HDMI Audio Not Working on Linux

Summary

HDMI audio output does not work on Framework Laptop 13 with Intel processors when running Linux. The HDMI expansion card provides video output correctly, and the HDMI audio device is detected by the system, but no sound is produced through the connected TV, monitor, or AV receiver speakers. The same hardware works correctly under Windows. The primary fix is to install the sof-firmware package and force the Sound Open Firmware (SOF) DSP driver via the snd_intel_dspcfg kernel module option¹²³.

Symptoms

• HDMI video output works normally⁴⁵
• HDMI audio device appears in aplay -l output listing HDMI/DisplayPort PCM devices⁶⁷
• The sound settings panel shows HDMI as an available output device⁴⁵
• System volume meters show audio playback activity, but no sound is heard from the connected display or receiver⁵
• Internal speakers, 3.5 mm headphone jack, and Bluetooth audio all work correctly⁴⁵
• The issue may be intermittent — some users report HDMI audio working after suspend/resume but not after a cold boot⁸
• Works on Windows 10/11 but not on Linux with the same hardware⁴⁵
• Using a USB-C dock with HDMI output works as a bypass⁴

Affected Models

• Framework Laptop 13 (11th Gen Intel) — Primary affected model. Tiger Lake-LP Smart Sound Technology Audio Controller (PCI ID: 8086:a0c8). Confirmed across multiple threads and distributions^14591011
• Framework Laptop 13 (12th Gen Intel) — Reported by multiple users in the original HDMI audio thread⁴¹²
• Framework Laptop 13 (Intel Core Ultra Series 1) — Reported January 2025 with same symptoms¹³
• Framework Mainboard (11th Gen Intel) standalone — Used in Cooler Master case and custom builds, same audio controller⁸¹⁴

Root Cause

The Intel Tiger Lake-LP (and later) audio controller supports two driver stacks: the legacy HDA driver (snd_hda_intel) and the Sound Open Firmware (SOF) driver (snd_sof_pci_intel_tgl). The kernel module snd_intel_dspcfg is responsible for auto-detecting which DSP driver to use at boot¹³¹⁵.

On Framework 11th Gen Intel, the auto-detection (dsp_driver=0) may select the wrong driver or the selected driver may not properly initialize HDMI audio through the expansion card. The HDMI expansion card routes display and audio signals through Intel's integrated graphics (i915), which exposes HDMI/DP audio codecs through the HDA subsystem. When the driver initialization is incorrect, the HDMI audio codec is detected but the audio samples never reach the output¹³.

The ArchWiki documents this specifically for Framework 11th Gen: the system must use the SOF driver (dsp_driver=3) with the sof-firmware package installed for HDMI audio to function correctly³.

On Windows, the Intel Iris Xe GPU driver handles HDMI audio natively, which is why the same hardware works without issue⁴⁵.

Diagnosis

1. Verify the HDMI audio device is detected:

   aplay -l | grep HDMI

   If HDMI PCM devices are listed, the kernel sees the audio codec but the audio path is broken⁶⁷.

2. Check which DSP driver is in use:

   dmesg | grep -E "snd_intel_dspcfg|snd_sof|snd_hda_intel"

   Look for lines indicating which driver was selected³¹⁵.

3. Check current dsp_driver value:

   cat /sys/module/snd_intel_dspcfg/parameters/dsp_driver

   Value 0 means auto-detect, 1 means legacy HDA, 3 means SOF³.

4. Verify sof-firmware is installed:

   • Ubuntu/Debian: dpkg -l | grep sof-firmware
   • Fedora: rpm -q sof-firmware
   • Arch: pacman -Q sof-firmware

Workarounds & Fixes

Solution	Effectiveness	Notes
Install sof-firmware and set dsp_driver=3123	Fixes the issue	Primary fix. Create /etc/modprobe.d/snd-intel-dsp.conf with options snd_intel_dspcfg dsp_driver=3, then reboot. Requires sof-firmware package installed
Set dsp_driver=1 (legacy HDA)915	Fixes HDMI audio	Forces legacy HDA driver. HDMI audio works but onboard digital microphone will not function
Use pavucontrol to manually switch profile10	May work	Open pavucontrol, go to Configuration tab, select HDMI output profile. Works for some users but not all
Use USB-C dock with HDMI port4	Workaround	Bypasses the HDMI expansion card entirely. USB-C docks with HDMI handle audio through a different path
Install Intel Iris Xe beta driver (Windows only)4	Fixes on Windows	For Windows users, install the latest Intel GPU beta driver from Intel's download page

Primary Fix (Linux)

1. Install the Sound Open Firmware package:

   • Ubuntu/Debian: sudo apt install sof-firmware
   • Fedora: sudo dnf install sof-firmware
   • Arch: sudo pacman -S sof-firmware

2. Create the modprobe configuration:

   echo "options snd_intel_dspcfg dsp_driver=3" | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/snd-intel-dsp.conf

3. Reboot the system.

4. After reboot, verify HDMI audio output is available in sound settings and test playback¹²³.

Resolution

The fix is a kernel-level configuration change. There is no firmware or BIOS update that resolves this — it is a Linux audio driver initialization issue specific to Intel Tiger Lake and related audio controllers¹³¹⁵.

As newer kernel versions improve the auto-detection logic in snd_intel_dspcfg, some distributions may eventually handle this correctly without manual configuration. However, as of kernel 6.x, the workaround is still required on many distributions for Framework 11th Gen Intel³.

Related

• HDMI Expansion Card — Framework Product Page
• Framework Laptop 13 — ArchWiki — ArchWiki (documents the dsp_driver=3 fix)
• Ubuntu Audio Troubleshooting Guide — Framework Knowledge Base
• HDMI expansion adapter slot issues — separate issue where HDMI expansion card does not work in the front-left slot on some models

Footnotes

1. [TRACKING] Audio over HDMI on Ubuntu not working on 11th gen Intel Framework — Framework Community (Sep 2023) ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

2. [SOLVED] No HDMI Audio — Fix works on PulseAudio not PipeWire — Arch Linux Forums (Dec 2023) ↩ ↩² ↩³

3. Framework Laptop 13 — HDMI audio output — ArchWiki ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰

4. HDMI audio output? — Framework Community (Oct 2021) ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰

5. Still work on the problem with my Framework laptop and Linux intermittent HDMI audio — Framework Community (Mar 2022) ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

6. [SOLVED] Debian 12 / F13 11th gen sound not working — Framework Community (Nov 2023) ↩ ↩²

7. No HDMI Audio in Manjaro — Framework Community (Nov 2021) ↩ ↩²

8. Framework Laptop 13 11th Gen Intel Standalone: Audio via HDMI Silent After Reboot (works after waking up from suspend) — Framework Community (Feb 2025) ↩ ↩²

9. [RESOLVED] No Audio via HDMI — Framework Community (Nov 2023) ↩ ↩²

10. No HDMI Audio in Manjaro — Comment re: pavucontrol profile switching — Framework Community (Nov 2021) ↩ ↩²

11. Ubuntu 21.10 / Tiger Lake sound? — Framework Community (Dec 2021) ↩

12. HDMI audio output? — 12th Gen report — Framework Community (Dec 2022) ↩

13. No HDMI Audio in Ubuntu - Intel Core Ultra — Framework Community (Jan 2025) ↩

14. Ubuntu: Onboard audio and HDMI audio do not work — DC-DeepComputing/Framework — GitHub (Feb 2025) ↩

15. Ubuntu 23.04 Manual Setup — 11th Gen — FrameworkComputer/linux-docs ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴