AMD caps the audio output via HDMI

[cobito]

As you can read in this entry, AMD has been limiting audio output over HDMI with its proprietary drivers. The result is that if you use a DVI-HDMI adapter that has not been supplied by AMD, the audio does not work (yes, it is possible to transmit audio over DVI using the 4 analog pins).

The way AMD has been limiting the use of generic adapters has been by including an EEPROM in the adapter that communicated using the I2C serial transmission protocol with the graphics card. If the graphics card was unable to identify the adapter as "original", it disabled the sound.

It is a behavior that is observed in both Windows and Linux.

All this comes to light a few weeks after AMD publishes its second batch of documentation related to audio over HDMI whose support by the free Linux drivers was very limited or null until this moment. It seems that from now on that limitation will no longer exist with the free drivers although it is not known what will happen with the proprietary ones.

On the other hand, it seems like a completely absurd policy on the part of AMD considering that in most cases, said adapters come included with the graphics card.

[_Neptunno_]

Well, it seems like a big mess to me. For example, I use the HDMI audio output of my GT430 so I can have it connected to the TV and watch movies and series in full screen.
Previously, I had the bad luck of having an HD5450, with the misfortune that it could not output audio, unlike other similar HDs that could.

But anyway, taking this into account, I will be careful to look for a similar graphics card for such purposes, because they complicate your life unnecessarily.

Greetings!!