Sound board clicking compulsively after installing Ubuntu 12.04

[lads]

Hello everyone,

I have just installed Ubuntu 12.04 on a Packard Bell EasyNote MV85-100 that was previously running WinXP. Pretty swift and no errors during install, but as soon as Ubuntu loads the sound board goes bonkers and starts issuing a compulsive clicking sound (not that different from an old Spectrum cassette loading); this is on max volume, after 5 minutes my head was cracking. I have tried to mute the sound, connect headphones and microphone, but nothing shuts the clicking off. In the Sound Settings menu there are two devices listed: the board and the headphones, with the later blinking to the rhythm of the clicking.

Any hints on how to tame this soundboard are welcome. Even just muting the sound would be an improvement. Thanks.

[lads]

Hello again. I went to ordeal of turning this laptop on again and tried a few more things. I ran the updates and got about 100 packages anew; I requested a search for proprietary drivers and got a driver for the DVD. I restarted it but the compulsive beeping remains.

Any help appreciated

[michiel-reenaers]

Ok this is what I would suggest:
Find out what kernel module or a list of the soundcards playing on your system.
aplay -l should give you the soundcards
lsmod | less should give you a list of kernel modules.

if you work with the kernel module
you can blacklist the specific module
f.e lsmod | less
output:
snd_ens1370 21536 0
gameport 16776 1 snd_ens1370
snd_ak4531_codec 9856 1 snd_ens1370
snd_pcm 80388 5 snd_ens1370,snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec

now blacklist the module

in /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist
add

# disable my sound card
blacklist snd_ens1370

Now i haven't tried this out myself,
as I never had any sound problems and I'm currently in school and i'm forced to use windows.
So let me know if it worked.

[lads]

Hi Michiel thank you for the reply.

Here's the output of the commands you suggested:


$ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 0: ALC260 Analog [ALC260 Analog]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 1: ALC260 Digital [ALC260 Digital]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

$ lsmod | grep snd
snd_hda_codec_realtek 65004 1
snd_hda_intel 38819 3
snd_hda_codec 118613 2 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel
snd_hwdep 13276 1 snd_hda_codec
snd_pcm 85934 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec
snd_seq_midi 13132 0
snd_rawmidi 25157 1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_midi_event 14475 1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq 51593 2 snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_timer 28931 2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device 14137 3 snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq
snd 57014 15 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec, snd_hwdep,snd_pcm,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,sn d_seq_device
soundcore 12600 1 snd
snd_page_alloc 18398 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm


Blacklisting snd_hda_intel indeed deactivates the soundboard and the beep goes away. This is a relevant progress but I wont mark this thread as solved; a laptop without sound is quite limited.

To the admins: you might want to move this thread to the hardware section.

[lads]

Hello again,

Today I tried booting with Debian (7.0.0) and things went smoothly, no beeping or clicking. Wheezy is distributed with kernel version 3.2, whereas Ubuntu 12.04.3 uses kernel 3.8. So either I find a way to install 12.04 with the 3.2 kernel or I'll just go with Debian and then install Unity (if that's possible already).

I'll report further developments here.

[lads]

After installing the package with kernel 3.2 and successfully setting it as the default boot option with GRUB the clicking is gone.

[Keith_Beef]

I also get this odd clicking noise as the computer switches spontaneously between the on-board speakers and the headphone jack. I posted about it in another thread (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2182556&highlight=clicking+sound) but have had no replies yet.


$ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 0: ALC260 Analog [ALC260 Analog]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

$ lsmod | grep snd
snd_hda_codec_realtek 174313 1
snd_hda_intel 32719 3
snd_hda_codec 109562 2 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel
snd_hwdep 13276 1 snd_hda_codec
snd_pcm 80916 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec
snd_seq_midi 13132 0
snd_rawmidi 25424 1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_midi_event 14475 1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq 51592 2 snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_timer 28931 2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device 14172 3 snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq
snd 62218 15 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec, snd_hwdep,snd_pcm,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,sn d_seq_device
soundcore 14635 1 snd
snd_page_alloc 14115 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm

As I mentioned in my other post, this is the first time I've encountered this problem on any hardware, and this little Vaio has been running Ubuntu for years… it's really strange that it should appear now after the upgrade to 12.04.

[lads]

Hi Keith. This is definitely something weird with the release 3.8 of the kernel. Installing back kernel 3.2 should also solve the issue for you. Good luck.