Public bug reported:
System information:
Laptop: Dell (Arrow Lake-P platform)
CPU/GPU: Intel Arrow Lake-P [8086:7d51]
OS: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (Noble)
Kernel tested: 6.17.0-1030-oem, 6.17.0-1028-oem, 6.14.0-1020-oem (issue present
on all three)
Audio server: PipeWire 1.0.5-1ubuntu3.3, WirePlumber 0.4.17
Audio hardware: sof-soundwire card, Cirrus Logic CS42L43 (codec) + CS35L56
(amplifiers, SoundWire)
Firmware: firmware-sof-signed 2023.12.1-1ubuntu1.11 (latest available in all
configured repos, including OEM/Dell), linux-firmware
20240318.git3b128b60-0ubuntu2.27 (also latest available)
SOF firmware loaded: intel/sof-ipc4/arl/sof-arl.ri, version 2.14.1.1
Summary:
Audio jitters/crackles severely during any video playback with audio (tested in
VLC). The issue is present with both PipeWire/PulseAudio output and raw ALSA
(hw:0,2) output. Jitter also occurs, at reduced severity, during audio-only
playback with no video decoding active. Direct hardware validation via
speaker-test -D hw:0,2 is completely clean, confirming the physical audio path
is functional.
Key diagnostic evidence:
dmesg shows a topology/kernel ABI mismatch on every boot:
sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl 0000:00:1f.3: Topology: ABI 3:29:1 Kernel ABI 3:23:1
This appears identically across all three tested kernel versions,
indicating the installed topology files are newer than what any
currently available kernel's SOF driver expects.
pw-top shows climbing ERR counts specifically on the sofsoundwire output sink
and the playing application during jitter, while all other (idle) audio nodes
remain at 0 errors:
R 54 1024 48000 ... ERR=20 alsa_output...sofsoundwire_2__sink
R 87 1920 48000 ... ERR=21 + VLC media player
(Consistent ERR accumulation reproduced across multiple test runs and
kernel versions.)
Cross-kernel testing (via one-time grub-reboot, no permanent changes) shows the
issue is NOT a kernel regression:
6.17.0-1030-oem: ERR 20/21 per ~38s clip, audible jitter
6.17.0-1028-oem: ERR 2/4 per ~38s clip, audible jitter (reduced but present)
6.14.0-1020-oem: ERR 5/36 per ~38s clip, audible jitter (similar/worse)
No newer firmware-sof-signed or linux-firmware package is available in any
configured repo (standard Ubuntu archive, noble-updates, security, OEM archive,
Dell archive) — confirmed via apt-cache policy.
Reproduction steps:
Play any video file with an audio track in VLC (tested with two independent
files: .mp4/H.264/AAC and .mov, different codecs/containers — same result).
Audio crackles/jitters within seconds; video remains visually smooth.
Run pw-top concurrently — observe climbing ERR count on the sofsoundwire sink.
Workaround found:
Using mpv with --video-sync=desync produces clean audio and video by decoupling
video timing from the audio clock. Not a permanent fix — mpv's own
documentation describes desync modes as intended for testing, not production
use, since it allows A/V drift.
Suspected root cause:
Given the persistent topology/kernel ABI mismatch and the fact this occurs on
genuinely new hardware (Arrow Lake-P + CS42L43/CS35L56 SoundWire, launched
significantly after the currently-shipped firmware-sof-signed 2023.12.1), this
looks like an early hardware-enablement gap — the installed SOF
firmware/topology may not yet fully or correctly support this specific
SoundWire codec/amplifier combination's timing/delay reporting under real-time
playback load.
ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 24.04
Package: linux-oem-24.04d 6.17.0-1030.30
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 6.17.0-1030.30-oem 6.17.13
Uname: Linux 6.17.0-1030-oem x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.28.3-0ubuntu0.1
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
/dev/snd/controlC0: pere 4065 F.... pipewire
pere 4071 F.... wireplumber
/dev/snd/seq: pere 4065 F.... pipewire
CasperMD5CheckMismatches: ./casper/initrd ./casper/vmlinuz
./casper/minimal.standard.live.hotfix.manifest
./casper/minimal.standard.live.hotfix.size ./casper/minimal.standard.live.size
./casper/minimal.manifest ./casper/minimal.standard.manifest
./casper/minimal.standard.size ./casper/minimal.hotfix.size
./casper/minimal.standard.live.hotfix.squashfs
./casper/minimal.standard.hotfix.squashfs ./casper/minimal.standard.hotfix.size
./casper/minimal.hotfix.squashfs ./casper/minimal.standard.live.manifest
./casper/minimal.size ./boot/grub/grub.cfg
CasperMD5CheckResult: fail
CurrentDesktop: ubuntu:GNOME
Date: Tue Aug 11 16:57:21 2026
DistributionChannelDescriptor:
# This is the distribution channel descriptor for Ubuntu 24.04 for Dell
# For more information see http://wiki.ubuntu.com/DistributionChannelDescriptor
canonical-oem-somerville-noble-oem-24.04b-proposed-20250521-513
InstallationDate: Installed on 2025-12-24 (230 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu OEM 24.04.2 LTS "Noble Numbat" - Release amd64
(20250521)
IwConfig:
lo no wireless extensions.
wlp0s20f3 no wireless extensions.
MachineType: Dell Inc. Dell Pro Max 14 Premium MA14250
ProcEnviron:
LANG=en_US.UTF-8
PATH=(custom, no user)
SHELL=/bin/bash
TERM=xterm-256color
XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
ProcFB: 0 i915drmfb
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.17.0-1030-oem
root=UUID=38b0bfb3-e96a-4a0f-b94b-68656b7fbc25 ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
PulseList: Error: command ['pacmd', 'list'] failed with exit code 1: No
PulseAudio daemon running, or not running as session daemon.
RelatedPackageVersions:
linux-restricted-modules-6.17.0-1030-oem N/A
linux-backports-modules-6.17.0-1030-oem N/A
linux-firmware 20240318.git3b128b60-0ubuntu2.27
SourcePackage: linux-oem-6.17
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 03/31/2026
dmi.bios.release: 1.9
dmi.bios.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.bios.version: 1.9.0
dmi.board.name: 023TK3
dmi.board.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.board.version: A02
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.ec.firmware.release: 1.8
dmi.modalias:
dmi:bvnDellInc.:bvr1.9.0:bd03/31/2026:br1.9:efr1.8:svnDellInc.:pnDellProMax14PremiumMA14250:pvr:rvnDellInc.:rn023TK3:rvrA02:cvnDellInc.:ct10:cvr:sku0D32:
dmi.product.family: Dell Pro Max Laptops
dmi.product.name: Dell Pro Max 14 Premium MA14250
dmi.product.sku: 0D32
dmi.sys.vendor: Dell Inc.
** Affects: linux-oem-6.17 (Ubuntu)
Importance: Undecided
Status: New
** Tags: amd64 apport-bug noble
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You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu
Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2163257
Title:
Severe audio jitter/XRUNs during audio+video playback on Dell Arrow
Lake-P (CS42L43/CS35L56 SoundWire) — persists across kernel 6.11–6.17,
firmware-sof-signed 2023.12.1
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