No sound on ASUS Zenbook S14 UX5406AA (Panther Lake) — sof_sdw topology / kernel ABI mismatch

[Pegorim]

No sound on ASUS Zenbook S14 UX5406AA (Panther Lake) — sof_sdw fails to register card due to topology / kernel ABI mismatch

Summary

On a fresh Omarchy install on the ASUS Zenbook S14 UX5406AA (Intel Core Ultra Series 3 / Panther Lake, with Cirrus Logic CS42L43 codec + CS35L56 SmartAmps over SoundWire), the sof_sdw machine driver fails to instantiate the ASoC card. No card registers with ALSA, so PipeWire falls back to a dummy auto_null sink and there is no audio output at all (speakers, headphone jack, or HDMI).

The SOF firmware topology shipped in sof-firmware 2025.12.2-1 declares ABI 3:29:1, but the SOF code in linux-ptl 6.19.13.arch1-1 only exposes ABI 3:23:1. The topology references a Playback-SmartAmp widget the kernel doesn't know how to bind, and topology load fails with -EINVAL.

System

• Machine: ASUS Zenbook S14 UX5406AA
• BIOS: AMI UX5406AA.300 (2025-12-18)
• Audio hardware (PCI): 0000:00:1f.3 Intel Corporation Panther Lake Smart Sound Technology BUS
• Codec / amps: Cirrus Logic CS42L43 + 4× CS35L56 over SoundWire (links 1, 2, 3)
• Kernel: 6.19.13-arch1-1-ptl (linux-ptl 6.19.13.arch1-1)
• Firmware: sof-firmware 2025.12.2-1, linux-firmware 20260410-1, linux-firmware-cirrus 20260410-1
• Userspace: alsa-ucm-conf 1.2.15.3-1, pipewire 1.6.4, wireplumber running, all services active.
• Bootloader: limine

Symptoms

• /proc/asound/cards is empty (--- no soundcards ---).
• pactl get-default-sink returns auto_null with RUNNING state but no real device is attached.
• All audio applications (browser, system) appear to play but produce no sound.
• Issue persists across reboots and after a full Omarchy menu update.

Root cause (from dmesg / journalctl -b -k)

sof-audio-pci-intel-ptl 0000:00:1f.3: SoundWire enabled on CannonLake+ platform, using SOF driver
sof-audio-pci-intel-ptl 0000:00:1f.3: Topology file: intel/sof-ipc4-tplg/sof-ptl-cs42l43-agg-l3-cs35l56-l2.tplg
sof-audio-pci-intel-ptl 0000:00:1f.3: Loaded firmware library: ADSPFW, version: 2.14.1.1
sof-audio-pci-intel-ptl 0000:00:1f.3: Booted firmware version: 2.14.1.1
sof-audio-pci-intel-ptl 0000:00:1f.3: loading topology: intel/sof-ipc4-tplg/sof-ptl-cs42l43-agg-l3-cs35l56-l2.tplg
sof-audio-pci-intel-ptl 0000:00:1f.3: Topology: ABI 3:29:1 Kernel ABI 3:23:1
sof-audio-pci-intel-ptl 0000:00:1f.3: error: can't find BE for DAI alh-copier.Playback-SmartAmp.1
sof-audio-pci-intel-ptl 0000:00:1f.3: failed to add widget type 27 name : alh-copier.Playback-SmartAmp.1 stream Playback-SmartAmp
sof_sdw sof_sdw: ASoC: failed to load widget alh-copier.Playback-SmartAmp.1
sof_sdw sof_sdw: ASoC: topology: could not load header: -22
sof-audio-pci-intel-ptl 0000:00:1f.3: tplg intel/sof-ipc4-tplg/sof-ptl-cs42l43-agg-l3-cs35l56-l2.tplg component load failed -22
sof-audio-pci-intel-ptl 0000:00:1f.3: error: failed to load DSP topology -22
sof-audio-pci-intel-ptl 0000:00:1f.3: ASoC error (-22): at snd_soc_component_probe() on 0000:00:1f.3
sof_sdw sof_sdw: ASoC: failed to instantiate card -22
sof_sdw sof_sdw: error -EINVAL: snd_soc_register_card failed -22
sof_sdw sof_sdw: probe with driver sof_sdw failed with error -22

The SoundWire codec / amp probes themselves succeed (Cirrus CS35L56 Rev B0 OTP3 fw:3.4.4 and CS42L43 attach on links 1/2/3). The failure is strictly in topology widget binding inside sof_sdw.

Topology file in question

/usr/lib/firmware/intel/sof-ipc4-tplg/sof-ptl-cs42l43-agg-l3-cs35l56-l2.tplg
sha256: e14818de5369028a7beedb6014c4d312077cf35466811098b89e5171a9f11361
size:   71838 bytes
mtime:  2026-01-29 (from sof-firmware 2025.12.2-1)

What I think is going on

The sof-firmware 2025.12.2-1 topology was built against a SOF tree newer than what linux-ptl 6.19.13.arch1-1 ships. The alh-copier / Playback-SmartAmp DAI binding pattern looks like it requires machine-driver code (in sound/soc/sof/intel/ and sound/soc/intel/boards/sof_sdw*.c) that hasn't been backported into this kernel build.

Mainline / for-next SOF tree probably already has the fix; the linux-ptl package likely needs a rebase or selective backport.

What I've ruled out

• Not a PipeWire/WirePlumber config issue — the kernel never registers a card, so userspace has nothing to bind to.
• Not an ALSA UCM issue.
• Not a mute / mixer state issue (no mixer exists yet).
• Updated through the Omarchy menu — already on the latest available sof-firmware and linux-ptl.

Reproduce

1. Fresh Omarchy install on ASUS Zenbook S14 UX5406AA.
2. Boot.
3. cat /proc/asound/cards → --- no soundcards ---.
4. journalctl -b -k | grep sof_sdw → topology load failure as above.

Search of existing issues

I searched the repo for audio, sound, Zenbook, UX5406, Panther, cs42l43, cs35l56, soundwire, sof_sdw, linux-ptl, SmartAmp, topology, register_card. No existing issue or PR matches the cs42l43 + cs35l56 + Panther Lake combination. Closest related items are PR #5194 (Alienware Realtek/SOF quirk — different codec) and Panther Lake hardware fixes for display/touchpad/WiFi (PRs #5435, #5106, issue #5423). No audio PR/issue exists for any Panther Lake machine using the Cirrus SoundWire codec stack.

Asks

1. Bump / rebase linux-ptl to a revision that includes the SOF machine-driver patches for the alh-copier.Playback-SmartAmp.* DAI binding (this would line up the kernel SOF ABI with the 3:29:1 topology shipped in sof-firmware 2025.12.2-1), or
2. Pin / backport an older sof-firmware topology built against ABI ≤ 3:23 for sof-ptl-cs42l43-agg-l3-cs35l56-l2.tplg, or
3. Confirm whether this device is currently expected to work on Omarchy and, if not, document a workaround.

Happy to test patched packages or kernel command-line tweaks.

[mateuszkowalczyk]

I can confirm the same issue.
Started testing Omarchy on Zenbook S14 UX5406AA yesterday, so full report coming soon, but the sound also doesn't work for me.

[dhh]

Please try the RC ISO / channel and see if that solves it. It's using the 7.0.3 kernel base.

[mateuszkowalczyk]

Unfortunately it doesn't help, I found some ongoing work on this issue in thesofproject, but it's not solved yet
thesofproject/sof#10711
thesofproject/linux#5721
We'll probably need to wait until they're fixed/merged into kernel

[Pegorim]

Update after testing the Omarchy Panther Lake mainline kernel:

• Booted kernel: 7.0.0-rc4-2-mainline-panther-lake
• Package: linux-mainline-panther-lake 7.0rc4-2
• Firmware: sof-firmware 2025.12.2-1

The failure is unchanged from linux-ptl:

Topology: ABI 3:29:1 Kernel ABI 3:23:1
error: can't find BE for DAI alh-copier.Playback-SmartAmp.1
failed to add widget type 27 name : alh-copier.Playback-SmartAmp.1 stream Playback-SmartAmp
sof_sdw sof_sdw: ASoC: topology: could not load header: -22
sof_sdw sof_sdw: ASoC: failed to instantiate card -22
sof_sdw sof_sdw: probe with driver sof_sdw failed with error -22

aplay -l still reports no soundcards and PipeWire still exposes only Dummy Output.

I also reverted my temporary local topology symlink test (sof-ptl-cs42l43-agg-l3-cs35l56-l2.tplg -> ...-4ch.tplg) back to the packaged topology file. The 4ch topology workaround did not help.

The upstream SOF threads linked by @mateuszkowalczyk appear to match this exact hardware path:

• ASUS Zenbook S14 UX5406AA (PTL, SSID 10431464): cs42l43-agg-l3-cs35l56-l12 topology missing, sof_sdw probe fails thesofproject/sof#10711
• No audio on ASUS Zenbook S14 UX5406AA (Panther Lake): sof_sdw fails to create DAI links for cs35l56 thesofproject/linux#5721

Based on those threads, this no longer looks like just "try a newer kernel" or a PipeWire/ALSA userspace issue. The reported working path upstream involves SOF/SoundWire kernel changes, including handling the UX5406AA-specific SoundWire machine description and the ghost rt722 ACPI device. Relevant upstream PR status at time of testing:

• thesofproject/linux#5728 is still open
• thesofproject/linux#5741 is still open
• thesofproject/linux#5746 is merged

[Pegorim]

Update — confirmed working with upstream patches.

Bard Liao at Intel opened a third PR yesterday — thesofproject/linux#5754 — that adds the UX5406AA-specific SoundWire machine table entry with the ghost rt722 declared as a zero-endpoint device. That's the load-bearing piece that was missing from the earlier two-PR set.

I built a local kernel (linux-mainline AUR PKGBUILD, base torvalds/linux v7.1-rc2) with only:

• thesofproject/linux#5728 (avoid partial SDW machine matches on ACE 2.0+)
• thesofproject/linux#5754 (ptl_cs42l43_agg_l3_cs35l56_l12_ghost_rt722)

No #5741, no topology override, no sof_debug=0x20000, no Windows-extracted Cirrus blob. Booted on UX5406AA / BIOS UX5406AA.300 / SSID 10431464.

Result: speakers, headphone jack, internal mic and HDMI all work. Card registers as sof-soundwire, all four CS35L56 amps load their tuning blobs from in-tree linux-firmware-cirrus 20260410-1 (Tuning PID: 0x231128 lines), no can't find BE for DAI errors. Full test report on the SOF tracker: thesofproject/linux#5721 (comment)

What this means for Omarchy

The fix is two open upstream PRs (#5728 + #5754), neither merged yet. Once they land in mainline and trickle into a release tag, linux-mainline-panther-lake should pick them up and pacman -Syu will be the path. Until then, anyone who needs sound today has to build a custom kernel (the recipe above; happy to share the PKGBUILD diff).

If the Omarchy team wants to shorten the gap before #5728/#5754 merge upstream, backporting them into linux-mainline-panther-lake would make the package work on this hardware out of the box. Both patches are small (#5728 is +6/-1 lines in sound/soc/sof/intel/hda.c; #5754 is +74/-0 lines in sound/soc/intel/common/soc-acpi-intel-ptl-match.c).

Tracking status:

• thesofproject/linux#5728 — still open
• thesofproject/linux#5754 — opened 2026-05-04, awaiting review
• thesofproject/linux#5746 (empty adr_link fix) — merged 2026-04-24

[Pegorim]

@dhh @mateuszkowalczyk I got audio working on my Asus UX5406AA

[mateuszkowalczyk]

Perfect, great to hear it's working with upcoming patches!

[dhh]

We should be able to put those patches into linux-ptl and then enable that for the Zenbook. You can see the package here: https://github.com/omacom-io/omarchy-pkgs/tree/master/pkgbuilds/edge/linux-ptl

[Pegorim]

@dhh I am working on that.

[felipecsl]

I have a similar issue on my dell xps 14 (2026 model). auto_null sink, dummy output, no audio. rebooting seems to fix. omarchy v3.8

❯ journalctl -b -k | grep sof_sdw
May 11 10:42:08 felipecsl-xps-14 kernel: sof_sdw sof_sdw: ASoC: Parent card not yet available, widget card binding deferred
May 11 10:42:08 felipecsl-xps-14 kernel: sof_sdw sof_sdw: ASoC: Parent card not yet available, widget card binding deferred
May 11 10:42:08 felipecsl-xps-14 kernel: sof_sdw sof_sdw: ASoC: Parent card not yet available, widget card binding deferred
May 11 10:42:08 felipecsl-xps-14 kernel: sof_sdw sof_sdw: ASoC: Parent card not yet available, widget card binding deferred
May 11 10:42:09 felipecsl-xps-14 kernel: sof_sdw sof_sdw: hda_dsp_hdmi_build_controls: no PCM in topology for HDMI converter 3
May 11 10:42:09 felipecsl-xps-14 kernel: input: sof-soundwire Jack as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1f.3/sof_sdw/sound/card0/input38
May 11 10:42:09 felipecsl-xps-14 kernel: input: sof-soundwire HDMI/DP,pcm=5 as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1f.3/sof_sdw/sound/card0/input39
May 11 10:42:09 felipecsl-xps-14 kernel: input: sof-soundwire HDMI/DP,pcm=6 as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1f.3/sof_sdw/sound/card0/input40
May 11 10:42:09 felipecsl-xps-14 kernel: input: sof-soundwire HDMI/DP,pcm=7 as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1f.3/sof_sdw/sound/card0/input41
May 11 13:45:10 felipecsl-xps-14 kernel: Modules linked in: uinput xt_connmark xt_MASQUERADE xt_mark nft_chain_nat nf_nat snd_seq_dummy rfcomm snd_hrtimer snd_seq snd_seq_device ov08x40 typec_displayport tun ccm algif_aead des3_ede_x86_64 des_generic libdes cmac algif_skcipher md4 bnep algif_hash af_alg hid_sensor_custom_intel_hinge hid_sensor_prox hid_sensor_als hid_sensor_trigger kfifo_buf hid_sensor_iio_common industrialio hid_sensor_custom hid_sensor_hub intel_ishtp_hid snd_soc_sof_sdw snd_sof_probes snd_soc_intel_hda_dsp_common snd_soc_cs35l56_sdw snd_soc_cs35l56 snd_soc_cs35l56_shared snd_soc_cs_amp_lib snd_soc_sdca_class_function snd_soc_wm_adsp regmap_sdw_mbq snd_soc_sdca_class snd_hda_codec_intelhdmi cs_dsp regmap_sdw snd_hda_codec_hdmi snd_soc_dmic snd_hda_intel snd_sof_pci_intel_ptl snd_sof_pci_intel_lnl snd_sof_pci_intel_mtl snd_sof_intel_hda_generic soundwire_intel snd_sof_intel_hda_sdw_bpt snd_sof_intel_hda_common snd_soc_hdac_hda snd_sof_intel_hda_mlink snd_sof_intel_hda soundwire_cadence snd_sof_pci snd_sof_xtensa_dsp snd_sof
May 12 08:40:01 felipecsl-xps-14 kernel: Modules linked in: uinput xt_connmark xt_MASQUERADE xt_mark nft_chain_nat nf_nat snd_seq_dummy rfcomm snd_hrtimer snd_seq snd_seq_device ov08x40 typec_displayport tun ccm algif_aead des3_ede_x86_64 des_generic libdes cmac algif_skcipher md4 bnep algif_hash af_alg hid_sensor_custom_intel_hinge hid_sensor_prox hid_sensor_als hid_sensor_trigger kfifo_buf hid_sensor_iio_common industrialio hid_sensor_custom hid_sensor_hub intel_ishtp_hid snd_soc_sof_sdw snd_sof_probes snd_soc_intel_hda_dsp_common snd_soc_cs35l56_sdw snd_soc_cs35l56 snd_soc_cs35l56_shared snd_soc_cs_amp_lib snd_soc_sdca_class_function snd_soc_wm_adsp regmap_sdw_mbq snd_soc_sdca_class snd_hda_codec_intelhdmi cs_dsp regmap_sdw snd_hda_codec_hdmi snd_soc_dmic snd_hda_intel snd_sof_pci_intel_ptl snd_sof_pci_intel_lnl snd_sof_pci_intel_mtl snd_sof_intel_hda_generic soundwire_intel snd_sof_intel_hda_sdw_bpt snd_sof_intel_hda_common snd_soc_hdac_hda snd_sof_intel_hda_mlink snd_sof_intel_hda soundwire_cadence snd_sof_pci snd_sof_xtensa_dsp snd_sof
May 12 09:08:46 felipecsl-xps-14 kernel: Modules linked in: uinput xt_connmark xt_MASQUERADE xt_mark nft_chain_nat nf_nat snd_seq_dummy rfcomm snd_hrtimer snd_seq snd_seq_device ov08x40 typec_displayport tun ccm algif_aead des3_ede_x86_64 des_generic libdes cmac algif_skcipher md4 bnep algif_hash af_alg hid_sensor_custom_intel_hinge hid_sensor_prox hid_sensor_als hid_sensor_trigger kfifo_buf hid_sensor_iio_common industrialio hid_sensor_custom hid_sensor_hub intel_ishtp_hid snd_soc_sof_sdw snd_sof_probes snd_soc_intel_hda_dsp_common snd_soc_cs35l56_sdw snd_soc_cs35l56 snd_soc_cs35l56_shared snd_soc_cs_amp_lib snd_soc_sdca_class_function snd_soc_wm_adsp regmap_sdw_mbq snd_soc_sdca_class snd_hda_codec_intelhdmi cs_dsp regmap_sdw snd_hda_codec_hdmi snd_soc_dmic snd_hda_intel snd_sof_pci_intel_ptl snd_sof_pci_intel_lnl snd_sof_pci_intel_mtl snd_sof_intel_hda_generic soundwire_intel snd_sof_intel_hda_sdw_bpt snd_sof_intel_hda_common snd_soc_hdac_hda snd_sof_intel_hda_mlink snd_sof_intel_hda soundwire_cadence snd_sof_pci snd_sof_xtensa_dsp snd_sof

[Pegorim]

@dhh solution about to go upstream. Will omarchy update to the last version automatically or do we need to do something else? let me know if you need any help