## Summary

On two brand-new Dell XPS 13 DX13260 units (Intel Panther Lake / "Wildcat Lake" platform, both purchased at the same time) running Omarchy, the internal speakers produce no sound at all on either machine. This isn't a PipeWire/ALSA config or mute/volume issue, and it isn't a one-off defective unit — the kernel log shows the Cirrus Logic CS35L56 speaker amplifiers never load their DSP firmware, because the SOF SoundWire machine driver doesn't yet have a match entry for this hardware and falls back to a generic path that can't resolve the board's speaker-ID.

USB audio devices (e.g. a USB-C headset) work fine, but that's a separate USB Audio-class sound card enumerated independently (`card 1: ... USB Audio` in `aplay -l`) — it doesn't go through the SoundWire/CS42L43/CS35L56 stack at all, so it isn't evidence that any part of the onboard audio path works. I have not yet isolated whether the onboard CS42L43 codec's own output path (e.g. a headphone jack, if this model has one) works independently of the broken speaker amps.

I'm filing this here (rather than kernel.org bugzilla / the SOF project directly) because:
1. It affects brand-new XPS hardware that Omarchy already has explicit, validated support for elsewhere (see below), including a credited Dell engineering collaboration on XPS audio.
2. Getting this in front of someone with an existing line to Dell's Linux/audio team seems like the fastest path to a fix, given how new this platform is.
3. I know this is technically a kernel/SOF-level gap, not an Omarchy bug — happy to have this closed/redirected if there's a better venue, but wanted to get it in front of people who might already be talking to Dell about this exact machine.

## Hardware / software environment

- **Model:** Dell XPS 13 DX13260 (2026), BIOS/board version 1.6.0
- **DMI product SKU:** `0E53`
- **Platform:** Intel Panther Lake, audio DSP identifies as "Wildcat Lake" (`sof-audio-pci-intel-ptl`)
- **Speaker amps:** 2x Cirrus Logic CS35L56 (Rev B2, OTP1, fw 4.2.1) over SPI, `spi-cs35l56-left` / `spi-cs35l56-right`
- **Codec:** Cirrus Logic CS42L43 over SoundWire (handles mic input and, per its ASoC bindings, headphone output — initializes and binds without error, but its own output path hasn't been isolated/tested independently, see note below)
- **OS:** Omarchy 4.0.3-1 (Arch Linux)
- **Kernel:** `linux 7.2.3.arch1-3` (current at time of filing — confirmed this is the latest available in the `core` repo, no newer kernel to try)
- **Firmware:** `linux-firmware 20260810-2`, `sof-firmware 2025.12.2-1` (also latest available)

## Symptom

- Speaker output device is present and selected as default in PipeWire (`alsa_output...HiFi__Speaker__sink`), not muted, volume ~69%/-31dB.
- No audible sound from internal speakers under any application or test tone.
- Reproduced identically on **two separate DX13260 units**, purchased together, both fresh Omarchy installs — rules out a single defective unit. Both report DMI product SKU `0E53`, both on `linux 7.2.3.arch1-3` / `linux-firmware 20260810-2` / `sof-firmware 2025.12.2-1` / `omarchy 4.0.3-1`, and both produce byte-for-byte the same `No SoundWire machine driver found` → `FIRMWARE_MISSING` → `Calibration disabled due to missing firmware controls` → `Can't read tuning IDs` sequence in the kernel log.
- A USB-C headset works fine, but enumerates as its own independent USB Audio-class card and does not exercise the onboard SoundWire/CS42L43/CS35L56 path at all, so it isn't useful evidence either way about the onboard audio chain. This model has only two USB-C ports and no other physical audio jack, so there is no way to test the onboard CS42L43 codec's own output path independently of the broken speaker amps.
- No sound-related errors surface in PipeWire/WirePlumber/pactl — everything looks "normal" from userspace. The problem is entirely below that layer.

## Root cause (confirmed from kernel log, `journalctl -k -b`)

**1. No machine-driver match for this exact SoundWire configuration, so the kernel falls back to a generic driver:**

```
sof-audio-pci-intel-ptl 0000:00:1f.3: No SoundWire machine driver found for the ACPI-reported configuration:
sof-audio-pci-intel-ptl 0000:00:1f.3: link 2 mfg_id 0x01fa part_id 0x4243 version 0x3
sof-audio-pci-intel-ptl 0000:00:1f.3: Use SoundWire default machine driver with function topologies
...
sof-audio-pci-intel-ptl 0000:00:1f.3: Using function topologies instead intel/sof-ipc4-tplg/sof-wcl-dummy.tplg
```

**2. That fallback path can't resolve the CS35L56 amps' firmware/tuning, because it can't read the board's speaker-ID (normally read via an ACPI-defined GPIO):**

```
cs35l56 spi-cs35l56-right: DSP1: Firmware: 1a00d6 vendor: 0x2 v4.2.1, 42 algorithms
cs35l56 spi-cs35l56-left: DSP1: Firmware: 1a00d6 vendor: 0x2 v4.2.1, 42 algorithms
cs35l56 spi-cs35l56-right: FIRMWARE_MISSING
cs35l56 spi-cs35l56-right: Calibration disabled due to missing firmware controls
cs35l56 spi-cs35l56-left: FIRMWARE_MISSING
cs35l56 spi-cs35l56-left: Calibration disabled due to missing firmware controls
cs35l56 spi-cs35l56-right: Can't read tuning IDs
cs35l56 spi-cs35l56-left: Can't read tuning IDs
```

**3. This is *not* a missing-firmware-package problem.** The correct calibration/tuning firmware for this exact machine is already present in `linux-firmware`/`sof-firmware`, keyed to this SKU:

```
/usr/lib/firmware/cirrus/cs35l56-b2-dsp1-misc-10280e53-spkid1-ampl.bin.zst
/usr/lib/firmware/cirrus/cs35l56-b2-dsp1-misc-10280e53-spkid1-ampr.bin.zst
/usr/lib/firmware/cirrus/cs35l56-b2-dsp1-misc-10280e53-spkid1.wmfw.zst -> CS35L56_Rev4.5.9.wmfw.zst
/usr/lib/firmware/cirrus/cs35l56-b2-dsp1-misc-10280e53-spkid2-*  (same pattern)
/usr/lib/firmware/cirrus/cs35l56-b2-dsp1-misc-10280e53-spkid3-*  (same pattern)
```

(`1028` = Dell's PCI vendor ID, `0e53` = this machine's DMI product SKU.) The driver simply never gets far enough to know which `spkidN` variant to load, because the generic SoundWire fallback machine driver doesn't wire up the board-specific GPIO/ACPI info that a proper machine-driver match would.

**4. Scope of the failure:** only the CS35L56 speaker-amp path is confirmed broken. The CS42L43 codec (mic input, and whatever output path it drives) initializes and binds without error and is architecturally independent of the CS35L56 amps, so it's plausible its own output works — but this model has no physical audio jack (only two USB-C ports), so there's no way to test that path in isolation. I'm not claiming it as working evidence in this report.

## What I've already ruled out

- **Not a PipeWire/WirePlumber/ALSA config issue** — the sink exists, is unmuted, has volume, is selected as default.
- **Not an Omarchy speaker-tuning issue** — Omarchy ships a validated speaker EQ/voicing tuning for XPS 14/16 (2026) (`/usr/share/omarchy/default/audio/tunings/dell-xps-2026`, matched on DMI SKUs `0DB9`/`0DBA`, `validated_by="dhh"`). That tuning's own docs state "the stock Linux path already loads Dell's Cirrus smart-amplifier firmware; this adds the perceptual voicing." It's an EQ layer on top of a working amp, not a fix for one that never loads — and it doesn't match this SKU (`0E53`) anyway. `omarchy-audio-tuning status` on this machine reports `Matches: nothing ships for this laptop`.
- **Not a missing firmware package** — confirmed the exact-SKU firmware blobs are on disk (see above).
- **Not an outdated kernel/firmware** — `linux`, `linux-firmware`, and `sof-firmware` are all at the newest versions currently published in Arch's repos as of this filing.

## What I'm hoping for

Given the existing Dell/Omarchy collaboration on XPS audio, I'm hoping this can either:
- get routed to whoever at Dell/Cirrus is already working on Wildcat Lake / XPS SoundWire enablement, since the correct per-SKU firmware clearly already shipped (someone at Dell/Cirrus knows this board), or
- get pointed at an existing fix/tracking issue if this is already known and in progress.

Happy to provide any additional logs, run test kernels/patches, or move this to a different tracker (kernel.org bugzilla, SOF project GitHub, alsa-project) if that's more appropriate — just wanted to get it in front of people who might already have the right contacts for this exact machine.

## Full relevant kernel log

```
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: enabling device (0000 -> 0002)
sof-audio-pci-intel-ptl 0000:00:1f.3: DSP detected with PCI class/subclass/prog-if 0x040100
sof-audio-pci-intel-ptl 0000:00:1f.3: bound 0000:00:02.0 (ops intel_audio_component_bind_ops [xe])
sof-audio-pci-intel-ptl 0000:00:1f.3: use msi interrupt mode
sof-audio-pci-intel-ptl 0000:00:1f.3: No SoundWire machine driver found for the ACPI-reported configuration:
sof-audio-pci-intel-ptl 0000:00:1f.3: link 2 mfg_id 0x01fa part_id 0x4243 version 0x3
sof-audio-pci-intel-ptl 0000:00:1f.3: Use SoundWire default machine driver with function topologies
sof-audio-pci-intel-ptl 0000:00:1f.3: hda codecs found, mask 4
sof-audio-pci-intel-ptl 0000:00:1f.3: NHLT device BT(0) detected, ssp_mask 0x4
sof-audio-pci-intel-ptl 0000:00:1f.3: BT link detected in NHLT tables: 0x4
sof-audio-pci-intel-ptl 0000:00:1f.3: DMICs detected in NHLT tables: 0
sof-audio-pci-intel-ptl 0000:00:1f.3: Firmware paths/files for ipc type 1:
sof-audio-pci-intel-ptl 0000:00:1f.3:  Firmware file:     intel/sof-ipc4/wcl/sof-wcl.ri
sof-audio-pci-intel-ptl 0000:00:1f.3:  Firmware lib path: intel/sof-ipc4-lib/wcl
sof-audio-pci-intel-ptl 0000:00:1f.3:  Topology file:     function topologies
sof-audio-pci-intel-ptl 0000:00:1f.3: Loaded firmware library: ADSPFW, version: 2.14.1.1
cs42l43 sdw:0:2:01fa:4243:01: Driver needs fixing: Unsorted reg_defaults, sorting the copy
cs42l43 sdw:0:2:01fa:4243:01: supply vdd-p not found, using dummy regulator
cs42l43 sdw:0:2:01fa:4243:01: supply vdd-d not found, using dummy regulator
cs42l43 sdw:0:2:01fa:4243:01: supply vdd-a not found, using dummy regulator
cs42l43 sdw:0:2:01fa:4243:01: supply vdd-io not found, using dummy regulator
cs42l43 sdw:0:2:01fa:4243:01: supply vdd-cp not found, using dummy regulator
cs42l43 sdw:0:2:01fa:4243:01: devid: 0x042a43, rev: 0xa1, otp: 0x03
sof-audio-pci-intel-ptl 0000:00:1f.3: Loaded firmware library: ADSPFW, version: 2.14.1.1
cs35l56 spi-cs35l56-left: supply VDD_P not found, using dummy regulator
cs35l56 spi-cs35l56-left: supply VDD_IO not found, using dummy regulator
cs35l56 spi-cs35l56-left: supply VDD_A not found, using dummy regulator
sof-audio-pci-intel-ptl 0000:00:1f.3: Booted firmware version: 2.14.1.1
cs35l56 spi-cs35l56-left: Cirrus Logic CS35L56 Rev B2 OTP1 fw:4.2.1 (patched=0)
cs35l56 spi-cs35l56-right: supply VDD_P not found, using dummy regulator
cs35l56 spi-cs35l56-right: supply VDD_IO not found, using dummy regulator
cs35l56 spi-cs35l56-right: supply VDD_A not found, using dummy regulator
cs35l56 spi-cs35l56-right: Cirrus Logic CS35L56 Rev B2 OTP1 fw:4.2.1 (patched=0)
cs42l43-codec cs42l43-codec: supply vdd-amp not found, using dummy regulator
cs35l56 spi-cs35l56-left: supply VDD_B not found, using dummy regulator
cs35l56 spi-cs35l56-left: supply VDD_AMP not found, using dummy regulator
cs35l56 spi-cs35l56-right: supply VDD_B not found, using dummy regulator
cs35l56 spi-cs35l56-right: supply VDD_AMP not found, using dummy regulator
sof-audio-pci-intel-ptl 0000:00:1f.3: Using function topologies instead intel/sof-ipc4-tplg/sof-wcl-dummy.tplg
sof-audio-pci-intel-ptl 0000:00:1f.3: loading topology 0: intel/sof-ipc4-tplg/sof-sdca-mic-id4.tplg
sof-audio-pci-intel-ptl 0000:00:1f.3: Topology: ABI 3:29:1 Kernel ABI 3:23:1
sof_sdw sof_sdw: ASoC: Parent card not yet available, widget card binding deferred
sof-audio-pci-intel-ptl 0000:00:1f.3: loading topology 1: intel/sof-ipc4-tplg/sof-sdca-1amp-id2.tplg
sof-audio-pci-intel-ptl 0000:00:1f.3: Topology: ABI 3:29:1 Kernel ABI 3:23:1
sof_sdw sof_sdw: ASoC: Parent card not yet available, widget card binding deferred
sof-audio-pci-intel-ptl 0000:00:1f.3: loading topology 2: intel/sof-ipc4-tplg/sof-hdmi-pcm5-id5.tplg
sof-audio-pci-intel-ptl 0000:00:1f.3: Topology: ABI 3:29:1 Kernel ABI 3:23:1
sof_sdw sof_sdw: ASoC: Parent card not yet available, widget card binding deferred
cs35l56 spi-cs35l56-right: DSP1: Firmware: 1a00d6 vendor: 0x2 v4.2.1, 42 algorithms
cs35l56 spi-cs35l56-left: DSP1: Firmware: 1a00d6 vendor: 0x2 v4.2.1, 42 algorithms
cs35l56 spi-cs35l56-right: FIRMWARE_MISSING
cs35l56 spi-cs35l56-right: Calibration disabled due to missing firmware controls
cs35l56 spi-cs35l56-left: FIRMWARE_MISSING
cs35l56 spi-cs35l56-left: Calibration disabled due to missing firmware controls
cs35l56 spi-cs35l56-right: Can't read tuning IDs
cs35l56 spi-cs35l56-left: Can't read tuning IDs
sof_sdw sof_sdw: Setting CS42L43 Speaker volume limit to 128
sof_sdw sof_sdw: hda_dsp_hdmi_build_controls: no PCM in topology for HDMI converter 3
```

## `aplay -l`

```
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: sofsoundwire [sof-soundwire], device 2: Speaker (*) []
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: sofsoundwire [sof-soundwire], device 5: HDMI1 (*) [HDMI 1]
card 0: sofsoundwire [sof-soundwire], device 6: HDMI2 (*) [HDMI 2]
card 0: sofsoundwire [sof-soundwire], device 7: HDMI3 (*) [HDMI 3]
```

## Reproduction

Fresh Omarchy install on a Dell XPS 13 DX13260, no manual audio config changes. Issue is present from first boot. Confirmed on **two separate units**, purchased at the same time, both exhibiting identical symptoms and byte-for-byte identical kernel log output — this points to a systemic driver/enablement gap for this SKU rather than a hardware defect on one machine.