23 jul 2026

How to fix dummy output in Linux

2 min read

My laptop is a slightly older HP laptop from 2018 that works great, apart from the battery not holding any charge. I recently switched from Artix to CachyOS and had some problems with my sound. The installation only detected an NVIDIA device for sound output and otherwise showed the infamous dummy output.

After some searching I found a solution that worked for me. There were a lot of forum posts that helped solve the problem for many users, but not for me. I wanted to document my solution so I can easily reproduce it in case I need to fix my sound again after re-installing Linux. It might help you too.

Step 1: Check kernel drivers

Use lspci -k | grep -i audio to check which kernel drivers are in use and which are available. In my case the kernel was using SOF drivers instead of the legacy Intel drivers.

Step 2: Force the Legacy Intel Audio Driver

We will create a modprobe configuration rule to force the kernel to bypass the buggy SOF/SST drivers, fall back to the stable snd-hda-intel driver, and disable digital microphone conflicts that often cause hardware lockups.

Open (or create) a custom kernel module configuration file:
```
sudo vim /etc/modprobe.d/intel-audio-fix.conf
```
Adding the following lines to the file solved it for me, but it might be different for you depending on the output of the command in step 1.
```
options snd-intel-dspcfg dsp_driver=1
options snd-hda-intel dmic_detect=0
blacklist snd_soc_skl
blacklist snd_sof_pci_intel_cnl
```
Save and exit the editor.

Step 3: Update the Initramfs

Because Linux distributions load audio drivers extremely early during the boot phase via a RAM disk, you must update your system’s boot image so it registers the new configuration file immediately.

Run the command that matches your Linux distribution:

For Ubuntu, Debian, Pop!_OS, Linux Mint:
```
sudo update-initramfs -u
```
For Arch Linux, Artix, CachyOS, Manjaro:
```
sudo mkinitcpio -P
```

Step 4: Perform a Cold Reboot

For the changes to take effect on the hardware and PCI controller level, completely restart your machine:

sudo reboot

Verification

Once your system boots back up, verify that the kernel now properly communicates with your hardware:

Verify ALSA Devices:
```
aplay -l
```
Your internal Intel audio device should now be clearly listed as a playback card.
Verify Sound Server Status:
```
wpctl status   # For PipeWire systems
# OR
pactl info     # For PulseAudio systems
```
The “Dummy Output” should be gone, replaced by your actual laptop speakers and headphone jack. Hopefully this post helped you in solving sound issues in your Linux installation.