Sound Problems on Late 2015 iMac 21.5" (16,2)
- PipeWire version: 0.3.80
- Distribution and distribution version: Fedora Linux 38 Workstation Edition
- Desktop Environment: GNOME 44.5
- Kernel version: 6.4.15-200.fc38.x86_64
Description of Problem:
I am experiencing many issues with the iMac's CS4208 sound card with Fedora. I have tried every solution I have come across, and I have been digging and digging for days now. The same issue also persisted on Ubuntu when I tried that. I was able to get solutions working when running off of the installer USB, but those solutions did not work when I reapplied them after installing.
Problems with the built-in speakers include:
- No volume control.
- Speakers only have output when set to anything higher than stereo (2.1, 4.0, etc).
- However, 2.1 only has sound coming out of the left channels, and 4.0 has all "front" channels coming out of the left, and all "rear" channels coming out of the right.
- Terrible audio quality when playing any audio.
However, when I plug in my DAC I use for my headphones, audio works fine. All of the above issues do not apply to external audio devices. I have not tried bluetooth devices, and frankly I don't have any plans on using bluetooth headphones (I only have AirPods) with this computer.
How Reproducible:
Assuming this affects all iMac 16,2 models (seems to affect multiple other iMac models as well, based on my research), install Fedora with PipeWire on the machine and try configuring audio.
Actual Results:
- No volume control.
- Speakers only have output when set to anything higher than stereo (2.1, 4.0, etc).
- However, 2.1 only has sound coming out of the left channels, and 4.0 has all "front" channels coming out of the left, and all "rear" channels coming out of the right.
- Terrible audio quality when playing any audio.
Expected Results:
- Normal working built-in speakers
Additional Info:
If there are any command outputs that would help, please let me know. These are the outputs of some of the commands I have run:
aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: HDMI [HDA Intel HDMI], device 3: HDMI 0 [iMac]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: HDMI [HDA Intel HDMI], device 7: HDMI 1 [HDMI 1]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: HDMI [HDA Intel HDMI], device 8: HDMI 2 [HDMI 2]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: CS4208 Analog [CS4208 Analog]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 1: CS4208 Digital [CS4208 Digital]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
All of the HDMI devices do not produce sound.
pactl info
Server String: /run/user/1000/pulse/native
Library Protocol Version: 35
Server Protocol Version: 35
Is Local: yes
Client Index: 2298
Tile Size: 65472
User Name: myusername
Host Name: myhostname
Server Name: PulseAudio (on PipeWire 0.3.67)
Server Version: 15.0.0
Default Sample Specification: float32le 2ch 48000Hz
Default Channel Map: front-left,front-right
Default Sink: alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1b.0.analog-surround-40.3
Default Source: alsa_input.pci-0000_00_1b.0.analog-stereo.10
Cookie: 2da8:0d7f
lspci | grep -i audio
00:03.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation Broadwell-U Audio Controller (rev 0a)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 9 Series Chipset Family HD Audio Controller