Nvidia card is not detected as a sound device / no HDMI sound

My Nvidia graphics work flawlessly with x11/nvidia-driver-340 on GNOME, but I went to use an HDMI TV with my laptop (Acer Aspire 5920), and could not find sound settings for HDMI output. I did a little bit of research, and found that other people with the same issue usually have some sort of configuration issue, but in my case, my system does not even see the nvidia card as a sound device. Any ideas on how I can fix this?

Code:
# cat /dev/sndstat
pcm0: <Realtek ALC1200 (Analog 2.0+HP/2.0)> (play/rec) default
pcm1: <Realtek ALC1200 (Front Digital)> (play)
pcm2: <Realtek ALC1200 (Digital)> (play)
No devices installed from userspace.
# dmesg | grep nvidia
nvidia0: <GeForce 8600M GT> on vgapci0
vgapci0: child nvidia0 requested pci_enable_io
vgapci0: child nvidia0 requested pci_enable_io
 
Code:
# pciconf -lv
hostb0@pci0:0:0:0:    class=0x060000 card=0x01211025 chip=0x2a008086 rev=0x03 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Intel Corporation'
    device     = 'Mobile PM965/GM965/GL960 Memory Controller Hub'
    class      = bridge
    subclass   = HOST-PCI
pcib1@pci0:0:1:0:    class=0x060400 card=0x01211025 chip=0x2a018086 rev=0x03 hdr=0x01
    vendor     = 'Intel Corporation'
    device     = 'Mobile PM965/GM965/GL960 PCI Express Root Port'
    class      = bridge
    subclass   = PCI-PCI
uhci0@pci0:0:26:0:    class=0x0c0300 card=0x01211025 chip=0x28348086 rev=0x03 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Intel Corporation'
    device     = '82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller'
    class      = serial bus
    subclass   = USB
uhci1@pci0:0:26:1:    class=0x0c0300 card=0x01211025 chip=0x28358086 rev=0x03 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Intel Corporation'
    device     = '82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller'
    class      = serial bus
    subclass   = USB
ehci0@pci0:0:26:7:    class=0x0c0320 card=0x01211025 chip=0x283a8086 rev=0x03 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Intel Corporation'
    device     = '82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller'
    class      = serial bus
    subclass   = USB
hdac0@pci0:0:27:0:    class=0x040300 card=0x01211025 chip=0x284b8086 rev=0x03 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Intel Corporation'
    device     = '82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller'
    class      = multimedia
    subclass   = HDA
pcib2@pci0:0:28:0:    class=0x060400 card=0x01211025 chip=0x283f8086 rev=0x03 hdr=0x01
    vendor     = 'Intel Corporation'
    device     = '82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 1'
    class      = bridge
    subclass   = PCI-PCI
pcib3@pci0:0:28:3:    class=0x060400 card=0x01211025 chip=0x28458086 rev=0x03 hdr=0x01
    vendor     = 'Intel Corporation'
    device     = '82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 4'
    class      = bridge
    subclass   = PCI-PCI
pcib4@pci0:0:28:5:    class=0x060400 card=0x01211025 chip=0x28498086 rev=0x03 hdr=0x01
    vendor     = 'Intel Corporation'
    device     = '82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 6'
    class      = bridge
    subclass   = PCI-PCI
uhci2@pci0:0:29:0:    class=0x0c0300 card=0x01211025 chip=0x28308086 rev=0x03 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Intel Corporation'
    device     = '82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller'
    class      = serial bus
    subclass   = USB
uhci3@pci0:0:29:1:    class=0x0c0300 card=0x01211025 chip=0x28318086 rev=0x03 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Intel Corporation'
    device     = '82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller'
    class      = serial bus
    subclass   = USB
uhci4@pci0:0:29:2:    class=0x0c0300 card=0x01211025 chip=0x28328086 rev=0x03 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Intel Corporation'
    device     = '82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller'
    class      = serial bus
    subclass   = USB
ehci1@pci0:0:29:7:    class=0x0c0320 card=0x01211025 chip=0x28368086 rev=0x03 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Intel Corporation'
    device     = '82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller'
    class      = serial bus
    subclass   = USB
pcib5@pci0:0:30:0:    class=0x060401 card=0x00000000 chip=0x24488086 rev=0xf3 hdr=0x01
    vendor     = 'Intel Corporation'
    device     = '82801 Mobile PCI Bridge'
    class      = bridge
    subclass   = PCI-PCI
isab0@pci0:0:31:0:    class=0x060100 card=0x01211025 chip=0x28158086 rev=0x03 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Intel Corporation'
    device     = '82801HM (ICH8M) LPC Interface Controller'
    class      = bridge
    subclass   = PCI-ISA
atapci0@pci0:0:31:1:    class=0x01018a card=0x01211025 chip=0x28508086 rev=0x03 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Intel Corporation'
    device     = '82801HM/HEM (ICH8M/ICH8M-E) IDE Controller'
    class      = mass storage
    subclass   = ATA
ahci0@pci0:0:31:2:    class=0x010601 card=0x01211025 chip=0x28298086 rev=0x03 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Intel Corporation'
    device     = '82801HM/HEM (ICH8M/ICH8M-E) SATA Controller [AHCI mode]'
    class      = mass storage
    subclass   = SATA
none0@pci0:0:31:3:    class=0x0c0500 card=0x01211025 chip=0x283e8086 rev=0x03 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Intel Corporation'
    device     = '82801H (ICH8 Family) SMBus Controller'
    class      = serial bus
    subclass   = SMBus
vgapci0@pci0:1:0:0:    class=0x030000 card=0x01211025 chip=0x040710de rev=0xa1 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'NVIDIA Corporation'
    device     = 'G84M [GeForce 8600M GT]'
    class      = display
    subclass   = VGA
iwm0@pci0:6:0:0:    class=0x028000 card=0x40708086 chip=0x08b18086 rev=0xbb hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Intel Corporation'
    device     = 'Wireless 7260'
    class      = network
bge0@pci0:8:0:0:    class=0x020000 card=0x01211025 chip=0x169314e4 rev=0x02 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries'
    device     = 'NetLink BCM5787M Gigabit Ethernet PCI Express'
    class      = network
    subclass   = ethernet
none1@pci0:10:9:0:    class=0x0c0010 card=0x01211025 chip=0x08321180 rev=0x05 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Ricoh Co Ltd'
    device     = 'R5C832 IEEE 1394 Controller'
    class      = serial bus
    subclass   = FireWire
sdhci_pci0@pci0:10:9:1:    class=0x080500 card=0x01211025 chip=0x08221180 rev=0x22 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Ricoh Co Ltd'
    device     = 'R5C822 SD/SDIO/MMC/MS/MSPro Host Adapter'
    class      = base peripheral
    subclass   = SD host controller
none2@pci0:10:9:2:    class=0x088000 card=0x01211025 chip=0x08431180 rev=0x12 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Ricoh Co Ltd'
    device     = 'R5C843 MMC Host Controller'
    class      = base peripheral
none3@pci0:10:9:3:    class=0x088000 card=0x01211025 chip=0x05921180 rev=0x12 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Ricoh Co Ltd'
    device     = 'R5C592 Memory Stick Bus Host Adapter'
    class      = base peripheral
none4@pci0:10:9:4:    class=0x088000 card=0x01211025 chip=0x08521180 rev=0x12 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Ricoh Co Ltd'
    device     = 'xD-Picture Card Controller'
    class      = base peripheral
 
Maybe I need to install some sort of Intel audio driver?

Code:
hdac0@pci0:0:27:0:    class=0x040300 card=0x01211025 chip=0x284b8086 rev=0x03 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Intel Corporation'
    device     = '82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller'
    class      = multimedia
    subclass   = HDA
 
Apparently you don't have anything to detect.

Maybe I need to install some sort of Intel audio driver?

Code:
hdac0@pci0:0:27:0:    class=0x040300 card=0x01211025 chip=0x284b8086 rev=0x03 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Intel Corporation'
    device     = '82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller'
    class      = multimedia
    subclass   = HDA

That's Realtek ALC1200.
 
That did the trick, but it seems a bit inconvenient to switch every time i switch audio output. I might write a GNOME shell extension to do it from the task bar or something :)
 
So now I have the issue that some applications use the laptop speakers (firefox) and others use the hdmi (rhythmbox). Is there a way I can force applications to use the default sound unit?
 
So now I have the issue that some applications use the laptop speakers (firefox) and others use the hdmi (rhythmbox). Is there a way I can force applications to use the default sound unit?
Did you install audio/pulseaudio? If so, use audio/pavucontrol to set the output for firefox (I assume you use packages and as far as I understand it, firefox is compiled with pulseaudio while most other programs defaults to oss).

Also check the output of: cat /dev/sdnstat.
 
(...) firefox is compiled with pulseaudio while most other programs defaults to oss)
I don't know much about firefox, but I compiled it without pulseaudio support and still have sound. I do see that it has sndio as a dependency though, although I never configured that one.
 
I don't know much about firefox, but I compiled it without pulseaudio support and still have sound. I do see that it has sndio as a dependency though, although I never configured that one.
I wrote it based on my experience using packages, not ports. I assume the OP used packages also, see www/firefox.
Configuration Options ===> The following configuration options are available for firefox-67.0.1,1: CANBERRA=off: Sound theme alerts DBUS=on: D-Bus IPC system support DEBUG=off: Build with debugging support FFMPEG=on: FFmpeg support (WMA, AIFF, AC3, APE...) GCONF=on: GConf configuration backend support LIBPROXY=off: Proxy support via libproxy OPTIMIZED_CFLAGS=on: Use extra compiler optimizations PROFILE=on: Build with profiling support TEST=off: Build and/or run tests ====> Options available for the multi AUDIO: you have to choose at least one of them ALSA=on: ALSA audio architecture support JACK=on: JACK audio server support PULSEAUDIO=on: PulseAudio sound server support SNDIO=off: Sndio audio support ===> Use 'make config' to modify these settings

The OP has sound, only on different outputs.
 
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