[Dell M1210, SigmaTel STAC9221 A1] Noise on left headphone/speaker channel

[Alwyn Edison Mendonca]

left side of the earphone gives extra noise in Dell M1210.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.10
Package: pulseaudio 1:0.99.3-0ubuntu5
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.0.0-12.19-generic 3.0.4
Uname: Linux 3.0.0-12-generic x86_64
AlsaVersion: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version 1.0.24.
ApportVersion: 1.23-0ubuntu1
Architecture: amd64
ArecordDevices:
 **** List of CAPTURE Hardware Devices ****
 card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 0: STAC92xx Analog [STAC92xx Analog]
   Subdevices: 2/2
   Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
   Subdevice #1: subdevice #1
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: alwyn 1493 F.... pulseaudio
Card0.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:0 'Intel'/'HDA Intel at 0xefebc000 irq 44'
   Mixer name : 'SigmaTel STAC9221 A1'
   Components : 'HDA:83847680,102801d7,00103601 HDA:14f12bfa,14f100c3,00090000'
   Controls : 21
   Simple ctrls : 12
Date: Tue Sep 27 17:23:54 2011
ExecutablePath: /usr/bin/pulseaudio
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.04 "Natty Narwhal" - Release amd64 (20110427.1)
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=en_IN:en
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 LANG=en_IN
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: pulseaudio
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to oneiric on 2011-09-27 (0 days ago)
dmi.bios.date: 07/10/2007
dmi.bios.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.bios.version: A08
dmi.board.name: 0RT486
dmi.board.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.chassis.type: 8
dmi.chassis.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnDellInc.:bvrA08:bd07/10/2007:svnDellInc.:pnMXC062:pvr:rvnDellInc.:rn0RT486:rvr:cvnDellInc.:ct8:cvr:
dmi.product.name: MXC062
dmi.sys.vendor: Dell Inc.

[David Henningsson (diwic)]

Hi Alwyn and thanks for testing the upcoming version of Ubuntu,

It sounds like a hardware problem to me. Can we rule that out?

You seem to have two front headphone jacks, is this a problem with both jacks? Other operating systems, or other versions of Ubuntu?

[Alwyn Edison Mendonca (alwyne-edison)]

Other os like windows works properly. But if I install any linux os I use to get this problem. Sometimes it works properly gives proper sound, but not all the time. Problem is only in left side, it may be ear phone or big speakers.

[David Henningsson (diwic)]

Ok, thanks for your reply. It is difficult to know what's causing this problem. Are some applications more likely to cause this error compared to other applications?
How about this terminal command:
pasuspender -- speaker-test -D plughw:Intel -c 2 -t sine
Is that always a clear sound or can that be noisy too?

[Alwyn Edison Mendonca (alwyne-edison)]

Left speaker sound is noisy.

Sound gets distorted.

Right side is proper.

[David Henningsson (diwic)]

Thanks for the reply. I'm a little out of ideas at the moment unfortunately.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Wouter N. (apesapi)]

I, too, seem to have this bug. I have tested different headphones, different inputs and different settings, but the problem persists. I have had this problem since Ubuntu 11.04, and it continued to bug me in 11.10.
Having tried "pasuspender -- speaker-test -D plughw:Intel -c 2 -t sine", I confirm that the noise, or crackle, is only present in the left channel of all the headphones I tried. Also, the sound works as intended when using Windows.
I suspect this maybe has something to do with the sound drivers.

I have no idea what to include as attachments, since this is my first bug report, sort of, but I will try;
-Dell D5150
-SigmaTel STAC9221 A1 audio codec
-Ubuntu 11.10 (Oneiric Ocelot)
If you need additonal info, please say so, and please include a terminal command; I am fairly new at linux ;)

[David Henningsson (diwic)]

@Wouter, so is this a regression since 10.10 then? Or did you never try earlier releases than 11.04?

[Wouter N. (apesapi)]

The earliest release I tried was 10.10, but I didn't use the sound at all at that time ( ubuntu was my secondary OS ). But after a while I updated to 11.04 (Ubuntu became my primary OS and I started to use the sound) and the bug began.

Strangely enough, at this moment, the bug is not present. I have no idea whether I fixed it by trying all sorts of things, or if this is just temporary, so I'll reboot several times for good measure, and see if the bug persists throughout reboots.

[Wouter N. (apesapi)]

Ok, I am at a loss.

-after 2 reboots, the sound remained OK
-after 2 times a shutdown -> startup, the sound remained OK
-then I tried a suspend2RAM, and the sound crackle appeared.
-after a reboot, the sound was OK again
-then I tried a suspend2Disk, the sound remained OK
-another suspend2Disk, the sound remained OK
-then I suspended2RAM, and, surprisingly, the sound remained OK
-I was baffled, so I did another suspend2RAM and the sound remained OK
-I rebooted -> OK
-I did a suspend2RAM and the sound remained OK.
-I did a shutdown -> startup , sound was OK
-I did a suspend2RAM, the sound was OK....
-I did a shutdown -> startup -> suspend2RAM, and the sound remained OK
-I repeated the last step, and the sound remained OK...

I have no clue whatsoever what the problem may be. If it wasn't for that first suspend2RAM, I would have thought that the problem was solved. Do you have any ideas?

[David Henningsson (diwic)]

(Sorry for the late reply, I've been travelling)

One thing to try is to file alsa-info reports ( http://wiki.ubuntu.com/Audio/AlsaInfo ) for both when sound is working normally and when the left channel is noisy. We could compare the reports and look for differences.

Also, is the left channel noisy only when you play back sound, or also when everything else is silent?

[Wouter N. (apesapi)]

Hi there,

Here is the link for the AlsaInfo from the noisy left channel;
http://www.alsa-project.org/db/?f=1ed271006ead0cb36fd9676b3aff874c73d94652

and here is the link for the clean left channel;
http://www.alsa-project.org/db/?f=a5db942a97e99161461c6aef99b5ddf52a9e021a

The left channel is only noisy when I play back sound. I think it only there when certain frequencies are played, or when a certain threshold of sound volume is passed. But I am no expert, so don't take my word for it.

I have noticed that in one report there is a sentence that is;
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 0: STAC92xx Analog [STAC92xx Analog]
  Subdevices: 0/1

while the other is;
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 0: STAC92xx Analog [STAC92xx Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1

Hope this helps!

[David Henningsson (diwic)]

No differences that could give hints to what the problem could be unfortunately :-(

[Wouter N. (apesapi)]

Oh, don't worry. I can live with this minor inconvenience. Thanks for helping!

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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