Release notes · Sound

LinuxDoors 1.51

Sound works on LinuxDoors. The kernel now includes the HD Audio codec drivers that onboard sound on most PCs needs, and PulseAudio is part of the ISO and starts by itself in every desktop session -- so programs built for it, KDE's Kdenlive AppImage among them, work straight after install.

Released October 19, 2026 ISO 2.56 GB Kernel 7.2.11-1

0commands to run before Kdenlive's AppImage plays and previews video

0failed services on boot, BIOS and UEFI

0packages pending after install -- pkg update is clean

↓Get it

New install

Download the v1.51 ISO from the Download page.

Download page

Already installed

sudo pkg update
sudo pkg upgrade
sudo pkg install pulseaudio alsa-plugins
systemctl --user enable --now pulseaudio.socket

The upgrade brings the new kernel (restart afterwards). The last line turns PulseAudio on for the user who runs it; a new v1.51 install has it on for everyone.

♫Onboard sound: HD Audio codec drivers

Most PCs' built-in sound is Intel HD Audio: a controller, plus a codec chip (Realtek, Conexant, the HDMI audio in graphics cards, and others). LinuxDoors' kernel had the controller driver but none of the codec drivers, and it is the codec driver that creates the playback device -- so on most computers LinuxDoors had no sound at all. The kernel now has all of them built in: generic, Realtek, HDMI/DisplayPort (Intel, AMD, NVIDIA), Analog Devices, IDT/Sigmatel, VIA, Conexant, Cirrus Logic, Creative, C-Media and Senarytech. Nothing else in the kernel changed.

♫PulseAudio, on by default

PulseAudio starts the first time a program asks for it, in your own desktop session, and stops again when nothing has used it for a while. Programs written for ALSA -- Firefox among them -- now play through PulseAudio too, so two programs can make sound at the same time instead of one taking the sound card for itself. If PulseAudio can't be reached (on a text console, for example), ALSA programs fall back to the sound card directly.

Package	Version	What changed
linux	7.2.11-1	Same 7.2.11 kernel, now with the HD Audio codec drivers built in.
pulseaudio	17.0-1	Now included in the ISO, and started on demand for every user. Was a separate install before.
alsa-pluginsNew	1.2.12	The PulseAudio plugin for ALSA, built as the BLFS book describes with only that plugin. ALSA's default device now goes through PulseAudio, falling back to the sound card when PulseAudio isn't running.

▦Kdenlive AppImage

KDE builds Kdenlive's AppImage to play sound only through PulseAudio, and without it the video preview could not open. On v1.50 that meant installing and starting PulseAudio first. From v1.51 on, Kdenlive from the AppImage Store just runs.

✓How it was tested

The v1.51 ISO was booted in a virtual machine with a sound card, in BIOS and UEFI mode, then on the desktop.

PassedBoots to the desktop in BIOS and UEFI mode with 0 failed services; pkg update reports nothing to update.
PassedThe virtual machine's HD Audio sound card is detected (on v1.50 the same machine showed no sound card).
PassedIn the desktop session PulseAudio starts by itself and uses the sound card as its output.
PassedAn ALSA program plays through PulseAudio; with PulseAudio unreachable it plays straight to the card instead.
PassedKdenlive 26.08.2 AppImage, on a fresh boot with no commands run, opens to the editor with both preview monitors and connects to PulseAudio.
PassedNo missing libraries beyond the ones v1.50 already had; personal-data check clean.