Arch Linux

SimonT

Member

Registered: 2015-01-26

Posts: 18

White noise after entering Firefox Reader view

I've had this problem for a long time - at least a year - but didn't bother trying to fix it since a rarely use Reader view.

I use a laptop and when i enter Reader view in Firefox a white noise starts in my headphones or speakers (whichever is connected to the audio jack). It only happens the first time I enter Reader view after restarting the computer. And the only thing that causes it is entering Reader view.

The white noise seems to be some kind of echo of the sound that is supposed to be playing from the computer. When I pause the music or whatever is playing the noise goes away after a couple of seconds but starts again when I resume playing. If there are just sparse beats in the music there will be pauses in the noise. So the noise seems to be delayed distorted echoes of the audio output.

One way to get rid of the noise is to pull out the audio plug for a couple of seconds and then plug it back in (if I don't wait long enough the noise remains).

Odysseus

Member

Registered: 2009-02-15

Posts: 141

Re: White noise after entering Firefox Reader view

Make sure you do not have any mic or line-in inputs un-muted in the playback view of alsamixer. If you use pulseaudio, switch to your actual audio hardware by pressing F6.
Also double check in pavucontrol that you do not have any output monitors enabled in your recording inputs.

I suspect there is some internal feedback loop that can get turned-on / enabled when your start reader view.

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I'm the type to fling myself headlong through the magical wardrobe, and then incinerate the ornate mahogany portal behind me with a Molotov cocktail.

SimonT

Member

Registered: 2015-01-26

Posts: 18

Re: White noise after entering Firefox Reader view

I looked at the playback view for my audio hardware in alsamixer. It has seven settings: Master, Headphone, Speaker, PCM, Mic Boost, Auto-Mute, and Loopback Mixing. I've tried setting Mic Boost to zero and disabling Loopback Mixing but the problem remains.

There's nothing under the "Recording" tab in pavucontrol.

The weird thing is that doing almost anything in these programs will make the noise disappear. The first time I started pavucontrol while the noise was there, it disappeared. But the second time I did the same thing it didn't affect the noise. Just raising or lowering the "Master" or "Headphone" volume in alsamixer can also make the noise disappear (both for Pulseudio and for my real audio hardware).