op In). I am pretty sure the Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio would also work. I have heard that the Asus Xonar DS does not work, but that is not based on any direct experience from me. I have ever only ran into one Creative Sound card that did not work with Linux and it actually had no X-Fi chipset on it. The X-Fi Titanium has a black metal cover over the electronics. X-Fi drivers were released into open source, but Creative has made so many sound cards it is hard to know what all of them really do. None the less, the best sound I have ever gotten has been from Creative. Be aware that some of the lesser expensive cards claim digital output, but then require an I/O adapter or odd optical cable not included. The Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium has visible standard optical in and outputs on the back you can see and understand. The price for my cards were around $100 US each.
Thank You,
Hi JD,
Thanks for the response. I’ve read on the forum that the Xonar is very difficult to get up and running but I can’t find any directions on the alsa site about setting up the Z-Fi card. Me thinks it might be simpler to buy the X-Fi card and try it. I’ve banged my head on the wall a few times getting a video card to work, so prepared to get under the bonnet/hood as the need arises.
Thanks for help.
Mark
Hi JD,
Thanks for the response. I’ve read on the forum that the Xonar is very difficult to get up and running but I can’t find any directions on the alsa site about setting up the Z-Fi card. Me thinks it might be simpler to buy the X-Fi card and try it. I’ve banged my head on the wall a few times getting a video card to work, so prepared to get under the bonnet/hood as the need arises.
Thanks for help.
Mark
Please let us know what you selected and just how well it worked for you. You never know who else this information might help.
Thank You,
Hello, JD,
There are times when it is best to “lie doggo” (defined by the Cambridge dictionary as “to keep still and hide so that you cannot be found”). In fact, it is most popularly known as perhaps the last known words of a certain Lord Lucan, but that is another story.
Okay, although I do envy the good lord at this moment, I am part Canadian and have no maid, so must come clean. I had difficulties with my m/b’s built in audit chip and its associated driver as I could not engage Audacity to record live stream audio (BBC Radio 3). I therefore opted to install a dedicated sound card. I chose (after years using a Soundblaster in my old computers [but had not kept the blighter]) an Asus Xonar DS audio card. I plugged it into the computer and it was not automatically recognised. So, I went into YaST and it recognised the card, but nothing could be done to activate it. Hence my earlier email to the forum for help in choosing an audio card that might be recognised and work without any great effort. You suggested the good old S/B card. And you asked that I report back on my progress.
Well, this is my progress. I reviewed Old CPU’s brilliant help to another user on the same Asus card and began to look for refuge under a blanket. So, before returning my Asus Xonar DS card for a beloved Soundblaster, hopefully the easier solution, I decided to take the simplest route - to re-install the operating system. The only downside would be that I lose my desktop settings. All of my documents and downloads are saved and I can re-install my other software without too much trouble.
Well, to use the old expression of joy - “Let the bells ring out and the banners fly”, and voila, upon start up, the sound came on faster than the downing of a fine pint to quench long thirst. I did not have to go through a painful re-working of the sound system to get the card to work. I know I most likely have missed the chance to learn how to work Suse Linux at a very low level to manipulate its sound system, and might come to regret this short cut, but I have my sound back. I wish only that I could have done this without the need to re-install the entire system.
The good news, therefore, is that anyone looking to build a Suse Linux system using the Asus Xonar DS sound card should have no difficulties, at least on initial install. One thing I ought to point out is that I turned off the motherboard sound chip through the bios before I re-installed Suse Linux 11.4.
At any rate, sorry I did not try to install it using an existing Suse linux installation, but I’m just a bit lazy coming off a very hard 2 weeks of work.
If, however, my system crashes or I decide to take on the challenge, I’ll try the hard way by installing the card into a system which uses the m/b chip in an effort to see how best and simply it can be installed.
Thanks, otherwise, for the help. Sorry to be so lazy, but truly the past 2 weeks at my real (boring) job has taken its toll.
Cheers,
Mark
ps - the install worked well as I can now engage Audacity to record BBC Radio 3. Yeah!
One thing I ought to point out is that I turned off the motherboard sound chip through the bios before I re-installed Suse Linux 11.4.
I suppose YaST would have let you configure the new card before reinstalling the entire system if you’d done so right away… 
Anyway, sound and music is important, so congrats!
Hello, JD,
There are times when it is best to “lie doggo” (defined by the Cambridge dictionary as “to keep still and hide so that you cannot be found”). In fact, it is most popularly known as perhaps the last known words of a certain Lord Lucan, but that is another story.
Okay, although I do envy the good lord at this moment, I am part Canadian and have no maid, so must come clean. I had difficulties with my m/b’s built in audit chip and its associated driver as I could not engage Audacity to record live stream audio (BBC Radio 3). I therefore opted to install a dedicated sound card. I chose (after years using a Soundblaster in my old computers [but had not kept the blighter]) an Asus Xonar DS audio card. I plugged it into the computer and it was not automatically recognised. So, I went into YaST and it recognised the card, but nothing could be done to activate it. Hence my earlier email to the forum for help in choosing an audio card that might be recognised and work without any great effort. You suggested the good old S/B card. And you asked that I report back on my progress.
Well, this is my progress. I reviewed Old CPU’s brilliant help to another user on the same Asus card and began to look for refuge under a blanket. So, before returning my Asus Xonar DS card for a beloved Soundblaster, hopefully the easier solution, I decided to take the simplest route - to re-install the operating system. The only downside would be that I lose my desktop settings. All of my documents and downloads are saved and I can re-install my other software without too much trouble.
Well, to use the old expression of joy - “Let the bells ring out and the banners fly”, and voila, upon start up, the sound came on faster than the downing of a fine pint to quench long thirst. I did not have to go through a painful re-working of the sound system to get the card to work. I know I most likely have missed the chance to learn how to work Suse Linux at a very low level to manipulate its sound system, and might come to regret this short cut, but I have my sound back. I wish only that I could have done this without the need to re-install the entire system.
The good news, therefore, is that anyone looking to build a Suse Linux system using the Asus Xonar DS sound card should have no difficulties, at least on initial install. One thing I ought to point out is that I turned off the motherboard sound chip through the bios before I re-installed Suse Linux 11.4.
At any rate, sorry I did not try to install it using an existing Suse linux installation, but I’m just a bit lazy coming off a very hard 2 weeks of work.
If, however, my system crashes or I decide to take on the challenge, I’ll try the hard way by installing the card into a system which uses the m/b chip in an effort to see how best and simply it can be installed.
Thanks, otherwise, for the help. Sorry to be so lazy, but truly the past 2 weeks at my real (boring) job has taken its toll.
Cheers,
Mark
ps - the install worked well as I can now engage Audacity to record BBC Radio 3. Yeah!
So I don’t know what you do in your day job, but based on this post, perhaps you should be a writer? lol!
Anyway, some like to take the hard road as perhaps you do, but success is still success and better still, it made for a good message to read. Thanks so much for coming back and giving us the story to your final victory.
Thank You,
+1. Totally.
Thanks for the comments, JD and gropiuskalle.
No, honestly, I don’t like to take the hard way but sometimes it is the least taxing on the brain. The funny thing is, I did try to configure it in YaST. It recognised the card or at least its name. But I could not get it to configure. If memory serves me right, when I attempted to configure the card, YaST responded with something akin to an error message. Perhaps at that stage I ought to have asked the forum their thoughts. Lesson learnt.
I might try to figure this little problem out (the hard way 
by putting the system back and then attempt YaST again, then post my results for comment. If that fails I might try to follow Old CPU’s steps. Perhaps there is something to be learnt here.
I’ll report back.
Cheers,
Mark
No, what I meant was: 1st switching off the onboard soundcard, 2nd configuring the new card via YaST.
There always is. Always.