Audio is skipping every ~1 minute .

[Grant Phillips]

- While playing xvid video file in VLC or Movie player, the audio skips.
- While listening to music on Spotify, the audio skips.

Troubleshooting conducted:
- "killall pulseaudio; rm -r ~/.pulse*" and rebooted the machine. The issue continues.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.04
Package: linux-image-3.2.0-26-generic 3.2.0-26.41
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.2.0-26.41-generic 3.2.19
Uname: Linux 3.2.0-26-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
AlsaVersion: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version 1.0.24.
ApportVersion: 2.0.1-0ubuntu8
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC1: grant 13176 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/controlC0: grant 13176 F.... pulseaudio
Card0.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:0 'Intel'/'HDA Intel at 0xfbff8000 irq 53'
   Mixer name : 'Realtek ALC889'
   Components : 'HDA:10ec0889,1458a022,00100004'
   Controls : 49
   Simple ctrls : 23
Card1.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:1 'CX23885'/'Conexant CX23885 at cx23885[0]'
   Mixer name : ''
   Components : ''
   Controls : 0
   Simple ctrls : 0
Card1.Amixer.values:

Date: Mon Jul 2 12:23:36 2012
EcryptfsInUse: Yes
HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=cbb4f242-abfc-4abd-8cc7-068831a8c2d8
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 12.04 LTS "Precise Pangolin" - Release amd64 (20120425)
MachineType: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. P55A-UD3P
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=en_AU:en
 TERM=xterm
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 LANG=en_AU.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcFB: 0 VESA VGA
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-26-generic root=UUID=58a9aeb2-7465-4e1a-8444-f633d406204c ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-restricted-modules-3.2.0-26-generic N/A
 linux-backports-modules-3.2.0-26-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.79
RfKill:
 0: phy0: Wireless LAN
  Soft blocked: no
  Hard blocked: no
SourcePackage: linux
StagingDrivers: r8712u
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 09/16/2010
dmi.bios.vendor: Award Software International, Inc.
dmi.bios.version: F14
dmi.board.name: P55A-UD3P
dmi.board.vendor: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
dmi.board.version: x.x
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAwardSoftwareInternational,Inc.:bvrF14:bd09/16/2010:svnGigabyteTechnologyCo.,Ltd.:pnP55A-UD3P:pvr:rvnGigabyteTechnologyCo.,Ltd.:rnP55A-UD3P:rvrx.x:cvnGigabyteTechnologyCo.,Ltd.:ct3:cvr:
dmi.product.name: P55A-UD3P
dmi.sys.vendor: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Grant Phillips, if you could also please 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. As well, please comment on which kernel version specifically you tested.

If this bug is fixed in the mainline kernel, please add the following tag 'kernel-fixed-upstream'.

If the mainline kernel does not fix this bug, please add the tag: 'kernel-bug-exists-upstream'.

If you are unable to test the mainline kernel, for example it will not boot, please add the tag: 'kernel-unable-to-test-upstream', and comment as to why specifically you were unable to test it.

Please let us know your results. Thanks in advance.

[Grant Phillips (grant-phillips)]

Ack, Thanks Chris.

[Grant Phillips (grant-phillips)]

Two kernels tested. Both exhibited the problem.

- Loaded 3.2.21 and the issue was occurring less, but soon as producing small load ( example: opening browser), saw the issue occur.

linux-image-3.2.21-030221-generic_3.2.21-030221.201206192135_amd64.deb

- The problem existed in 3.4.4, opening spotify and playing music, saw the issue in < 1 minute.

linux-image-3.4.4-030404-generic_3.4.4-030404.201206221555_amd64.deb

[Grant Phillips (grant-phillips)]

Actually now rolled back to -25 and -24 and still seeing the problem. Can you provide some further troubleshooting steps?

Cheers,
Grant Phillips

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Grant Phillips, as per https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1019914/comments/2 , newest mainline is http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v3.5-rc5-quantal/ .

[Grant Phillips (grant-phillips)]

Lose all keyboard/mouse support in the following mainline kernels, so unable to test.

http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v3.5-rc5-quantal/
http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v3.5-rc4-quantal/

Please note, the problem is now affecting all kernel versions. Can you suggest any other troubleshooting steps? This only started occurring in the past week since kernel upgrade -26.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Grant Phillips, could you please provide the information following https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingSoundProblems ?

[Andrew Stewart (stewart-andrew-j)]

I have been experiencing a similar issue when playing audio in Rhythmbox. The problem started after I installed some updates last week like comment #7 says.

[Grant Phillips (grant-phillips)]

I've tried re-installing and following https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingSoundProblems without any luck so far. I need some one to ask me for some output and analyse it so we can get to the bottom of this issue.

I've noticed this is now affecting 4 people in total? Can anyone else shed some light on the issue and if they have done anything to fix this problem? The more information the better.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Grant Phillips, just to clarify, did this problem not occur at all in a prior version of the kernel or of Ubuntu? If so, which one(s) specifically?

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Andrew Stewart, please stop making comments in this report. For more on this, please see https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs#A3._Make_sure_the_bug_hasn.27t_already_been_reported . If you are having a problem in Ubuntu, please file a new report by executing the following via the Terminal and feel free to subscribe me to it:
ubuntu-bug linux

Thanks!

[Grant Phillips (grant-phillips)]

Hi Chris,

My machine received a bunch of updates including kernel upgrade to image linux-image-3.2.0-26. The sound started skipping post this event. I then rolled back straight away to kernel -25. This fixed the issue, watched an entire movie without skipping sound.

I then went on to perform more troubleshooting as you directed by upgrading to latest mainstream kernel. This issue was then seen again, but rolling back this time did not fix the issue how ever.

I have since done a full re-install with new image from your site. I've tried to load the latest ALSA DKMS for the kernel, with no fix and perform various troubleshooting tips out their on the internet like reinstalling packages.

Cheers,
Grant

[Grant Phillips (grant-phillips)]

Quick update: Hi All, if your affected by this problem, can you please close Google Chrome, check all processes are stopped. Then perform testing.

Cheers,
Grant

[Oli Gaymond (oli-gaymond)]

Hi, I'm also affected by this bug. Anecdotally this also appears to be related to Chrome for me. If I close Chrome, then listening to music is fine (Spotify). With Chrome open, I get occasional stuttering of the system audio. Chrome being open affects audio not just from Chrome (e.g. Youtube) but also other apps like Spotify, even when there should be no audio coming from Chrome.

Not sure if it's related, but I am occasionally noticing Chrome 'sticking' for a fraction of a second for example when scrolling on a page. The 'sticking' does not appear to be related to anything specific on the page, and like the audio appears more like some regular event being triggered.

I tried filing a separate bug report but after several hours launchpad timed out 'processing'.

-Oli

[Grant Phillips (grant-phillips)]

Thanks for your input Oli.

Next step i imagine would be to open bug at crbug.com with chromium team. I will do this tonight unless some one can do it earlier and post link here.

Cheers,
Grant

[Oli Gaymond (oli-gaymond)]

I filed a bug for this against Chromium. https://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=137398

It's not obvious to me that this is a Chromium bug as I don't remember the issue occurring with an update in Chrome, but it did coincide with several Ubuntu updates i.e. perhaps something changed in the underlying code that Chrome calls.

-Oli

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Grant Phillips, could you please test for this issue being resolved in a prior Ubuntu Live CD release (ex. Lucid)?

[Oli Gaymond (oli-gaymond)]

I updated my machine today to the 3.2.0-27 kernel amongst other updates and am no longer experiencing this issue.

[eZFlow (breakdevize)]

I thought it was due to my hardware setup but Im glad it's something with Kubuntu. It happens at random but not every minute for me. Audio stutters and video skips once in a while. Im running CHrome but not sure thats the trouble maker.

It's kinda sad this happens on a LTS release which is supposed to be stable.

[Stephen Moore (delfick)]

It went away for me when I disabled the built in flash player in Chrome.