If you’re running Linux on a Framework 13 AMD laptop and your built-in microphone isn’t working, you’re not alone. This is a known issue caused by broken UCM (Use Case Manager) audio profiles for the AMD audio controller.

The Problem

The default UCM-based audio profile (HiFi (Headset, Mic1, Speaker)) doesn’t work correctly with the Framework 13’s internal microphone. You’ll see audio sources like alsa_input...HiFi__Mic1__source but they won’t actually capture any audio.

The Fix

The solution is to disable UCM and fall back to the standard ALSA profiles, which work correctly.

Step 1: Verify WirePlumber and PipeWire are Running

First, let’s make sure you have the necessary audio services running:

systemctl --user status wireplumber pipewire pipewire-pulse

All three services should show as active (running).

Step 2: Check Your Current Audio Profile

See what audio profile is currently active:

pactl list cards | grep -E "Name:|Active Profile:"

If you see something like HiFi (Headset, Mic1, Speaker), that’s the problematic UCM profile.

Step 3: Create the WirePlumber Config

Create a configuration file to disable UCM:

sudo mkdir -p /etc/wireplumber/wireplumber.conf.d/

sudo tee /etc/wireplumber/wireplumber.conf.d/50-disable-ucm.conf << 'EOF'
monitor.alsa.properties = {
    alsa.use-ucm = false
}
EOF

Note: You can also do this per-user by placing the config in ~/.config/wireplumber/wireplumber.conf.d/ instead, without needing sudo.

Step 4: Restart Audio Services

systemctl --user restart wireplumber pipewire pipewire-pulse

Step 5: Verify the Fix

Check your audio profile again:

pactl list cards | grep -E "Name:|Active Profile:"
pactl list sources short

You should now see:

• Active Profile: output:analog-stereo+input:analog-stereo (instead of HiFi)
• Sources: alsa_input...analog-stereo and alsa_input...stereo-fallback (your DMIC)

Step 6: Test Your Microphone

Record a quick test:

parecord --channels=1 test.wav
# Speak for a few seconds, then Ctrl+C to stop
paplay test.wav

You should hear your recording played back!

Summary

Before	After
HiFi (Headset, Mic1, Speaker)	output:analog-stereo+input:analog-stereo
alsa_input...HiFi__Mic1__source	alsa_input...analog-stereo
Mic doesn’t work	Mic works! ✅

References

• NixOS Hardware Issue #1603 - The original discussion of this issue
• WirePlumber Documentation

This fix works on Fedora, Arch, Ubuntu, and other distributions using PipeWire/WirePlumber. The underlying problem is that UCM profiles for AMD audio controllers on Framework 13 laptops aren’t fully working yet—hopefully this will be fixed upstream eventually.