Arch Linux

marissachan9

Member

Registered: 2021-05-10

Posts: 9

Audio randomly stops working for a short moment

I have issues with a rather fresh Arch Linux installation on my Desktop. I do consider the possibility it might be related to my hardware (cpu + mainboard combination in fact)

Sometimes, especially when watching a video on Youtube (tested with both Firefox and Google Chrome, Inkognito Mode and fresh profiles) the audio on my system stops completely for half a second and then works again normally. It is not only the audio from my browser, that stops, but other programs (like Jellyfin) also stop outputting any sound in that brief moment. (Something that is also interesting is that the Chat output of the headset has some very weird "crackle", while the Game output works fine. But that is probably a different issue, something that can be fixed by forcing a specific sampling rate?)

Software:
OS: Arch Linux x86_64
Kernel: 6.0.6-zen1-1-zen
DE: GNOME 43.0
WM: Mutter
Windowing System: X11
Audiosystem: Pipewire + WirePlumber

Hardware:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600G with Radeon Graphics (12) @ 4.464GHz
GPU: AMD ATI 09:00.0 Cezanne
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650
Memory: 5990MiB / 31501MiB
Mainboard: AsRock B550M Pro4
Headset: SteelSeries Arctis 9

I also do not know in which logs I could look. I assume Pipewire would be a good start but nothing popped up with any of the following commands when the audio froze for a short moment:
  journalctl --user -b -u pipewire
  journalctl --user -b -u pipewire-pulse
  journalctl --user -b -u wireplumber

I do consider the possibility, that the issue is related to USB due to other "weird" issues I have, including:
- System becoming very slow when dd-ing something to a USB Stick
- Mouse becomes unresponsive sometimes randomly for a very brief moment
It turns out that there apparently was a rather big bug with Ryzen and B550-Mainboards (https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/k … herboards/) which might explain that. But I do have the latest Firmware updates installed on my mainboard, and apparently the firmware 1.90 should have fixed that.

Would be great if somebody could give me an idea what I could look into

tpfkanep

Member

From: South Africa

Registered: 2009-12-15

Posts: 134

Re: Audio randomly stops working for a short moment

Just finished my 1st build (LOL, cable management) with same Mobo and 4600G CPU. Not a fresh install, just plopped in my previous Intel HDD and all was woking out of the box. No discreet GPU though.

Using sway with

Qs pulse

local/libcanberra 1:0.30+r2+gc0620e4-3
    A small and lightweight implementation of the XDG Sound Theme Specification
local/libpulse 16.1-3
    A featureful, general-purpose sound server (client library)
local/pavucontrol 1:5.0+r61+gee77d86-2
    PulseAudio Volume Control
local/pulseaudio 16.1-3
    A featureful, general-purpose sound server
local/pulseaudio-bluetooth 16.1-3
    Bluetooth support for PulseAudio

Qs pipew

local/libwireplumber 0.4.13-1
    Session / policy manager implementation for PipeWire - client library
local/pipewire 1:0.3.65-6
    Low-latency audio/video router and processor

I was going to create a thread about help getting rid of all the intel modules that I see related to sound... but I might not after reading your thread . I use cheap wired stereo speakers plugged into the Mobo.

Have also not experienced your USB issues, except for the "mouse becomes unresponsive" bit. I have a wireless KB+M combo, and after experiencing weird lag for KB, plugged the USB receiver into a USB extension cable and no problems since.

Seeing that yours was a fresh install, I'm sure the amd-ucode package is installed? Dunno if that can affect audio.