[Alienware] Integrated audio is not detected, there is no sound output or input

Support and Help
1

Solution: I connected the HDMI of a monitor to the NVIDIA GPU HDMI port and that exposed the monitor’s audio to the OS, which is supported.

Ubuntu Version:
24.04.03 LTS

Desktop Environment:
GNOME

Problem Description:
Hi everyone! The main problem is that the audio speakers and mic do not work. It is not a hardware issue because the audio was fine in the Windows installation after updating firmware+drivers, although it is possible it did not work before that, but it was some time ago, and there is no dual boot currently. The only device that appears in settings and other audio related programs is the Dummy device, and sometimes the HDMI devices. The same is true in alsamixer.
Importantly, my bluetooth headphones work without a problem, so the problem only concerns the integrated audio of the computer.
I tracked the bug to the error below from dmesg.

This problem seems similar to the one posted in No Sound On Fresh Install to iMac 14.2 - #3 by basitxr, although I created a new Topic because I could not post a comment there. Although the systems are different, the diagnostics match.

Relevant System Information:
Product Name: Alienware 18 Area-51 AA18250
Serial Number: JD5VJC4
SKU Number: 0CCD
Linux kernel version: 6.14.0-29-generic

Screenshots or Error Messages:

sudo dmesg | grep -iE 'sof'

[    1.043028] blacklist: Revoked X.509 cert 'Microsoft Windows PCA 2010: d14fa98a0708cef4241898e500fff3d6791d37bc'
[   28.443333] snd_hda_intel 0000:80:1f.3: SoundWire enabled on CannonLake+ platform, using SOF driver
[   28.558224] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3: enabling device (0000 -> 0002)
[   28.558370] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3: DSP detected with PCI class/subclass/prog-if 0x040100
[   29.774950] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3: bound 0000:00:02.0 (ops i915_audio_component_bind_ops [i915])
[   29.782095] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3: use msi interrupt mode
[   29.793119] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3: hda codecs found, mask 4
[   29.793121] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3: NHLT device BT(0) detected, ssp_mask 0x4
[   29.793122] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3: BT link detected in NHLT tables: 0x4
[   29.793124] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3: DMICs detected in NHLT tables: 0
[   29.796724] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3: Firmware paths/files for ipc type 1:
[   29.796726] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3:  Firmware file:     intel/sof-ipc4/arl-s/sof-arl-s.ri
[   29.796727] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3:  Firmware lib path: intel/sof-ipc4-lib/arl-s
[   29.796727] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3:  Topology file:     intel/sof-ace-tplg/sof-arl-rt722-l0_rt1320-l2.tplg
[   29.798164] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3: Loaded firmware library: ADSPFW, version: 2.13.0.1
[   30.113125] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3: Booted firmware version: 2.13.0.1
[   30.123158] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3: Topology: ABI 3:29:1 Kernel ABI 3:23:1
[   30.123416] sof_sdw sof_sdw: ASoC: Parent card not yet available, widget card binding deferred
[   30.137388] sof_sdw sof_sdw: control 2:0:0:Speaker Switch:0 is already present
[   30.137392] sof_sdw sof_sdw: ASoC: Failed to add Speaker Switch: -16
[   30.137394] sof_sdw sof_sdw: 0x1320 controls addition failed: -16
[   30.137646] sof_sdw sof_sdw: error -EBUSY: snd_soc_register_card failed -16
[   30.137658] sof_sdw sof_sdw: probe with driver sof_sdw failed with error -16

sudo dmesg | grep -iE 'snd|hda|codec'

[   29.183309] Bluetooth: hci0: Failed to read codec capabilities (-95)
[   29.187304] Bluetooth: hci0: Failed to read codec capabilities (-95)
[   29.793119] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3: hda codecs found, mask 4
[   30.137395]  SDW2-Playback-SmartAmp: ASoC: error at snd_soc_link_init on SDW2-Playback-SmartAmp: -16
[   30.137646] sof_sdw sof_sdw: error -EBUSY: snd_soc_register_card failed -16
[ 3750.092814] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3: hda codecs found, mask 4
[ 3750.425247]  SDW2-Playback-SmartAmp: ASoC: error at snd_soc_link_init on SDW2-Playback-SmartAmp: -16
[ 3750.425446] sof_sdw sof_sdw: error -EBUSY: snd_soc_register_card failed -16

Diagnostics:

cat /proc/asound/cards

 0 [NVidia         ]: HDA-Intel - HDA NVidia
                      HDA NVidia at 0x6c000000 irq 17

aplay -l

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


wpctl status

PipeWire 'pipewire-0' [1.0.5, antoni@HungryBox, cookie:1760491019]
 └─ Clients:
        32. pipewire                            [1.0.5, antoni@HungryBox, pid:4093]
        33. WirePlumber                         [1.0.5, antoni@HungryBox, pid:4092]
        34. WirePlumber [export]                [1.0.5, antoni@HungryBox, pid:4092]
        55. GNOME Volume Control Media Keys     [1.0.5, antoni@HungryBox, pid:4686]
        56. gnome-shell                         [1.0.5, antoni@HungryBox, pid:4566]
        57. GNOME Shell Volume Control          [1.0.5, antoni@HungryBox, pid:4566]
        58. xdg-desktop-portal                  [1.0.5, antoni@HungryBox, pid:4509]
        59. Firefox                             [1.0.5, antoni@HungryBox, pid:5920]
        60. speech-dispatcher-dummy             [1.0.5, antoni@HungryBox, pid:7219]
        66. Terminal                            [1.0.5, antoni@HungryBox, pid:7975]
        67. wpctl                               [1.0.5, antoni@HungryBox, pid:9190]

Audio
 ├─ Devices:
 │      54. HDA NVidia                          [alsa]
 │  
 ├─ Sinks:
 │  *   35. Dummy Output                        [vol: 1.00]
 │  
 ├─ Sink endpoints:
 │  
 ├─ Sources:
 │  
 ├─ Source endpoints:
 │  
 └─ Streams:
        62. speech-dispatcher-dummy                                     
             63. output_FR       > Dummy Output:playback_FR	[init]
             65. output_FL       > Dummy Output:playback_FL	[init]

Video
 ├─ Devices:
 │      39. Integrated_Webcam_8M                [v4l2]
 │      40. Integrated_Webcam_8M                [v4l2]
 │      41. Integrated_Webcam_8M                [v4l2]
 │      42. Integrated_Webcam_8M                [v4l2]
 │  
 ├─ Sinks:
 │  
 ├─ Sink endpoints:
 │  
 ├─ Sources:
 │  *   43. Integrated_Webcam_8M (V4L2)        
 │      45. Integrated_Webcam_8M (V4L2)        
 │  
 ├─ Source endpoints:
 │  
 └─ Streams:

Settings
 └─ Default Configured Node Names:
         0. Audio/Sink    alsa_output.pci-0000_80_1f.3.pro-output-3

pactl info

Server String: /run/user/1000/pulse/native
Library Protocol Version: 35
Server Protocol Version: 35
Is Local: yes
Client Index: 93
Tile Size: 65472
User Name: antoni
Host Name: HungryBox
Server Name: PulseAudio (on PipeWire 1.0.5)
Server Version: 15.0.0
Default Sample Specification: float32le 2ch 48000Hz
Default Channel Map: front-left,front-right
Default Sink: auto_null
Default Source: auto_null.monitor
Cookie: 68ee:f60b


inxi -Ax

Audio:
  Device-1: NVIDIA driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 02:00.1
  Device-2: Intel vendor: Dell driver: sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl
    bus-ID: 80:1f.3
  API: ALSA v: k6.14.0-29-generic status: kernel-api
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.0.5 status: active

What I’ve Tried:

  1. Of course, updating and reinstalling everything audio related (linux-firmware firmware-sof-signed alsa-ucm-conf). BIOS and firmware I could not update via the Firmware Updater, so I did it when I installed Windows 11 for some other wmi communication protocols issues.
  2. Forcing hda_intel drivers via GRUB_CMDLINE or modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf results in the following changes:
aplay -l

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

Without any changes to the actual issue, still no audio and only Dummy device on settings.

  1. Changing the Linux kernel to the newest mainline linux-oem-6.11 resulted in no changes to the issue and same diagnostics as posted on the error messages section.
  2. Forcing SOF driver snd_intel_dspcfg.dsp_driver=3 via GRUB_CMDLINE yielded no results.
  3. Same as 3 and also trying a different topology: snd_intel_dspcfg.dsp_driver=3 snd_sof.sof_tplg_filename=sof-arl-rt722-l0.tplg also did not work.
  4. sudo apt install --reinstall pipewire wireplumber pipewire-pulse && systemctl --user --now enable pipewire pipewire-pulse wireplumber did not work.
  5. sudo alsa force-reload did not work.

I am not a Linux veteran, so after 30 hours of trying I cannot think of anything else to try. I would appreciate if anyone could help a bit. If there is any other info that is needed to resolve the issue I will gladly provide it.
Thank you!

2

Hey mate - sadly i cant provide a direct solution but maybe a small workaround since i had a similar issue - and changed the audio jack from the back of the mainboard to the output jack on my monitor and use nvidia as audio source.

1 Like
3

Observation: This looks like very-new hardware.

1 Like
4

This topic was automatically closed 3 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.

6

I discovered the same issues on my Alienware Area 51 laptop, and it too, could output audio over HDMI. However, I have not been able to find any means to enable the onboard microphones or speakers. There are often times where I’m unable to attach this laptop to an external monitor with speakers over HDMI, and would like to be able to record/provide voice input via the onboard mics. This is related to the post found here:

7

It’s based on new hardware. I’ve tested Ubuntu 25.10 (kernel 6.17) on my new Alienware 16 - Area 51, and everything works quite well — including the internal speakers and microphone, and there is no issue.

8

I’m glad it seems to work on 25.10, but, I’m on 24.04. Is it a kernel fix that enabled these to work appropriately, and will it make it into the 24.04 backports, as that is the current LTS version?

9

Yes — it’s a kernel-level issue. Ubuntu 24.04.3 uses kernel 6.14, which doesn’t yet include the updated audio drivers for the new Alienware laptop hardware.

Starting with kernel 6.17 (included in Ubuntu 25.10), new SOF (Sound Open Firmware) and ALSA patches were merged upstream that correctly handle the internal speakers and microphone on this generation of Alienware systems.

These changes should eventually reach 24.04 through the HWE (Hardware Enablement) stack, most likely in a future 24.04.04 release once Canonical backports the newer kernel. Until then, the workaround is to install a mainline 6.17+ kernel or the OEM kernel package. Maybe in this way you can have them on Ubuntu 24 LTS.

10

I have same issue (new dell alienware notebook area 51) but upgrading to Ubuntu 25.10 hasn’t not yet solved it - didn’t see no changes.

➜  ~ inxi -Ax

Audio:
  Device-1: NVIDIA driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 02:00.1
  Device-2: Intel vendor: Dell driver: sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl
    bus-ID: 80:1f.3
  API: ALSA v: k6.17.0-6-generic status: kernel-api
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.4.7 status: active