I wanted to build a small amateur radio setup to do POTA activations and to add to my emergency radio go-bag. This setup would include a TruSDX transceiver, and a NUC minicomputer (Alder Lake-N chipset) running Linux Mint Cinnamon running the 6.14.0 kernel.

I had been able to run my FT-891 with the Digirig DR-891 using the NUC running Linux Mint Cinnamon on the 6.8. kernel fine.  Then, I decided to upgrade the kernel to 6.14.0 In the process, I lost the sound.

I have a number of virtual elmers setup in ChatGPT 5.1. So I engaged my Minicomputer elmer to help me resolve the problem. Hours and hours later, we discovered that the issue was caused by Linux binding the wrong audio driver for the Alder Lake-N audio hardware.

Good news: I have the audio working.

I had ChatGPT draft a summary of the solution and I post it here just in case someone else has this issue. Perhaps this will help.

✔️ Intel Alder Lake-N Linux Audio Fix

Force snd_hda_intel • Disable SOF/AVS/SoundWire • OEM Kernel Required

Tested hardware: Intel Alder Lake-N (PCI ID 8086:54c8) with Realtek ALC269VC
Tested OS: Ubuntu/Mint 22.04+ OEM kernels (6.14.0-101x-oem)

📝 Overview

Many Alder Lake-N mini PCs ship with Realtek HDA audio codecs, but modern Linux kernels incorrectly attempt to load the Intel SOF/AVS/SoundWire DSP audio stack, which fails to initialize on these systems.

Failing SOF/AVS drivers block the correct snd_hda_intel driver, leaving Linux with:

• No audio devices (aplay -l shows nothing)

• Pavucontrol shows only auto_null

• dmesg errors like:

  • sof-audio-pci-intel-tgl: DSP is not enabled on this platform

  • snd_hda_intel: couldn't bind with audio component

This guide provides the full fix:
➡️ Force the kernel to use HDA
➡️ Blacklisting SOF/AVS/SoundWire
➡️ Ensuring OEM kernel modules are installed

🛠️ Quick Fix Summary

1. Install OEM kernel (linux-oem-24.04)

2. Add boot parameters:

   snd_intel_dspcfg.dsp_driver=1 snd_hda_intel.probe_mask=1


3. Blacklist SOF/AVS/SoundWire modules

4. Rebuild initramfs

5. Reboot and verify HDA is bound

🔧 Step-by-Step Fix

1. Install the OEM Kernel

The OEM kernels include updated Intel HDA + Realtek codec support.

Reboot into the newest kernel:

Expected:

2. Add Kernel Boot Parameters (Force HDA)

Edit GRUB:

Modify this line:

To:

Save + exit.

Update GRUB:

3. Blacklist SOF/AVS/SoundWire Drivers

These drivers must be disabled or they block HDA from binding.

Add:

Save + exit.

4. Rebuild Initramfs

5. Reboot and Verify

Check driver binding:

Expected:

Confirm ALSA sees the soundcard:

Expected:

Ensure SOF/AVS no longer load:

Expected: no output

Confirm HDA modules load:

Should show:

📊 Expected Pavucontrol Behavior

After the fix:

Output Devices

✔ Built-in Audio Analog Stereo
✔ TRUSDX (if using your virtual sink helper)

Input Devices

✔ Built-in Audio Analog Stereo (Mic/Line-In)
➡ Appears once the physical device is connected

🔄 Reverting the Fix

Remove the blacklist file:

Restore original GRUB line:

Rebuild GRUB + initramfs:

Reboot.

🧪 Tested Hardware

🙌 Credits

This guide was produced after a full end-to-end troubleshooting session on a real N100/N200 mini PC, including kernel module overrides, firmware validation, and manual driver binding.

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