No sound output – Intel audio controller detected but no audio devices available

[kikeoropad]

No internal speakers detected – Dell Inspiron 3501 (Tiger Lake SST / SOF audio) – only Dummy Output

Summary

After a fresh Manjaro installation I have no usable audio output devices.
PipeWire is running, but only Dummy Output appears and no sound is produced.

The system detects the Intel audio controller, however ALSA does not create a sound card for the internal speakers.

---

Hardware

Laptop: Dell Inspiron 3501
CPU: Intel Core i5-1135G7 (Tiger Lake)
Audio controller: Intel Tiger Lake-LP Smart Sound Technology Audio Controller (8086:a0c8)

sudo lspci -nn | grep -i audio
00:1f.3 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation Tiger Lake-LP Smart Sound Technology Audio Controller [8086:a0c8] (rev 20)

---

What happens

Immediately after boot:

• No speakers in XFCE sound settings
• wpctl status shows only Dummy Output
• Applications produce no sound

PipeWire detects no real device:

Audio
 ├─ Devices:
 │
 ├─ Sinks:
 │  * 35. Dummy Output

ALSA:

aplay -l
aplay: device_list:279: no soundcards found...

pactl:

pactl list sinks
Sink #35
State: SUSPENDED
Name: auto_null
Description: Dummy Output
Driver: PipeWire

amixer:

amixer -c0 info
Invalid card number '0'.

---

What happened before

This is a fresh installation of Manjaro.
Audio never worked even once after installation.

I did not modify audio configuration before the issue appeared.

After installation I began troubleshooting following Arch and Manjaro forum posts related to Intel SST/SOF audio.

---

Troubleshooting performed today (DSP driver modes)

I tested the Intel DSP driver kernel parameter:

snd_intel_dspcfg.dsp_driver=

Mode 3 (force legacy HDA)

Kernel parameter:

snd_intel_dspcfg.dsp_driver=3

Confirmed active:

cat /proc/cmdline
BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-6.18-x86_64 ... quiet splash snd_intel_dspcfg.dsp_driver=3

Result:

• ALSA sometimes detects only HDMI audio
• Internal speakers never appear

card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 3: HDMI 0
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 7: HDMI 1
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 8: HDMI 2
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 9: HDMI 3

Codec:

cat /proc/asound/card0/codec* | grep Codec
Codec: Intel Tigerlake HDMI

PipeWire still shows Dummy Output.

---

Mode 1 (SOF)

When attempting SOF mode:

snd_intel_dspcfg.dsp_driver=1

Kernel message:

dmesg | grep sof
sof-audio-pci-intel-tgl 0000:00:1f.3: enabling device (0000 -> 0002)
sof-audio-pci-intel-tgl 0000:00:1f.3: the DSP is not enabled on this platform, aborting probe

After this, ALSA again shows no sound card:

aplay -l
aplay: device_list:279: no soundcards found...

---

Important logs

journalctl

journalctl --boot=-1 --priority=3 --catalog --no-pager

feb 10 15:20:16 enrique-inspiron3501 kernel: sof-audio-pci-intel-tgl 0000:00:1f.3: the DSP is not enabled on this platform, aborting probe
feb 10 15:21:10 enrique-inspiron3501 lightdm[1091]: gkr-pam: unable to locate daemon control file
feb 10 15:23:38 enrique-inspiron3501 dbus-broker-launch[729]: Activation request for 'org.freedesktop.nm_dispatcher' failed.
feb 10 15:23:41 enrique-inspiron3501 systemd[1]: Failed unmounting /var/cache.

---

Previously checked threads

I read and attempted solutions from:

https://forum.manjaro.org/t/no-sound-on-intel-corporation-alder-lake-s-hd-audio-controller-rev-11/165815?u=kikeoropad
https://forum.manjaro.org/t/dummy-output-on-intel-tiger-lake-lp-audio/95556?u=kikeoropad
https://forum.manjaro.org/t/no-sound-on-dell-inspiron-fresh-install/93201?u=kikeoropad

---

System information

(inxi -Fazy)

Kernel: 6.18.8-1-MANJARO
Desktop: XFCE 4.20
PipeWire: 1.4.10

Audio:
Device-1: Intel Tiger Lake-LP Smart Sound Audio vendor: Dell
driver: N/A
alternate: snd_soc_avs, snd_sof_pci_intel_tgl, snd_hda_intel

---

What I suspect

Because of the message:

the DSP is not enabled on this platform

and the Tiger Lake SST controller, I suspect the kernel is selecting the wrong driver (SOF vs HDA vs AVS) and failing to initialize the internal codec.

---

What I can provide

I can provide additional logs if needed:

• journalctl -b
• alsa-info.sh
• kernel tests

Please tell me exactly which commands to run.

---

Additional information

I am new to Linux but comfortable using the terminal and I will actively test suggestions and report back with results.

Thank you for your time and help.

[robin0800]

Have you got sof-firmware installed?

[kikeoropad]

Yes, that was one of the first things I saw recommended.

pacman -Q | grep sof-firmware 

 sof-firmware 2025.12.2-1

[scotty65]

Welcome to the Manjaro community @kikeoropad

Please provide the full output of:

inxi --filter --verbosity=8

or the short form (preferred):

inxi -zv8

• inxi man pages (Arch Manual)

Running `inxi` in `chroot`

@Running `inxi` in `chroot`

If you need to run inxi from within a chroot environment, and find the output is laced with unexpected 12’s, please try again with:

• Add to the long form command: --color=0
• or, change the short form to: inxi -zv8c0

@Your privacy is respected

When inxi is run using the --filter or -z parameters, any personally identifiable information is filtered from the resulting output.

[kikeoropad]

Thanks Scotty 65

 inxi -zv8                                                                                                               ✔ 
System:
  Kernel: 6.18.8-1-MANJARO arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 15.2.1
    clocksource: tsc avail: acpi_pm
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-6.18-x86_64
    root=UUID=512f754f-45f9-46d0-80ef-65f791093f48 rw rootflags=subvol=@
    quiet splash snd_intel_dspcfg.dsp_driver=3 apparmor=1 security=apparmor
    udev.log_priority=3
  Desktop: Xfce v: 4.20.1 tk: Gtk v: 3.24.51 wm: xfwm4 v: 4.20.0
    with: xfce4-panel tools: xfce4-screensaver vt: 7 dm: LightDM v: 1.32.0
    Distro: Manjaro base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Dell product: Inspiron 3501 v: N/A
    serial: <superuser required> Chassis: type: 10 serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: Dell model: 0XGX0C v: A00 serial: <superuser required> part-nu: 0A25
    uuid: <superuser required> Firmware: UEFI vendor: Dell v: 1.42.1
    date: 09/09/2025
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 31.6 Wh (100%) condition: 31.6/42 Wh (75.3%) volts: 12.52
    min: 11.4 model: SMP DELL VM73283 type: Li-poly serial: <filter> charging:
    status: full control: start: 50% end: 90% type: adaptive
    avail: adaptive,custom,fast,standard,trickle cycles: N/A
Memory:
  System RAM: total: 12 GiB available: 11.41 GiB used: 4.76 GiB (41.7%)
  Message: For most reliable report, use superuser + dmidecode.
  Array-1: capacity: 128 GiB note: check slots: 2 modules: 2 EC: None
    max-module-size: 64 GiB note: est.
  Device-1: DIMM A type: DDR4 detail: synchronous size: 8 GiB speed:
    spec: 3200 MT/s actual: 2667 MT/s volts: curr: 1 width (bits): data: 64
    total: 64 manufacturer: 80AD00000000 part-no: HMAA1GS6CJR6N-XN
    serial: <filter>
  Device-2: DIMM B type: DDR4 detail: synchronous size: 4 GiB speed:
    spec: 3200 MT/s actual: 2667 MT/s volts: curr: 1 width (bits): data: 64
    total: 64 manufacturer: 802C00000000 part-no: 4ATF51264HZ-3G2J1
    serial: <filter>
PCI Slots:
  Permissions: Unable to run dmidecode. Root privileges required.
CPU:
  Info: model: 11th Gen Intel Core i5-1135G7 bits: 64 type: MT MCP
    arch: Tiger Lake gen: core 11 level: v4 note: check built: 2020
    process: Intel 10nm family: 6 model-id: 0x8C (140) stepping: 1
    microcode: 0xBC
  Topology: cpus: 1x dies: 1 clusters: 4 cores: 4 threads: 8 tpc: 2
    smt: enabled cache: L1: 320 KiB desc: d-4x48 KiB; i-4x32 KiB L2: 5 MiB
    desc: 4x1.2 MiB L3: 8 MiB desc: 1x8 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 400 min/max: 400/4200 scaling: driver: intel_pstate
    governor: powersave cores: 1: 400 2: 400 3: 400 4: 400 5: 400 6: 400 7: 400
    8: 400 bogomips: 38707
  Flags: 3dnowprefetch abm acpi adx aes aperfmperf apic arat
    arch_capabilities arch_perfmon art avx avx2 avx512_bitalg avx512_vbmi2
    avx512_vnni avx512_vp2intersect avx512_vpopcntdq avx512bw avx512cd
    avx512dq avx512f avx512ifma avx512vbmi avx512vl bmi1 bmi2 bts cat_l2
    cdp_l2 clflush clflushopt clwb cmov constant_tsc cpuid cpuid_fault cx16
    cx8 de ds_cpl dtes64 dtherm dts epb ept ept_ad erms est f16c flexpriority
    flush_l1d fma fpu fsgsbase fsrm fxsr gfni ht hwp hwp_act_window hwp_epp
    hwp_notify hwp_pkg_req ibpb ibrs ibrs_enhanced ibt ida intel_pt invpcid
    lahf_lm lm mca mce md_clear mmx monitor movbe movdir64b movdiri msr mtrr
    nonstop_tsc nopl nx ospke pae pat pbe pcid pclmulqdq pdcm pdpe1gb pebs
    pge pku pln pni popcnt pse pse36 pts rdpid rdrand rdseed rdt_a rdtscp
    rep_good sdbg sep sha_ni smap smep split_lock_detect ss ssbd sse sse2
    sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 stibp syscall tm tm2 tpr_shadow tsc tsc_adjust
    tsc_deadline_timer tsc_known_freq umip user_shstk vaes vme vmx vnmi
    vpclmulqdq vpid x2apic xgetbv1 xsave xsavec xsaveopt xsaves xtopology
    xtpr
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling mitigation: Microcode
  Type: ghostwrite status: Not affected
  Type: indirect_target_selection mitigation: Aligned branch/return thunks
  Type: itlb_multihit status: Not affected
  Type: l1tf status: Not affected
  Type: mds status: Not affected
  Type: meltdown status: Not affected
  Type: mmio_stale_data status: Not affected
  Type: old_microcode status: Not affected
  Type: reg_file_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: retbleed status: Not affected
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow status: Not affected
  Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via
    prctl
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer
    sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Enhanced / Automatic IBRS; IBPB:
    conditional; PBRSB-eIBRS: SW sequence; BHI: SW loop, KVM: SW loop
  Type: srbds status: Not affected
  Type: tsa status: Not affected
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
  Type: vmscape status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel TigerLake-LP GT2 [Iris Xe Graphics] vendor: Dell
    driver: i915 v: kernel alternate: xe arch: Xe process: Intel 10nm
    built: 2020-21 ports: active: eDP-1 empty: HDMI-A-1 bus-ID: 00:02.0
    chip-ID: 8086:9a49 class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: Microdia Integrated_Webcam_HD driver: uvcvideo type: USB
    rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 1-6:2 chip-ID: 0c45:671e
    class-ID: 0e02
  Display: x11 server: X.org v: 1.21.1.21 compositor: xfwm4 v: 4.20.0
    driver: X: loaded: modesetting alternate: fbdev,vesa dri: iris gpu: i915
    display-ID: :0.0 note: <missing: xdpyinfo/xrandr>
  Monitor-1: eDP-1 model: ChiMei InnoLux 0x15e6 built: 2020 res: 1366x768
    dpi: 101 gamma: 1.2 chroma: red: x: 0.569 y: 0.333 green: x: 0.329 y: 0.580
    blue: x: 0.161 y: 0.133 white: x: 0.314 y: 0.329
    size: 344x193mm (13.54x7.6") diag: 394mm (15.5") ratio: 16:9
    modes: 1366x768
  EDID-Warnings: 1: parse_edid: unknown flag 0
  API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: intel iris platforms: device: 0 drv: iris
    device: 1 drv: swrast gbm: drv: iris surfaceless: drv: iris x11: drv: iris
    inactive: wayland
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: intel mesa v: 25.3.4-arch1.1
    glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: Mesa Intel Iris Xe Graphics (TGL
    GT2) device-ID: 8086:9a49 memory: 11.14 GiB unified: yes
  Info: Tools: api: eglinfo,glxinfo de: xfce4-display-settings x11: xprop
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Tiger Lake-LP Smart Sound Audio vendor: Dell driver: N/A
    alternate: snd_soc_avs, snd_sof_pci_intel_tgl, snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1f.3
    chip-ID: 8086:a0c8 class-ID: 0403
  API: ALSA v: k6.18.8-1-MANJARO status: kernel-api with: aoss
    type: oss-emulator tools: alsactl,alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: JACK v: 1.9.22 status: off tools: N/A
  Server-2: PipeWire v: 1.4.10 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse
    status: active 2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin
    tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel bus-ID: 00:14.3
    chip-ID: 8086:a0f0 class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlp0s20f3 state: up mac: <filter>
  IP v4: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global
    broadcast: <filter>
  IP v6: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global
  IP v6: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: link
  Device-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
    vendor: Dell driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1
    port: 3000 bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp2s0 state: down mac: <filter>
  Info: services: NetworkManager, systemd-timesyncd, wpa_supplicant
  WAN IP: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Intel Bluetooth 9460/9560 Jefferson Peak (JfP) driver: btusb
    v: 0.8 type: USB rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 1-10:3
    chip-ID: 8087:0aaa class-ID: e001
  Report: rfkill ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: up address: see --recommends
Logical:
  Message: No logical block device data found.
RAID:
  Message: No RAID data found.
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 238.47 GiB used: 21.78 GiB (9.1%)
  SMART Message: Required tool smartctl not installed. Check --recommends
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Western Digital
    model: PC SN530 NVMe WDC 256GB size: 238.47 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B
    logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 tech: SSD serial: <filter>
    fw-rev: 21112012 temp: 29.9 C scheme: GPT
  Message: No optical or floppy data found.
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 238.18 GiB size: 238.18 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 21.78 GiB (9.1%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
    label: N/A uuid: 512f754f-45f9-46d0-80ef-65f791093f48
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 300 MiB size: 299.4 MiB (99.80%)
    used: 684 KiB (0.2%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1 label: N/A
    uuid: 9E1E-CCE5
  ID-3: /home raw-size: 238.18 GiB size: 238.18 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 21.78 GiB (9.1%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
    label: N/A uuid: 512f754f-45f9-46d0-80ef-65f791093f48
  ID-4: /var/cache raw-size: 238.18 GiB size: 238.18 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 21.78 GiB (9.1%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
    label: N/A uuid: 512f754f-45f9-46d0-80ef-65f791093f48
  ID-5: /var/log raw-size: 238.18 GiB size: 238.18 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 21.78 GiB (9.1%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
    label: N/A uuid: 512f754f-45f9-46d0-80ef-65f791093f48
Swap:
  Alert: No swap data was found.
Unmounted:
  Message: No unmounted partitions found.
USB:
  Hub-1: 1-0:1 info: hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 12 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 chip-ID: 1d6b:0002
    class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 1-6:2 info: Microdia Integrated_Webcam_HD type: video
    driver: uvcvideo interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s)
    lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 power: 500mA chip-ID: 0c45:671e class-ID: 0e02
  Device-2: 1-10:3 info: Intel Bluetooth 9460/9560 Jefferson Peak (JfP)
    type: bluetooth driver: btusb interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0
    speed: 12 Mb/s (1.4 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 power: 100mA
    chip-ID: 8087:0aaa class-ID: e001
  Hub-2: 2-0:1 info: super-speed hub ports: 4 rev: 3.1
    speed: 10 Gb/s (1.16 GiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 3.2 gen-2x1 chip-ID: 1d6b:0003
    class-ID: 0900
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 47.0 C mobo: 35.0 C
  Fan Speeds (rpm): cpu: 0
Repos:
  Packages: 1342 pm: pacman pkgs: 1334 libs: 370 tools: pamac pm: flatpak
    pkgs: 0 pm: snap pkgs: 8
  Active pacman repo servers in: /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
    1: https://coresite.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    2: https://manjaro.mirrors.uk2.net/stable/$repo/$arch
    3: https://mirror.23m.com/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    4: https://ftp.rz.tu-bs.de/pub/mirror/manjaro.org/repos/stable/$repo/$arch
    5: https://mirror.2degrees.nz/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    6: https://mirrors.eric.ovh/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    7: https://mirror.netcologne.de/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    8: https://ftp.belnet.be/mirrors/manjaro/repos/stable/$repo/$arch
Processes:
  CPU top: 5 of 293
  1: cpu: 1.4% command: firefox pid: 2605 mem: 912.8 MiB (7.8%)
  2: cpu: 0.3% command: firefox pid: 3053 mem: 850.4 MiB (7.2%)
  3: cpu: 0.2% command: firefox pid: 3943 mem: 536.3 MiB (4.5%)
  4: cpu: 0.2% command: firefox pid: 14385 mem: 549.6 MiB (4.7%)
  5: cpu: 0.1% command: Xorg pid: 894 mem: 89.1 MiB (0.7%)
  Memory top: 5 of 293
  1: mem: 912.8 MiB (7.8%) command: firefox pid: 2605 cpu: 1.4%
  2: mem: 850.4 MiB (7.2%) command: firefox pid: 3053 cpu: 0.3%
  3: mem: 549.6 MiB (4.7%) command: firefox pid: 14385 cpu: 0.2%
  4: mem: 536.3 MiB (4.5%) command: firefox pid: 3943 cpu: 0.2%
  5: mem: 469.3 MiB (4.0%) command: firefox pid: 2976 cpu: 0.1%
Info:
  Processes: 293 Power: uptime: 1d 2h 38m states: freeze,mem,disk
    suspend: s2idle wakeups: 0 hibernate: platform avail: shutdown, reboot,
    suspend, test_resume image: 4.55 GiB services: upowerd,xfce4-power-manager
    Init: systemd v: 258 default: graphical tool: systemctl
  Compilers: clang: 21.1.6 gcc: 15.2.1 Shell: Zsh v: 5.9
    running-in: xfce4-terminal inxi: 3.3.40

[robin0800]

@kikeoropad

empty: HDMI-A-1

inxi says there is no connection to hdmi?

[nikgnomic]

A patch for the audio codecs on this laptop was added to kernel v5.13 in 2021

LKML: Vitaly Rodionov: [PATCH 2/4] ALSA: hda/cirrus: Add support for CS8409 HDA bridge and CS42L42 companion codec.

Dell’s laptops Inspiron 3500, Inspiron 3501, Inspiron 3505 are using Cirrus Logic
CS8409 HDA bridge with CS42L42 companion codec.

Tested on DELL Inspiron-3500, DELL Inspiron-3501, DELL Inspiron-3505

This patch will register CS8409 with sound card and create input/output paths and two input devices, initialise CS42L42 companion codec and configure it for ASP TX/RX TDM mode, 24bit, 48kHz.

linux-hardware.org - Intel Tiger Lake-LP Smart Sound Technology Audio Controller

---

@kikeoropad

Audio:
Device-1: Intel Tiger Lake-LP Smart Sound Audio vendor: Dell
driver: N/A
alternate: snd_soc_avs, snd_sof_pci_intel_tgl, snd_hda_intel

Data shows audio device has 3 alternate drivers available, but no loaded driver

snd_intel_dspcfg can use 5 different values:

$ modinfo --parameters snd_intel_dspcfg
dsp_driver:Force the DSP driver for Intel DSP (0=auto, 1=legacy, 2=SST, 3=SOF, 4=AVS) (int)

dsp_driver=1 should load legacy driver snd_hda_intel
(this is usually a good workaround for laptop systems but it does not support internal microphones)

dsp_driver=3 should load Sound Open Firmware driver snd_sof_pci_intel_tgl

I suggest try using dsp_driver=4 to load the AVS driver snd_soc_avs

[kikeoropad]

Thanks Robin
@robin0800

I checked HDMI while using audio mode 3 (SOF).

Even though /proc/asound shows:

Codec: Intel Tigerlake HDMI

ALSA never actually creates a sound device.

PipeWire only shows:

Dummy Output (auto_null)

So the system does not think an HDMI monitor is connected, but more importantly no audio card exists at all, not even HDMI.

I also ran additional diagnostics suggested:

sudo dmesg | grep -i hda

(no output)

sudo dmesg | grep -i cs

(no Cirrus Logic / CS8409 / CS42L42 messages)

and:

aplay -l
aplay: device_list:279: no soundcards found...

This seems to indicate the HDA bus never enumerates a codec. The controller (Intel Tiger Lake SST) is detected, but the codec behind it is never attached.

The laptop is a Dell Inspiron 3501 (Cirrus Logic CS8409 bridge + CS42L42 codec), so it looks like the codec may not be waking from ACPI rather than an HDMI detection issue.

[kikeoropad]

Thanks @nikgnomic

Additional information after further testing

I tested the different snd_intel_dspcfg.dsp_driver modes and their behaviour:

dsp_driver=1 (legacy HDA / snd_hda_intel)

• SOF driver disabled
• no DSP initialization
• still no sound card detected
• aplay -l → no soundcards

dsp_driver=3 (SOF)

• SOF tries to initialize
• kernel logs:
  sof-audio-pci-intel-tgl: the DSP is not enabled on this platform, aborting probe
• PipeWire loads Dummy Output

dsp_driver=4 (AVS)

• AVS driver loads (snd_soc_avs present in lsmod)
• Intel DSP detected
• however ALSA still creates no sound card
• aplay -l still shows no devices
• PipeWire only shows auto_null

So the controller is detected but the codec/amp is never initialized.

Relevant journal error:

sof-audio-pci-intel-tgl 0000:00:1f.3: the DSP is not enabled on this platform, aborting probe

Outputs:

aplay -l
aplay: device_list:279: no soundcards found...

pactl list sinks
Dummy Output (auto_null)

lspci -nn | grep -i audio
00:1f.3 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation Tiger Lake-LP Smart Sound Technology Audio Controller [8086:a0c8]

[nikgnomic]

Try using snd_intel_dspcfg.dsp_driver=2 to load Intel SST driver

If that does not work. I suggest:

1. Update system BIOS:

   Dell Inspiron 3501 and Vostro 3400/3401/3500/3501 System BIOS

     Version: 1.43.0   Release date: 21 Jan 2026

2. Re-try all dsp.driver boot parameters: 0 to 4

[kikeoropad]

Hi @nikgnomic,

I followed your suggestions and here are all the results in order.

1) BIOS

• I updated the BIOS to the latest available version.

---

2) dsp_driver=2 (legacy HDA)
I booted with:

snd_intel_dspcfg.dsp_driver=2 intel_iommu=off

aplay -l:

aplay: device_list:279: no soundcards found...

dmesg | grep -E "sof|snd|hda|cs|sst":

snd_soc_avs 0000:00:1f.3: enabling device (0000 -> 0002)
snd_soc_avs 0000:00:1f.3: bound 0000:00:02.0 (ops intel_audio_component_bind_ops [i915])
snd_soc_avs 0000:00:1f.3: core_mask 1 power off failed: -110

No HDA device appeared and no audio cards were detected.

---

3) mkinitcpio warning
While regenerating the initramfs I consistently get:

WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: 'xhci_pci'

(I’m not sure if this is related to the audio issue.)

---

4) dsp_driver=4 (SOF/AVS path)
Boot parameter:

snd_intel_dspcfg.dsp_driver=4

aplay -l:

aplay: device_list:279: no soundcards found...

dmesg:

snd_soc_avs 0000:00:1f.3: enabling device (0000 -> 0002)
snd_soc_avs 0000:00:1f.3: bound 0000:00:02.0 (ops intel_audio_component_bind_ops [i915])
snd_soc_avs 0000:00:1f.3: core_mask 1 power off failed: -110

The exact same AVS error appears and still no sound cards.

---

Current state

• BIOS updated
• Tested multiple dsp_driver modes
• No ALSA devices
• Same core_mask 1 power off failed: -110 error every time

[nikgnomic]

Reboot system, edit GRUB boot parameters to remove snd_intel_dspcfg.dsp_driver, and run ALSA diagnostic script:

sudo alsa-info.sh --upload

---

@kikeoropad

While regenerating the initramfs I consistently get:

WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: 'xhci_pci'

Possibly missing firmware for module: xhci_pci - #2 by Hanzel

I got tired of this warning and installed AUR (en) - upd72020x-fw

Possibly missing firmware for module: xhci_pci - #3 by pheiduck

Identify if you need the Firmware >

sudo dmesg | grep xhci_pci

if not ignore it.

[kikeoropad]

Thanks @nikgnomic,

I removed the snd_intel_dspcfg.dsp_driver boot parameter and booted with default autodetection.

I ran the ALSA diagnostic script:

http://alsa-project.org/db/?f=596e8e332f2ae0259fa51534d125e8fadfcba7ec

aplay -l still reports:

aplay: device_list:279: no soundcards found...

The controller detected by lspci is:

00:1f.3 Audio device: Intel Corporation Tiger Lake-LP Smart Sound Technology Audio Controller (8086:a0c8)

I also consistently see in dmesg:

snd_soc_avs 0000:00:1f.3: core_mask 1 power off failed: -110

Please let me know what you would like me to try next.

[nikgnomic]

ALSA data shows 3 parameters loaded for snd_intel_dspcfg

!!Modprobe options (Sound related)
!!--------------------------------

snd_intel_dspcfg: dsp_driver=3
snd_intel_dspcfg: dsp_driver=4
snd_intel_dspcfg: dsp_driver=4

One of these appears to be from the boot parameters:

!!ALSA/HDA dmesg

[    0.000000] Command line: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-6.18-x86_64 root=UUID=512f754f-45f9-46d0-80ef-65f791093f48 rw rootflags=subvol=@ quiet splash snd_intel_dspcfg.dsp_driver=4

The other two are probably loaded from /etc/modprobe.d/ folder

I suggest

1. Check the contents of modeprobe.d folder for anything related to snd drivers:

   grep -i snd /etc/modprobe.d/*conf
   

   and delete any files that contain snd options relating to audio

2. Edit GRUB boot options in /etc/default/grub/ and remove snd_intel_dspcfg.dsp_driver=4

3. Re-generate initramfs images:

   sudo mkinitcpio -P 
   

   and update GRUB

   sudo update-grub
   

4. Reboot system and run sudo alsa-info.sh --upload again

[kikeoropad]

Ok, done. Thanks @nikgnomic
http://alsa-project.org/db/?f=7c1add4bf04e9536d67f5f56e74eef1a446b83a3

[nikgnomic]

ALSA data shows 4 HDMI outputs only but no error messages for other outputs and inputs

Use this command to create a modprobe option to force use of legacy driver:

sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-sof.conf <<< 'options snd-intel-dspcfg dsp_driver=1'

Reboot system and run sudo alsa-info.sh --upload again

[kikeoropad]

Here it is again. Thank you @nikgnomic
http://alsa-project.org/db/?f=7065f065eab9f7816a93a1a62aa194c46b2a01a4

[weingeist]

Device-1: Intel Tiger Lake-LP Smart Sound Audio vendor: Dell driver: N/A
    alternate: snd_soc_avs, snd_sof_pci_intel_tgl, snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1f.3
    chip-ID: 8086:a0c8 class-ID: 0403

Have you blacklist snd_hda_intel ?

[kikeoropad]

Thanks @weingeist
Hi, thanks for the suggestion.

I checked and I have not blacklisted snd_hda_intel yet.

From the ALSA report the controller (8086:a0c8) is currently being handled in a way that only HDMI outputs appear and aplay -l still shows:

**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 7: HDMI 1 [HDMI 1]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 8: HDMI 2 [HDMI 2]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 9: HDMI 3 [HDMI 3]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
    ~             

I previously experimented with snd_intel_dspcfg.dsp_driver values and also had two modprobe configs:

• dsp_driver=4
• dsp_driver=3

nikgnomic noticed this in the alsa-info output and asked me to remove them. I deleted both files from /etc/modprobe.d/ and removed the boot parameter from GRUB, then regenerated initramfs and GRUB.

Thanks.

[nikgnomic]

ALSA data still shows 4 HDMI outputs only and no error messages

Change the modprobe option to force use of SOF driver:

sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-sof.conf <<< 'options snd-intel-dspcfg dsp_driver=3'

Reboot system and run sudo alsa-info.sh --upload again