ALSA Upgrade Script

The script is not in line with Debian/Ubuntu rules for package handling. It just overwrites existing files.
You won't see any changes on the ALSA package-ids within Synaptic!

The script recognizes severe problems during the installation and will stop automatically. It shouldn't mess up your setup.
If the script stops with an error-message nothing should have been touched!

In the worst case scenario the -r restore option restores your old system status as good as possible. It'll reinstall kernel, kernel-headers and Alsa related packages.

Ubuntu upgrades/updates might overwrite your Alsa installation once in a while (e.g. Major upgrades, kernel-upgrades or ALSA-package upgrades).
You just need to rerun the upgrade-script using the -i option in this case (if you still have the compiled sources on the disk).

Short Alsa-Upgrade script install instructions:

1. download the script and save it somewhere
2. cd
3. tar xzvf AlsaUpgrade-1.0.24-2.tar.gz
4. chmod +x AlsaUpgrade-1.0.24-2.sh
5. sudo ./AlsaUpgrade-1.0.24-2.sh -d
6. sudo ./AlsaUpgrade-1.0.24-2.sh -c
7. sudo ./AlsaUpgrade-1.0.24-2.sh -i
8. sudo shutdown -r 0

Logging: I recommend to log all the upgrade steps, e.g.

script -a -c "./AlsaUpgrade-1.0.24-2.sh -d" /tmp/Alsa_1.0.24-2_upgrade_download.log

You'll find a log file /tmp/Alsa_1.0.24-2_upgrade_download.log as soon as the script is finished.
You need to run this procedure for every single step. Choose whatever logfile names.

Test and Troubleshooting

After reboot you can type:

cat /proc/asound/version

This will let you know if you're running the new version.

The easiest and most reliable test to verify if Alsa is working is "aplay" - the Alsa player application. If aplay won't work -- nothing else will work.

Make sure that all your channels are unmuted and volume is up!

Type in a terminal:
$ aplay -l
(This won't work on e.g. webcams with a microphone only. Here you need to do a $cat /proc/asound/cards to see if it is there"

If you see your soundcards, you're almost there.

To test your first (default-index 0 X=0) soundcard, type e.g.:
$ aplay -Dplughw:X,0 -fcd //.wav
or e.g.
$ speaker-test -Dplughw:X,0 -c2
replace the X with the index of your soundcard index , which you find out by typing "aplay -l" - look for "card X"

Multichannel you can test the following way:
1. Type $aplay -L to find out about your pcm device . e.g "surround51"
2. Type $speaker-test -D surround51 -c6
Note: If the channel mapping should be wrong you need to adjust it in .asoundrc
links :
alsa-info.tar : http://www.mediafire.com/?ryvemykblsc15jp
AlsaUpgrade-1.0.24-2.tar.gz : http://www.mediafire.com/?399o94by5u7bydx
HD-Audio-Models.txt : http://www.mediafire.com/?kcvfvtzedaf14hd

Source : ubuntuforum.org