Comment 46 for bug 1874698

I own a late 2019 Computer Upgrade King Hewlett Packard Omen 15t and I am running System76's Pop_OS! 20.04.0 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux. Looking at this bug report, it looks like I am affected. I see that the latest information is such that a fix was committed, but it has not been released yet.

Is it possible that a future and updated Linux kernel version will be released to include the necessary firmware, device drivers and updated software package versions to fix the Realtek ALC285 sound card and digital microphones so that they will work normally? Which specific Linux kernel version and linux-firmware version is going to be needed for the fix?

System76 chooses to use systemd-boot rather than GRUB2 used by Ubuntu. I did research and I typed in sudo kernelstub -a snd_hda_intel.dmic_detect=0 splash to be added to my Linux kernel version 5.4.0-7634-generic AMD64 and it selected the snd_hd_intel driver; the sound card is detected and audio is output through the laptop's stereo speakers, but I realize that I have an Intel 9th generation Core-i9 9880H mobile CPU which uses the Intel Cannon Lake PCH cAVS for Audio-1 according to inxi -F results. Based on research, I need the Sound Open Firmware, topology, updated software package versions for ALSA and perhaps Pulse Audio and I should be using a newer Linux kernel version above the current one that I am already using now.

According to my /etc/pulse/default.pa configuration file, I added these two lines:
load-module module-alsa-sink device=hw:0,0 channels=2
load-module module-alsa-source device=hw:0,6 channels=2

According to my /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf configuration file, I added this line:
options snd-hda-intel index=0 model=laptop-dmic

People should know that I also have a nVidia Geforce RTX 2080 Max-Q with 8 GB of GDDR6 VRAM mobile GPU on this HP Omen 15t gaming notebook PC.

How do I determine if I have a non-Intel HDMI output out of curiosity? Can I safely assume that both my MiniDisplay Port 1.4 and HDMI 2.0b are directed connected to my nVidia mobile GPU? Please let me know if it is important for me to backup my HDMI.

The big question that I have to ask this community is whether it is worth the effort and time for me to fix this on my own by downloading the correct version of the Sound Open Firmware, topology, ALSA-ucm file and a custom and newer Linux kernel version and learning how to install it safely using systemd-boot on my own or should I let Canonical, Ltd. and then System76 provide me with software updates in the future to fix my sound card and digital microphone on my HP Omen 15t PC? If the latter route is recommended for safety reasons since it seems obvious that I am asking questions from the perspective of a new end user, then what specific software packages and versions should I keep my eyes on via future software updates to get an early idea that my sound card and digital microphone will be fixed in the future?

What else do I need to know?

Thank you.