Comment 57 for bug 268301

It appears a patch similar to our problem is getting pretty close to inclusion in the alsa-driver: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux-ubuntu-modules-2.6.24/+bug/278648. The link is about a lenovo machine, but the sound chip and the issue is the same. Looking at the patch might give ideas - hey, it might even work. Unfortunately my internal speaker broke down recently due to a bad audio cable (known problem), so I cannot investigate this further myself.