[Alienware 15 R4, Realtek ALC3266, Black Headphone Out or internal speakers] Underruns, dropouts or crackling sound

[Dave Taylor]

With this latest update (Linux 5.4.0-58), the sound is now crackling. Feels like DMA buffer underruns, but I'm not sure. Not seeing a significant CPU load that might have aggravated it, nor am I seeing any complaints in syslog or kern.log. Restarting pulseaudio and running alsa force-reload had no effect.

These sound issues started with the same update that caused the ath10k_pci driver to become extremely unreliable (filed as bug 1908106).

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 20.04
Package: alsa-base 1.0.25+dfsg-0ubuntu5
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 5.4.0-58.64-generic 5.4.73
Uname: Linux 5.4.0-58-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia_modeset nvidia
ApportVersion: 2.20.11-0ubuntu27.13
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC1: ddt 22891 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/controlC0: ddt 22891 F.... pulseaudio
CasperMD5CheckResult: skip
CurrentDesktop: ubuntu:GNOME
Date: Mon Dec 14 14:55:14 2020
InstallationDate: Installed on 2020-03-23 (266 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 19.10 "Eoan Ermine" - Release amd64 (20191017)
PackageArchitecture: all
ProcEnviron:
 TERM=screen-256color
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: alsa-driver
Symptom: audio
Symptom_AlsaPlaybackTest: ALSA playback test through plughw:PCH failed
Symptom_Card: Built-in Audio - HDA Intel PCH
Symptom_Jack: Black Headphone Out, Left
Symptom_PulseAudioLog:
 Dec 14 07:32:47 ddtlap dbus-daemon[859]: [system] Activating via systemd: service name='org.freedesktop.RealtimeKit1' unit='rtkit-daemon.service' requested by ':1.32' (uid=124 pid=1157 comm="/usr/bin/pulseaudio --daemonize=no --log-target=jo" label="unconfined")
 Dec 14 08:11:14 ddtlap pulseaudio[1157]: Failed to create sink input: sink is suspended.
 Dec 14 08:12:19 ddtlap pulseaudio[1157]: Failed to create sink input: sink is suspended.
 Dec 14 08:13:47 ddtlap dbus-daemon[859]: [system] Rejected send message, 0 matched rules; type="method_return", sender=":1.70" (uid=1000 pid=1553 comm="/usr/bin/pulseaudio --daemonize=no --log-target=jo" label="unconfined") interface="(unset)" member="(unset)" error name="(unset)" requested_reply="0" destination=":1.3" (uid=0 pid=855 comm="/usr/lib/bluetooth/bluetoothd " label="unconfined")
Symptom_Type: Underruns, dropouts, or "crackling" sound
Title: [Alienware 15 R4, Realtek ALC3266, Black Headphone Out, Left] Underruns, dropouts or crackling sound
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to focal on 2020-05-12 (216 days ago)
dmi.bios.date: 04/18/2019
dmi.bios.vendor: Alienware
dmi.bios.version: 1.7.0
dmi.board.name: Alienware 15 R4
dmi.board.vendor: Alienware
dmi.board.version: A00
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: Alienware
dmi.chassis.version: Not Specified
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAlienware:bvr1.7.0:bd04/18/2019:svnAlienware:pnAlienware15R4:pvr1.7.0:rvnAlienware:rnAlienware15R4:rvrA00:cvnAlienware:ct10:cvrNotSpecified:
dmi.product.family: Alienware
dmi.product.name: Alienware 15 R4
dmi.product.sku: 0876
dmi.product.version: 1.7.0
dmi.sys.vendor: Alienware
---
ProblemType: Bug
ApportVersion: 2.20.11-0ubuntu27.13
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC1: ddt 22891 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/controlC0: ddt 22891 F.... pulseaudio
CasperMD5CheckResult: skip
CurrentDesktop: ubuntu:GNOME
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 20.04
InstallationDate: Installed on 2020-03-23 (267 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 19.10 "Eoan Ermine" - Release amd64 (20191017)
Lsusb:
 Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
 Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0c45:6708 Microdia Integrated_Webcam_FHD
 Bus 001 Device 002: ID 187c:0550 Alienware Corporation AW-ELC
 Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0cf3:e301 Qualcomm Atheros Communications
 Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
MachineType: Alienware Alienware 15 R4
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia_modeset nvidia
Package: linux (not installed)
ProcEnviron:
 TERM=screen-256color
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcFB: 0 EFI VGA
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-5.4.0-58-generic root=UUID=875cff72-a3db-4709-ac4d-ce80b29b9970 ro i915.alpha_support=1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 5.4.0-58.64-generic 5.4.73
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-restricted-modules-5.4.0-58-generic N/A
 linux-backports-modules-5.4.0-58-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.187.6
Tags: focal
Uname: Linux 5.4.0-58-generic x86_64
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to focal on 2020-05-12 (217 days ago)
UserGroups: adm cdrom dip lpadmin lxd plugdev sambashare sudo
_MarkForUpload: True
dmi.bios.date: 04/18/2019
dmi.bios.vendor: Alienware
dmi.bios.version: 1.7.0
dmi.board.name: Alienware 15 R4
dmi.board.vendor: Alienware
dmi.board.version: A00
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: Alienware
dmi.chassis.version: Not Specified
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAlienware:bvr1.7.0:bd04/18/2019:svnAlienware:pnAlienware15R4:pvr1.7.0:rvnAlienware:rnAlienware15R4:rvrA00:cvnAlienware:ct10:cvrNotSpecified:
dmi.product.family: Alienware
dmi.product.name: Alienware 15 R4
dmi.product.sku: 0876
dmi.product.version: 1.7.0
dmi.sys.vendor: Alienware

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

reassigning to linux if the issue started with a kernel update

[Ubuntu Kernel Bot (ubuntu-kernel-bot)]

This bug is missing log files that will aid in diagnosing the problem. While running an Ubuntu kernel (not a mainline or third-party kernel) please enter the following command in a terminal window:

apport-collect 1908153

and then change the status of the bug to 'Confirmed'.

If, due to the nature of the issue you have encountered, you are unable to run this command, please add a comment stating that fact and change the bug status to 'Confirmed'.

This change has been made by an automated script, maintained by the Ubuntu Kernel Team.

[Dave Taylor (tslug)]

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[Kai-Heng Feng (kaihengfeng)]

Does 5.4.0-56 have this issue?

[Dave Taylor (tslug)]

I can't recall and have since switched to NixOS 21.03pre260232.733e537a8ad (Okapi), where I do not experience the sound issue on kernel version 5.4.85.

However, the wifi driver on Ubuntu that started showing extremely severe instability at roughly the same time as this sound underrun issue hit (https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1908106) is very much still a problem on that version of NixOS (kernel 5.4.85), as well as every regression I tested it on, including every major version from 19.03 to 21.03.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for linux (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]