[BUG] Sound devices not detected by sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl after 6.15->6.16 Linux kernel upgrade

[bnicolae]

Symptom Sound devices are partially detected but not functional after 6.15->6.16 kernel upgrade for the following hardware.

Reproducibility This is reproducible at every boot.

Expected It was working perfectly fine on 6.15 kernel (up to 6.15.9, when I transitioned to 6.16).

Impact Neither the mic nor the speakers are available due to this bug, so it's critical.

Environment

1. Branch name and commit hash of the 2 repositories: sof (firmware/topology) and linux (kernel driver).
   • Kernel: 6.16.4-arch1-1
   • SOF: 2025.05.1-1 (2.13.1)
2. Name of the topology file
   • Topology: intel/sof-ace-tplg/sof-mtl-cs42l43-l0-cs35l56-l23.tplg
3. Name of the platform(s) on which the bug is observed.
   • Platform: Dell XPS 14 9440 00:1f.3 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation Meteor Lake-P HD Audio Controller (rev 20)

Screenshots or console output There is no error per se but a difference in the output between kernel 6.15 and 6.16, as follows:

Kernel 6.15

kernel: sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:00:1f.3: enabling device (0000 -> 0002)
kernel: sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:00:1f.3: DSP detected with PCI class/subclass/prog-if 0x040100
kernel: sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:00:1f.3: bound 0000:00:02.0 (ops intel_audio_component_bind_ops [i915])
kernel: sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:00:1f.3: use msi interrupt mode
kernel: sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:00:1f.3: hda codecs found, mask 4
kernel: sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:00:1f.3: NHLT device BT(0) detected, ssp_mask 0x4
kernel: sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:00:1f.3: BT link detected in NHLT tables: 0x4
kernel: sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:00:1f.3: DMICs detected in NHLT tables: 0
kernel: sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:00:1f.3: Firmware paths/files for ipc type 1:
kernel: sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:00:1f.3:  Firmware file:     intel/sof-ipc4/mtl/sof-mtl.ri
kernel: sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:00:1f.3:  Firmware lib path: intel/sof-ipc4-lib/mtl
kernel: sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:00:1f.3:  Topology file:     intel/sof-ace-tplg/sof-mtl-cs42l43-l0-cs35l56-l23.tplg
kernel: sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:00:1f.3: Loaded firmware library: ADSPFW, version: 2.13.0.1
kernel: sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:00:1f.3: Booted firmware version: 2.13.0.1
kernel: sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:00:1f.3: Topology: ABI 3:29:1 Kernel ABI 3:23:1

Kernel 6.16

kernel: sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:00:1f.3: enabling device (0000 -> 0002)
kernel: sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:00:1f.3: DSP detected with PCI class/subclass/prog-if 0x040100
kernel: sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:00:1f.3: bound 0000:00:02.0 (ops intel_audio_component_bind_ops [i915])
kernel: sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:00:1f.3: use msi interrupt mode
kernel: sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:00:1f.3: hda codecs found, mask 4
kernel: sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:00:1f.3: NHLT device BT(0) detected, ssp_mask 0x4
kernel: sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:00:1f.3: BT link detected in NHLT tables: 0x4
kernel: sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:00:1f.3: DMICs detected in NHLT tables: 0
kernel: sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:00:1f.3: Firmware paths/files for ipc type 1:
kernel: sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:00:1f.3:  Firmware file:     intel/sof-ipc4/mtl/sof-mtl.ri
kernel: sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:00:1f.3:  Firmware lib path: intel/sof-ipc4-lib/mtl
kernel: sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:00:1f.3:  Topology file:     intel/sof-ace-tplg/sof-mtl-cs42l43-l0-cs35l56-l23.tplg
kernel: sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:00:1f.3: Loaded firmware library: ADSPFW, version: 2.13.0.1
kernel: sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:00:1f.3: Booted firmware version: 2.13.0.1
kernel: sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:00:1f.3: Using function topologies instead intel/sof-ace-tplg/sof-mtl-cs42l43-l0-cs35l56-l23.tplg
kernel: sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:00:1f.3: loading topology 0: intel/sof-ace-tplg/sof-sdca-mic-id4.tplg
kernel: sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:00:1f.3: Topology: ABI 3:29:1 Kernel ABI 3:23:1
kernel: sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:00:1f.3: loading topology 1: intel/sof-ace-tplg/sof-sdca-2amp-id2.tplg
kernel: sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:00:1f.3: Topology: ABI 3:29:1 Kernel ABI 3:23:1
kernel: sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:00:1f.3: loading topology 2: intel/sof-ace-tplg/sof-hdmi-pcm5-id5.tplg
kernel: sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:00:1f.3: Topology: ABI 3:29:1 Kernel ABI 3:23:1

[lgirdwood]

adding @ujfalusi and @bardliao

[bardliao]

@bnicolae It looks like the same issue as https://github.com/thesofproject/linux/issues/5515. You could try https://github.com/thesofproject/linux/issues/5515#issuecomment-3210938148 Or just set options snd_sof disable_function_topology=1

[veger]

I applied the fix of https://github.com/thesofproject/linux/issues/5515#issuecomment-3210938148 and the audio devices (speakers and mic) are recognized again.

Dell XPS 9640, Kernel 6.16.4, Arch Linux, same audio controller as OP, with same scenario as OP

So I guess this is indeed a duplicate of #5515

[bnicolae]

Confirmed, the proposed fix indeed works. This issue can be closed

[bnicolae]

While waiting for the #5515 patch to make it, I tried adding snd_sof.disable_function_topology=1 to the kernel cmdline as instructed, but this doesn't work. Here's the output:

[   16.096998] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:00:1f.3: Topology: ABI 3:29:1 Kernel ABI 3:23:1
[   16.097054] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:00:1f.3: error: can't connect DAI alh-copier.Playback-SimpleJack.0 stream Playback-SimpleJack
[   16.097444] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:00:1f.3: failed to add widget type 27 name : alh-copier.Playback-SimpleJack.0 stream Playback-SimpleJack
[   16.097777] sof_sdw sof_sdw: ASoC: failed to load widget alh-copier.Playback-SimpleJack.0
[   16.098052] sof_sdw sof_sdw: ASoC: topology: could not load header: -22
[   16.098357] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:00:1f.3: tplg intel/sof-ace-tplg/sof-mtl-cs42l43-l0-cs35l56-l23.tplg component load failed -22
[   16.098671] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:00:1f.3: error: failed to load DSP topology -22
[   16.098893] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:00:1f.3: ASoC error (-22): at snd_soc_component_probe() on 0000:00:1f.3
[   16.099144] sof_sdw sof_sdw: ASoC: failed to instantiate card -22
[   16.099911] sof_sdw sof_sdw: error -EINVAL: snd_soc_register_card failed -22
[   16.100154] sof_sdw sof_sdw: probe with driver sof_sdw failed with error -22

[bardliao]

@bnicolae Please rename sof-dyndbg.conf.txt to sof-dyndbg.conf and put it in the /etc/modprobe.d/ folder and share the full dmesg log after reboot, thanks

[bnicolae]

@bardliao here you go. Note that I added "options snd_sof disable_function_topology=1" to the config file.

kernel-log.txt

[bardliao]

[   16.657696] snd_soc_sdw_utils:is_sdca_endpoint_present: cs42l43 sdw:0:0:01fa:4243:01: SDCA device function for DAI type 0 not supported, skip endpoint
[   16.657698] snd_soc_sdw_utils:is_sdca_endpoint_present: cs42l43 sdw:0:0:01fa:4243:01: SDCA device function for DAI type 1 not supported, skip endpoint

That will prevent the dai link from creating. That's why even you set snd_sof.disable_function_topology=1 and use the sof-mtl-cs42l43-l0-cs35l56-l23.tplg topology you will still meet issues.

[bnicolae]

Thanks! What can we conclude from this observation? Wait for the kernel patch to make it (and keep using 6.15 in the mean time)?

[bardliao]

@bnicolae You can wait or you could cherry pick https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/broonie/sound.git/commit/?id=28edfaa10ca1b370b1a27fde632000d35c43402c to your kernel.