diff --git a/Documentation/sound/alsa/ALSA-Configuration.txt b/Documentation/sound/alsa/ALSA-Configuration.txt
index 4e4d0bc9816f9d25f1c185d795f98b476bb50a2c..d90d8ec2853df3e49e18edefc1bffd8995826403 100644
--- a/Documentation/sound/alsa/ALSA-Configuration.txt
+++ b/Documentation/sound/alsa/ALSA-Configuration.txt
@@ -860,8 +860,14 @@ Prior to version 0.9.0rc4 options had a 'snd_' prefix. This was removed.
 
     [Multiple options for each card instance]
     model	- force the model name
-    position_fix - Fix DMA pointer (0 = auto, 1 = use LPIB, 2 = POSBUF,
-    		   3 = VIACOMBO, 4 = COMBO)
+    position_fix - Fix DMA pointer
+		  -1 = system default: choose appropriate one per controller
+			hardware
+		  0 = auto: falls back to LPIB when POSBUF doesn't work
+		  1 = use LPIB
+		  2 = POSBUF: use position buffer
+		  3 = VIACOMBO: VIA-specific workaround for capture
+		  4 = COMBO: use LPIB for playback, auto for capture stream
     probe_mask  - Bitmask to probe codecs (default = -1, meaning all slots)
     		  When the bit 8 (0x100) is set, the lower 8 bits are used
 		  as the "fixed" codec slots; i.e. the driver probes the
diff --git a/sound/pci/hda/hda_intel.c b/sound/pci/hda/hda_intel.c
index e1a12c754de98b63d0b4cd1f85494e3a6ee1fd64..195d847261873be24e9297e9e2ab5b77a876eef9 100644
--- a/sound/pci/hda/hda_intel.c
+++ b/sound/pci/hda/hda_intel.c
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ static int index[SNDRV_CARDS] = SNDRV_DEFAULT_IDX;
 static char *id[SNDRV_CARDS] = SNDRV_DEFAULT_STR;
 static bool enable[SNDRV_CARDS] = SNDRV_DEFAULT_ENABLE_PNP;
 static char *model[SNDRV_CARDS];
-static int position_fix[SNDRV_CARDS];
+static int position_fix[SNDRV_CARDS] = {[0 ... (SNDRV_CARDS-1)] = -1};
 static int bdl_pos_adj[SNDRV_CARDS] = {[0 ... (SNDRV_CARDS-1)] = -1};
 static int probe_mask[SNDRV_CARDS] = {[0 ... (SNDRV_CARDS-1)] = -1};
 static int probe_only[SNDRV_CARDS];
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ module_param_array(model, charp, NULL, 0444);
 MODULE_PARM_DESC(model, "Use the given board model.");
 module_param_array(position_fix, int, NULL, 0444);
 MODULE_PARM_DESC(position_fix, "DMA pointer read method."
-		 "(0 = auto, 1 = LPIB, 2 = POSBUF, 3 = VIACOMBO, 4 = COMBO).");
+		 "(-1 = system default, 0 = auto, 1 = LPIB, 2 = POSBUF, 3 = VIACOMBO, 4 = COMBO).");
 module_param_array(bdl_pos_adj, int, NULL, 0644);
 MODULE_PARM_DESC(bdl_pos_adj, "BDL position adjustment offset.");
 module_param_array(probe_mask, int, NULL, 0444);
@@ -2813,6 +2813,7 @@ static int __devinit check_position_fix(struct azx *chip, int fix)
 	const struct snd_pci_quirk *q;
 
 	switch (fix) {
+	case POS_FIX_AUTO:
 	case POS_FIX_LPIB:
 	case POS_FIX_POSBUF:
 	case POS_FIX_VIACOMBO: