[BUG] Alienware 18 Area-51 (Arrow Lake-S, RT722 + RT1320, SSID 1028:0ccd): RT722 internal SmartAmp not driven, only the RT1320 amplifier is wired up

Audio works, but only through one of the laptop's two speaker amplifiers. The Alienware 18 Area-51 (AA18250, Arrow Lake-S) has a discrete RT1320 SmartAmp on SoundWire link 2, plus a second SmartAmp built into the RT722 codec (an SDCA SmartAmp function on link 0). Only the RT1320 is ever configured. The RT722's internal amplifier receives no audio, so the speakers wired to it are silent.

The kernel side is already prepared for the second amp. The gap is the SOF topology: sof-arl-rt722-l0_rt1320-l2 is generated with NUM_SDW_AMP_LINKS=1.

Hardware

(Dell) Alienware 18 Area-51 AA18250 (BIOS 1.7.0). Intel Arrow Lake-S; PCI audio 8086:7f50, subsystem 1028:0ccd.

SoundWire devices:

sdw:0:0:025d:0722:01: RT722 SDCA codec, link 0
sdw:0:2:025d:1320:01: RT1320 amplifier, link 2

Software

sof-bin v2025.12.2 (current release; Arch package sof-firmware 2025.12.2-1)
Linux 7.0.3 (Arch package linux 7.0.3.arch1-2)
Topology loaded: intel/sof-ipc4-tplg/sof-arl-rt722-l0_rt1320-l2.tplg

Symptom

amixer -c1 exposes a full set of rt1320-1 ... controls (OT23 L/R Switch, FU21 Playback Volume, R0 Calibration, and so on) but no controls for the RT722 amplifier. The ALSA/PipeWire Speaker sink is 2-channel (FL/FR) and routed entirely to the RT1320. The card's component string reports a single configured amplifier (cfg-amp:1), the RT1320 (spk:rt1320):

alsa.components = "HDA:8086281d,80860101,00100000  cfg-amp:1 iec61937-pcm:7,6,5 hs:rt722 mic:rt722 spk:rt1320"

Boot-time dmesg (SOF):

sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3: SoundWire enabled on CannonLake+ platform, using SOF driver
acpi device:5e: SDCA function SmartAmp (type 1) at 0x4
acpi device:59: SDCA function SmartAmp (type 1) at 0x4
sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3:  Firmware file:     intel/sof-ipc4/arl-s/sof-arl-s.ri
sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3:  Topology file:     intel/sof-ipc4-tplg/sof-arl-rt722-l0_rt1320-l2.tplg
sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3: Loaded firmware library: ADSPFW, version: 2.14.1.1
sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3: Booted firmware version: 2.14.1.1
sof_sdw sof_sdw: Overriding quirk 0x8000 => 0x8000
sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3: loading topology: intel/sof-ipc4-tplg/sof-arl-rt722-l0_rt1320-l2.tplg

There are no topology-load errors. The card registers and the RT1320 works. The RT722 amplifier is never added to the speaker pipeline.

The hardware has two amplifiers

Both SmartAmp functions appear in the two acpi device:...: SDCA function SmartAmp lines above. From the ACPI namespace:

\_SB_.PC02.HDAS.IDA_.SNDW.SWD0 is the RT722, _ADR 0x000030025D072201 (link 0). Its child .AF04 is SDCA function 4 (SmartAmp), reported as device:5e. The RT722 also exposes UAJ (.AF01), SmartMic (.AF02) and HID (.AF03) functions, and has a dp3_sink SoundWire port for the amplifier input.
\_SB_.PC02.HDAS.IDA_.SNDW.SWRA is the RT1320, _ADR 0x000231025D132001 (link 2). Its child .AF04 is a SmartAmp, reported as device:59.

So the RT722 combo codec contains its own Class-D speaker amplifier, in addition to the discrete RT1320.

Cause

tools/topology/topology2/production/tplg-targets-ace1.cmake builds this machine's topology with a single amp link:

"cavs-sdw;sof-arl-rt722-l0_rt1320-l2;PLATFORM=mtl,NUM_SDW_AMP_LINKS=1,SDW_DMIC=1,
SDW_AMP_FEEDBACK=false,SDW_SPK_STREAM=Playback-SmartAmp,SDW_DMIC_STREAM=Capture-SmartMic,
SDW_JACK_OUT_STREAM=Playback-SimpleJack,SDW_JACK_IN_STREAM=Capture-SimpleJack"

NUM_SDW_AMP_LINKS=1 wires only the RT1320 (link 2) as a speaker amp; the RT722 SmartAmp (link 0) is not part of the speaker pipeline. This is the only arl-rt722 topology target in the repo, and there is no 2-amp variant.

The kernel side is already prepared for the second amp (current master at the time of this report, and identical in Linux 7.0):

sound/soc/intel/common/soc-acpi-intel-arl-match.c: in arl_rt722_l0_rt1320_l2, the rt722_0_agg_adr device uses jack_amp_g1_dmic_endpoints, whose Amp endpoint has .aggregated = 1 (commit "ASoC: soc-acpi-intel-arl-match: change rt722 amp endpoint to aggregated"). The original commit that added this config noted "The Speaker endpoint on the RT722 codec is not used."
sound/soc/sdw_utils/soc_sdw_utils.c: the rt722 codec_info declares rt722-sdca-aif2 with .dai_type = SOC_SDW_DAI_TYPE_AMP.

So both the ACPI-match amp endpoint and the codec AMP DAI already exist. It's the topology that's the missing piece.

Expected behavior

The rt722-l0 + rt1320-l2 ARL topology should drive both amplifiers (the RT1320 on link 2 and the RT722 internal SmartAmp on link 0) so that all of the laptop's speakers are amplified.

Impact

Half of the laptop's built-in speakers produce no sound. Headphone jack, microphones and HDMI audio are unaffected.

Notes

The kernel match table's RT1320 _ADR is 0x000230025D132001, but this hardware reports 0x000231025D132001 (the unique-id nibble differs). The match still succeeds and the correct topology loads, but the table value looks incorrect.

Disclosure: I used an AI agent (Claude) to diagnose this bug. This writeup contains some generated content.

@abbator

@abbator Can you test sof-arl-rt722-l0_rt1320-l2.zip which built with NUM_SDW_AMP_LINKS=2?

@shumingfan

@shumingfan Do you know the audio configuration exactly?

@abbator

@abbator Please test the tplg (#10795 (comment)) and share alsa-info with us.

@bardliao

@bardliao @shumingfan Tested sof-arl-rt722-l0_rt1320-l2.tplg on Linux 7.0.3 with sof-firmware 2025.12.2. The card fails to instantiate with this topology:

sof_sdw: ASoC: error: can't find BE for DAI alh-copier.Playback-SmartAmp.1
sof_sdw: ASoC: failed to add widget type 27 name : alh-copier.Playback-SmartAmp.1 stream Playback-SmartAmp
sof_sdw: ASoC: failed to load widget alh-copier.Playback-SmartAmp.1
sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3: tplg ... component load failed -22
sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3: error: failed to load DSP topology -22
sof_sdw sof_sdw: ASoC: failed to instantiate card -22
sof_sdw sof_sdw: error -EINVAL: snd_soc_register_card failed -22

@abbator

@abbator Can you rename sof-dyndbg.conf.txt to sof-dyndbg.conf and put it in the /etc/modprobe.d/ and get the dmesg after reboot?
I wonder if the rt722 amp function is listed in the ACPI table.

@abbator

@abbator Could you try updating the BIOS first? It looks like the current BIOS version is old.

Disclaimer:

I am not a native English speaker.
I am a standard Linux user, not a developer, but I want to contribute to the Linux philosophy by providing data from a different environment.
I used AI assistance to help me redact this report to ensure it contains the correct technical terms and formatting.

Hi maintainers, thank you for working on this. I have the exact same laptop (Alienware 18 Area-51 AA18250). I can confirm the SSID 1028:0ccd is correct, as it shows up directly in my lspci output.

I wanted to report that on the current Debian stable kernel (linux-image-amd64 6.12.95-1), the situation is a step before the one described in this issue. I do not get partial sound; I get complete "Dummy Output" (no sof-soundwire card registers at all).

System Info:

Kernel: 6.12.95-1 (Debian Trixie)
BIOS Version: 2.4.1 05/20/2026

What I observe on Kernel 6.12.95:
aplay -l only shows NVIDIA HDMI devices. The internal speakers do not exist to the OS.

**** Liste des périphériques matériels PLAYBACK ****
carte 0 : NVidia [HDA NVidia], périphérique 3 : HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
  Sous-périphériques : 1/1
  Sous-périphérique #0 : subdevice #0
carte 0 : NVidia [HDA NVidia], périphérique 7 : HDMI 1 [HDMI 1]
  Sous-périphériques : 1/1
  Sous-périphérique #0 : subdevice #0
carte 0 : NVidia [HDA NVidia], périphérique 8 : HDMI 2 [HDMI 2]
  Sous-périphériques : 1/1
  Sous-périphérique #0 : subdevice #0
carte 0 : NVidia [HDA NVidia], périphérique 9 : HDMI 3 [HDMI 3]
  Sous-périphériques : 1/1
  Sous-périphérique #0 : subdevice #0

Relevant log from dmesg:

[    0.013547] software IO TLB: area num 32.
[    0.270085] pps_core: Software ver. 5.3.6 - Copyright 2005-2007 Rodolfo Giometti <giometti@linux.it>
[    0.308265] PCI-DMA: Using software bounce buffering for IO (SWIOTLB)
[    0.308265] software IO TLB: mapped [mem 0x0000000027605000-0x000000002b605000] (64MB)
[    0.624682] integrity: Loaded X.509 cert 'Microsoft Windows Production PCA 2011: a92902398e16c49778cd90f99e4f9ae17c55af53'
[    0.624688] integrity: Loaded X.509 cert 'Microsoft Corporation UEFI CA 2011: 13adbf4309bd82709c8cd54f316ed522988a1bd4'
[    0.624695] integrity: Loaded X.509 cert 'Microsoft Corporation: Windows UEFI CA 2023: aefc5fbbbe055d8f8daa585473499417ab5a5272'
[    0.624701] integrity: Loaded X.509 cert 'Microsoft UEFI CA 2023: 81aa6b3244c935bce0d6628af39827421e32497d'
[    5.350710] snd_hda_intel 0000:80:1f.3: SoundWire enabled on CannonLake+ platform, using SOF driver
[    5.533846] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3: enabling device (0000 -> 0002)
[    5.533937] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3: DSP detected with PCI class/subclass/prog-if 0x040100
[    5.533965] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3: bound 0000:00:02.0 (ops i915_audio_component_bind_ops [i915])
[    5.542738] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3: use msi interrupt mode
[    5.555956] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3: hda codecs found, mask 4
[    5.555957] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3: NHLT device BT(0) detected, ssp_mask 0x4
[    5.555958] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3: BT link detected in NHLT tables: 0x4
[    5.555959] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3: DMICs detected in NHLT tables: 0
[    5.557910] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3: Firmware paths/files for ipc type 1:
[    5.557911] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3:  Firmware file:     intel/sof-ipc4/arl-s/sof-arl-s.ri
[    5.557912] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3:  Firmware lib path: intel/sof-ipc4-lib/arl-s
[    5.557912] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3:  Topology file:     intel/sof-ace-tplg/sof-arl-rt722-l0_rt1320-l2.tplg
[    5.558191] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3: Loaded firmware library: ADSPFW, version: 2.12.0.1
[    5.896752] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3: Booted firmware version: 2.12.0.1
[    5.913760] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3: Topology: ABI 3:29:1 Kernel ABI 3:23:1
[    5.913983] sof_sdw sof_sdw: ASoC: Parent card not yet available, widget card binding deferred
[    5.934313] sof_sdw sof_sdw: control 2:0:0:Speaker Switch:0 is already present
[    5.934317] sof_sdw sof_sdw: ASoC: Failed to add Speaker Switch: -16
[    5.934318] sof_sdw sof_sdw: 0x1320 controls addition failed: -16
[    5.934522] sof_sdw sof_sdw: error -EBUSY: snd_soc_register_card failed -16
[    5.934530] sof_sdw sof_sdw: probe with driver sof_sdw failed with error -16

How it relates to this issue:
I noticed in the original post's logs: sof_sdw sof_sdw: Overriding quirk 0x8000 => 0x8000. This confirms that Kernel 7.0+ already has a hardware quirk built into the source code. Kernel 6.12 does not have this quirk, which is likely why the SoundWire bus fails to initialize completely on my system.

I found a community workaround that forces IPC4 and the 0x8000 quirk via modprobe (link: https://gist.github.com/donriddo/8276a571335b1caf87456f4c3248fc76). I have not applied it myself, but it strongly suggests that applying this missing quirk is what allows the card to reach the state you are currently debugging (where the topology loads, but only half the speakers work).

Question:
Since the topology is actively being fixed in this thread, what is the best way for a user like me to help test? My hope is that once resolved, any Debian-based distribution will work out-of-the-box on any laptop equipped with this specific Intel/SoundWire audio stack, rather than requiring users to hunt down manual modprobe workarounds. How can I best assist in reaching that goal?

Thank you!

@DirectuX

@DirectuX You could apply /etc/modprobe.d/alienware18-audio.conf if you want to test. It looks like valid parameters to me.

@bardliao

@bardliao Thank you for confirming the parameters. I created /etc/modprobe.d/alienware18-audio.conf with the following contents:

options snd-sof ipc_type=4
options snd-sof-pci-intel-mtl ipc_type=4
options snd-soc-sof-sdw quirk=0x8000
options snd-sof-intel-hda-generic dmic_num=0

Then I ran:

sudo update-initramfs -u -k all

Followed by a cold boot (complete shutdown, boot).

The "Dummy Output" is now gone. Here is the new output of aplay -l:

**** Liste des périphériques matériels PLAYBACK ****
carte 0 : NVidia [HDA NVidia], périphérique 3 : HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
  Sous-périphériques : 1/1
  Sous-périphérique #0 : subdevice #0
carte 0 : NVidia [HDA NVidia], périphérique 7 : HDMI 1 [HDMI 1]
  Sous-périphériques : 1/1
  Sous-périphérique #0 : subdevice #0
carte 0 : NVidia [HDA NVidia], périphérique 8 : HDMI 2 [HDMI 2]
  Sous-périphériques : 1/1
  Sous-périphérique #0 : subdevice #0
carte 0 : NVidia [HDA NVidia], périphérique 9 : HDMI 3 [HDMI 3]
  Sous-périphériques : 1/1
  Sous-périphérique #0 : subdevice #0
carte 1 : sofsoundwire [sof-soundwire], périphérique 0 : Jack Out (*) []
  Sous-périphériques : 1/1
  Sous-périphérique #0 : subdevice #0
carte 1 : sofsoundwire [sof-soundwire], périphérique 2 : Speaker (*) []
  Sous-périphériques : 1/1
  Sous-périphérique #0 : subdevice #0
carte 1 : sofsoundwire [sof-soundwire], périphérique 5 : HDMI1 (*) []
  Sous-périphériques : 1/1
  Sous-périphérique #0 : subdevice #0
carte 1 : sofsoundwire [sof-soundwire], périphérique 6 : HDMI2 (*) []
  Sous-périphériques : 1/1
  Sous-périphérique #0 : subdevice #0
carte 1 : sofsoundwire [sof-soundwire], périphérique 7 : HDMI3 (*) []
  Sous-périphériques : 1/1
  Sous-périphérique #0 : subdevice #0
carte 1 : sofsoundwire [sof-soundwire], périphérique 31 : Deepbuffer Jack Out (*) []
  Sous-périphériques : 1/1
  Sous-périphérique #0 : subdevice #0

Additionally, my desktop sound control panel now shows 'Speaker - 800 Series ACE' for output and 'SoundWire microphones - 800 Series ACE' for input, instead of 'Dummy Output'.

I ran the left/right stereo balance test in the sound settings panel. It outputs sound.
The right sound seems weaker than the left even with the balance slider being centered. For reference, the left/right volume is perfectly balanced when booting into the OEM Windows 11.

Here is the relevant dmesg output after the fix:

[    5.357030] snd_hda_intel 0000:80:1f.3: SoundWire enabled on CannonLake+ platform, using SOF driver
[    5.476643] snd_sof: unknown parameter 'ipc_type' ignored
[    5.568551] snd_sof_pci_intel_mtl: unknown parameter 'ipc_type' ignored
[    5.568691] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3: enabling device (0000 -> 0002)
[    5.568812] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3: DSP detected with PCI class/subclass/prog-if 0x040100
[    5.568851] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3: bound 0000:00:02.0 (ops i915_audio_component_bind_ops [i915])
[    5.577058] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3: use msi interrupt mode
[    5.592163] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3: hda codecs found, mask 4
[    5.592166] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3: NHLT device BT(0) detected, ssp_mask 0x4
[    5.592167] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3: BT link detected in NHLT tables: 0x4
[    5.592168] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3: DMICs detected in NHLT tables: 0
[    5.596977] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3: Firmware paths/files for ipc type 1:
[    5.596980] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3:  Firmware file:     intel/sof-ipc4/arl-s/sof-arl-s.ri
[    5.596981] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3:  Firmware lib path: intel/sof-ipc4-lib/arl-s
[    5.596981] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3:  Topology file:     intel/sof-ace-tplg/sof-arl-rt722-l0_rt1320-l2.tplg
[    5.597303] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3: Loaded firmware library: ADSPFW, version: 2.12.0.1
[    5.932543] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3: Booted firmware version: 2.12.0.1
[    5.955929] sof_sdw sof_sdw: Overriding quirk 0x1 => 0x8000
[    5.956030] sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:80:1f.3: Topology: ABI 3:29:1 Kernel ABI 3:23:1
[    5.956220] sof_sdw sof_sdw: ASoC: Parent card not yet available, widget card binding deferred
[    5.970822] sof_sdw sof_sdw: hda_dsp_hdmi_build_controls: no PCM in topology for HDMI converter 3
[    5.989430] input: sof-soundwire Headset Jack as /devices/pci0000:80/0000:80:1f.3/sof_sdw/sound/card1/input26
[    5.989481] input: sof-soundwire HDMI/DP,pcm=5 as /devices/pci0000:80/0000:80:1f.3/sof_sdw/sound/card1/input27
[    5.989511] input: sof-soundwire HDMI/DP,pcm=6 as /devices/pci0000:80/0000:80:1f.3/sof_sdw/sound/card1/input28
[    5.989529] input: sof-soundwire HDMI/DP,pcm=7 as /devices/pci0000:80/0000:80:1f.3/sof_sdw/sound/card1/input29

Running amixer -c1 scontrols | grep -i "spk|amp" returned nothing.

However, the completely unfiltered output of amixer -c1 scontrols is:

Simple mixer control 'Headphone',0
Simple mixer control 'Speaker',0
Simple mixer control 'Microphone Capture DRC switch',0
Simple mixer control 'Microphone Capture TDFB angle set enum',0
Simple mixer control 'Microphone Capture TDFB beam switch',0
Simple mixer control 'IEC958',0
Simple mixer control 'IEC958',1
Simple mixer control 'IEC958',2
Simple mixer control 'Headset Mic',0
Simple mixer control 'Post Mixer Jack Out',0
Simple mixer control 'Post Mixer Speaker',0
Simple mixer control 'Post Mixer Speaker Playback DRC switch',0
Simple mixer control 'Pre Mixer Deepbuffer Jack Out',0
Simple mixer control 'Pre Mixer Jack Out',0
Simple mixer control 'Pre Mixer Speaker',0
Simple mixer control 'rt1320-1 FU21',0
Simple mixer control 'rt1320-1 OT23 L',0
Simple mixer control 'rt1320-1 OT23 R',0
Simple mixer control 'rt1320-1 RX Channel Select',0
Simple mixer control 'rt722 ADC 22 Mux',0
Simple mixer control 'rt722 ADC 24 Mux',0
Simple mixer control 'rt722 ADC 25 Mux',0
Simple mixer control 'rt722 FU05',0
Simple mixer control 'rt722 FU06',0
Simple mixer control 'rt722 FU0F',0
Simple mixer control 'rt722 FU15 Boost',0
Simple mixer control 'rt722 FU1E',0
Simple mixer control 'rt722 FU33 Boost',0

Let me know if you need any other logs or tests from this current state (Debian Trixie, Kernel 6.12.95-1).

@DirectuX

@DirectuX Please share the alsa-info log and one test you could try:

$ cd /usr/share/alsa/ucm2/sof-soundwire/
$ cp rt712+rt1320.conf rt722+rt1320.conf
$ reboot

I also have this issue, anything I can do to assist? Dell 18 Area-51, RT722 + RT1320, and I can pair other sound devices (such as bluetooth headphones) but my speakers do not work after installing Fedora 44.

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[BUG] Alienware 18 Area-51 (Arrow Lake-S, RT722 + RT1320, SSID 1028:0ccd): RT722 internal SmartAmp not driven, only the RT1320 amplifier is wired up #10795

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[BUG] Alienware 18 Area-51 (Arrow Lake-S, RT722 + RT1320, SSID 1028:0ccd): RT722 internal SmartAmp not driven, only the RT1320 amplifier is wired up #10795

Description

Hardware

Software

Symptom

The hardware has two amplifiers

Cause

Expected behavior

Impact

Notes

Activity

bardliao commented on May 26, 2026

bardliao commented on May 26, 2026

shumingfan commented on May 26, 2026

abbator commented on Jun 4, 2026

bardliao commented on Jun 4, 2026

shumingfan commented on Jun 4, 2026

DirectuX commented on Jul 9, 2026

bardliao commented on Jul 9, 2026

DirectuX commented on Jul 9, 2026

shumingfan commented on Jul 10, 2026

Sbagchee commented on Aug 30, 2026

github-actions commented on Oct 30, 2026

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