Hi Sadeep,

This has likely nothing to do with pulseaudio/pipewire, but lacking linux support for your audio interface.

There are multiple MacBookPro's from 2017. Check which model you have:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/108052

And then check if that model has audio support under linux:

https://github.com/Dunedan/mbp-2016-linux#audio-input--output

For 2017 models:
- MacBookPro14,1 (13", 2 ports): audio working with patch (only output)
- MacBookPro14,2 (13", 4 ports): audio not working
- MacBookPro14,3 (15"): audio working with patch

I don't think that patch ever made it into the (arch) kernel, but I don't have my macbook anymore and haven't been following this for quite a while.

Chris

On Sat, Oct 5, 2024 at 12:34 PM Sadeep Madurange <sadeep@asciimx.com> wrote:
Hello,

I installed Arch Linux 6.11.1-arch1-1 on a 2017 Macbook Pro with KDE Plasma desktop package (initially installed the plasma-meta and kde-applications-meta, but I've since gotten rid of them). Sound output is not working with the speakers or headphones. KDE shows "No output or input devices found". During my troubleshoot, I ended up removingn pipewire stuff. Now I have pulseaudio, pulseaudio-alsa, and alsa-utils installed.

I created a file /etc/modprobe.d/50-sound.conf and added "options snd_hda_intel model=intel-mac-auto" to it (and restarted), but that did not help. I have installed alsa firmware and sof-firmware.

The output of lspci:

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v6/7th Gen Core Processor Host Bridge/DRAM Registers (rev 03)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Iris Plus Graphics 640 (rev 06)
00:14.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-LP USB 3.0 xHCI Controller (rev 21)
00:15.0 Signal processing controller: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-LP Serial IO I2C Controller #0 (rev 21)
00:15.2 Signal processing controller: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-LP Serial IO I2C Controller #2 (rev 21)
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-LP CSME HECI #1 (rev 21)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-LP PCI Express Root Port #1 (rev f1)
00:1c.4 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-LP PCI Express Root Port #5 (rev f1)
00:1d.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-LP PCI Express Root Port #9 (rev f1)
00:1d.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-LP PCI Express Root Port #10 (rev f1)
00:1e.0 Signal processing controller: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-LP Serial IO UART Controller #0 (rev 21)
00:1e.3 Signal processing controller: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-LP Serial IO SPI Controller #1 (rev 21)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point LPC/eSPI Controller (rev 21)
00:1f.2 Memory controller: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-LP PMC (rev 21)
00:1f.3 Audio device: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-LP HD Audio (rev 21)
00:1f.4 SMBus: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-LP SMBus (rev 21)
01:00.0 Mass storage controller: Apple Inc. S3X NVMe Controller (rev 12)
02:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries BCM4350 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter (rev 05)
03:00.0 Multimedia controller: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries 720p FaceTime HD Camera
04:00.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation DSL6540 Thunderbolt 3 Bridge [Alpine Ridge 4C 2015] (rev 02)
05:00.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation JHL6540 Thunderbolt 3 Bridge (C step) [Alpine Ridge 4C 2016] (rev 02)
05:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation JHL6540 Thunderbolt 3 Bridge (C step) [Alpine Ridge 4C 2016] (rev 02)
05:02.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation JHL6540 Thunderbolt 3 Bridge (C step) [Alpine Ridge 4C 2016] (rev 02)
05:04.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation JHL6540 Thunderbolt 3 Bridge (C step) [Alpine Ridge 4C 2016] (rev 02)
06:00.0 System peripheral: Intel Corporation JHL6540 Thunderbolt 3 NHI (C step) [Alpine Ridge 4C 2016] (rev 02)
07:00.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation JHL6540 Thunderbolt 3 USB Controller (C step) [Alpine Ridge 4C 2016] (rev 02)

In alsamixer, Card shows as PulseAudio and the master volume is 100%. If I press F6 (to select sound card), the first entry is "- (default)". The second is "default:0 HDA Intel PCH". If I choose the second one, I see S/PDIF, S/PDIF 1, and S/PDIF 2. All of them are unmuted but the volume is 00. I can't increase it. The 00 is in a green square (not a rectangle up to 100%).

I can hear the chime when the Macbook starts up, so the hardware is working fine.