[XPS 17 9700, Intel Kabylake HDMI, Digital Out, HDMI] Playback problem

[pbea]

I have tried modifications to DKMS, modprobe.d, pulseaudio and alsa but all were no sound.

The modprobe,d modifications did result in the "dummy" message being replaced by a device. This was done 2 installs ago,sorry.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 20.04
Package: alsa-base 1.0.25+dfsg-0ubuntu5
Uname: Linux 5.10.0-051000-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.20.11-0ubuntu27.18
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: pbea 1894 F.... pulseaudio
CasperMD5CheckResult: skip
CurrentDesktop: KDE
CurrentDmesg: Error: command ['dmesg'] failed with exit code 1: dmesg: read kernel buffer failed: Operation not permitted
Date: Fri Jun 11 23:34:27 2021
InstallationDate: Installed on 2021-06-11 (0 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Kubuntu 20.04.2.0 LTS "Focal Fossa" - Release amd64 (20210209.1)
PackageArchitecture: all
SourcePackage: alsa-driver
Symptom: audio
Symptom_AlsaPlaybackTest: ALSA playback test through plughw:PCH successful
Symptom_Card: Built-in Audio - HDA Intel PCH
Symptom_Jack: Digital Out, HDMI
Symptom_PulsePlaybackTest: PulseAudio playback test successful
Symptom_Type: None of the above
Title: [XPS 17 9700, Intel Kabylake HDMI, Digital Out, HDMI] Playback problem
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 03/04/2021
dmi.bios.release: 1.7
dmi.bios.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.bios.version: 1.7.2
dmi.board.name: 0P25F6
dmi.board.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.board.version: A03
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnDellInc.:bvr1.7.2:bd03/04/2021:br1.7:svnDellInc.:pnXPS179700:pvr:rvnDellInc.:rn0P25F6:rvrA03:cvnDellInc.:ct10:cvr:
dmi.product.family: XPS
dmi.product.name: XPS 17 9700
dmi.product.sku: 098F
dmi.sys.vendor: Dell Inc.

[Hui Wang (hui.wang)]

Please try ubuntu kernel 5.11.0-19-generic or later version. Looks like it is a soundwire audio codec on your machine.

[pbea (pbea)]

Hello

Thank You for your assistance.

I installed 5.11 but no luck still. No sound and only "Dummy Output".

I looked through my syslog and I found some references to alsa and sound. The syslog is too large to send but I have extracted all the references to also and sound. There are a lot of errors. Hope it helps.

[Hui Wang (hui.wang)]

Please upload the dmesg ($dmesg > dmesg.txt) with 5.11 kernel.

[pbea (pbea)]

Again Thank You for your assistance.

uname -r reports 5.11.0-051100-generic.

I followed your instructions and the file dmesg.txt is empty.

[Hui Wang (hui.wang)]

your kernel is mainline build kernel, please install 5.11.0-20-generic kernel, this is the canonical supported kernel.

[pbea (pbea)]

Thank You.

My research suggests that the command journalctl -k is almost equivalent to the old smesg so I have attached a copy.

I will still try to load your suggestion.

[pbea (pbea)]

Back again. Sorry for the delay but my system was completely screwed up from loading all the kernels.

At the end Grub-Customizer and the Kubuntu Boot Menu showed two different listings.

After much cleaning up, I did finally load 5.11.0-20 but nothing worked. I even lost my networking.

Sometime during this mess uname -r reported 5.11.0-20 as the running kernel. I used the $dmesg < dmesg.txt and again the file was empty.

I am down to the default kernel 5.8 so I can try something else.

That is if you have something else?

Thank You

[Hui Wang (hui.wang)]

@pbea,

Please try $sudo dmesg > dmesg.txt

[pbea (pbea)]

Thank You once more for the reply.

This time success!

sudo dmesg > dmesg.txt contains lots of text info. It is attached all 85kb of it.

uname -r = 5.10.0-051000-generic

Hope this helps.

[Hui Wang (hui.wang)]

@pbea,

It is expected that the audio doesn't work well with 5.10.0-051000-generic kernel on your machine, what I mean is please try 5.11.0-20-generic kernel, if the audio still doesn't work with that kernel, please upload the dmesg.txt generated under that kernel.

thx.

[pbea (pbea)]

Hello again. Thank You for your continuing help.

As I did before, I tried to load 5.11.0-20 but absolutely no luck. I found the packages at ubuntu.paks(?).org but they locked me up totally. My system froze halfway through the boot process. Tried it 3 times. Same result. I found some more at the ubuntu kernel team site but after loading the kernel nothing showed in grub-customizer or the grub boot menu. Synaptic shows it is loaded and so does:
 dpkg -l | tail -n +6 | grep -E 'linux-image-[0-9]+' | grep -Fv $(uname -r)
rc linux-image-5.11.0-20-generic 5.11.0-20.21~20.04.1 amd64 Signed kernel image generic
rc linux-image-5.8.0-43-generic 5.8.0-43.49~20.04.1 amd64 Signed kernel image generic
rc linux-image-5.8.0-55-generic 5.8.0-55.62~20.04.1 amd64 Signed kernel image generic
ii linux-image-5.8.0-56-generic 5.8.0-56.63~20.04.1 amd64 Signed kernel image generic
ii linux-image-5.8.0-57-generic 5.8.0-57.64~20.04.1 amd64 Signed kernel image generic

5.11.0-20 does not show on any menu. My best guess is possibly dependency issues.

Can I try a later kernel? I am using LTS 20.04 and not 21.04 which may be required.

Another option is for me is to pop in another ssd and try another distro. Would that work?

Thank You again . . .

[Hui Wang (hui.wang)]

Then please try this kernel:

https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.13-rc6/amd64/

Download
linux-image-unsigned-5.13.0-051300rc6-generic_5.13.0-051300rc6.202106132230_amd64.deb
linux-modules-5.13.0-051300rc6-generic_5.13.0-051300rc6.202106132230_amd64.deb

sudo dpkg -i *.deb

reboot; turn off secure boot from BIOS

[pbea (pbea)]

Finally . . .

The downloading and installing the 5.13.0rc was unremarkable. The only problem was sudo would not function. I su'd and it worked.

uname -r = 5.13.0-051300rc6-generic

sudo $dmesg > dmesg.txt generated a sudo error so I su'd to root and ran
dmesg > dmesg-1.txt and voila the text file is attached.

I want to move back to the LTS kernel 5.10 whenever possible. I will keep 5.13rc running until you no longer need it.

Again, Thank You

[pbea (pbea)]

Hello . . .

I stand corrected. The newest kernel install generated sound devices. I may have to keep 5.13rc.

aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: sofsoundwire [sof-soundwire], device 0: Headphone (*) []
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: sofsoundwire [sof-soundwire], device 2: SDW1-speakers (*) []
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: sofsoundwire [sof-soundwire], device 5: HDMI1 (*) []
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: sofsoundwire [sof-soundwire], device 6: HDMI2 (*) []
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: sofsoundwire [sof-soundwire], device 7: HDMI3 (*) []
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

Entry #2 in his list generates sound through the laptop's speakers. None of the HDMI entries generate any sound.

It appears that for sound, I need a newer kernel than the LTS.

Thank You.

Any follow-up?

[Hui Wang (hui.wang)]

That is good. and you could also try 21.04, the 5.11.0-20-generic kernel should work on your machine too.

[pbea (pbea)]

Hope you are still listening . . .

I am using 5.11.0-20 with as expected results.

One question pertaining to this bug. The fix that you 'Released' when or if will it be available in a kernel LTS. Hopefully it will backported or else I must wait for the next production LTS.

Last time I will bother you. Thank You again.

[Hui Wang (hui.wang)]

So far the 20.04 uses 5.8.0-generic kernel, it is not easy to backport soundwire code to 5.8 kernel.

And the 20.04 is going to replace 5.8 kernel with 5.11.0-generic kernel soon, when this happens, the LTS will support your machine.