Regular crackling sound on ThinkPad R61

[Kamil Páral]

Binary package hint: pulseaudio

After upgrade to Karmic I experience regular crackling sound coming out of my speakers. This can occur for example every minute or so, it makes a short "crack!" sound. *Also the crackle occurs every time I mute or unmute system sound.*

But this problem does not occur everytime. Mostly everything works smoothly. But last time I resumed my suspended notebook the crackling appeared (no crackling before). I rebooted - crackling still there. Rebooted again - all fine. A few days without crackling went by. Now I booted my notebook (clean boot, no resume) and it crackles again. I suppose I can get rid of it by rebooting (once or more), but that very annoying.

I tried to "killall pulseaudio" when in crackling state, it didn't help, still there. I tried to log out and log in as another user. It didn't help, it crackled on login screen and in other user' session.

ProblemType: Bug
Architecture: amd64
ArecordDevices:
 **** List of CAPTURE Hardware Devices ****
 card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 0: AD198x Analog [AD198x Analog]
   Subdevices: 2/2
   Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
   Subdevice #1: subdevice #1
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: ripper 3085 F.... pulseaudio
Card0.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:0 'Intel'/'HDA Intel at 0xfe220000 irq 17'
   Mixer name : 'Analog Devices AD1984'
   Components : 'HDA:11d41984,17aa20bb,00100400'
   Controls : 29
   Simple ctrls : 18
Date: Mon Dec 28 11:40:05 2009
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.10
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
Package: pulseaudio 1:0.9.19-0ubuntu4
ProcEnviron:
 PATH=(custom, user)
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.31-16.53-generic
SourcePackage: pulseaudio
Uname: Linux 2.6.31-16-generic x86_64
UserAsoundrc:
 # ALSA library configuration file

 # Include settings that are under the control of asoundconf(1).
 # (To disable these settings, comment out this line.)
 </home/ripper/.asoundrc.asoundconf>
---
AlsaVersion: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version 1.0.21.
Architecture: amd64
ArecordDevices:
 **** List of CAPTURE Hardware Devices ****
 card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 0: AD198x Analog [AD198x Analog]
   Subdevices: 2/2
   Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
   Subdevice #1: subdevice #1
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: ripper 1619 F.... pulseaudio
CRDA: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory
Card0.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:0 'Intel'/'HDA Intel at 0xfe220000 irq 17'
   Mixer name : 'Analog Devices AD1984'
   Components : 'HDA:11d41984,17aa20bb,00100400'
   Controls : 29
   Simple ctrls : 18
Card29.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:29 'ThinkPadEC'/'ThinkPad Console Audio Control at EC reg 0x30, fw 7KHT24WW-1.08'
   Mixer name : 'ThinkPad EC 7KHT24WW-1.08'
   Components : ''
   Controls : 1
   Simple ctrls : 1
Card29.Amixer.values:
 Simple mixer control 'Console',0
   Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined penum
   Playback channels: Mono
   Mono: Playback [on]
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.04
HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=a345d217-1db5-4cb3-b2b9-3dfb4842e882
MachineType: LENOVO 8918DEG
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
Package: linux (not installed)
PccardctlIdent:
 Socket 0:
   no product info available
PccardctlStatus:
 Socket 0:
   no card
ProcCmdLine: root=UUID=82e77ca3-610f-44d4-96b4-16e77cc58015 ro quiet splash ipv6.disable=1
ProcEnviron:
 PATH=(custom, user)
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.32-22.36-generic 2.6.32.11+drm33.2
Regression: Yes
RelatedPackageVersions: linux-firmware 1.34
Reproducible: Yes
Tags: lucid audio regression-release needs-upstream-testing
Uname: Linux 2.6.32-22-generic x86_64
UserAsoundrc:
 # ALSA library configuration file

 # Include settings that are under the control of asoundconf(1).
 # (To disable these settings, comment out this line.)
 </home/ripper/.asoundrc.asoundconf>
UserGroups: adm admin audio cdrom dialout dip fax fuse lpadmin netdev plugdev sambashare tape video
WpaSupplicantLog:

dmi.bios.date: 05/08/2009
dmi.bios.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.bios.version: 7KETC8WW (2.28 )
dmi.board.name: 8918DEG
dmi.board.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.board.version: Not Available
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: No Asset Information
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.chassis.version: Not Available
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnLENOVO:bvr7KETC8WW(2.28):bd05/08/2009:svnLENOVO:pn8918DEG:pvrThinkPadR61:rvnLENOVO:rn8918DEG:rvrNotAvailable:cvnLENOVO:ct10:cvrNotAvailable:
dmi.product.name: 8918DEG
dmi.product.version: ThinkPad R61
dmi.sys.vendor: LENOVO

[Kamil Páral (kamil.paral)]

Ok, so the crackle is not probably exactly regular, but it's very often after some beep occurs (IM beep, system beep, etc).

[David Henningsson (diwic)]

Could it be the new powersave feature that clicks for you? Try commenting out the "options snd-hda-intel" line in
/etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf and see if that works.

[David Henningsson (diwic)]

(After having commented out that line, reboot your system for changes to take effect.)

[Kamil Páral (kamil.paral)]

David, cool! We're not there yet, but it's an improvement! What I have found out:

1. Having 'options snd-hda-intel power_save=10 power_save_controller=N' enabled:
* When I clean boot notebook, the crackling is not audible in speakers, but if you plug headphones you can hear it.
* When you suspend and resume notebook, the crackling is much louder so you can hear it even in speakers.
* The crackling occurs on every mute and unmute. When you unmute, the crackle also repeats after several seconds (several, up to 10 sec). Also the crackle appears after every sound (system beep etc) in the same interval as for unmute.

2. Having 'options snd-hda-intel power_save=10 power_save_controller=N' commented out:
* First two lines of 1) are still valid.
* The crackling occurs on every mute and unmute. But it doesn't repeat itself after any interval after unmute, nor it happens after any system beep.

Therefore 2) is clearly improvement, now it crackles only on mute/unmute, not all the time.

But, I don't think there is a problem with powersaving (the 10 seconds interval) per se. It seems to me that that feature is working well. What is not working well is the crackle on mute/unmute. If that is solved, I don't have any problem with powersaving feature.

[David Henningsson (diwic)]

Okay, another thing to try is to install newer sound drivers according to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingSoundProblems/KarmicCaveats#Sound%20drivers%20need%20to%20be%20updated

[Kamil Páral (kamil.paral)]

After several more days I must say a lot of things are not as deterministic as I described.

After clean boot the mute crackle is usually very quiet (audible in headphones only), but occasionally it also started with loud crackle. The suspend and resume seems to change quiet crackle to loud crackle everytime (at least up to know).

With the "options snd-hda-intel..." line commented out, the powersave feature is usually disabled (no crackle after 10sec of every sound), but it also happened that this feature was enabled even when the line was still commented out.

I will try to use the backported drivers, thanks for advice.

[Kamil Páral (kamil.paral)]

After installing linux-backports-modules-alsa-karmic-generic 2.6.31.16.29 it still crackles on mute/unmute.

[Daniel Castro (castromd)]

I'm also experiencing this. Commenting the "options snd-hda-intel..." line also helps but still have the popping sound when mute/unmute.

If anyone needs more info from me to help solve this let me know.

Is this bug related to https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/433782

[Jeremy Foshee (jeremyfoshee)]

Hi Kamil,

This bug was reported a while ago and there hasn't been any activity in it recently. We were wondering if this is still an issue? Can you try with the latest development release of Ubuntu? ISO CD images are available from http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/ .

If it remains an issue, could you run the following command from a Terminal (Applications->Accessories->Terminal). It will automatically gather and attach updated debug information to this report.

apport-collect -p linux 500987

Also, if you could test the latest upstream kernel available that would be great. It will allow additional upstream developers to examine the issue. Refer to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelMainlineBuilds . Once you've tested the upstream kernel, please remove the 'needs-upstream-testing' tag. This can be done by clicking on the yellow pencil icon next to the tag located at the bottom of the bug description and deleting the 'needs-upstream-testing' text. Please let us know your results.

Thanks in advance.

    [This is an automated message. Apologies if it has reached you inappropriately; please just reply to this message indicating so.]

[CrackJack (neelgundr)]

Hello All,
               I am having a r61e... I installed ubuntu 9.10 very recently, and I am also experiencing the same problem mentioned...

Also, the volume kind of bursts out when I increase it to the maximum... Can anyone please suggest me what to do??

I am a newbie... I hardly know about linux...

[Kamil Páral (kamil.paral)]

CrackJack, please test on Ubuntu 10.04 (running just live cd should be enough) and report back, thanks.

[Kamil Páral (kamil.paral)]

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[Kamil Páral (kamil.paral)]

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[Kamil Páral (kamil.paral)]

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[Kamil Páral (kamil.paral)]

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[Kamil Páral (kamil.paral)]

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[Kamil Páral (kamil.paral)]

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[Kamil Páral (kamil.paral)]

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[Kamil Páral (kamil.paral)]

Hello Jeremy, yes, it still happens on fully updated Ubuntu 10.04. I still hear crackling noise when muting/unmuting. I don't hear any crackling after some sound finishes playing though.

[Jeremy Foshee (jeremyfoshee)]

Kamil,
   An important part of my request was that you test against the latest development release, which is currently 10.10. I'm keenly interested in whether you encounter the same behavior there. Additionally, if you are willing to test the current mainline kernel, that information is beneficial also.

Thanks!

~JFo

[Kamil Páral (kamil.paral)]

Jeremy, I tested Ubuntu 10.10. I don't hear any regular crackling sound, I don't hear any crackling sound after audio playback. I hear soft crackle when muting/unmuting (same as in 10.04), but I no longer consider it a problem, it is very silent and recognizable only in headphones.

I think this bug could be marked as solved and I'll reopen it if the regular crackling sound comes back or if the mute/unmute crackle gets louder sometimes.

I'm afraid I'm not able to test mainline kernel.

[Eric Morgan (gemorgan)]

I'm having this issue again. It started again around kernel update to 22 or 23 and is still present right now in 25..

[phxblah (justast)]

I have this issue on Ubuntu 10.10, Lenovo SL510. I'm ready to provide any needed information.

[dennis (bluesceada)]

Usually I am a Debian User (Squeeze), but I booted with a Ubuntu 10.10 CD on my Lenovo X61 and also on another X61s and also have this issue.
It seems to me that it is kernel related and it's there since about 2.6.32 - I didn't have this issue before, in 2.6.31! It also still happens for me in 2.6.36 and 2.6.37.

Also, according to the reports here it seems to be a Lenovo issue, what do we have already? R61, R61e, SL510, X61, X61s ...

I thought it might be related to the thinkpad_acpi module which sometime recently began to support some kind of extra audio controls for thinkpads, though unloading that module doesn't help (for me).

[dennis (bluesceada)]

New information:

I am not sure about this but I did the following, all in one:
Install Windows 7 fresh on the X61 - I often heard these crackling sounds during installation, during all the reboots and boot/shutdown. Even more louder and scary sounding as in Linux! After all the installation of drivers were finished (amongst them the sound driver..) I didn't here it anymore.

After that, I reinstalled Debian (I had 32bit Debian/64bit Kernel before (Squeeze) and kind of upgraded to a complete 64bit Debian (Squeeze RC2) by doing a fresh install except my /home). The issues are also gone there!

It somehow seems as if the Windows driver fixed it in some way, but it might also be the fresh Debian install (but why would have Windows also "crackled" then?) but I am not quite sure. Is there some firmware loading/updating involved maybe?

I didn't boot a Ubuntu Live CD so far, but I guess the issue would also be gone there.