No sound Dell XPS 9700 SOLVED

[hglee]

My question for you guys is the following: does the oem kernel receive security updates? Or updates in general?

The OEM kernel inherits all of the updates and patches that the stock kernel receives.

[MrEen]

whatever the reasons

The reasons are beyond the control of Linux developers. This is an issue created by Intel that should finally be solved in the 5.11 kernel for everyone. Thanks to the OP for sending me this link today with more details: https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1898642

[hglee]

This is an issue created by Intel that should finally be solved in the 5.11 kernel for everyone.

Anyone eager to install kernel 5.11 can do so easily with the Ubuntu Mainline Kernel Installer, which can also track updates:

Open a Terminal (Ctrl-Alt-T), then copy-and-paste the following two command-lines, one at a time...

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sudo add-apt-repository ppa:cappelikan/ppa && sudo apt update
sudo apt install mainline

Note that kernel 5.11 is not (yet) mainstream, so some apps may break until they get an update down the road. In particular, some apps that may load a proprietary or out-of-tree kernel module -- such as Oracle VirtualBox.


To remove Mainline Kernel Installer and its PPA (this doesn't remove your installed kernels) ...

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sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:cappelikan/ppa && sudo apt update
sudo apt remove mainline

[CDiMa]

Hi all,
I'm writing from my brand new Dell XPS 17 in this thread, but in my case I can't say it's SOLVED...
I've a fresh install of Linux Mint 20.1 Ulyssa Cinnamon and tried to follow the numerous instructions in this thead without success...
First usual system info at this point in time:

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claudio@chiaio:~$ inxi -Fxxxrs
System:
  Host: chiaio Kernel: 5.6.0-1052-oem x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.3.0 
  Desktop: Cinnamon 4.8.6 wm: muffin 4.8.1 dm: LightDM 1.30.0 
  Distro: Linux Mint 20.1 Ulyssa base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Dell product: XPS 17 9700 v: N/A 
  serial: <superuser/root required> Chassis: type: 10 
  serial: <superuser/root required> 
  Mobo: Dell model: 03CPGC v: A00 serial: <superuser/root required> 
  UEFI: Dell v: 1.6.3 date: 12/30/2020 
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 84.0 Wh condition: 92.2/95.1 Wh (97%) volts: 13.1/11.4 
  model: BYD DELL F8CPG0C type: Li-poly serial: 262 status: Charging 
CPU:
  Topology: 8-Core model: Intel Core i9-10885H bits: 64 type: MT MCP 
  arch: N/A L2 cache: 16.0 MiB 
  flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx 
  bogomips: 76800 
  Speed: 901 MHz min/max: 800/5300 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 900 2: 900 
  3: 900 4: 901 5: 900 6: 900 7: 900 8: 900 9: 900 10: 900 11: 902 12: 900 
  13: 900 14: 901 15: 900 16: 900 
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel UHD Graphics vendor: Dell driver: i915 v: kernel 
  bus ID: 00:02.0 chip ID: 8086:9bc4 
  Device-2: NVIDIA TU106 [GeForce RTX 2060] vendor: Dell driver: nvidia 
  v: 460.39 bus ID: 01:00.0 chip ID: 10de:1f12 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.9 driver: modesetting,nvidia 
  unloaded: fbdev,nouveau,vesa resolution: 3840x2400~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel UHD Graphics (CML GT2) v: 4.6 Mesa 20.2.6 
  direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Comet Lake PCH cAVS vendor: Dell driver: sof-audio-pci 
  bus ID: 00:1f.3 chip ID: 8086:06c8 
  Device-2: NVIDIA TU106 High Definition Audio vendor: Dell 
  driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.1 chip ID: 10de:10f9 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.6.0-1052-oem 
Network:
  Device-1: Qualcomm vendor: Bigfoot Networks driver: ath11k_pci v: kernel 
  port: 3000 bus ID: 04:00.0 chip ID: 17cb:1101 
  IF: wlp4s0 state: down mac: 9c:b6:d0:3f:18:8b 
  Device-2: Realtek RTL8153 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter type: USB driver: r8152 
  bus ID: 6-1.2:3 chip ID: 0bda:8153 serial: 001000001 
  IF: enx34735ad5a965 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full 
  mac: 34:73:5a:d5:a9:65 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 1.86 TiB used: 9.67 GiB (0.5%) 
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 model: KXG60PNV2T04 NVMe KIOXIA 2048GB size: 1.86 TiB 
  speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 serial: 21AF70QVF9D3 rev: 10704104 scheme: GPT 
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 589.58 GiB used: 8.53 GiB (1.4%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/dm-1 
  ID-2: /boot size: 487.9 MiB used: 313.3 MiB (64.2%) fs: ext4 
  dev: /dev/nvme0n1p7 
  ID-3: /home size: 955.74 GiB used: 382.6 MiB (0.0%) fs: ext4 
  dev: /dev/dm-3 
  ID-4: swap-1 size: 65.00 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/dm-2 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 55.0 C mobo: N/A 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Repos:
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/cappelikan-ppa-focal.list 
  1: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/cappelikan/ppa/ubuntu focal main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/focal-dell.list 
  1: deb http://dell.archive.canonical.com/updates/ focal-dell public
  2: deb http://dell.archive.canonical.com/updates/ focal-oem public
  3: deb http://dell.archive.canonical.com/updates/ focal-somerville public
  4: deb http://dell.archive.canonical.com/updates/ focal-somerville-melisa public
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list 
  1: deb http://mirror.netcologne.de/linuxmint/packages ulyssa main upstream import backport romeo
  2: deb http://ubuntu.mirror.garr.it/ubuntu focal main restricted universe multiverse
  3: deb http://ubuntu.mirror.garr.it/ubuntu focal-updates main restricted universe multiverse
  4: deb http://ubuntu.mirror.garr.it/ubuntu focal-backports main restricted universe multiverse
  5: deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-security main restricted universe multiverse
  6: deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ focal partner
Info:
  Processes: 338 Uptime: 15h 39m Memory: 62.57 GiB used: 1.94 GiB (3.1%) 
  Init: systemd v: 245 runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.3.0 alt: 9 Shell: bash 
  v: 5.0.17 running in: gnome-terminal inxi: 3.0.38 

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claudio@chiaio:~$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Device 9b44 (rev 02)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v5/E3-1500 v5/6th Gen Core Processor PCIe Controller (x16) (rev 02)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation UHD Graphics (rev 05)
00:04.0 Signal processing controller: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v5/E3-1500 v5/6th Gen Core Processor Thermal Subsystem (rev 02)
00:08.0 System peripheral: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v5/v6 / E3-1500 v5 / 6th/7th/8th Gen Core Processor Gaussian Mixture Model
00:12.0 Signal processing controller: Intel Corporation Comet Lake PCH Thermal Controller
00:13.0 Serial controller: Intel Corporation Device 06fc
00:14.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation Comet Lake USB 3.1 xHCI Host Controller
00:14.2 RAM memory: Intel Corporation Comet Lake PCH Shared SRAM
00:15.0 Serial bus controller [0c80]: Intel Corporation Comet Lake PCH Serial IO I2C Controller #0
00:15.1 Serial bus controller [0c80]: Intel Corporation Comet Lake PCH Serial IO I2C Controller #1
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation Comet Lake HECI Controller
00:1b.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Comet Lake PCI Express Root Port #17 (rev f0)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Device 06b8 (rev f0)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Device 06b9 (rev f0)
00:1c.4 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Device 06bc (rev f0)
00:1d.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Comet Lake PCI Express Root Port #9 (rev f0)
00:1e.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation Comet Lake PCH Serial IO UART Host Controller #0
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation Device 068e
00:1f.3 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation Comet Lake PCH cAVS
00:1f.4 SMBus: Intel Corporation Comet Lake PCH SMBus Controller
00:1f.5 Serial bus controller [0c80]: Intel Corporation Comet Lake PCH SPI Controller
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation TU106 [GeForce RTX 2060] (rev a1)
01:00.1 Audio device: NVIDIA Corporation TU106 High Definition Audio Controller (rev a1)
01:00.2 USB controller: NVIDIA Corporation TU106 USB 3.1 Host Controller (rev a1)
01:00.3 Serial bus controller [0c80]: NVIDIA Corporation TU106 USB Type-C UCSI Controller (rev a1)
02:00.0 Non-Volatile memory controller: Toshiba Corporation Device 011a
03:00.0 Unassigned class [ff00]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTS5260 PCI Express Card Reader (rev 01)
04:00.0 Network controller: Qualcomm Device 1101 (rev 01)
05:00.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation JHL7540 Thunderbolt 3 Bridge [Titan Ridge 4C 2018] (rev 06)
06:00.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation JHL7540 Thunderbolt 3 Bridge [Titan Ridge 4C 2018] (rev 06)
06:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation JHL7540 Thunderbolt 3 Bridge [Titan Ridge 4C 2018] (rev 06)
06:02.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation JHL7540 Thunderbolt 3 Bridge [Titan Ridge 4C 2018] (rev 06)
06:04.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation JHL7540 Thunderbolt 3 Bridge [Titan Ridge 4C 2018] (rev 06)
07:00.0 System peripheral: Intel Corporation JHL7540 Thunderbolt 3 NHI [Titan Ridge 4C 2018] (rev 06)
3b:00.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation JHL7540 Thunderbolt 3 USB Controller [Titan Ridge 4C 2018] (rev 06)
6f:00.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation JHL7540 Thunderbolt 3 Bridge [Titan Ridge 4C 2018] (rev 06)
70:00.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation JHL7540 Thunderbolt 3 Bridge [Titan Ridge 4C 2018] (rev 06)
70:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation JHL7540 Thunderbolt 3 Bridge [Titan Ridge 4C 2018] (rev 06)
70:02.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation JHL7540 Thunderbolt 3 Bridge [Titan Ridge 4C 2018] (rev 06)
70:04.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation JHL7540 Thunderbolt 3 Bridge [Titan Ridge 4C 2018] (rev 06)
71:00.0 System peripheral: Intel Corporation JHL7540 Thunderbolt 3 NHI [Titan Ridge 4C 2018] (rev 06)
a5:00.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation JHL7540 Thunderbolt 3 USB Controller [Titan Ridge 4C 2018] (rev 06)

And here some relevant info from dmesg:

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claudio@chiaio:~$ dmesg | grep -C1 -E 'ALSA|HDA|sof|HDMI|snd[_-]|sound|hda.codec|hda.intel'
[    0.333965] ACPI: Added _OSI(Linux-Dell-Video)
[    0.333965] ACPI: Added _OSI(Linux-Lenovo-NV-HDMI-Audio)
[    0.333965] ACPI: Added _OSI(Linux-HPI-Hybrid-Graphics)
--
[    0.882389] Freeing initrd memory: 87488K
[    0.940770] PCI-DMA: Using software bounce buffering for IO (SWIOTLB)
[    0.940772] software IO TLB: mapped [mem 0x4b5b8000-0x4f5b8000] (64MB)
[    0.941026] check: Scanning for low memory corruption every 60 seconds
--
[    1.074267] integrity: Loading X.509 certificate: UEFI:db
[    1.074282] integrity: Loaded X.509 cert 'Microsoft Windows Production PCA 2011: a92902398e16c49778cd90f99e4f9ae17c55af53'
[    1.074283] integrity: Loading X.509 certificate: UEFI:db
[    1.074298] integrity: Loaded X.509 cert 'Microsoft Corporation UEFI CA 2011: 13adbf4309bd82709c8cd54f316ed522988a1bd4'
[    1.074876] integrity: Loading X.509 certificate: UEFI:MokListRT
--
[   11.985087] NET: Registered protocol family 42
[   12.009626] snd_hda_intel 0000:00:1f.3: DSP detected with PCI class/subclass/prog-if info 0x040100
[   12.040229] mhi 0000:04:00.0: Requested to power ON
--
[   12.361393] nvidia 0000:01:00.0: enabling device (0002 -> 0003)
[   12.361751] snd_hda_intel 0000:01:00.1: enabling device (0000 -> 0002)
[   12.364843] snd_hda_intel 0000:01:00.1: Disabling MSI
[   12.364852] snd_hda_intel 0000:01:00.1: Handle vga_switcheroo audio client
[   12.365992] nvidia 0000:01:00.0: vgaarb: changed VGA decodes: olddecodes=io+mem,decodes=none:owns=none
--
[   12.481850] [drm] [nvidia-drm] [GPU ID 0x00000100] Loading driver
[   12.492368] sof-audio-pci 0000:00:1f.3: DSP detected with PCI class/subclass/prog-if info 0x040100
[   12.492393] sof-audio-pci 0000:00:1f.3: enabling device (0000 -> 0002)
[   12.492859] sof-audio-pci 0000:00:1f.3: DSP detected with PCI class/subclass/prog-if 0x040100
[   12.492962] sof-audio-pci 0000:00:1f.3: bound 0000:00:02.0 (ops i915_audio_component_bind_ops [i915])
[   12.504724] input: HDA NVidia HDMI/DP,pcm=3 as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:01.0/0000:01:00.1/sound/card0/input22
[   12.505891] sof-audio-pci 0000:00:1f.3: use msi interrupt mode
[   12.510310] ath11k_pci 0000:04:00.0 wlp4s0: renamed from wlan0
[   12.524939] sof-audio-pci 0000:00:1f.3: hda codecs found, mask 4
[   12.525136] input: HDA NVidia HDMI/DP,pcm=7 as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:01.0/0000:01:00.1/sound/card0/input23
[   12.525251] input: HDA NVidia HDMI/DP,pcm=8 as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:01.0/0000:01:00.1/sound/card0/input24
[   12.525343] input: HDA NVidia HDMI/DP,pcm=9 as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:01.0/0000:01:00.1/sound/card0/input25
[   12.525407] input: HDA NVidia HDMI/DP,pcm=10 as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:01.0/0000:01:00.1/sound/card0/input26
[   12.525506] input: HDA NVidia HDMI/DP,pcm=11 as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:01.0/0000:01:00.1/sound/card0/input27
[   12.525583] input: HDA NVidia HDMI/DP,pcm=12 as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:01.0/0000:01:00.1/sound/card0/input28
[   12.527928] sof-audio-pci 0000:00:1f.3: error: invalid sof_ext_man header size, type 1 size 0x1A0
[   12.527932] sof-audio-pci 0000:00:1f.3: error: sof_ext_man header is inconsistent
[   12.527934] sof-audio-pci 0000:00:1f.3: error: firmware intel/sof/sof-cml.ri contains unsupported or invalid extended manifest: -22
[   12.527936] sof-audio-pci 0000:00:1f.3: error: failed to load DSP firmware -22
[   12.528607] sof-audio-pci 0000:00:1f.3: error: sof_probe_work failed err: -22
[   12.546695] EXT4-fs (nvme0n1p7): mounted filesystem with ordered data mode. Opts: (null)

I've tried several kernel from the 5.8 and 5.10 series, introducing sometimes different side effects (like wifi not working) but never got internal audio working.
The only notable difference from the step outlined in previous posts is that i downloaded sof-firmware-1.7-2-any.pkg.tar.xz since I didn't find the 1.6.1-1
I'm hoping you can sort something out from this mess..

[hglee]

Hi all,
I'm writing from my brand new Dell XPS 17 in this thread, but in my case I can't say it's SOLVED...
I've a fresh install of Linux Mint 20.1 Ulyssa Cinnamon and tried to follow the numerous instructions in this thead without success...
First usual system info at this point in time:
... snip ...
I've tried several kernel from the 5.8 and 5.10 series, introducing sometimes different side effects (like wifi not working) but never got internal audio working.
The only notable difference from the step outlined in previous posts is that i downloaded sof-firmware-1.7-2-any.pkg.tar.xz since I didn't find the 1.6.1-1
I'm hoping you can sort something out from this mess..

I found another download site for sof-firmware-1.6.1-1-any.pkg.tar.xz and have updated my original SOF firmware installation script, posted here.

If you choose their Release v1.7, the SOF Project recommends kernel 5.10 or newer.


OEM kernel 5.6 was chosen because it already has the SoundWire drivers, which otherwise must be installed as well (as noted in this blog).

[CDiMa]

... snip ...[/size]
I've tried several kernel from the 5.8 and 5.10 series, introducing sometimes different side effects (like wifi not working) but never got internal audio working.
The only notable difference from the step outlined in previous posts is that i downloaded sof-firmware-1.7-2-any.pkg.tar.xz since I didn't find the 1.6.1-1
I'm hoping you can sort something out from this mess..

I found another download site for sof-firmware-1.6.1-1-any.pkg.tar.xz and have updated my original SOF firmware installation script, posted here.

If you choose their Release v1.7, the SOF Project recommends kernel 5.10 or newer.


OEM kernel 5.6 was chosen because it already has the SoundWire drivers, which otherwise must be installed as well (as noted in this blog).

Did it and it works!!!
I didn't realize you updated the link in the installation script so I downloded the only one available on the original site...
I also used it with a mainline 5.10 kernel, but it didn't work and I assumed it needed pulseaudio 14 that is still not available on Ulyssa.

With your updated site and the correct firmware in place I'm ready to switch my production machine on this one!

Thank you!!!

Claudio

[CDiMa]

...
I also used it with a mainline 5.10 kernel, but it didn't work and I assumed it needed pulseaudio 14 that is still not available on Ulyssa.

A quick update just to say that I got my system working with a 5.10 kernel.

In my journey to enable all features I used on my previous laptop, I'm stuck with a problem with some Wifi interface feature missing.

The first thing I was requested was to install the linux-oem-20.04b Kernel.
At first I was worried by my previous unsuccessful attempts with mainline 5.10 Kernels, but decided to give it a try and I was also ready to unpack the 1.7 release firmware from the sof project.
However it wasn't necessary since at first reboot sound worked straight away.

End result is that the procedure outlined in this thread works even if you use the linux-oem-20.04b package.

Thanks again for your help!

Claudio

[mcaetano]

Hi,
I'm sorry for yet another post on this thread, but I have run out of options. I'll try to keep it to the point. Brand new Dell XPS 17 9700 originally came with Windows 10 and I installed Linux Mint 20.1 as a dual boot. As is well known now, there are some problems with Linux on the XPS 17 9700 that must be fixed. I updated the kernel to 5.10-generic to fix the no wi-fi problem. Only then I installed the NVIDIA 460.73 proprietary driver from the Driver Manager. Finally, I got to fixing the "no audio" issue and ran out of options after trying many solutions from this thread (and similar threads) here and also some other solutions from elsewhere. This is what I've tried so far:

• Upgrade the kernel to 5.10-generic
• Several ALSA tweaks including reload/reinstall/
• (Re)-Install Pulseaudio, force start, reset config
• ALSA mixer only shows S/PDIF <00>
• Install Pavucontrol
• Disable SOF driver to fallback to Intel by editing /etc/modprobe.d/ conf files (sof-fix.conf, alsa-base.conf) to add "options snd-hda-intel dmic_detect=0" and alternatively "options snd-intel-dspcfg dsp_driver=1"
• Install linux-oem-20.04b
• Tried to install soundwire following https://blog.fts.scot/2020/07/04/dell-x ... -on-linux/ but installation aborted after an error

None of the above fixed the problem, the internal speakers are not recognized. Please note that HDMI audio and bluetooth audio work. Any help/clues are highly appreciated.

System info

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inxi -Fxz

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System:    Kernel: 5.10.0-051000-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: N/A Desktop: Cinnamon 4.8.6 Distro: Linux Mint 20.1 Ulyssa 
           base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:   Type: Laptop System: Dell product: XPS 17 9700 v: N/A serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: Dell model: 03CPGC v: A00 serial: <filter> UEFI: Dell v: 1.6.3 date: 12/30/2020 
Battery:   ID-1: BAT0 charge: 71.8 Wh condition: 95.1/95.1 Wh (100%) model: BYD DELL F8CPG0A status: Unknown 
CPU:       Topology: 8-Core model: Intel Core i9-10885H bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: N/A L2 cache: 16.0 MiB 
           flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 76800 
           Speed: 900 MHz min/max: 800/5300 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 900 2: 900 3: 900 4: 900 5: 896 6: 900 7: 900 8: 900 
           9: 901 10: 900 11: 900 12: 900 13: 900 14: 900 15: 900 16: 900 
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel UHD Graphics vendor: Dell driver: i915 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0 
           Device-2: NVIDIA TU106 [GeForce RTX 2060] vendor: Dell driver: nvidia v: 460.73.01 bus ID: 01:00.0 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.9 driver: modesetting,nvidia unloaded: fbdev,nouveau,vesa 
           resolution: 3840x2400~60Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: GeForce RTX 2060 with Max-Q Design/PCIe/SSE2 v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 460.73.01 direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel Comet Lake PCH cAVS vendor: Dell driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:1f.3 
           Device-2: NVIDIA TU106 High Definition Audio vendor: Dell driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.1 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.10.0-051000-generic 
Network:   Device-1: Qualcomm vendor: Bigfoot Networks driver: ath11k_pci v: kernel port: 3000 bus ID: 04:00.0 
           IF: wlp4s0 state: up mac: <filter> 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 1.86 TiB used: 504.47 GiB (26.4%) 
           ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Samsung model: PM981a NVMe 2048GB size: 1.86 TiB 
Partition: ID-1: / size: 93.37 GiB used: 30.17 GiB (32.3%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p7 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 62.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: nvidia temp: 50 C 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 1689 fan-2: 1686 
Info:      Processes: 348 Uptime: 51m Memory: 62.56 GiB used: 5.33 GiB (8.5%) Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.3.0 
           clang: 10.0.0-4ubuntu1 Shell: bash v: 5.0.17 inxi: 3.0.38 

The output of

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sudo dmesg | grep -E 'snd|sof'

is

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[    0.000000] Command line: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-5.10.0-051000-generic root=UUID=fc317d57-d4ca-4ce2-bd37-c6c526ae6769 ro quiet splash snd_hda_intel.dmic_detect=0
[    0.081469] Kernel command line: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-5.10.0-051000-generic root=UUID=fc317d57-d4ca-4ce2-bd37-c6c526ae6769 ro quiet splash snd_hda_intel.dmic_detect=0
[    0.719415] PCI-DMA: Using software bounce buffering for IO (SWIOTLB)
[    0.719416] software IO TLB: mapped [mem 0x000000004b5ca000-0x000000004f5ca000] (64MB)
[    0.807042] integrity: Loaded X.509 cert 'Microsoft Windows Production PCA 2011: a92902398e16c49778cd90f99e4f9ae17c55af53'
[    0.807053] integrity: Loaded X.509 cert 'Microsoft Corporation UEFI CA 2011: 13adbf4309bd82709c8cd54f316ed522988a1bd4'
[    4.081341] snd_hda_intel 0000:00:1f.3: dmic_detect option is deprecated, pass snd-intel-dspcfg.dsp_driver=1 option instead
[    4.081356] snd_hda_intel 0000:00:1f.3: enabling device (0000 -> 0002)
[    4.081573] snd_hda_intel 0000:00:1f.3: bound 0000:00:02.0 (ops i915_audio_component_bind_ops [i915])
[    4.081649] snd_hda_intel 0000:01:00.1: dmic_detect option is deprecated, pass snd-intel-dspcfg.dsp_driver=1 option instead
[    4.081655] snd_hda_intel 0000:01:00.1: enabling device (0000 -> 0002)
[    4.081717] snd_hda_intel 0000:01:00.1: Disabling MSI
[    4.081722] snd_hda_intel 0000:01:00.1: Handle vga_switcheroo audio client

Audio cards

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pacmd list-cards

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1 sink(s) available.
  * index: 0
	name: <auto_null>
	driver: <module-null-sink.c>
	flags: DECIBEL_VOLUME LATENCY DYNAMIC_LATENCY
	state: RUNNING
	suspend cause: (none)
	priority: 1000
	volume: front-left: 58980 /  90% / -2.75 dB,   front-right: 58980 /  90% / -2.75 dB
	        balance 0.00
	base volume: 65536 / 100% / 0.00 dB
	volume steps: 65537
	muted: no
	current latency: 164.43 ms
	max request: 367 KiB
	max rewind: 367 KiB
	monitor source: 0
	sample spec: s16le 2ch 48000Hz
	channel map: front-left,front-right
	             Stereo
	used by: 1
	linked by: 1
	configured latency: 1960.00 ms; range is 0.50 .. 2000.00 ms
	module: 15
	properties:
		device.description = "Dummy Output"
		device.class = "abstract"
		device.icon_name = "audio-card"
caetano@XPS-17-9700:~$ dmesg | grep -E 'snd|sof'
dmesg: read kernel buffer failed: Operation not permitted
caetano@XPS-17-9700:~$ sudo dmesg | grep -E 'snd|sof'
[sudo] password for caetano:         
[    0.000000] Command line: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-5.10.0-051000-generic root=UUID=fc317d57-d4ca-4ce2-bd37-c6c526ae6769 ro quiet splash snd_hda_intel.dmic_detect=0
[    0.081469] Kernel command line: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-5.10.0-051000-generic root=UUID=fc317d57-d4ca-4ce2-bd37-c6c526ae6769 ro quiet splash snd_hda_intel.dmic_detect=0
[    0.719415] PCI-DMA: Using software bounce buffering for IO (SWIOTLB)
[    0.719416] software IO TLB: mapped [mem 0x000000004b5ca000-0x000000004f5ca000] (64MB)
[    0.807042] integrity: Loaded X.509 cert 'Microsoft Windows Production PCA 2011: a92902398e16c49778cd90f99e4f9ae17c55af53'
[    0.807053] integrity: Loaded X.509 cert 'Microsoft Corporation UEFI CA 2011: 13adbf4309bd82709c8cd54f316ed522988a1bd4'
[    4.081341] snd_hda_intel 0000:00:1f.3: dmic_detect option is deprecated, pass snd-intel-dspcfg.dsp_driver=1 option instead
[    4.081356] snd_hda_intel 0000:00:1f.3: enabling device (0000 -> 0002)
[    4.081573] snd_hda_intel 0000:00:1f.3: bound 0000:00:02.0 (ops i915_audio_component_bind_ops [i915])
[    4.081649] snd_hda_intel 0000:01:00.1: dmic_detect option is deprecated, pass snd-intel-dspcfg.dsp_driver=1 option instead
[    4.081655] snd_hda_intel 0000:01:00.1: enabling device (0000 -> 0002)
[    4.081717] snd_hda_intel 0000:01:00.1: Disabling MSI
[    4.081722] snd_hda_intel 0000:01:00.1: Handle vga_switcheroo audio client
caetano@XPS-17-9700:~$ pacmd list-cards
2 card(s) available.
    index: 0
	name: <alsa_card.pci-0000_01_00.1>
	driver: <module-alsa-card.c>
	owner module: 7
	properties:
		alsa.card = "1"
		alsa.card_name = "HDA NVidia"
		alsa.long_card_name = "HDA NVidia at 0x73000000 irq 17"
		alsa.driver_name = "snd_hda_intel"
		device.bus_path = "pci-0000:01:00.1"
		sysfs.path = "/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:01.0/0000:01:00.1/sound/card1"
		device.bus = "pci"
		device.vendor.id = "10de"
		device.vendor.name = "NVIDIA Corporation"
		device.product.id = "10f9"
		device.product.name = "TU106 High Definition Audio Controller"
		device.string = "1"
		device.description = "TU106 High Definition Audio Controller"
		module-udev-detect.discovered = "1"
		device.icon_name = "audio-card-pci"
	profiles:
		output:hdmi-stereo: Digital Stereo (HDMI) Output (priority 5900, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround: Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI) Output (priority 800, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround71: Digital Surround 7.1 (HDMI) Output (priority 800, available: no)
		output:hdmi-stereo-extra1: Digital Stereo (HDMI 2) Output (priority 5700, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround-extra1: Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI 2) Output (priority 600, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround71-extra1: Digital Surround 7.1 (HDMI 2) Output (priority 600, available: no)
		output:hdmi-stereo-extra2: Digital Stereo (HDMI 3) Output (priority 5700, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround-extra2: Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI 3) Output (priority 600, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround71-extra2: Digital Surround 7.1 (HDMI 3) Output (priority 600, available: no)
		output:hdmi-stereo-extra3: Digital Stereo (HDMI 4) Output (priority 5700, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround-extra3: Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI 4) Output (priority 600, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround71-extra3: Digital Surround 7.1 (HDMI 4) Output (priority 600, available: no)
		output:hdmi-stereo-extra4: Digital Stereo (HDMI 5) Output (priority 5700, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround-extra4: Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI 5) Output (priority 600, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround71-extra4: Digital Surround 7.1 (HDMI 5) Output (priority 600, available: no)
		output:hdmi-stereo-extra5: Digital Stereo (HDMI 6) Output (priority 5700, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround-extra5: Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI 6) Output (priority 600, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround71-extra5: Digital Surround 7.1 (HDMI 6) Output (priority 600, available: no)
		output:hdmi-stereo-extra6: Digital Stereo (HDMI 7) Output (priority 5700, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround-extra6: Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI 7) Output (priority 600, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround71-extra6: Digital Surround 7.1 (HDMI 7) Output (priority 600, available: no)
		off: Off (priority 0, available: unknown)
	active profile: <off>
	ports:
		hdmi-output-0: HDMI / DisplayPort (priority 5900, latency offset 0 usec, available: no)
			properties:
				device.icon_name = "video-display"
		hdmi-output-1: HDMI / DisplayPort 2 (priority 5800, latency offset 0 usec, available: no)
			properties:
				device.icon_name = "video-display"
		hdmi-output-2: HDMI / DisplayPort 3 (priority 5700, latency offset 0 usec, available: no)
			properties:
				device.icon_name = "video-display"
		hdmi-output-3: HDMI / DisplayPort 4 (priority 5600, latency offset 0 usec, available: no)
			properties:
				device.icon_name = "video-display"
		hdmi-output-4: HDMI / DisplayPort 5 (priority 5500, latency offset 0 usec, available: no)
			properties:
				device.icon_name = "video-display"
		hdmi-output-5: HDMI / DisplayPort 6 (priority 5400, latency offset 0 usec, available: no)
			properties:
				device.icon_name = "video-display"
		hdmi-output-6: HDMI / DisplayPort 7 (priority 5300, latency offset 0 usec, available: no)
			properties:
				device.icon_name = "video-display"
    index: 1
	name: <alsa_card.pci-0000_00_1f.3>
	driver: <module-alsa-card.c>
	owner module: 8
	properties:
		alsa.card = "0"
		alsa.card_name = "HDA Intel PCH"
		alsa.long_card_name = "HDA Intel PCH at 0x609b218000 irq 227"
		alsa.driver_name = "snd_hda_intel"
		device.bus_path = "pci-0000:00:1f.3"
		sysfs.path = "/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1f.3/sound/card0"
		device.bus = "pci"
		device.vendor.id = "8086"
		device.vendor.name = "Intel Corporation"
		device.product.id = "06c8"
		device.form_factor = "internal"
		device.string = "0"
		device.description = "Built-in Audio"
		module-udev-detect.discovered = "1"
		device.icon_name = "audio-card-pci"
	profiles:
		output:hdmi-stereo: Digital Stereo (HDMI) Output (priority 5900, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround: Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI) Output (priority 800, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround71: Digital Surround 7.1 (HDMI) Output (priority 800, available: no)
		output:hdmi-stereo-extra1: Digital Stereo (HDMI 2) Output (priority 5700, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround-extra1: Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI 2) Output (priority 600, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround71-extra1: Digital Surround 7.1 (HDMI 2) Output (priority 600, available: no)
		output:hdmi-stereo-extra2: Digital Stereo (HDMI 3) Output (priority 5700, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround-extra2: Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI 3) Output (priority 600, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround71-extra2: Digital Surround 7.1 (HDMI 3) Output (priority 600, available: no)
		output:hdmi-stereo-extra3: Digital Stereo (HDMI 4) Output (priority 5700, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround-extra3: Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI 4) Output (priority 600, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround71-extra3: Digital Surround 7.1 (HDMI 4) Output (priority 600, available: no)
		output:hdmi-stereo-extra4: Digital Stereo (HDMI 5) Output (priority 5700, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround-extra4: Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI 5) Output (priority 600, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround71-extra4: Digital Surround 7.1 (HDMI 5) Output (priority 600, available: no)
		off: Off (priority 0, available: unknown)
	active profile: <off>
	ports:
		hdmi-output-0: HDMI / DisplayPort (priority 5900, latency offset 0 usec, available: no)
			properties:
				device.icon_name = "video-display"
		hdmi-output-1: HDMI / DisplayPort 2 (priority 5800, latency offset 0 usec, available: no)
			properties:
				device.icon_name = "video-display"
		hdmi-output-2: HDMI / DisplayPort 3 (priority 5700, latency offset 0 usec, available: no)
			properties:
				device.icon_name = "video-display"
		hdmi-output-3: HDMI / DisplayPort 4 (priority 5600, latency offset 0 usec, available: no)
			properties:
				device.icon_name = "video-display"
		hdmi-output-4: HDMI / DisplayPort 5 (priority 5500, latency offset 0 usec, available: no)
			properties:
				device.icon_name = "video-display"

Audio sinks

Code: Select all

pacmd list-sinks

Code: Select all

1 sink(s) available.
  * index: 0
	name: <auto_null>
	driver: <module-null-sink.c>
	flags: DECIBEL_VOLUME LATENCY DYNAMIC_LATENCY
	state: SUSPENDED
	suspend cause: IDLE
	priority: 1000
	volume: front-left: 58980 /  90% / -2.75 dB,   front-right: 58980 /  90% / -2.75 dB
	        balance 0.00
	base volume: 65536 / 100% / 0.00 dB
	volume steps: 65537
	muted: no
	current latency: 0.00 ms
	max request: 375 KiB
	max rewind: 375 KiB
	monitor source: 0
	sample spec: s16le 2ch 48000Hz
	channel map: front-left,front-right
	             Stereo
	used by: 0
	linked by: 0
	configured latency: 0.00 ms; range is 0.50 .. 2000.00 ms
	module: 15
	properties:
		device.description = "Dummy Output"
		device.class = "abstract"
		device.icon_name = "audio-card"

Finally,

Code: Select all

aplay -lL

outputs

Code: Select all

default
    Playback/recording through the PulseAudio sound server
surround21
    2.1 Surround output to Front and Subwoofer speakers
surround40
    4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41
    4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50
    5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51
    5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71
    7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
null
    Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)
samplerate
    Rate Converter Plugin Using Samplerate Library
speexrate
    Rate Converter Plugin Using Speex Resampler
jack
    JACK Audio Connection Kit
oss
    Open Sound System
pulse
    PulseAudio Sound Server
upmix
    Plugin for channel upmix (4,6,8)
vdownmix
    Plugin for channel downmix (stereo) with a simple spacialization
hdmi:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
    HDA Intel PCH, HDMI 0
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=PCH,DEV=1
    HDA Intel PCH, HDMI 1
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=PCH,DEV=2
    HDA Intel PCH, HDMI 2
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=PCH,DEV=3
    HDA Intel PCH, HDMI 3
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=PCH,DEV=4
    HDA Intel PCH, HDMI 4
    HDMI Audio Output
dmix:CARD=PCH,DEV=3
    HDA Intel PCH, HDMI 0
    Direct sample mixing device
dmix:CARD=PCH,DEV=7
    HDA Intel PCH, HDMI 1
    Direct sample mixing device
dmix:CARD=PCH,DEV=8
    HDA Intel PCH, HDMI 2
    Direct sample mixing device
dmix:CARD=PCH,DEV=9
    HDA Intel PCH, HDMI 3
    Direct sample mixing device
dmix:CARD=PCH,DEV=10
    HDA Intel PCH, HDMI 4
    Direct sample mixing device
dsnoop:CARD=PCH,DEV=3
    HDA Intel PCH, HDMI 0
    Direct sample snooping device
dsnoop:CARD=PCH,DEV=7
    HDA Intel PCH, HDMI 1
    Direct sample snooping device
dsnoop:CARD=PCH,DEV=8
    HDA Intel PCH, HDMI 2
    Direct sample snooping device
dsnoop:CARD=PCH,DEV=9
    HDA Intel PCH, HDMI 3
    Direct sample snooping device
dsnoop:CARD=PCH,DEV=10
    HDA Intel PCH, HDMI 4
    Direct sample snooping device
hw:CARD=PCH,DEV=3
    HDA Intel PCH, HDMI 0
    Direct hardware device without any conversions
hw:CARD=PCH,DEV=7
    HDA Intel PCH, HDMI 1
    Direct hardware device without any conversions
hw:CARD=PCH,DEV=8
    HDA Intel PCH, HDMI 2
    Direct hardware device without any conversions
hw:CARD=PCH,DEV=9
    HDA Intel PCH, HDMI 3
    Direct hardware device without any conversions
hw:CARD=PCH,DEV=10
    HDA Intel PCH, HDMI 4
    Direct hardware device without any conversions
plughw:CARD=PCH,DEV=3
    HDA Intel PCH, HDMI 0
    Hardware device with all software conversions
plughw:CARD=PCH,DEV=7
    HDA Intel PCH, HDMI 1
    Hardware device with all software conversions
plughw:CARD=PCH,DEV=8
    HDA Intel PCH, HDMI 2
    Hardware device with all software conversions
plughw:CARD=PCH,DEV=9
    HDA Intel PCH, HDMI 3
    Hardware device with all software conversions
plughw:CARD=PCH,DEV=10
    HDA Intel PCH, HDMI 4
    Hardware device with all software conversions
usbstream:CARD=PCH
    HDA Intel PCH
    USB Stream Output
hdmi:CARD=NVidia,DEV=0
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 0
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=NVidia,DEV=1
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 1
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=NVidia,DEV=2
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 2
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=NVidia,DEV=3
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 3
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=NVidia,DEV=4
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 4
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=NVidia,DEV=5
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 5
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=NVidia,DEV=6
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 6
    HDMI Audio Output
dmix:CARD=NVidia,DEV=3
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 0
    Direct sample mixing device
dmix:CARD=NVidia,DEV=7
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 1
    Direct sample mixing device
dmix:CARD=NVidia,DEV=8
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 2
    Direct sample mixing device
dmix:CARD=NVidia,DEV=9
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 3
    Direct sample mixing device
dmix:CARD=NVidia,DEV=10
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 4
    Direct sample mixing device
dmix:CARD=NVidia,DEV=11
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 5
    Direct sample mixing device
dmix:CARD=NVidia,DEV=12
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 6
    Direct sample mixing device
dsnoop:CARD=NVidia,DEV=3
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 0
    Direct sample snooping device
dsnoop:CARD=NVidia,DEV=7
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 1
    Direct sample snooping device
dsnoop:CARD=NVidia,DEV=8
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 2
    Direct sample snooping device
dsnoop:CARD=NVidia,DEV=9
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 3
    Direct sample snooping device
dsnoop:CARD=NVidia,DEV=10
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 4
    Direct sample snooping device
dsnoop:CARD=NVidia,DEV=11
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 5
    Direct sample snooping device
dsnoop:CARD=NVidia,DEV=12
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 6
    Direct sample snooping device
hw:CARD=NVidia,DEV=3
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 0
    Direct hardware device without any conversions
hw:CARD=NVidia,DEV=7
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 1
    Direct hardware device without any conversions
hw:CARD=NVidia,DEV=8
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 2
    Direct hardware device without any conversions
hw:CARD=NVidia,DEV=9
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 3
    Direct hardware device without any conversions
hw:CARD=NVidia,DEV=10
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 4
    Direct hardware device without any conversions
hw:CARD=NVidia,DEV=11
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 5
    Direct hardware device without any conversions
hw:CARD=NVidia,DEV=12
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 6
    Direct hardware device without any conversions
plughw:CARD=NVidia,DEV=3
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 0
    Hardware device with all software conversions
plughw:CARD=NVidia,DEV=7
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 1
    Hardware device with all software conversions
plughw:CARD=NVidia,DEV=8
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 2
    Hardware device with all software conversions
plughw:CARD=NVidia,DEV=9
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 3
    Hardware device with all software conversions
plughw:CARD=NVidia,DEV=10
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 4
    Hardware device with all software conversions
plughw:CARD=NVidia,DEV=11
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 5
    Hardware device with all software conversions
plughw:CARD=NVidia,DEV=12
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 6
    Hardware device with all software conversions
usbstream:CARD=NVidia
    HDA NVidia
    USB Stream Output
**** 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
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 10: HDMI 4 [HDMI 4]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 7: HDMI 1 [HDMI 1]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 8: HDMI 2 [HDMI 2]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 9: HDMI 3 [HDMI 3]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 10: HDMI 4 [HDMI 4]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 11: HDMI 5 [HDMI 5]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 12: HDMI 6 [HDMI 6]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

[hglee]

Hi,
I'm sorry for yet another post on this thread, but I have run out of options. I'll try to keep it to the point. Brand new Dell XPS 17 9700 originally came with Windows 10 and I installed Linux Mint 20.1 as a dual boot. As is well known now, there are some problems with Linux on the XPS 17 9700 that must be fixed. I updated the kernel to 5.10-generic to fix the no wi-fi problem. Only then I installed the NVIDIA 460.73 proprietary driver from the Driver Manager. Finally, I got to fixing the "no audio" issue and ran out of options after trying many solutions from this thread (and similar threads) here and also some other solutions from elsewhere. This is what I've tried so far:

• Upgrade the kernel to 5.10-generic
• Several ALSA tweaks including reload/reinstall/
• (Re)-Install Pulseaudio, force start, reset config
• ALSA mixer only shows S/PDIF <00>
• Install Pavucontrol
• Disable SOF driver to fallback to Intel by editing /etc/modprobe.d/ conf files (sof-fix.conf, alsa-base.conf) to add "options snd-hda-intel dmic_detect=0" and alternatively "options snd-intel-dspcfg dsp_driver=1"
• Install linux-oem-20.04b
• Tried to install soundwire following https://blog.fts.scot/2020/07/04/dell-x ... -on-linux/ but installation aborted after an error

Just a few loose ends:

For your dual boot, disable Fast StartUp in Windows power options, so the OS will release PC devices at shut down. Wireless subsystems are particularly sensitive to this, and monolithic chipsets can make other subsystems susceptible.

Disable Secure Boot in the BIOS. Even Microsoft notes that, "You may need to disable Secure Boot to run some PC graphics cards, hardware, or operating systems such as Linux or previous version of Windows."

Disable Fast Boot in the BIOS, to avoid hardware initialization and diagnostics shortcuts during power-on. With Dell systems, a Disable option may not be available, so select Minimal.

Ubuntu recommends that a BIOS upgrade accompany the OEM 5.10 kernel (linux-oem-20.04b), whenever possible.

[mcaetano]

Just a few loose ends:

For your dual boot, disable Fast StartUp in Windows power options, so the OS will release PC devices at shut down. Wireless subsystems are particularly sensitive to this, and monolithic chipsets can make other subsystems susceptible.

Disable Secure Boot in the BIOS. Even Microsoft notes that, "You may need to disable Secure Boot to run some PC graphics cards, hardware, or operating systems such as Linux or previous version of Windows."

Disable Fast Boot in the BIOS, to avoid hardware initialization and diagnostics shortcuts during power-on. With Dell systems, a Disable option may not be available, so select Minimal.

Ubuntu recommends that a BIOS upgrade accompany their OEM 5.10 kernel (linux-oem-20.04b).

Hi hglee,
Thanks for the reply. I forgot to mention in my original post, but I had already done most of the configuration steps you mentioned. I double-checked each one of them just to be sure, and it turns out that Fast Startup and Secure Boot were disabled. However, Fast Boot was not set to "Minimal", so I did it. Next, I updated the BIOS version from 1.6.3 to 1.7.2. Now, when I boot into Linux I still don't have audio and no more Wi-Fi either. The BIOS update is probably the culprit. Any suggestions on how to proceed?

[hglee]

Hi hglee,
Thanks for the reply. I forgot to mention in my original post, but I had already done most of the configuration steps you mentioned. I double-checked each one of them just to be sure, and it turns out that Fast Startup and Secure Boot were disabled. However, Fast Boot was not set to "Minimal", so I did it. Next, I updated the BIOS version from 1.6.3 to 1.7.2. Now, when I boot into Linux I still don't have audio and no more Wi-Fi either. The BIOS update is probably the culprit. Any suggestions on how to proceed?

Some days, no good deed goes unpunished.


If you can get your XPS online, via smartphone tether or otherwise, let's take a close look at the wifi situation:

Open a Terminal window (Ctrl-Alt-T), then click CODE:SELECT ALL to copy-and-paste the following as one block of text...

Code: Select all

W=wireless-info;I=/usr/local/bin;sudo wget -q -nv -t 5 -T 10 https://github.com/UbuntuForums/$W/raw/master/$W -P $I/;\
cd ~/Downloads;2>&1 rm -f $W.*;sudo chmod +x $I/$W;$W>/dev/null;(inxi -Fxxxrz;modinfo ath11k_pci|grep parm)>>$W.txt;\
(lspci -nnkD;lsusb -tv;rfkill;(lsmod;dmesg)|egrep -i "wl|firm|fail|ath|blu";dkms status;cat /proc/cmdline)>>$W.txt;\
(2>&1 iwconfig;2>&1 sudo lshw -c network)>>$W.txt;tr -cd '\11\12\15\40-\176'<$W.txt|nc termbin.com 9999

After a somewhat long pause, a termbin.com URL will appear in the Terminal. Post that URL here.

[mcaetano]

Wi-Fi magically worked again when I powered on the machine and logged back on this morning and I haven't had problems today. However, Wi-Fi has failed before so I ran the commands (over the Wi-Fi connection) anyway in the hopes of maybe catching some misconfiguration in my adapter. Here's the result, including the ring buffer message that appeared.

Code: Select all

dmesg: read kernel buffer failed: Operation not permitted

https://termbin.com/xxxx

There's some sensitive information displayed (such as my ID address), so I hope we'll be able to erase this afterwards? Anyway, still no sound but now Wi-Fi is back, so at least we're not moving backwards

[hglee]

Wi-Fi magically worked again when I powered on the machine and logged back on this morning and I haven't had problems today. However, Wi-Fi has failed before so I ran the commands (over the Wi-Fi connection) anyway in the hopes of maybe catching some misconfiguration in my adapter. Here's the result, including the ring buffer message that appeared.

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dmesg: read kernel buffer failed: Operation not permitted

https://termbin.com/xxxx

There's some sensitive information displayed (such as my ID address), so I hope we'll be able to erase this afterwards? Anyway, still no sound but now Wi-Fi is back, so at least we're not moving backwards

The termbin page self-destructs. The site says within one month, but I've seen some go 404 within a week or so.

Your wireless doesn't appear to have had any connection problem at its most recent attempt.


Is this the first time you've seen that dmesg error? It's a known Debian bug that can prevent non-root users from running dmesg. You should be able to remedy that with this:

Open a Terminal window (Ctrl-Alt-T), then click CODE:SELECT ALL here to copy-and-paste the following as one block of text...

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sudo sysctl kernel.dmesg_restrict=0;echo "kernel.dmesg_restrict = 0"|sudo tee /etc/sysctl.d/10-dmesg_restrict.conf;\
sudo service procps restart

Without dmesg data, I can't check for system errors.

[mcaetano]

Done, the output was

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kernel.dmesg_restrict = 0
kernel.dmesg_restrict = 0

which I suppose means it worked. Now when I enter

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dmesg

the output is a lot of information. I redid the previous step. Here is the new URL https://termbin.com/xxxx

[hglee]

Now when I enter dmesg the output is a lot of information. I redid the previous step. Here is the new URL https://termbin.com/xxxx

I've copied the termbin data to text files, so you can remove both URLs from your posts here -- for a measure of immediate privacy.


Other than "WARNING: ath11k PCI support is experimental!", nothing of concern appears in your wifi. That ath11k refers to the driver of your Qualcomm QCA6390 wireless card, aka Bigfoot Networks 'Killer AX500'. Being experimental (possibly unstable) could account for your temporary glitch.


There are error messages from the nVidia driver. Your nVidia chipset governs numerous things, including the "Intel" audio controller and I/O buses. It would be helpful if the local audio expert, MrEen, could look at it. I'm out of my depth with audio at that level, a field of specialized study all in itself.

[mcaetano]

I've copied the termbin data to a file, so you can remove the URLs from your posts here, for a measure of immediate privacy.

Ok, I already removed the links from the posts but kept both in case the information is needed later.

Other than "WARNING: ath11k PCI support is experimental!", nothing of concern appears in your wifi. The ath11k refers to the driver of your Qualcomm QCA6390 wireless card, aka Bigfoot Networks "Killer AX500". Being experimental (possibly unstable) may account for your temporary glitch.

Right, I understand. Support for the kernel version I'm using (v5.10) is also pending. By that I mean that Linux Mint hasn't adopted it yet. Anyway, I have to make do for the moment until these roll out.

There are error messages from the nVidia driver. Your nVidia chipset governs numerous things, including the "Intel" audio controller and I/O buses.

About the NVIDIA driver, I installed it from the driver manager after I installed the 5.10 kernel hoping that would avoid problems. I checked the installation with

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nvidia-smi

and it worked (the output was the driver information). The [NVIDIA website] https://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Lin ... TheKe997db says that

The NVIDIA kernel module has a kernel interface layer that must be compiled specifically for each kernel. NVIDIA distributes the source code to this kernel interface layer.

When the installer is run, it will check your system for the required kernel sources and compile the kernel interface. You must have the source code for your kernel installed for compilation to work. On most systems, this means that you will need to locate and install the correct kernel-source, kernel-headers, or kernel-devel package; on some distributions, no additional packages are required.

After the correct kernel interface has been compiled, the kernel interface will be linked with the closed-source portion of the NVIDIA kernel module. This requires that you have a linker installed on your system. The linker, usually /usr/bin/ld, is part of the binutils package. You must have a linker installed prior to installing the NVIDIA driver.

Installation of the NVIDIA driver with a non-supported kernel version is definitely a potential source of problems. I would roll back to kernel v5.8 and install the NVIDIA driver from the driver manager (assuming that it was pre-compiled for supported kernels), but then I go back to no Wi-Fi with kernel v5.8. Let me know if this is a good idea. Go back to kernel v5.8, install the NVIDIA driver, and then try to solve the Wi-Fi situation.

It would be helpful if the local audio expert, MrEen, could look at it. I'm out of my depth with audio at that level, a field of specialized study all in itself.

I see, the audio issue is not obvious even to the trained eye. How do we summon MrEen? Is there anything I can do in the mean time?

[hglee]

Let me know if this is a good idea. Go back to kernel v5.8, install the NVIDIA driver, and then try to solve the Wi-Fi situation.

Kernel 5.10 was the first to support the ath11k wifi driver for your QCA6390 wireless card. To use 5.8 you'll need at least the Hardware Enablement kernel extension (HWE), which allows the LTS kernel to receive the latest hardware support from more recent kernels, on a rolling-release basis. I have HWE kernel 5.8 on my laptop, and I can see that the QCA6390 driver is in my firmware folder.

HWE kernel 5.8 is usually installed with the following Terminal command:

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sudo apt-get install --install-recommends linux-generic-hwe-20.04

There's another variable in this equation, and the goal of this discussion thread: A particular audio driver for the Dell XPS 9700 laptop.

The OP of this thread, stevengarland, originally went with OEM kernel 5.6 because it came with the desired audio driver, and someone had confirmed that it worked on the XPS. I read somewhere that OEM kernel 5.10 does (or tries) the same. Without the OEM kernel, the audio firmware needs to be installed separately. Either way, the audio driver probably also needs extra tweaking (as did 5.6), preferably by someone who knows what they're doing.

As the forum's champion of audio, MrEen has been conspicuously absent, lately. Hopefully he's well. As a forum Moderator, his user profile provides links for both Email and PM contact. He may advise you on whether or not to start your own thread, though you have the same model of XPS as the OP -- whose audio is again in disrepair, I believe. But a topic marked "SOLVED" generally goes quiet.

Your wifi and graphics issues should have their own discussion threads (seeded with the usual inxi -Fxxxrz reports).

[mcaetano]

Kernel 5.10 was the first to support the ath11k wifi driver for your QCA6390 wireless card. To use 5.8 you'll need at least the Hardware Enablement kernel extension (HWE), which allows the LTS kernel to receive the latest hardware support from more recent kernels, on a rolling-release basis. I have HWE kernel 5.8 on my laptop, and I can see that the QCA6390 driver is in my firmware folder.

There's another variable in this equation, and the goal of this discussion thread: A particular audio driver for the Dell XPS 9700 laptop.

The OP of this thread, stevengarland, originally went with OEM kernel 5.6 because it came with the desired audio driver, and someone had confirmed that it worked on the XPS. I read somewhere that OEM kernel 5.10 does (or tries) the same. Without the OEM kernel, the audio firmware needs to be installed separately. Either way, the audio driver probably also needs extra tweaking (as did 5.6), preferably by someone who knows what they're doing.

Right, I got the gist of it. Although I'm not sure I'd be able to solve the problem by myself, I am definitely learning in the troubleshooting process.

Your wifi and graphics issues should have their own discussion threads (seeded with the usual inxi -Fxxxrz reports).

Yes, OK. I'll post on the appropriate threads if I experience further issues.

As the forum's champion of audio, MrEen has been conspicuously absent, lately. Hopefully he's well. As a forum Moderator, his user profile provides links for both Email and PM contact. He may advise you on whether or not to start your own thread, though you have the same model of XPS as the OP -- whose audio is again in disrepair, I believe. But a topic marked "SOLVED" generally goes quiet.

I'll contact MrEen about the audio issue that originated this particular exchange. Thanks very much for the help and information.