My computer's built-in speakers don't work correctly on Linux, there is no issue on Windows.
The sound is thin, crackly, and there seems to be a missing frequency — like a certain tone is absent. I recorded a sample with my phone; despite the background noise, you can notice how thin the laptop's sound is. The high-pitched tinny quality doesn't come through well on the microphone either.
I tried several fixes with Claude's help but nothing fully worked. Here is the list of what we attempted:
linux-firmware repo cs35l56-b0-dsp1-misc-10431034 firmware — loaded but version mismatch
Windows init.bin files (10431034_241018) copied to Linux — loaded but DSP timeout errors
wmfw symlink cs35l56-b0-3.11.16-dsp1-misc-10431034-spkid0.wmfw — loaded but no difference
amixer Bass Speaker Switch + AMP1/AMP2 volume — switch turned on but no audible change
Hi. Zorin 18 is a fork of Ubuntu 24.04 and so I used this in my search criteria using Brave A.I. search engine via Mojeek search engine:
" No sound on Ubuntu 24.04 with Realtek ALC285 and Cirrus Logic CS35L56 amplifiers is typically caused by missing firmware files for the CS35L56 smart amplifiers, which are required to initialize the woofer speakers.
Root Cause The Linux kernel detects the hardware but cannot load the specific DSP firmware and tuning binaries required by the CS35L56 amplifiers. This results in the system defaulting to basic output (often via headphones or HDMI) while leaving the internal speakers silent or sounding thin due to missing bass frequencies.
Solution: Install Missing Firmware You must provide the missing .bin and .wmfw files to the system. This can be done in two ways:
Use Compatible Firmware (Recommended for 2025 ASUS Models): If you have an ASUS ROG G14 (2025) or similar device, the firmware for the 10431b13 variant is often compatible. Download these files from the Linux kernel git repository and place them in /lib/firmware/cirrus/ :
cs35l56-b0-dsp1-misc-10431b13-spkid0-amp1.bin
cs35l56-b0-dsp1-misc-10431b13-spkid0-amp2.bin
Create a symbolic link for the DSP firmware: cs35l56-b0-dsp1-misc-10431024-spkid0.wmfw.zst pointing to CS35L56_Rev3.11.16.wmfw.zst .
Extract from Windows Installation: If you dual-boot with Windows, copy the .wmfw and .bin files from your Windows driver partition (usually found in C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore ) to /lib/firmware/cirrus/ on Ubuntu, ensuring the filenames match the device ID expected by the kernel (check with sudo dmesg | grep cs35l ).
Verification After placing the files, reboot your system. Verify success by running sudo dmesg | grep cs35l and confirming there are no "file required but not found" errors. Ensure PipeWire and WirePlumber are installed and running, as Ubuntu 24.04 uses PipeWire by default instead of PulseAudio.
You could try it with Pulse Audio Volume Control. It is a Tool for set up Audio Input and Output. You can install it with sudo apt install pavucontrol
When installed, check the Configuration and Output Tab's for Audio Profiles and Options. You might play a bit with the Options to check what works well.