diff --git a/fedac/native/src/audio.c b/fedac/native/src/audio.c
index b315ce7372..8de2c4cfc5 100644
--- a/fedac/native/src/audio.c
+++ b/fedac/native/src/audio.c
@@ -1757,46 +1757,60 @@ ACAudio *audio_init(void) {
     int card_idx = 0;
 
     // Smart PCM selection — on SOF topologies (Chromebooks), card0 typically
-    // exposes multiple playback PCMs with distinct names: "Headset (*)",
-    // "Speakers (*)", "HDMI1 (*)"… hw:0,0 blindly is fine on HDA-direct
-    // codecs but opens the wrong endpoint on SOF. Scan /proc/asound and
-    // prefer the PCM whose name contains "Speaker" (fall back to anything
-    // containing "HiFi" which is the common SOF FE name for both-path).
-    // HDMI PCMs are explicitly skipped — they'd play on monitor, not speakers.
-    for (int c = 0; c < 4 && err < 0; c++) {
-        for (int d = 0; d < 8 && err < 0; d++) {
-            char info_path[64];
-            snprintf(info_path, sizeof(info_path), "/proc/asound/card%d/pcm%dp/info", c, d);
-            FILE *ip = fopen(info_path, "r");
-            if (!ip) continue;
-            char line[256], id_str[96] = "", name_str[96] = "";
-            while (fgets(line, sizeof(line), ip)) {
-                if (!strncmp(line, "id: ", 4))      snprintf(id_str,   sizeof(id_str),   "%s", line + 4);
-                if (!strncmp(line, "name: ", 6))    snprintf(name_str, sizeof(name_str), "%s", line + 6);
-            }
-            fclose(ip);
-            // Skip HDMI — those route to monitor audio, not internal speaker.
-            if (strstr(id_str, "HDMI") || strstr(name_str, "HDMI")) continue;
-            // Prefer Speaker name; accept HiFi (SOF combined FE) as fallback.
-            int is_speaker = (strstr(id_str, "Speaker") || strstr(name_str, "Speaker"));
-            int is_combined = (strstr(id_str, "HiFi") || strstr(name_str, "HiFi") ||
-                               strstr(id_str, "Jack") || strstr(name_str, "Jack"));
-            if (!is_speaker && !is_combined) continue;
-            char dev_str[16];
-            snprintf(dev_str, sizeof(dev_str), "hw:%d,%d", c, d);
-            err = snd_pcm_open(&pcm, dev_str, SND_PCM_STREAM_PLAYBACK, 0);
-            if (err >= 0) {
-                fprintf(stderr, "[audio] SOF PCM match: %s (id=%.*s)\n",
-                        dev_str, (int)strcspn(id_str, "\n"), id_str);
-                snprintf(audio->audio_device, sizeof(audio->audio_device), "%s", dev_str);
-                card_idx = c;
-                // Prefer speaker name over combined — if we found a Speaker,
-                // stop here; otherwise keep scanning in case a later PCM is
-                // the speaker (cheap sort: Speaker beats HiFi by continuing).
-                if (is_speaker) break;
+    // exposes multiple playback PCMs: pcm0p "Speakers", pcm1p "Headset",
+    // pcm2p "HDMI1". hw:0,0 blindly is fine on HDA-direct codecs but breaks
+    // on SOF. Two-pass scan: first pass finds a PCM whose id contains
+    // "Speaker"; second pass falls back to "HiFi"/"Jack" (SOF combined FE).
+    // HDMI PCMs are skipped. If we find one, open it ONCE and stop cleanly.
+    const char *prefer_tokens[2] = {"Speaker", "Jack"};
+    int prefer_hifi[2] = {0, 1};  /* pass 1 also accepts HiFi as a fallback */
+    char found_dev[16] = "";
+    char found_id[96]  = "";
+    int  found_card    = 0;
+    for (int pass = 0; pass < 2 && !found_dev[0]; pass++) {
+        for (int c = 0; c < 4 && !found_dev[0]; c++) {
+            for (int d = 0; d < 8 && !found_dev[0]; d++) {
+                char info_path[64];
+                snprintf(info_path, sizeof(info_path),
+                         "/proc/asound/card%d/pcm%dp/info", c, d);
+                FILE *ip = fopen(info_path, "r");
+                if (!ip) continue;
+                char line[256], id_str[96] = "", name_str[96] = "";
+                while (fgets(line, sizeof(line), ip)) {
+                    if (!strncmp(line, "id: ", 4))
+                        snprintf(id_str, sizeof(id_str), "%s", line + 4);
+                    if (!strncmp(line, "name: ", 6))
+                        snprintf(name_str, sizeof(name_str), "%s", line + 6);
+                }
+                fclose(ip);
+                if (strstr(id_str, "HDMI") || strstr(name_str, "HDMI")) continue;
+                int match = (strstr(id_str, prefer_tokens[pass]) ||
+                             strstr(name_str, prefer_tokens[pass]));
+                if (!match && prefer_hifi[pass]) {
+                    match = (strstr(id_str, "HiFi") || strstr(name_str, "HiFi"));
+                }
+                if (!match) continue;
+                snprintf(found_dev, sizeof(found_dev), "hw:%d,%d", c, d);
+                snprintf(found_id,  sizeof(found_id),  "%.*s",
+                         (int)strcspn(id_str, "\n"), id_str);
+                found_card = c;
             }
         }
     }
+    if (found_dev[0]) {
+        err = snd_pcm_open(&pcm, found_dev, SND_PCM_STREAM_PLAYBACK, 0);
+        if (err >= 0) {
+            fprintf(stderr, "[audio] SOF PCM match: %s (id=%s)\n",
+                    found_dev, found_id);
+            snprintf(audio->audio_device, sizeof(audio->audio_device),
+                     "%s", found_dev);
+            card_idx = found_card;
+        } else {
+            fprintf(stderr, "[audio] SOF PCM %s open failed: %s\n",
+                    found_dev, snd_strerror(err));
+            /* fall through to legacy list */
+        }
+    }
 
     // AC_AUDIO_DEVICE override — try the env var device before the hardcoded list.
     const char *env_dev = getenv("AC_AUDIO_DEVICE");