I'm looking for help regarding an audio issue on my Positivo Vision C14 laptop (Intel Alder Lake-N N100 processor). The system detects the sound card, but there is no audio output from the internal speakers or the 3.5mm jack (Dummy Output or total silence).
Technical Specs:
Codec: Everest ES8336 (ESSX8336)
Driver: Sound Open Firmware (SOF) - snd_soc_sof_8336
OS: Zorin OS 18 (based on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS)
Kernel: (Type uname -r in your terminal and paste the result here, e.g., 6.8.0-40-generic)
What I've tried so far:
Resetting ALSA and AlsaMixer (alsactl init).
Installing SOF firmware and topology files (.tplg and .ri files) from various community repositories.
Testing several quirks in /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf (0x01, 0x02, 0x04, 0x41, 0x45).
Manually unmuting all channels in alsamixer (DAC, Headphone Mixer, Speaker, etc.).
aplay -l correctly lists the device as sof-essx8336, and the UI shows the volume bar moving, but no physical sound is produced. It seems to be a pin-mapping issue specific to this new Positivo model.
Has anyone managed to get the ES8336 working on this specific hardware or found the correct "quirk" code for the Alder Lake-N platform?
Using Perplexity search in zen browser I found this:
" The Linux driver for snd_soc_sof_8336 is provided in the mainline kernel as the SOF + ES8336 ASoC “machine driver”, enabled via the CONFIG_SND_SOC_INTEL_SOF_ES8336_MACH option and the snd-soc-sof_es8336 module.
What the driver is
The Everest Semiconductor ES8336/ESSX8336 codec is supported by an Intel SOF (Sound Open Firmware) ASoC machine driver, not a standalone out‑of‑tree driver.
In kernel Kconfig this appears as “SOF with ES8336 or ES8326 codec in I2S mode” with module name snd-soc-sof_es8336.ko and config symbol CONFIG_SND_SOC_INTEL_SOF_ES8336_MACH.
Kernel support status
The ES8336 SOF machine driver is present in Linux kernel sources (documented as “in linux kernel since version 4.14.326” on that Kconfig reference site, though in practice it is used with newer kernels such as 5.16+ and 5.17+).
Many distribution kernels ship with this option disabled, which is why ES8336/ESSX8336 hardware often shows up but has no working sound until a custom or updated kernel is used.
How to use/enable it (high level)
To use the driver from source, ensure your kernel .config has:
CONFIG_SND_SOC_INTEL_SOF_ES8336_MACH=m (or =y)
Required dependencies such as SOF core and Intel SOF platform support enabled (e.g. CONFIG_SND_SOC_SOF_HDA_AUDIO_CODEC, CONFIG_SND_SOC_INTEL_MACH, etc.).
On Debian‑based systems, some users solve ES8336 audio issues by rebuilding the kernel with that option enabled and installing appropriate SOF firmware and topology files (for example, using the approach documented in the sof-essx8336-debian-fix repository).
If you share your distribution and kernel version, plus whether you’re building your own kernel or using a distro one, more concrete steps (including what to put in .config and what firmware/topology files you need) can be outlined."
I would suggest to try it with switching to Xorg. To do that, go to the Login Screen. Click on Your Profile so that the Password Field appears. When it is appeared, You should see a Gear Icon in the bottom right Corner. Click on it and choose the Option ''Zorin Desktop on Xorg'' and then log in.
another thing i didn't say, is that the sound already worked once, but it came out after restarting, i configured it in alsamixer, but it follows the configuration and it didn't catch on anymore, aṕos restart, i don't know what it is
Have you tried booting a previous linux kernel, incase a update has messed up sound?
From startup grub menu, choose Additional Options for Zorin and select an older kernel generic version listed, to boot it once and test.
You could try it with Pulse Audio Volume control. It is a Tool to set up Audio Input and Output. You can install it with sudo apt install pavucontrol
When installed, open it and take a Look at the Output Tab and the Configuration Tab. On the Configuration Tab, You can disable the Audio sources, You don't need. and on the Output Tab, You can choose theSource, You want actively use.
If you got sound working using alsamixer, is that possible to do again?
When you have sound working in alsamixer, save the alsamixer settings (to preserve them over a reboot) using:
sudo alsactl store
Also, you never answered my question whether you have tried a different linux kernel.
I tried the command and after restarting it doesn't return the sound, nor if I leave the configuration that picked up the sound again. And if you can tell me from the distros tips that this problem is solved, it leaves Windows last week and this is my first distro
