Clicking sound every few seconds

Hi, i got debian 12 bookworm installed, with backports kernel 6.11.10-1~bpo12+1 (to get amdgpu working)
Have pulse audio.

Every 5-10 seconds its “plop-clicks” in the speakers.

Have not found any solution as why it does this and how to make it stop.
Speakers is connected to the mainboard output plug with and aux cable.

can you install pipewire and use it instead? does the same thing happen?

Perhaps silly question, but do you use KDE Connect?

I noticed that my Android phone randomly by itself clopies and sends via KDE Connect what is in the pastebin with my computer, and whenever that happens, I get a sound notification (but no persistent notice).

Any guide how to best make the switch over to test?

Not using, but its default enabled thought

i found this in a quick search

https://www.baeldung.com/linux/pulseaudio-pipewire-replace

but most of the debian specific results were about replacing pipewire with pulseaudio because pipewire was not working correctly.

so maybe verify which one you are currently running before blindly following some guide off the internets.

also be aware that pipewire is still very new, and debian may not have the latest version… which means you either need to compile it yourself of find someone who already has done so for your distro.

> LANG=C pactl info | grep '^Server Name'
Server Name: PulseAudio (on PipeWire 0.3.65)

Still the “clicking” sound from the speakers.

Maybe your speakers are automatically suspended when inactive to save power, and the act of suspending and waking them causes that audible crack.

In my case, I use TLP on my laptop, I removed that cracking sound by disabling auto-suspension for audio devices:
I set SOUND_POWER_SAVE_ON_AC=0 in /etc/tlp.conf and rebooted.

If you are not using TLP, maybe this link can help you.

2 Likes

What speakers?

The reason I ask the question is that I had a powered speaker which made noises (due to malfunctioning electronics - capacitors etc… initially fixed by replacing the capacitors and finally fixed by installing a better Class-C solid-state amplifier).

I would also like to investigate if this only occurs with a HDMI, Analog, or other kind of audio output (Bluetooth, headphones etc).

So the pipewire in Debian 12 is 0.3.65 ?

That’s pretty old, the current stable Pipewire is 1.2.7

I agree with medin, the popping that occurs in the speakers (especially when audio is idle), is likely power saving

I would go with it being garbage on-board audio being used. I use to get similar I would not call them clicks but little pops all the time using it. Bought USB 5.1 sound device and have not heard a peep from them since, it now only plays sound when it supposed to have sounds. Best $20 I have ever spent.

Edit: and to top it off no useless BS trying to configure the sound, it just works with the USB device.

1 Like

As OP didn’t see fit to include any information, we’re basically just fumbling in the dark…

Speakers is connected to the mainboard output plug with and aux cable.

From this we might assume it isn’t a laptop, nothing more… but a computer that requires you to plug in directly to the motherboard is weird - even my homebuilt potato has the motherboard connected to 3.5mm outlets on the case…

These outputs are also not designed to give POWER output, they should really be connected to amplifiers - but OP doesn’t even bother to let us know what is meant by ‘speakers’… for example, my Analog output is connected to Class-C amplification which drives speakers… but some speakers have amplification built in… and some speakers are utter junk.

Basic information should be required for every post, starting with:

inxi -Fazy
System:
  Kernel: 6.11.10+bpo-amd64 arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: N/A
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/@rootfs/boot/vmlinuz-6.11.10+bpo-amd64
    root=UUID=92f1af27-b133-47a1-928d-9091e6d8f89c ro rootflags=subvol=@rootfs
    quiet
  Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 5.27.5 tk: Qt v: 5.15.8 wm: kwin_wayland vt: 1
    dm: SDDM Distro: Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm)
Machine:
  Type: Desktop System: ASUS product: N/A v: N/A serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: ASUSTeK model: TUF GAMING B650-PLUS v: Rev 1.xx
    serial: <superuser required> UEFI: American Megatrends v: 3057
    date: 10/29/2024
Battery:
  Device-1: hidpp_battery_0 model: Logitech Wireless Mouse MX Master 2S
    serial: <filter> charge: 100% (should be ignored) rechargeable: yes
    status: discharging
CPU:
  Info: model: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Zen 4 gen: 5
    level: v4 note: check built: 2022+ process: TSMC n5 (5nm) family: 0x19 (25)
    model-id: 0x61 (97) stepping: 2 microcode: 0xA601209
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 8 tpc: 2 threads: 16 smt: enabled cache:
    L1: 512 KiB desc: d-8x32 KiB; i-8x32 KiB L2: 8 MiB desc: 8x1024 KiB
    L3: 96 MiB desc: 1x96 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 3807 high: 4849 min/max: 545/5050 boost: enabled scaling:
    driver: amd-pstate-epp governor: powersave cores: 1: 4758 2: 4792 3: 4157
    4: 4056 5: 4849 6: 4115 7: 2750 8: 3552 9: 3392 10: 3620 11: 4721 12: 3509
    13: 4646 14: 545 15: 3795 16: 3660 bogomips: 134139
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: itlb_multihit status: Not affected
  Type: l1tf status: Not affected
  Type: mds status: Not affected
  Type: meltdown status: Not affected
  Type: mmio_stale_data status: Not affected
  Type: reg_file_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: retbleed status: Not affected
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow mitigation: Safe RET
  Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via
    prctl
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer
    sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Enhanced / Automatic IBRS; IBPB: conditional;
    STIBP: always-on; RSB filling; PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected; BHI: Not
    affected
  Type: srbds status: Not affected
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: AMD Navi 32 [Radeon RX 7700 XT / 7800 XT] vendor: Sapphire
    driver: amdgpu v: kernel pcie: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16 ports:
    active: DP-1, DP-2, HDMI-A-1, HDMI-A-2 empty: Writeback-1 bus-ID: 03:00.0
    chip-ID: 1002:747e class-ID: 0300
  Display: wayland server: X.org v: 1.21.1.7 with: Xwayland v: 22.1.9
    compositor: kwin_wayland driver: X: loaded: amdgpu
    unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,radeon,vesa dri: radeonsi gpu: amdgpu
    display-ID: 0
  Monitor-1: DP-1 model: Dell U2724D serial: <filter> built: 2024
    res: 2560x1440 dpi: 109 gamma: 1.2 size: 597x336mm (23.5x13.23")
    diag: 685mm (27") ratio: 16:9 modes: max: 2560x1440 min: 720x400
  Monitor-2: DP-2 model: Dell U2724D serial: <filter> built: 2024
    res: 2560x1440 dpi: 109 gamma: 1.2 size: 597x336mm (23.5x13.23")
    diag: 685mm (27") ratio: 16:9 modes: max: 2560x1440 min: 720x400
  Monitor-3: HDMI-A-1 model: AOC 27G2G4 serial: <filter> built: 2020
    res: 1920x1080 dpi: 82 gamma: 1.2 size: 598x336mm (23.54x13.23")
    diag: 686mm (27") ratio: 16:9 modes: max: 1920x1080 min: 720x400
  Monitor-4: HDMI-A-2 model: AOC 27G2G4 serial: <filter> built: 2020
    res: 1920x1080 dpi: 82 gamma: 1.2 size: 598x336mm (23.54x13.23")
    diag: 686mm (27") ratio: 16:9 modes: max: 1920x1080 min: 720x400
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 Mesa 22.3.6 renderer: AMD Radeon Graphics (gfx1101 LLVM
    15.0.6 DRM 3.59 6.11.10+bpo-amd64) direct-render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: AMD Navi 31 HDMI/DP Audio driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie:
    gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 03:00.1 chip-ID: 1002:ab30
    class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: AMD Family 17h/19h HD Audio vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel
    v: kernel pcie: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 0f:00.6
    chip-ID: 1022:15e3 class-ID: 0403
  API: ALSA v: k6.11.10+bpo-amd64 status: kernel-api tools: alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 0.3.65 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse
    status: active 2: wireplumber status: active tools: pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
  Server-2: PulseAudio v: 16.1 status: off (using pipewire-pulse)
    tools: pacat,pactl,pavucontrol
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8125 2.5GbE vendor: ASUSTeK driver: r8169 v: kernel
    pcie: gen: 2 speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: e000 bus-ID: 0a:00.0
    chip-ID: 10ec:8125 class-ID: 0200
  IF: eno1 state: up speed: 2500 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
  IF-ID-1: wt0 state: unknown speed: N/A duplex: N/A mac: N/A
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: ASUSTek ASUS USB-BT500 type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8
    bus-ID: 1-12:4 chip-ID: 0b05:190e class-ID: e001 serial: <filter>
  Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 3.0
    lmp-v: 5.1 sub-v: d922 hci-v: 5.1 rev: dfc6
  Info: acl-mtu: 1021:6 sco-mtu: 255:12 link-policy: rswitch hold sniff park
    link-mode: peripheral accept service-classes: object transfer
RAID:
  Hardware-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Device driver: ahci v: 3.0 port: N/A
    bus-ID: 0d:00.0 chip-ID: 1022:43bd rev: N/A class-ID: 0104
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 6.91 TiB used: 346.87 GiB (4.9%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Kingston model: SKC3000D2048G
    size: 1.86 TiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 63.2 Gb/s
    lanes: 4 type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: EIFK31.6 temp: 36.9 C scheme: GPT
  ID-2: /dev/nvme1n1 maj-min: 259:2 vendor: Kingston model: SKC3000D2048G
    size: 1.86 TiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 63.2 Gb/s
    lanes: 4 type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: EIFK31.6 temp: 26.9 C scheme: GPT
  ID-3: /dev/nvme2n1 maj-min: 259:4 vendor: Western Digital
    model: WD BLACK SN850X 2000GB size: 1.82 TiB block-size: physical: 512 B
    logical: 512 B speed: 63.2 Gb/s lanes: 4 type: SSD serial: <filter>
    rev: 620361WD temp: 33.9 C scheme: GPT
  ID-4: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 type: USB vendor: Seagate model: Expansion
    size: 1.36 TiB block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B type: N/A
    serial: <filter> rev: 9300 scheme: MBR
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 1.76 TiB size: 1.76 TiB (100.00%) used: 9.01 GiB (0.5%)
    fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme2n1p3 maj-min: 259:7
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 953 MiB size: 951.1 MiB (99.80%)
    used: 5.8 MiB (0.6%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/nvme2n1p1 maj-min: 259:5
  ID-3: /home raw-size: 1.86 TiB size: 1.86 TiB (100.00%)
    used: 22.7 GiB (1.2%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 60 (default) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 60.54 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%)
    priority: -2 dev: /dev/nvme2n1p2 maj-min: 259:6
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 44.4 C mobo: N/A gpu: amdgpu temp: 66.0 C
    mem: 64.0 C
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A gpu: amdgpu fan: 0
Info:
  Processes: 454 Uptime: 29m wakeups: 5 Memory: 62.44 GiB
  used: 8.22 GiB (13.2%) Init: systemd v: 252 target: graphical (5)
  default: graphical tool: systemctl Compilers: N/A Packages: pm: dpkg
  pkgs: 2237 libs: 1429 tools: apt,apt-get,aptitude,synaptic Shell: Bash
  v: 5.2.15 running-in: yakuake inxi: 3.3.26

Speakers are the model Argon Audio FENRIS A5

I wonder if this is something about active speakers - I don’t know, because I use a separate amplifier…

But I guess you can check the speakers don’t make a noise from another source, then maybe your computer is power saving by turning audio on and off with a click or something.

Your audio looks familiar - here’s mine:

Audio:
  Device-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Renoir Radeon High Definition
    Audio driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16
    link-max: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s bus-ID: 04:00.1 chip-ID: 1002:1637
    class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 17h/19h/1ah HD Audio
    vendor: ASRock driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s
    lanes: 16 link-max: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s bus-ID: 04:00.6
    chip-ID: 1022:15e3 class-ID: 0403

The same setup didn’t click in windows. But it could perhaps be that windows and linux audio drivers handles the output differently (sleeping output?)

I never get that though - I’m not sure how to troubleshoot that, some other members of Manjaro forum are good troubleshooting Audio (give sound advice lol) but I can only go from experience - Family Audio connected to a Class-D amplifier doesn’t give clicks on a fairly basic Plasma desktop installation.

I wonder about power profiles - it’s a desktop so shouldn’t bother power saving… I’m a bit stumped.

I’ve experienced something similar to what you describe from my 2 screens going into inactive mode and then snapping back quickly. I haven’t been able to get my dual monitors to ‘sleep’ properly after periods of disuse… They mostly stay on, with the little clicks (part of the ‘audio theme’) telling me every time one or the other ‘lights up’ or (briefly) ‘goes dark’.

Im on Fedora KDE 41 right now, dont know if it was a problem with some config on the last installed dist, or if fedora has newer/better fixed versions, but with this installation, i just lock the computer and screens goes to sleep within 60 seconds and stays off until i want them to wake up.