No sound on 2015 iMac

[PhilAshby]

I have just installed Mint Debian on an old iMac. Everything works fine apart from sound. System specs as follows:

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System:
  Kernel: 6.1.0-14-amd64 arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0 Desktop: Cinnamon v: 5.8.4
    tk: GTK v: 3.24.38 wm: muffin dm: LightDM Distro: LMDE 6 Faye base: Debian 12.1 bookworm
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Apple product: iMac16,1 v: 1.0 serial: <superuser required> Chassis: type: 9
    v: Mac-A369DDC4E67F1C45 serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: Apple model: Mac-A369DDC4E67F1C45 v: iMac16,1 serial: <superuser required> UEFI: Apple
    v: 486.0.0.0.0 date: 08/03/2023
Battery:
  Device-1: hidpp_battery_0 model: Logitech Wireless Keyboard serial: <filter>
    charge: 55% (should be ignored) status: discharging
CPU:
  Info: dual core model: Intel Core i5-5250U bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Broadwell rev: 4 cache:
    L1: 128 KiB L2: 512 KiB L3: 3 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 1593 high: 1600 min/max: 500/2700 cores: 1: 1600 2: 1600 3: 1574 4: 1600
    bogomips: 12800
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel HD Graphics 6000 vendor: Apple driver: i915 v: kernel arch: Gen-8 ports:
    active: eDP-1 empty: DP-1, DP-2, HDMI-A-1, HDMI-A-2 bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:1626
  Device-2: Apple FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in) type: USB driver: uvcvideo bus-ID: 1-5:3
    chip-ID: 05ac:8511
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.7 with: Xwayland v: 22.1.9 driver: X: loaded: modesetting
    unloaded: fbdev,vesa dri: iris gpu: i915 display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-dpi: 96
  Monitor-1: eDP-1 model: Apple iMac res: 1920x1080 dpi: 103 diag: 545mm (21.5")
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 Mesa 22.3.6 renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 6000 (BDW GT3)
    direct-render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Broadwell-U Audio vendor: Apple driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:03.0
    chip-ID: 8086:160c
  Device-2: Intel Wildcat Point-LP High Definition Audio driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
    bus-ID: 00:1b.0 chip-ID: 8086:9ca0
  API: ALSA v: k6.1.0-14-amd64 status: kernel-api
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 0.3.65 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse status: active
    2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin
Network:
  Device-1: Broadcom BCM43602 802.11ac Wireless LAN SoC vendor: Apple driver: brcmfmac v: kernel
    pcie: speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 14e4:43ba
  IF: wlp2s0 state: up mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Broadcom NetXtreme BCM57766 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe driver: tg3 v: kernel pcie:
    speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: N/A bus-ID: 03:00.0 chip-ID: 14e4:1686
  IF: enp3s0f0 state: down mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Apple Bluetooth USB Host Controller type: USB driver: btusb,hid-generic,usbhid
    bus-ID: 1-6:4 chip-ID: 05ac:8294
  Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 1 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 2.1 lmp-v: 4.2
    sub-v: 21a9
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 931.51 GiB used: 359.72 GiB (38.6%)
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Apple model: HDD HTS541010A9E662 size: 931.51 GiB speed: 3.0 Gb/s
    serial: <filter>
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 907.04 GiB used: 359.5 GiB (39.6%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/dm-0 mapped: lvmlmde-root
  ID-2: /boot/efi size: 285.4 MiB used: 5.8 MiB (2.0%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/sda1
Swap:
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 7.63 GiB used: 220.2 MiB (2.8%) priority: -2 dev: /dev/dm-1
    mapped: lvmlmde-swap
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 45.0 C pch: 40.5 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Repos:
  Packages: pm: dpkg pkgs: 2693
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list
    1: deb [arch=amd64] https: //dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list
    1: deb http: //packages.linuxmint.com faye main upstream import backport
    2: deb https: //deb.debian.org/debian bookworm main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
    3: deb https: //deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-updates main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
    4: deb http: //security.debian.org bookworm-security main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
    5: deb https: //deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-backports main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/winehq-bookworm.sources
    1: deb [arch=amd64 i386] https: //dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/debian bookworm main
Info:
  Processes: 228 Uptime: 16h 15m Memory: 7.63 GiB used: 2.9 GiB (38.0%) Init: systemd v: 252
  target: graphical (5) default: graphical Compilers: gcc: 12.2.0 alt: 12 Client: Cinnamon v: 5.8.4
  inxi: 3.3.26

Any ideas please?

[SMG]

I have just installed Mint Debian on an old iMac. Everything works fine apart from sound.

Please provide the output of aplay -l and

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journalctl -k | grep -Ei "ALSA|HDA|sof[-]|HDMI|snd[_-]|sound|hda.codec|hda.intel"

Have you installed alsmixer and checked to make sure nothing is muted?

[PhilAshby]

aplay -1 gives

**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: HDMI [HDA Intel HDMI], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: HDMI [HDA Intel HDMI], device 7: HDMI 1 [HDMI 1]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: HDMI [HDA Intel HDMI], device 8: HDMI 2 [HDMI 2]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: CS4208 Analog [CS4208 Analog]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 1: CS4208 Digital [CS4208 Digital]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

[PhilAshby]

journalctl -k | grep -Ei "ALSA|HDA|sof[-]|HDMI|snd[_-]|sound|hda.codec|hda.intel"
gives
Dec 09 22:49:14 imac-1 kernel: snd_hda_intel 0000:00:03.0: bound 0000:00:02.0 (ops i915_audio_component_bind_ops [i915])
Dec 09 22:49:14 imac-1 kernel: input: HDA Intel HDMI HDMI/DP,pcm=3 as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:03.0/sound/card0/input24
Dec 09 22:49:14 imac-1 kernel: input: HDA Intel HDMI HDMI/DP,pcm=7 as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:03.0/sound/card0/input25
Dec 09 22:49:14 imac-1 kernel: input: HDA Intel HDMI HDMI/DP,pcm=8 as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:03.0/sound/card0/input26
Dec 09 22:49:14 imac-1 kernel: snd_hda_codec_cirrus hdaudioC1D0: autoconfig for CS4208: line_outs=2 (0x1d/0x1e/0x0/0x0/0x0) type:speaker
Dec 09 22:49:14 imac-1 kernel: snd_hda_codec_cirrus hdaudioC1D0: speaker_outs=0 (0x0/0x0/0x0/0x0/0x0)
Dec 09 22:49:14 imac-1 kernel: snd_hda_codec_cirrus hdaudioC1D0: hp_outs=1 (0x10/0x0/0x0/0x0/0x0)
Dec 09 22:49:14 imac-1 kernel: snd_hda_codec_cirrus hdaudioC1D0: mono: mono_out=0x0
Dec 09 22:49:14 imac-1 kernel: snd_hda_codec_cirrus hdaudioC1D0: dig-out=0x21/0x0
Dec 09 22:49:14 imac-1 kernel: snd_hda_codec_cirrus hdaudioC1D0: inputs:
Dec 09 22:49:14 imac-1 kernel: snd_hda_codec_cirrus hdaudioC1D0: Internal Mic=0x1c
Dec 09 22:49:14 imac-1 kernel: snd_hda_codec_cirrus hdaudioC1D0: Mic=0x18
Dec 09 22:49:14 imac-1 kernel: input: HDA Intel PCH Mic as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1b.0/sound/card1/input27
Dec 09 22:49:14 imac-1 kernel: input: HDA Intel PCH Headphone as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1b.0/sound/card1/input28
Dec 09 22:49:14 imac-1 kernel: input: HDA Intel PCH SPDIF as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1b.0/sound/card1/input29

[PhilAshby]

alsmixer is not installed but I can't find it in Software Sources or in Synaptic Package Manager.

I have tried the solution here https://github.com/davidjo/snd_hda_macbookpro but it hasn't worked.

Thanks for your input.

[PhilAshby]

I have installed ALSA Tools and ALSA Tools GUI but there's no response when I click the mixer. Do I need anything else?

[SMG]

alsmixer is not installed but I can't find it in Software Sources or in Synaptic Package Manager.

I do not have an LMDE install to check, but I am surprised to hear it is not there.

I have tried the solution here https://github.com/davidjo/snd_hda_macbookpro but it hasn't worked.

The data you just posted indicates your system has CS4208 which is different than the 8409 in that link so I would not expect it to work. However, I did find a topic where someone said to try it. Hopefully, you took a Timeshift snapshot before trying it and you can roll back your system to its state before you tried that.

I just recently investigated CS4208 in this post. That person has a macbook9,1 while you have an imac16,1. I don't know if the links in that post may help you because your hardware is different.

I did find No Sound on iMac where this post indicates to "Go to settings, Sound, select profile "ANALOG STEREO 4.0""

This Reddit topic Sound Problems on Late 2015 iMac 21.5" (16,2) seems to confirm that with:

Speakers only have output when set to anything higher than stereo (2.1, 4.0, etc).

However, 2.1 only has sound coming out of the left channels, and 4.0 has all "front" channels coming out of the left, and all "rear" channels coming out of the right.

That topic links to this PipeWire bug report Sound Problems on Late 2015 iMac 21.5" (16,2) which is a Pipewire specific install like you have.

I'm not sure how close to getting decent sound is possible with the current code, but this topic from the MX Linux forum Poor Sound Quality - Late 2015 iMac - MX Linux 19.3 ahs has tips for a PulseAudio install. LMDE 6 does not have PulseAudio, but I'm just posting it here in case you run out of options to get it to work with PipeWire. (LMDE 5 has PulseAudio.)