Linux (non-LTS) and GIMP issue?

cbr1_ · 2022-09-20 05:42:39

This is very weird and specific so I doubt anyone here knows what's going on but it's worth a shot. It only happens with arch's non LTS kernel and GIMP. Weird combination I know but hear me out:

Whenever I open GIMP on Archlinux I hear a couple of very short, faint (but enough to be audible in silence) high pitched sounds coming from my PC (coil whine? it doesn't sound quite like the examples I see on YouTube but maybe it's different in person.). It also happens when its gtk file picker generates a new thumbnail or when I save/export an image.

Now the wierd part is that with the LTS kernel it doesn't do that. On Windows it also doesn't happen and even stranger if I run GIMP from an AppImage the issue also goes away. It only happens with the official GIMP package from Arch. I've tried opening/saving files with other programs such as Krita, Chromium, etc and none of them do this.

Another clue is that if I set my CPU governor to powersave the sound goes away. (I can use anything from powersave to performance on the LTS kernel without it happening). I'm very confused as to why GIMP of all programs would be affected by whatever this is?.

Looking at the linux package changes recently, the only thing "out of the ordinary" I see is that "NO_HZ_FULL" is now enabled. I have no idea how this works but could that have something to do with it? Is there a way to "disable" that option without recompiling the kernel just to test?

**EDIT: The NO_HZ_FULL thing had nothing to do with it I guess. I installed the last kernel before that change (5.18) and the problem was still there. However, I installed 5.17 and the problem went away. Anything 5.18 and beyond is where the issue happens for me so now i'm even more at a loss lol.

Last edited by cbr1_ (2022-09-20 06:18:00)

seth · 2022-09-20 07:39:23

Do you accidentally use the software rasterizer?

glxinfo -B

Maniaxx · 2022-09-20 08:12:00

Do you have a mechanical hdd? Gimp might create a high amount of unbuffered(!) random writes that could cause unhealthy hdd noises (especially during startup or closure phase). This might be caused by dconf.

Arch Linux

#1 2022-09-20 05:42:39

Linux (non-LTS) and GIMP issue?

#2 2022-09-20 07:39:23

Re: Linux (non-LTS) and GIMP issue?

#3 2022-09-20 08:12:00

Re: Linux (non-LTS) and GIMP issue?

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