HP spectre x360 on linux

[badusername]

It's ironic that every time someone posts another complaint about this issue I get an auto-generated email asking if that solved my problem so HP can give the post a "thumbs up". HP is clearly not paying attention and is flying on autopilot. I wonder how long they will survive as a company? Perhaps their best days are over? It's a shame. My first 2 HP laptops were great.

[thom3]

Just bumping this thread. I hate to return what is otherwise an excellent piece of hardware. But a BIOS update would go a long way.

[fredlechauve]

Same issue for me, but:

The sound with an USB  D.A.C is working perfectly.

[badusername]

The serial connection to my Soundcraft board works and I have a Dragonfy USB-DAC on the way. What concerns me a lot more is an unwillingness by HP to support Linux. Next time it will be video and I'll be looking for a different supplier.

Are HP managers paying attention to the Microsoft ads: "the tabet that will replace your notebook." Microsoft intends to emulate Apple and create a vertical market. PC vendors will be gone soon if they don't diversify and broaden their base. Perhaps that's not a concern for people who think they can just move on to another job? Good luck.

[badusername]

My DragonFly DAC came today. It took a bit of fiddling to get it to work on Ubuntu Studio. I used QjackCtl to load it. In the setup window under Interfaces there is a >to the right of the drop down list that opens a new list of devices. I was able to select it from there.

The Pulse Audio mixer did a terrible job of controlling volume. It went from soft to deafening. The volume control on the Audacious music player worked. I use the Ardour DAW to record live gigs and mix down. It doesn't have a volume control. Fortunately QasMixer worked one I selected the proper device.

Just getting sound added another $150 to the cost of the computer. I wish I had read the bug reports before I bought it.

[ssfc72]

Thanks for posting the Link!  Some good info on other laptops that do well running Linux.

I would have liked to purchased the Spectre, but it's obvious the support for Linux is not going to happen.

[thom3]

I just started the return process today. Got my RMA number and will pack it up and ship it back tomorrow. I'll probably get the Dell XP 13, but not sure.

[cynicist]

This is really frustrating for me as it is for everyone else here but I wanted to clear up the issue because there is some misinformation in this thread. The core problem is that this laptop (along with Windows 8.1) defaults to the I2S interface for audio but the support for it in the Linux kernel is not very mature at the moment. (some important features have not landed yet)

In the case of the Dell XPS 13, a BIOS update allowed for switching from the I2S interface to the HDA interface, which functions perfectly fine in both Linux and Windows. (sidenote: Why are there multiple interfaces? My understanding is that I2S is newer and more power efficient)

All of this is to say that it's not HP's fault that Linux has no sound, although an option to switch to HDA in the BIOS would be a great feature. On the plus side, it also means that a future kernel update will take care of this, but we don't know exactly when. (sometime after kernel 4.2+) 

In the mean time I'm just running Windows and using Linux on my desktop until the proper support arrives but I don't blame anyone who decided to return it rather than wait. 🙂

[badusername]

Thanks cynicist, this is the first real information I've read that explains the problem. Bug postings on the ubuntu launchpad site indicate that people have tried bios updates on the Spectre without success. If Dell can roll back to HDA why can't HP?

I hear audio out the HDMI connection. Does that mean it still uses the HDA interface? Do you know if the audio signal runs through separate wires that can be tapped? I do like using the Spectre with the addtion of a USB-DAC but I worry about the next problem and wonder if HP will even care.

[badusername]

I should have checked wikipedia before asking the last question about HDMI. The lines are digital so the conversion to analog happens in my TV set or standalone monitor that has speakers. I tested it on my old HP LCD monitor.