been troubleshooting with chat gpt all day, have tried downgrading and upgrading kernel. have tried SOF software. in pavucontrol shows dummy audio, when i go to change the profile it says OFF, clicking the list of other options only shows digital HDMI’s, nothing analog. every time i try something and reboot, my wifi stops working. would really like to use my speakers and not have to use headphones, please help me.
summary of what i have tried today from chat gpt
MacBookPro14,1 Internal Speakers on Ubuntu Budgie – Troubleshooting Summary
Hardware: MacBookPro14,1
OS: Ubuntu Budgie
Current Kernel: 6.16.5 (custom / latest installed)
Issue: Internal speakers show “Dummy Output” in PulseAudio; only HDMI audio devices are detected.
What Has Been Tried So Far
Checking audio hardware
lspci | grep -i audio → Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-LP HD Audio (rev 21)
cat /proc/asound/cards → only HDA Intel PCH, HDMI devices listed, no analog speakers detected.
Module management
Attempted to reload snd_hda_intel module:
sudo modprobe -r snd_hda_intel
sudo modprobe snd_hda_intel
→ Failed (module in use).
Tried adding options snd-hda-intel model=mbp101 to /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf → no change; profile in PulseAudio still “Off”.
PulseAudio troubleshooting
Installed pulseaudio and pavucontrol.
Verified configuration → analog output options unavailable.
Restarted PulseAudio: pulseaudio -k && pulseaudio --start.
SOF / firmware attempts
Tried installing sof-firmware via apt → package not found for 6.16.5 kernel.
Attempted manual download/installation of SOF firmware → resulted in system reboot and Wi-Fi stopped working.
Learned that 6.16.5 kernel does not have full support for MacBookPro14,1 SOF audio modules (snd_sof, snd_soc_skl missing).
Custom driver compilation
Cloned snd_hda_macbookpro repository and tried to make and make install → modules installed but internal speakers still not detected.
Live USB testing
Booted Ubuntu Budgie live USB (kernel 6.14.0-27).
Tried installing SOF firmware and removing snd-hda-intel model=mbp101 override in live session.
Goal: confirm if internal speakers work in a supported kernel without touching the installed system.
Outcome pending: not fully tested yet in live session.
Other attempted fixes
Checked PulseAudio and ALSA configuration (pavucontrol, /proc/asound/, /etc/modprobe.d/).
Tried removing old configuration files, rebooting, reinstalling modules.
Still only HDMI devices detected; analog output remains unavailable.
Current Understanding
Kernel 6.16.5 lacks proper SOF audio support for MacBookPro14,1, which is why internal speakers never appear.
Installing SOF firmware on 6.16.5 breaks Wi-Fi.
Solution path: use a supported kernel (e.g., 6.14 LTS HWE) that has SOF support, confirm speakers work in a live session, then safely install alongside 6.16.5 on the installed system.
Questions / Next Steps for Forum
Can internal speakers on MacBookPro14,1 work on kernel 6.16.5, or is 6.14/6.15 required?
Are there any patches or DKMS modules to enable SOF audio on 6.16.5 safely?
Best practice to test speakers on live USB without affecting Wi-Fi.
Recommended method to dual-boot kernels for audio vs Wi-Fi functionality.