Loud, brief speaker popping/distortion occurs when clicking on empty or white screen areas

[Nick Peyton]

Relentless, loud, (sudden) speaker pops/distortion when clicking on any screen areas (including empty or white-space) in ANY browser (Chromium and Firefox).

This feels like it might be related to a bug with an Ubuntu power-saving feature (or insufficently long defaults), not a Chrome/Firefox issue. My system is dual-boot and I cannot replicate this under Windows in either browser.

The sound is similar to the loud 'pop' normally only heard when initially powering on external speakers connected to the 3.5mm audio jacks on the back of all consumer ATX motherboards.

If clicking continues without a pause exceeding 10-15 seconds, no popping sound occurs. However, if there is a single click followed by a pause of 10-15 seconds and then another click, it produces a sound akin to someone turning the speakers off and on. Keyboard input does not affect this timing; only 'not clicking' and then clicking after 10-15s triggers the issue.

1. Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
2. Not limited to a single browser or browser version (affects Chrome [Brave] and Firefox).
3. See above.
4. See above.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 24.04
Package: alsa-base 1.0.25+dfsg-0ubuntu7
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 6.8.0-36.36-generic 6.8.4
Uname: Linux 6.8.0-36-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia_modeset nvidia
ApportVersion: 2.28.1-0ubuntu2
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/seq: nick 2731 F.... pipewire
 /dev/snd/controlC1: nick 2736 F.... wireplumber
 /dev/snd/controlC0: nick 2736 F.... wireplumber
CasperMD5CheckResult: pass
CurrentDesktop: ubuntu:GNOME
Date: Sun Jul 7 15:25:28 2024
InstallationDate: Installed on 2024-04-30 (68 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS "Noble Numbat" - Release amd64 (20240424)
MachineType: System manufacturer System Product Name
PackageArchitecture: all
SourcePackage: alsa-driver
Symptom: audio
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 03/14/2018
dmi.bios.release: 5.12
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: 1301
dmi.board.asset.tag: Default string
dmi.board.name: STRIX Z270H GAMING
dmi.board.vendor: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
dmi.board.version: Rev 1.xx
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: Default string
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: Default string
dmi.chassis.version: Default string
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvr1301:bd03/14/2018:br5.12:svnSystemmanufacturer:pnSystemProductName:pvrSystemVersion:rvnASUSTeKCOMPUTERINC.:rnSTRIXZ270HGAMING:rvrRev1.xx:cvnDefaultstring:ct3:cvrDefaultstring:skuSKU:
dmi.product.family: To be filled by O.E.M.
dmi.product.name: System Product Name
dmi.product.sku: SKU
dmi.product.version: System Version
dmi.sys.vendor: System manufacturer

[Hui Wang (hui.wang)]

Is this problem a regression of ubuntu 24.04? Did you try the 22.04 or sth else?

[Hui Wang (hui.wang)]

And there are 3 lineout and 1 headphone jacks, what jacks have this problem?

[Nick Peyton (nrpeyton)]

I will experiment with different jacks and report back soon.

[Nick Peyton (nrpeyton)]

I don't believe it is a regression. I had the same issue in the previous version (Ubuntu 23.10).

I have included a picture of the audio jacks affected, marked with a red asterisk in the attachment.

The affected audio jacks are:

-Black (rear speakers)
-Orange (centre and sub speakers)
-Lime (front speakers)

[Nick Peyton (nrpeyton)]

Update:

Editing /sys/module/snd_hda_intel/parameters/power_save' from '1' to '0' is a temporary workaround. So it is indeed caused by the audio chipset's power-saving.

Seems the root cause is that mouse clicks that were never intended to produce a sound (i.e., clicking empty screen space) should not be interacting with sound chipset power saving?

And/or perhaps the length of time before sound power saving is activated is insufficient (currently 10-ish seconds)?

Evidence in the long-term is speakers are permanently damaged.