diff --git a/src/audio/dai.c b/src/audio/dai.c
index abb30efe9e76..a649520d1693 100644
--- a/src/audio/dai.c
+++ b/src/audio/dai.c
@@ -456,6 +456,7 @@ static int dai_params(struct comp_dev *dev)
 static int dai_prepare(struct comp_dev *dev)
 {
 	struct dai_data *dd = comp_get_drvdata(dev);
+	struct dma_sg_config *config = &dd->config;
 	int ret = 0;
 
 	trace_dai_with_ids(dev, "dai_prepare()");
@@ -477,7 +478,9 @@ static int dai_prepare(struct comp_dev *dev)
 	/* write back buffer contents from cache */
 	dcache_writeback_region(dd->dma_buffer->addr, dd->dma_buffer->size);
 
-	dd->cb_type = 0;
+	/* set default callback type if irq disabled */
+	if (config->irq_disabled)
+		dd->cb_type = DMA_CB_TYPE_BLOCK;
 
 	/* dma reconfig not required if XRUN handling */
 	if (dd->xrun) {
@@ -615,7 +618,8 @@ static int dai_copy(struct comp_dev *dev)
 			    dev->params.direction);
 		platform_dai_wallclock(dev, &dd->wallclock);
 
-		return ret;
+		/* let's not copy further */
+		return 1;
 	}
 
 	/* get data sizes from DMA */
diff --git a/src/audio/pipeline.c b/src/audio/pipeline.c
index e88b5423743d..08d72742a871 100644
--- a/src/audio/pipeline.c
+++ b/src/audio/pipeline.c
@@ -353,8 +353,11 @@ int pipeline_prepare(struct pipeline *p, struct comp_dev *dev)
 		goto out;
 	}
 
-	/* pipeline preload needed only for playback streams */
-	p->preload = dev->params.direction == SOF_IPC_STREAM_PLAYBACK;
+	/* pipeline preload needed only for playback streams and capture
+	 * streams scheduled with timer
+	 */
+	p->preload = dev->params.direction == SOF_IPC_STREAM_PLAYBACK ||
+		pipeline_is_timer_driven(p);
 	p->status = COMP_STATE_PREPARE;
 
 out:
@@ -424,12 +427,12 @@ static void pipeline_comp_trigger_sched_comp(struct pipeline *p,
 	case COMP_TRIGGER_START:
 		p->xrun_bytes = 0;
 
-		/* playback pipelines need scheduled now, capture pipelines are
-		 * scheduled once their initial DMA period is filled by the DAI
-		 * or in resume process
+		/* playback pipelines need to be scheduled now,
+		 * capture pipelines are scheduled only for
+		 * timer driven scheduling
 		 */
 		if (comp->params.direction == SOF_IPC_STREAM_PLAYBACK ||
-		    p->status == COMP_STATE_PAUSED) {
+		    pipeline_is_timer_driven(p)) {
 			/* schedule initial pipeline fill when next idle */
 			pipeline_schedule_copy_idle(p);
 		}
@@ -596,7 +599,7 @@ static int pipeline_comp_copy(struct comp_dev *current, void *data, int dir)
 	/* copy to downstream immediately */
 	if (dir == PPL_DIR_DOWNSTREAM) {
 		err = comp_copy(current);
-		if (err < 0)
+		if (err < 0 || err > 0)
 			return err;
 	}
 
diff --git a/src/drivers/dw/dma.c b/src/drivers/dw/dma.c
index edc11f8df2df..29a7a501e147 100644
--- a/src/drivers/dw/dma.c
+++ b/src/drivers/dw/dma.c
@@ -267,6 +267,9 @@
 /* number of tries to wait for reset */
 #define DW_DMA_CFG_TRIES	10000
 
+/* min number of elems for config with irq disabled */
+#define DW_DMA_CFG_NO_IRQ_MIN_ELEMS	3
+
 /* linked list item address */
 #define DW_DMA_LLI_ADDRESS(lli, dir) \
 	(((dir) == DMA_DIR_MEM_TO_DEV) ? ((lli)->sar) : ((lli)->dar))
@@ -797,6 +800,16 @@ static int dw_dma_set_config(struct dma *dma, int channel,
 		goto out;
 	}
 
+	if (config->irq_disabled &&
+	    config->elem_array.count < DW_DMA_CFG_NO_IRQ_MIN_ELEMS) {
+		trace_dwdma_error("dw-dma: %d channel %d not enough elems "
+				  "for config with irq disabled",
+				  dma->plat_data.id, channel,
+				  config->elem_array.count);
+		ret = -EINVAL;
+		goto out;
+	}
+
 	/* do we need to realloc descriptors */
 	if (config->elem_array.count != chan->desc_count) {