[Inspiron 11 - 3147, Realtek ALC3234, Speaker, Internal] Has constant cracking sound, even when idel (no media playback). Muting and unmuting the sound seems to help for around half a minute...

[Arseny]

Sound constantly cracking, even when not playing any media. Muting and unmuting solves the problem for less than a minute.
Running kernel 4.4.4, but the problem was still present on the factory Ubuntu 15.10 installation.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 15.10
Package: alsa-base 1.0.25+dfsg-0ubuntu5
Uname: Linux 4.4.4-040404-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.19.1-0ubuntu5
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: arseny 1639 F.... pulseaudio
CurrentDesktop: Unity
Date: Thu Mar 10 13:22:09 2016
InstallationDate: Installed on 2016-03-04 (5 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 15.10 "Wily Werewolf" - Release amd64 (20151021)
PackageArchitecture: all
SourcePackage: alsa-driver
Symptom: audio
Symptom_AlsaPlaybackTest: ALSA playback test through plughw:PCH successful
Symptom_Card: Built-in Audio - HDA Intel PCH
Symptom_Jack: Speaker, Internal
Symptom_PulsePlaybackTest: PulseAudio playback test successful
Symptom_Type: Underruns, dropouts, or "crackling" sound
Title: [Inspiron 11 - 3147, Realtek ALC3234, Speaker, Internal] Underruns, dropouts or crackling sound
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 11/13/2015
dmi.bios.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.bios.version: A09
dmi.board.name: 0P96YG
dmi.board.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.board.version: A00
dmi.chassis.type: 8
dmi.chassis.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.chassis.version: A09
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnDellInc.:bvrA09:bd11/13/2015:svnDellInc.:pnInspiron11-3147:pvr:rvnDellInc.:rn0P96YG:rvrA00:cvnDellInc.:ct8:cvrA09:
dmi.product.name: Inspiron 11 - 3147
dmi.sys.vendor: Dell Inc.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[mtvoid (mtvoid)]

Issue is also present on Dell Inspiron 5559, which has an ALC3234 chip too. Crackling sounds on the internal speaker, and a constant faint hiss while using headphones (stops only while muted).

[Paulo Zúñiga (pzuniga26)]

Hi!, I have the same computer model, and activate the "headset mic" in alsamixer fix the problem (sorry for my English).

[mtvoid (mtvoid)]

I have tried that earlier. In my case, I can set Internal Mic, Headset Mic, or Headphone Mic as the Capture source. The hiss does not go away when it is set to Internal or Headset Mic. When I set it to Headphone Mic, it stops, but so does all sound output, so it does not work for me.

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Thank you for reporting this bug to Ubuntu.
Ubuntu 15.10 (wily) reached end-of-life on July 28, 2016.

See this document for currently supported Ubuntu releases:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Releases

We appreciate that this bug may be old and you might not be interested in discussing it any more. But if you are then please upgrade to the latest Ubuntu version and re-test. If you then find the bug is still present in the newer Ubuntu version, please add a comment here telling us which new version it is in and change the bug status to Confirmed.