Crackling sound in 11.04, already searched for solutions

[DevinMuffin]

I've been through what I could find in searches here, but nothing fixed the problem so far.

Here's the situation: I am using Ubuntu Natty 11.04, dual booting. So I know the sound is fine on the XP system, and also works crisp and clear on my Vista laptop sitting next to me. I've tried the sound through Banshee, Amarok and Exaile all with the same crackling as if the file was ripped off a bad CD. I'll repeat that I've tested the speakers, and also the jack port (being that there are two on my PC) so I am fairly certain it is an issue with Ubuntu.

Here is the ALSA information report:
http://www.alsa-project.org/db/?f=ad...8b8d1ee19905a5

It's not a problem with PCM- the crackling will go away if the level on PCM is like 30~ but then the sound is very quiet even with Master and speaker volume at 100, at which point you can still make out the crackling.

[DevinMuffin]

Bumpity bump

[4Orbs]

I added the tiny bit of code recommended in This Post and it seems to have fixed the distorted sound on my computer with Xubuntu Natty.

[DevinMuffin]

Thanks, I'll let you know if that works

[HeWhoE]

Has anybody resolved this issue yet? I'm still trying to figure out how to fix this on an HP dv9700 laptop.

[ChrisKu]

I solved a distorted sound problem by playing around with Alsamixer and muting some unneeded channels. It might also help to start Ubuntu from a LiveCD and check whether sound is ok then. Then check the Alsamixer settings in that environment and set the Alsamixer settings to the same values in your installed Ubuntu enviornment.

[gustav.franzsen]

@DevinMuffin - I can confirm the same problem here. Have had 10.10 on a desktop machine (Intel Desktop Board DG33BU) with onboard sound (RealTek ALC888 audio codec
) and everything was fine.

The I upgraded in-situ to 11.04 and immediately expierenced the incessant crackling/popping sound. If I move the mouse around I can hear it etc. I then took a 11.04 iso on a cd and did a clean install. Same problem. Then I decided to do a clean reinstall of 10.10 from iso-disc. The damn problem stayed!

I am now at wit's end. I have installed Alsa Mixer (GUI) and muted everything. Also muted the volumes under Sound Preferences. No change whatsoever.

Have now gone back to a clean install of 11.04 and am searching for ways to solve the problem.

Have seen in some other thread a mention of a kernel rollback that might solve the problem - do not know how to do that though.

Just thought I would confirm your experience lest people think you are nuts ...

PS - am posting this from my ThinkPad which is still running a well-behaved 10.10 (sans crackle 'n pop)

[lidex]

Use the alsa-info-script to provide detailed information.
Run this command in a terminal:

wget http://www.alsa-project.org/alsa-info.sh -O alsa-info.sh && bash alsa-info.sh

Choose the upload option and provide a link for the output.
[Terminal="Applications->Accessories->Terminal"]

[DevinMuffin]

In my OP, there is a link to the ASLA info. I will paste it here, again, but updated since I have messed around with things since OP: http://www.alsa-project.org/db/?f=d1...ee71cad52d6ccf

Sorry I have taken so long to reply again, however, I tried adding the script 4Orbs recommended, this had no effect. It's a shame because I'm currently enjoying Amarok very much but I can't get over the irritating crackling- testing it more thoroughly through some good headphones, the only other information I can give is that the crackling is coming through only the left channel - BUT- as I said, there is no problem in XP, it is not a hardware issue. I can also hear noise when I move the mouse, a very quiet hum, but I'm not sure if that's connected.

[lidex]

In my OP, there is a link to the ASLA info. I will paste it here, again, but updated since I have messed around with things since OP: http://www.alsa-project.org/db/?f=d1...ee71cad52d6ccf

Sorry I have taken so long to reply again, however, I tried adding the script 4Orbs recommended, this had no effect. It's a shame because I'm currently enjoying Amarok very much but I can't get over the irritating crackling- testing it more thoroughly through some good headphones, the only other information I can give is that the crackling is coming through only the left channel - BUT- as I said, there is no problem in XP, it is not a hardware issue. I can also hear noise when I move the mouse, a very quiet hum, but I'm not sure if that's connected.

Try resetting your pulse configuration.
Using a Terminal="Applications->Accessories->Terminal"

rm -r ~/.pulse ~/.asound* ~/.pulse-cookie 
sudo rm /etc/asound.conf

Reboot
Ignore any 'No such file or directory' errors

This user has same codec chip:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1506011

Your mixer has these settings:

Simple mixer control 'Speaker',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pswitch penum
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 64
  Mono:
  Front Left: Playback 64 [100%] [0.00dB] [on]
  Front Right: Playback 64 [100%] [0.00dB] [on]
Simple mixer control 'Speaker',1
  Capabilities: pvolume pswitch penum
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 64
  Mono:
  Front Left: Playback 64 [100%] [0.00dB] [off]
  Front Right: Playback 64 [100%] [0.00dB] [off]

Try muting speaker 0 so they are both muted. Also try enabling speaker 1 alone.