Asus cx1500cka no sound

Hardware Support
1

Hi there!
Just recently installed zorin on an Asus CX1500CKA Chromebook.

The thing is surprisingly snappy, it never complains about the small harddisk, all in all, I'm very satisfied.

BUT! The sound doesn't work. I've tried some things, but it just doesn't help.

I can hear sound in my bluetooth headphones, I don't have any headphones with jack, so I can't check that.

Can you guys help, please?

2

Hi and welcone.

I suspect it is because it is a chromebook that there might not be a linux kernel driver for it.

Please open a Terminal (just type terminal in menu search bar and press enter key) then copy and paste the following command clicking on the 'copy to clipboard icon at the end of the comnand, then in terminal right-click and select 'paste', then press the enter key. You will be asked for your password to elevate you to root.

sudo lshw -C sound

and post back the results please.

3 
<pre>  *-usb:1                   
       description: Video
       product: USB2.0 HD UVC WebCam
       vendor: Azurewave
       physical id: 6
       bus info: usb@1:6
       version: 20.03
       serial: 0x0001
       capabilities: usb-2.01
       configuration: driver=uvcvideo maxpower=500mA speed=480Mbit/s
  *-multimedia
       description: Multimedia audio controller
       product: Jasper Lake HD Audio
       vendor: Intel Corporation
       physical id: 1f.3
       bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.3
       logical name: card0
       logical name: /dev/snd/controlC0
       logical name: /dev/snd/hwC0D2
       logical name: /dev/snd/pcmC0D0p
       logical name: /dev/snd/pcmC0D1c
       logical name: /dev/snd/pcmC0D1p
       logical name: /dev/snd/pcmC0D2p
       logical name: /dev/snd/pcmC0D3p
       logical name: /dev/snd/pcmC0D4p
       logical name: /dev/snd/pcmC0D5c
       logical name: /dev/snd/pcmC0D6c
       version: 01
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi bus_master cap_list
       configuration: driver=sof-audio-pci-intel-icl latency=64
       resources: irq:134 memory:beed8000-beedbfff memory:bef00000-beffffff
</pre>
4

This is the dump from the command

inxi -F

Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Jasper Lake HD Audio driver: sof-audio-pci-intel-icl
  API: ALSA v: k6.17.0-14-generic status: kernel-api
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.0.5 status: active
5

Well the newer kernels are supposed to include the driver for that sound chip. See if editing GRUB helps:

" How do I enable SOF driver at boot time?

To enable the SOF driver for Jasper Lake HD Audio at boot time:

  • Add kernel boot parameter : Edit /etc/default/grub and modify the line:
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash snd-intel-dspcfg.dsp_driver=2"

Then run sudo update-grub and reboot. The parameter snd-intel-dspcfg.dsp_driver=2 forces the kernel to load the SOF driver (sof-audio-pci-intel-icl ) instead of the legacy snd_hda_intel .

  • Ensure firmware is installed : Install the latest sof-bin package (e.g., sof-bin-2024.06.tar.gz ) and place firmware files in /lib/firmware/intel/sof/ .
  • Verify driver load : After reboot, confirm with:
cat /sys/class/sound/card0/driver

Output should be sof-audio-pci-intel-icl . "

https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=409853

6

How do I install the latest sof-bin package?

I found a GitHub
[Releases · thesofproject/sof-bin · GitHub] where there seems to be a v2025.12.2 release, is that the one to install?

7

Wouldn't hurt to try. Did you try editing GRUB?

8

Editing GRUB: yes, I tried. But no sound. I tried to change from
snd-intel-dspcfg.dsp_driver=2
to
snd-intel-dspcfg.dsp_driver=0
and got several hardware output devices. But no sound.

How do I install the tarball?

9

Extract using File Roller. Once extracted look for a readme file which should explain how to install.

10

Did it. No change. I tried to put a headset in the jack port, It gets detected, but no sound.

11

I don't know what to suggest then. I am aware that 'sof' drivers can be a P.I.T.A.

12

No such file or directory

13

That seems to indicate the driver is not installed.

Looking at Linux hardware, it appears it gets 'detected' but this means it does not work.

Again I suspect it is because it is a Chromebook. I don't know if an external USB audio would work; Your chromebook would need a USB C port:

14

But then again, it works with bluetooth headphones...

15

Well guess that is down to the bluetooth chip having a compliant driver in the Linux kernel.

16

And while that works, an external usb audio makes no sense.

17

Well if your bluetooth headset also has microphone capability then no, it doesn't make sense. It is down to what your preference is. Hopefully there might be another forum member who has a similar setup to yours that can advise.

18

Yes, indeed. Thankyou for your time!

1 Like
19

I try to help where I can friend. I'm in the middle of rewriting the Unofficial Manual for Zorin 18 Core as I have discovered major flaws in ones I uploaded at end of last year. Additionally there have been some bug fixes with the release of Zorin 18 r3, so the one I am working on will be more up-to-date. Even the installer picture is a big improvement.

20

Just an update:
I ended up installing Ubuntu 25.10 because I found a script on mrchromebox that promised sound on my Chromebook.

And indeed, it worked!

But I'm gonna miss Zorin...

2 Likes