# 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.