Rebuilt my HTPC, need some pointers

So I bought a new TV and new receiver and I decided to rearrange my home and do some spring cleaning. While cleaning I found a still sealed in the box Intel motherboard and Core 2 Duo e6300 that I had purchased as a bundle deal and forgot about.

So I decided to rebuild my HTPC and I did so with the following specs:

Mobo: Intel (forgot model number can look it up later)
Processor: C2D e6300
RAM: 2 Gigs DDR 2 800
Video: Nvidia GeForce 210 w/ HDMI out
OS: Ubuntu 9.10

So, I built it, and HDMI video works great to my TV, but I cannot for the life of me get HDMI audio to work. My receiver has 4 HDMI in and 1 HDMI out, so I plan on running everything (HTPC, xbox, ps3, turntable, etc etc) through the receiver and only having one cable go from the receiver to the TV for cable management and ease of use.

Scouring google I find many mixed reviews, and content regarding HDMI audio in Linux. I read that the newest Nvidia drivers don't support it (version 180.x or 190.x), that the ALSA open source drivers don't support it, and that ATI drivers do support it. So, I am pretty confused. I have 3 more weeks to return the Nvidia card and exchange it for an ATI if that will answer my problems.

Has anyone built a HTPC with Linux and got audio to work over HDMI?

Thanks

T

Well, I figured I'd update the thread....

I got the latest Nvidia drivers installed and the latest ALSA drivers installed. Now, when I launch the alsamixer binary the Nvidia card is recognized but it has no options for audio out over HDMI. So I am like half way there to getting it to work.

I was up pretty late last night tinkering with it. I think when I get home today I am going to disable the on-board audio in the BIOS and check the "black-list" modules to ensure that any of the nvidia codecs aren't being purposely not loaded.

Well for the sake of anyone finding this thread via search or Google I figure I'd let you all know the outcome, which I am sure you are all dying to know....

In the end I returned the Nvidia 210 card and picked up an ATI Radeon 4350 and it works in Ubuntu with the ATI proprietary drivers out of the box, including Audio over HDMI. So now my Ubuntu HTPC and MythTV box is boasting 7.1 audio out to my receiver, and life is now good....

Well I spoke too soon. The audio out works, yes, and my receiver does get surround sound. However, I cannot control the audio levels via software mixer in Linux. So I need to figure out how to tweak that.