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If you’re running linux on a macbook and you have fuzzy or static like sound especially out of the left channel, whether on speakers or headphones, then this tip from the Ubuntu forums will most likely help. The following was done on my Ubuntu machine, but mostly can be applied with little effort on another distribution like Fedora:

$ sudo emacs /etc/modprobe.d/options

Add the following line to the end of the file:

options snd-hda-intel model=[MODEL_BELOW] position_fix=2 probe_mask=1

Where [MODEL_BELOW] is one of the following:

intel-mac-v1   : Intel Mac Type 1
intel-mac-v2   : Intel Mac Type 2
intel-mac-v3   : Intel Mac Type 3
intel-mac-v4   : Intel Mac Type 4
intel-mac-v5   : Intel Mac Type 5
macmini        : Intel Mac Mini (equivalent with type 3)
macbook        : Intel Mac Book (eq. type 5)
macbook-pro-v1 : Intel Mac Book Pro 1st generation (eq. type 3)
macbook-pro    : Intel Mac Book Pro 2nd generation (eq. type 3)
imac-intel     : Intel iMac (eq. type 2)
imac-intel-20  : Intel iMac (newer version) (eq. type 3)

You’ll also need to update your initramfs:

$ sudo update-initramfs -u

Reboot and see if the sound works. Typically the sound will stop working altogether or work perfectly. If it doesn’t work, try changing the model. I have a 2nd or 3rd generation macbook (I can’t remember which), but I needed to use the model=intel-mac-v3 for it to work. Check out the help article for more information.

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