Strange "pop"/"click" sound from Speakers Every Time

English Hardware
1

Hey, I’ve been using OpenSUSE for a day now, and I have a small problem.

Every time a sound is played after the speakers haven’t been in use for a few seconds, a “pop” or some sort of clicking sound is created from the speakers. Now this is the kind of sound that a speaker or a pair of earphones would make if you are plugging in the jack to the computer. It would make this sound once.

This didn’t happen back in Windows or Ubuntu, but I think this has something to do with ALSA.

I’ve got the following hardware:
Sound:
MCP67 High Definition Audio
Bus: PCI
Device Identifier (spec): 78038
Device Identifier: 66908
Device: MCP67 High Definition Audio
Driver: HDA Intel
Active: Yes
Kernel Driver: snd_hda_intel
UDI: /org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/pci_10de_55c

I’ve already tried changing settings around in the Sound preferences (the dialog with a bunch of drop downs and test buttons).
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Sid

2

I have the same issue on my Thinkpad R61.

30: PCI 1b.0: 0403 Audio device
[Created at pci.310]
UDI: /org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/pci_8086_284b
Unique ID: u1Nb.iJWhLrosxI5
SysFS ID: /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1b.0
SysFS BusID: 0000:00:1b.0
Hardware Class: sound
Model: “Lenovo ThinkPad T61”
Vendor: pci 0x8086 “Intel Corporation”
Device: pci 0x284b “82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller”
SubVendor: pci 0x17aa “Lenovo”
SubDevice: pci 0x20ac “ThinkPad T61”
Revision: 0x03
Driver: “HDA Intel”
Driver Modules: “snd_hda_intel”
Memory Range: 0xf8300000-0xf8303fff (rw,non-prefetchable)
IRQ: 17 (16790331 events)
Module Alias: “pci:v00008086d0000284Bsv000017AAsd000020ACbc04sc03i00”
Driver Info #0:
Driver Status: snd_hda_intel is active
Driver Activation Cmd: “modprobe snd_hda_intel”
Config Status: cfg=no, avail=yes, need=no, active=unknown

I turned down the volume both in KDE and in ALSA and it’s not as bad, but even at max volume I can’t hear any media that I play. Only KDE notifications are loud enough to be clear, everything else is too quiet…

3

There is a possibility this noise is coming from your mic.

Can you switch OFF your mic in your mixer, and test to see if the noise is still there.

If the noise is still there, can you provide more detail, such as output of a copy and paste of the following commands in an xterm/konsole with regular user permissions:
cat /etc/SuSE-release
rpm -qa | grep alsa
rpm -qa | grep pulse
rpm -q libasound2
uname -a
cat /etc/modprobe.d/sound

and also with your pc connected to the internet provide the output URL created by running the following two scripts in an xterm/konsole as a regular user:

wget -O alsa-info.sh http://www.alsa-project.org/alsa-info.sh && bash alsa-info.sh

enter your root password when prompted for a password by the next script and answer “NO” to every question that you do not understand

su -c 'wget -O tsalsa wget http://home.cfl.rr.com/infofiles/tsalsa && bash tsalsa'

Please post the output URLs here.

4

I don’t think the problem that I am experiencing has much to do with the Mic, because the little “click” sound only gets played when the speakers haven’t been used for a while and something like Pidgin plays an “incoming message” sound.

Anyways, thanks for the response, here is the output of the commands:

cat /etc/SuSE-release

openSUSE 11.0 (i586)
VERSION = 11.0

rpm -qa | grep alsa

alsa-plugins-1.0.16-57.1
alsa-utils-1.0.16-35.1
alsa-oss-1.0.15-48.1
alsa-plugins-pulse-1.0.16-57.1
alsa-1.0.16-39.1

rpm -qa | grep pulse

pulseaudio-module-bluetooth-0.9.10-26.1
libpulse-browse0-0.9.10-26.1
pulseaudio-module-x11-0.9.10-26.1
alsa-plugins-pulse-1.0.16-57.1
libpulsecore4-0.9.10-26.1
pulseaudio-0.9.10-26.1
pulseaudio-module-lirc-0.9.10-26.1
libpulse0-0.9.10-26.1
libpulse-mainloop-glib0-0.9.10-26.1
pulseaudio-utils-0.9.10-26.1
pulseaudio-module-gconf-0.9.10-26.1
gstreamer-0_10-pulse-0.9.7-42.pm.1
pulseaudio-module-zeroconf-0.9.10-26.1
pulseaudio-esound-compat-0.9.10-26.1

rpm -q libasound2

libasound2-1.0.16-39.1

uname -a

Linux linux-9cfv 2.6.25.5-1.1-pae #1 SMP 2008-06-07 01:55:22 +0200 i686 athlon i386 GNU/Linux

cat /etc/modprobe.d/sound

options snd slots=snd-hda-intel
# M71A.LQQQ2m7P8oE:MCP67 High Definition Audio
alias snd-card-0 snd-hda-intel

AND: I used a command to find the ALSA version:
cat /proc/asound/version

Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version 1.0.16rc2 (Thu Jan 31 16:40:16 2008 UTC).

I remember that 1.0.16 existed, but I’m slightly confused as to why 1.0.16RC2 is being used :stuck_out_tongue:

That script (alsa-info.sh) doesn’t seem to work; I can’t access Pastebin.ca and it doesn’t give me a link.
The second one returns this link: tsalsa.txt - nopaste.com (beta)

Thanks,
Sid

5

This suggests to me this could be hardware related. Have you experienced this with other openSUSE versions, or with other Linux distributions, or with an MS-Windows version?

I see you have lots of pulse audio applications. Pulse is being reported by many openSUSE-11.0 users as being buggy. I have not experienced that myself, but I also have very few pulse apps installed.

There are model options that one can specify in the /etc/modprobe.d/sound file for your HP Presario V3500 series’ Conexant CX20549 (Venice) hardware audio codec, but I don’t think there is much point in doing that since your sound works.

My speculative view on this is when it was decided to “freeze” openSUSE-11.0, only 1.0.16 RC2 was available for the alsa driver.

6

Did this issue get fixed?

I just did a clean install of 11 (no updates yet) and I have the popping from the KDE sound system (KDE3), but only when on battery power (laptop).

Thanks :slight_smile:

7

You could try a couple of thing to narrow this down.

Try the following when on regular power, and then again when on regular power. Look for any differences:
cat /proc/interrupts

You can easily save the output by typing when on regular power:
cat /proc/interrupts > regular-interrupts.txt

and when on battery power:
cat /proc/interrupts > battery-interrupts.txt
and compare the two.

Are they identical? My guess is they should be identical.

Another possibility is to run “dmesg > dmesg-regular.txt” immediately after a boot with regular power, … and then reboot with only battery power and run “dmesg > dmesg-battery.txt” immediately after booting. Compare the two text files “dmesg-regular.txt” and “dmesg-battery.txt”. Any hints?

8

Thanks for your help oldcpu, I was hoping you might be watching this thread :).

I did as you instructed, but I really don’t know what I’m looking for.

Here are the files if you have the time or inclination to look at them.

Index of /public

Thanks :slight_smile:

9

I was looking to see if there might be something sharing an interrupt (related to power management) with your sound. You sound HDA-Intel is on IRQ21 by itself, so that is not the case.

I did a computer compare between the two dmesg outputs. I noted the USB and sound modules were loaded at different times, but that does not indicate much to me.

I note from the dmesg you are loading the model option “laptop-hpsense” which is typically associated with a Conexant 5045 hardware audio codec chipset. Out of curiousity, did you try the other Conexant 5045 model options (instead of “laptop-hpsense”) to see if their behaviour was worse or better? ie try “laptop-micsense” or “laptop-hpimcsense” ?

I also did a search on alsa for the CX5045, and I noted there are some updates in alsa 1.0.17 for the CX5045:
Search results for CX5045 - AlsaProject

I do not know if any of those improve the situation wrt battery operation. Nor do I know what alsa version you are using, so maybe you already have the latest alsa version.

Finally, a question. … when on battery, did you try restarting alsa to see if it makes any difference? ie in a konsole/gnome-terminal, with root permissions, type: ** rcalsasound restart**

10

I tried each of the laptop modes you suggested, but no change.

The alsa restart command did fix the problem though. Although not a permanent solution.

The pop happens after 11 seconds (when on battery power), which seems to be the inactivity timeout of the sound system.

When a sound is played, the pop occurs just before, then again 11 seconds later, as (I assume) the sound device is once again released after the timeout count.

11

I was having this exact problem (albeit on a Dell Studio 15, IDT chipset), I wonder if I’ve found your answer: alsa powersave.

The popping disappeared when I reconfigured with Yast or alsaconf, but reappeared on reboot or resume. I realised the sound only occurred in the first place when I was on battery i.e. in powersave mode. I haven’t got around to changing alsa’s settings yet, but I have no doubt it will solve my problem.

I suggest you put your laptop into its highest performance powersaving mode and see if the problem goes away. If not, try editing the settings yourself. If all else fails, nothing lost :slight_smile:

Good luck!

This article tells you how to change the settings, I’m sure further Googling will yield more specific tweaking instructions: Linux Kernel Documentation :: sound : alsa : powersave.txt

12

Thanks for that info CynicalJawa, you are most definitely on the right track there.

In the folder /sys/module/snd_hda_intel/parameters/ I have 2 entries that seem relevant:

power_save
power_save_controller

When I issue the command echo 0 > /sys/module/snd_hda_intel/parameters/power_save, it disables the power saving mode of the audio codec and the problem vanishes.

Unfortunately each time I switch between battery or mains power, that value is automatically changed by the power manager.

I believe the real solution lies in the power management scripts, if I could find those then I could probably disable it.

Anyone know where these scripts are located?

Thanks :slight_smile:

13

Does it not stay if you start the module with it

As in modprobe.conf(Soz not on Suse at mo can’t check, think this is the same). If not try sysconfig editor searching for the module perhaps, or module options.

options snd-hda-intel power_save=0

To check you could try reloading the module with the options
modprobe snd-hda-intel power_save=0

14

Edit

From the above posts it seems
/etc/modprobe.d/sound is the place you want.

15

Thanks for that, I tried it and the variable is still overwritten by power management.

But, it looks like we’re on the right track here, I’m sure I can modify a power management script somewhere, but I have no idea where to look :(.

16

I am having this exact same problem, appearently in 2 years it has yet to be addressed…

I have a different soundcard than the ones mentioned so far + this never started happening until the other day.

Any solution yet?

17

Well, you say “until the other day”. What happened on “the other day” ??

Can you check what you changed ?

For example, did you install something?

18

Nope, nothing. It’s possible that i may have updated the system since last time i was on battery power (a couple weeks ago) i really don’t remember, but since this is since 2008 i doubt that’s it. And i tried the latest updates but didn’t fix it…

The popping sound can be recreated exactly by restarting ALSA so i think it’s deactivating to conserve power, and when it activates again it pops, but then i wonder why it never makes this sound when it first boots.

19

ok … out of curiosity, can you run from a terminal with regular user permissions:

rpm -qa --last > my-installed-rpms.txt

and then open “my-installed-rpms.txt” with a text editor and check if there were any changes to your system on the day in which you noticed this?

I am a firm believer in “cause and effect” and if this is not a problem with your hardware (grounding problem such as reversing the powered socket into a house circuit where the house electrical outlets are not properly grounded …) or not a hardware, or not another failure, then it has to be either a configuration that changed, or some software that changed. Typically configurations and software do not change themselves. Something causes them to change.

20

Thanks for the quick responses… The only changes yesterday are from 8:00 onward that’s after the fact but i know ive used battery power sometime within the past month so this may have not necessarily started yesterday but i only noticed because im usually plugged in, so heres the last months worth

gmime-sharp-2.2.23-1.31.1 Tue 09 Mar 2010 08:22:41 PM PST
kernel-default-extra-2.6.27.45-0.1.1 Tue 09 Mar 2010 08:22:21 PM PST
pidgin-2.6.6-0.1.2 Tue 09 Mar 2010 08:22:06 PM PST
libgmime-2_0-3-2.2.23-1.31.1 Tue 09 Mar 2010 08:21:58 PM PST
MozillaFirefox-3.0.18-0.1.2 Tue 09 Mar 2010 08:21:51 PM PST
mozilla-xulrunner190-gnomevfs-1.9.0.18-0.1.1 Tue 09 Mar 2010 08:21:46 PM PST
kernel-default-2.6.27.45-0.1.1 Tue 09 Mar 2010 08:21:08 PM PST
libpurple-lang-2.6.6-0.1.2 Tue 09 Mar 2010 08:18:33 PM PST
netpbm-10.26.44-98.17.1 Tue 09 Mar 2010 08:09:49 PM PST
gmime-2.2.23-1.31.1 Tue 09 Mar 2010 08:09:28 PM PST
mozilla-xulrunner190-1.9.0.18-0.1.1 Tue 09 Mar 2010 08:09:24 PM PST
kernel-default-base-2.6.27.45-0.1.1 Tue 09 Mar 2010 08:07:10 PM PST
libpurple-2.6.6-0.1.2 Tue 09 Mar 2010 08:06:36 PM PST
gnome-screensaver-2.24.0-7.9.2 Tue 09 Mar 2010 08:06:24 PM PST
flash-player-10.0.45.2-0.1.1 Tue 09 Mar 2010 08:06:15 PM PST
libnetpbm10-10.26.44-98.17.1 Tue 09 Mar 2010 08:03:04 PM PST
sudo-1.6.9p17-10.37.1 Tue 09 Mar 2010 08:03:01 PM PST
metacity-themes-0.1-688.113 Sun 21 Feb 2010 02:14:16 AM PST
gtk-chtheme-0.3.1-1.pm.1 Sun 21 Feb 2010 01:53:49 AM PST
gtk2-theme-openSUSE-11.1-1.12 Sun 21 Feb 2010 01:52:05 AM PST
gtkhtml314-sharp-2.24.0-2.11 Sun 21 Feb 2010 01:52:03 AM PST
libgtksourceview-2_0-0-2.4.0-1.31 Sun 21 Feb 2010 01:52:01 AM PST
gtk2-themes-0.1-737.56 Sun 21 Feb 2010 01:52:00 AM PST
goffice-0.7.2-1.18 Sun 21 Feb 2010 01:51:57 AM PST
gtk-sharp2-2.12.6-20.1 Sun 21 Feb 2010 01:51:54 AM PST
gtk2-engines-2.16.1-4.1 Sun 21 Feb 2010 01:51:51 AM PST
gtk2-engines-32bit-2.16.1-4.1 Sun 21 Feb 2010 01:51:50 AM PST
gtksourceview-2.4.0-1.31 Sun 21 Feb 2010 01:51:49 AM PST
gtksourceview18-1.8.5-29.105 Sun 21 Feb 2010 01:51:47 AM PST
xmms-1.2.11-1.pm.2.1 Thu 18 Feb 2010 03:50:07 PM PST
xmms-lib-1.2.11-1.pm.2.1 Thu 18 Feb 2010 03:50:03 PM PST
gtk-1.2.10-1084.3 Thu 18 Feb 2010 03:49:56 PM PST
libmikmod-3.1.11a-71.56.1 Thu 18 Feb 2010 03:49:54 PM PST
glib-1.2.10-737.5 Thu 18 Feb 2010 03:49:52 PM PST
libgpod-tools-0.6.0-79.47 Thu 18 Feb 2010 03:31:39 PM PST
python-gstreamer-0_10-0.10.18-999.pm.999.2 Thu 18 Feb 2010 03:26:11 PM PST
libgpod3-0.6.0-100.pm.1 Thu 18 Feb 2010 03:26:08 PM PST
MPlayer-1.0rc2_r30099-2.pm.5.2 Wed 17 Feb 2010 01:57:34 PM PST
ristretto-0.0.20-1.18 Tue 16 Feb 2010 02:24:02 AM PST
thunar-archive-plugin-0.2.4-5.15 Tue 16 Feb 2010 02:24:01 AM PST
thunar-media-tags-plugin-0.1.2-5.15 Tue 16 Feb 2010 02:24:00 AM PST
thunar-thumbnailers-0.4.1-5.15 Tue 16 Feb 2010 02:23:59 AM PST
thunar-volman-0.1.2-81.137 Tue 16 Feb 2010 02:23:58 AM PST
xfce4-desktop-4.4.3-2.14 Tue 16 Feb 2010 02:23:56 AM PST
Terminal-0.2.8.3-1.23 Tue 16 Feb 2010 02:23:52 AM PST
orage-4.5.14.0-2.11 Tue 16 Feb 2010 02:23:51 AM PST
thunar-0.9.3-1.22 Tue 16 Feb 2010 02:23:49 AM PST
xfce-mcs-plugins-4.4.3-2.9 Tue 16 Feb 2010 02:23:46 AM PST
xfce4-volstatus-0.1.0-175.28 Tue 16 Feb 2010 02:23:45 AM PST
xfce4-mixer-4.4.3-1.15 Tue 16 Feb 2010 02:23:45 AM PST
xfprint-4.4.3-3.9 Tue 16 Feb 2010 02:23:42 AM PST
xfwm4-4.4.3-2.9 Tue 16 Feb 2010 02:23:41 AM PST
exo-0.3.4-106.29 Tue 16 Feb 2010 02:23:39 AM PST
mousepad-0.2.14-1.16 Tue 16 Feb 2010 02:23:38 AM PST
notification-daemon-xfce-0.3.7-163.10 Tue 16 Feb 2010 02:23:37 AM PST
xfce-mcs-manager-4.4.3-2.9 Tue 16 Feb 2010 02:23:36 AM PST
xfce4-appfinder-4.4.3-1.15 Tue 16 Feb 2010 02:23:36 AM PST
xfce4-panel-4.4.3-1.16 Tue 16 Feb 2010 02:23:35 AM PST
xfce4-session-4.4.3-2.9 Tue 16 Feb 2010 02:23:20 AM PST
xfce4-taskmanager-0.4.0-1.27 Tue 16 Feb 2010 02:23:19 AM PST
libxfcegui4-4.4.3-1.15 Tue 16 Feb 2010 02:23:17 AM PST
libxfce4mcs-4.4.3-1.11 Tue 16 Feb 2010 02:23:12 AM PST
xfce4-icon-theme-4.4.3-1.8 Tue 16 Feb 2010 02:23:06 AM PST
fortune-1.0-872.71 Tue 16 Feb 2010 02:23:02 AM PST
gtk-xfce-engine-32bit-2.4.3-2.3 Tue 16 Feb 2010 02:23:00 AM PST
gtk-xfce-engine-2.4.3-2.3 Tue 16 Feb 2010 02:23:00 AM PST
gtk2-engine-murrine-0.60-2.5 Tue 16 Feb 2010 02:22:57 AM PST
gtk2-engine-murrine-32bit-0.60-2.5 Tue 16 Feb 2010 02:22:56 AM PST
ivman-0.6.14-201.10 Tue 16 Feb 2010 02:22:55 AM PST
libxfce4util-4.4.3-1.11 Tue 16 Feb 2010 02:22:52 AM PST
xarchiver-0.4.6-113.90 Tue 16 Feb 2010 02:22:51 AM PST
xfce4-desktop-branding-openSUSE-4.4.2-6.28 Tue 16 Feb 2010 02:22:49 AM PST
yast2-control-center-qt-2.17.3-1.8 Tue 16 Feb 2010 02:22:48 AM PST
esound-utils-0.2.39-4.1 Tue 16 Feb 2010 01:40:13 AM PST
ffmpeg-0.5.21651svn-0.pm.1.1 Tue 16 Feb 2010 01:37:44 AM PST
libavdevice52-0.5.21651svn-0.pm.1.1 Tue 16 Feb 2010 01:37:42 AM PST
libxine1-codecs-1.1.17-1.pm.31.3 Tue 16 Feb 2010 01:37:41 AM PST
libavformat52-0.5.21651svn-0.pm.1.1 Tue 16 Feb 2010 01:37:38 AM PST
gxine-0.5.905-0.pm.1.6 Tue 16 Feb 2010 01:37:36 AM PST
libavcodec52-0.5.21651svn-0.pm.1.1 Tue 16 Feb 2010 01:37:33 AM PST
libpostproc51-0.5.21651svn-0.pm.1.1 Tue 16 Feb 2010 01:35:45 AM PST
libswscale0-0.5.21651svn-0.pm.1.1 Tue 16 Feb 2010 01:35:42 AM PST
libxine1-1.1.17-1.pm.31.3 Tue 16 Feb 2010 01:35:40 AM PST
libavutil50-0.5.21651svn-0.pm.1.1 Tue 16 Feb 2010 01:35:32 AM PST
mozilla-xulrunner181-1.8.1.19-1.1 Tue 16 Feb 2010 01:35:29 AM PST
gstreamer-0_10-plugins-bad-lang-0.10.17-999.pm.1000.5 Tue 16 Feb 2010 01:22:25 AM PST
gstreamer-0_10-plugins-good-lang-0.10.18-999.pm.999.2 Tue 16 Feb 2010 01:22:23 AM PST
gstreamer-0_10-plugins-bad-0.10.17-999.pm.1000.5 Tue 16 Feb 2010 01:22:15 AM PST
gstreamer-0_10-plugins-good-0.10.18-999.pm.999.2 Tue 16 Feb 2010 01:22:07 AM PST
libgstbasevideo-0_10-0-0.10.17-999.pm.1000.5 Tue 16 Feb 2010 01:21:45 AM PST
libgstsignalprocessor-0_10-0-0.10.17-999.pm.1000.5 Tue 16 Feb 2010 01:21:44 AM PST
gstreamer-0_10-plugins-base-0.10.26-999.pm.999.2 Tue 16 Feb 2010 01:21:43 AM PST
libgstphotography-0_10-0-0.10.17-999.pm.1000.5 Tue 16 Feb 2010 01:20:41 AM PST
gstreamer-0_10-0.10.26-999.pm.1000.1 Tue 16 Feb 2010 01:20:40 AM PST
libgstinterfaces-0_10-0-0.10.26-999.pm.999.2 Tue 16 Feb 2010 01:20:08 AM PST
libdvdcss-1.2.10-6.1 Tue 16 Feb 2010 01:20:02 AM PST
libx264-80-0.80-3.1 Tue 16 Feb 2010 01:20:01 AM PST
mjpegtools-1.9.0.0-2.pm.6.1 Tue 16 Feb 2010 01:19:57 AM PST
gstreamer-0_10-lang-0.10.26-999.pm.1000.1 Tue 16 Feb 2010 01:19:52 AM PST
libgstreamer-0_10-0-0.10.26-999.pm.1000.1 Tue 16 Feb 2010 01:19:50 AM PST
libx264-84-0.0svn20100205-0.pm.1.1 Tue 16 Feb 2010 01:19:47 AM PST
gstreamer-0_10-plugins-base-lang-0.10.26-999.pm.999.2 Tue 16 Feb 2010 01:19:44 AM PST
libdirac_decoder0-1.0.2-0.pm.1.7 Tue 16 Feb 2010 01:19:42 AM PST
libdirac_encoder0-1.0.2-0.pm.1.7 Tue 16 Feb 2010 01:19:40 AM PST
dbus-1-python-0.83.0-22.22.1 Tue 16 Feb 2010 01:19:36 AM PST
gtkhtml2-3.24.1.1-1.17.1 Tue 16 Feb 2010 01:19:33 AM PST
libsnmp15-5.4.2.1-5.3.1 Tue 16 Feb 2010 01:19:29 AM PST
yast2-online-update-2.17.13-1.2.17 Tue 16 Feb 2010 12:43:30 AM PST
desktop-translations-11.1-6.4.1 Tue 16 Feb 2010 12:43:23 AM PST
dbus-1-glib-32bit-0.76-32.33.1 Tue 16 Feb 2010 12:42:39 AM PST
dbus-1-glib-0.76-32.33.1 Tue 16 Feb 2010 12:42:35 AM PST
dbus-1-x11-1.2.10-5.3.1 Tue 16 Feb 2010 12:42:30 AM PST
libfuse2-2.7.2-61.17.1 Tue 16 Feb 2010 12:41:39 AM PST
snmp-mibs-5.4.2.1-5.3.1 Tue 16 Feb 2010 12:41:30 AM PST
fuse-2.7.2-61.17.1 Tue 16 Feb 2010 12:41:19 AM PST
pango-32bit-1.22.1-2.13.1 Tue 16 Feb 2010 12:41:09 AM PST
pango-1.22.1-2.13.1 Tue 16 Feb 2010 12:40:47 AM PST
12:47:52 PM PST