[SOLVED] Logging into Fidelity Netbenefits website causes static in audio

[RJEinATX]

This is a strange one:
1) I have Linux Mint 19.3 Cinnamon and 20.2 Cinnamon installed on separate SSDs, and the issue is the same on both versions, using FireFox browser
2) I'm usually listening to music on YouTube as I browse the Internet, and my audio sounds great
3) The moment that I log into Fidelity NetBenefits, I get horrible static in my audio
4) No other website does this, only Fidelity NetBenefits: https://login.fidelity.com/ftgw/Fas/Fid ... Login/Init
5) Sometimes the static disappears once I close out the Fidelity page, but more likely than not I have to close and re-open the YouTube audio track page also
6) I'm using the integrated audio on an ASUS M5A99FX PRO R2.0 motherboard, BIOS is up to date
7) All Linux updates have been applied

How do I troubleshoot / resolve this? Or how do I find out what the Fidelity NetBenefits website is doing behind the scenes to mess with my audio?

rje@rje-desktop-LM20:~$ /sbin/lsmod | grep snd
snd_hda_codec_hdmi 61440 1
snd_hda_codec_realtek 131072 1
snd_hda_codec_generic 81920 1 snd_hda_codec_realtek
ledtrig_audio 16384 2 snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_hda_codec_realtek
snd_hda_intel 53248 6
snd_intel_dspcfg 28672 1 snd_hda_intel
snd_hda_codec 135168 4 snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec_realtek
snd_hda_core 90112 5 snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_codec_realtek
snd_usb_audio 270336 1
snd_seq_midi 20480 0
snd_usbmidi_lib 36864 1 snd_usb_audio
snd_seq_midi_event 16384 1 snd_seq_midi
snd_hwdep 20480 2 snd_usb_audio,snd_hda_codec
snd_pcm 106496 6 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel,snd_usb_audio,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_core
mc 53248 5 videodev,snd_usb_audio,videobuf2_v4l2,uvcvideo,videobuf2_common
snd_rawmidi 36864 2 snd_seq_midi,snd_usbmidi_lib
snd_seq 69632 2 snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_seq_device 16384 3 snd_seq,snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi
snd_timer 36864 2 snd_seq,snd_pcm
snd 90112 26 snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_seq,snd_seq_device,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hwdep,snd_hda_intel,snd_usb_audio,snd_usbmidi_lib,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_timer,snd_pcm,snd_rawmidi
soundcore 16384 1 snd


rje@rje-desktop-LM20:~$ inxi -Fxxxrz
System:
Kernel: 5.4.0-89-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.3.0
Desktop: Cinnamon 5.0.6 wm: muffin 5.0.2 dm: LightDM 1.30.0
Distro: Linux Mint 20.2 Uma base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal
Machine:
Type: Desktop Mobo: ASUSTeK model: M5A99FX PRO R2.0 v: Rev 1.xx
serial: <filter> BIOS: American Megatrends v: 2501 date: 04/07/2014
CPU:
Topology: 8-Core model: AMD FX-8320 bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Bulldozer
L2 cache: 2048 KiB
flags: avx lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm
bogomips: 56188
Speed: 3854 MHz min/max: 1400/3500 MHz boost: enabled Core speeds (MHz):
1: 1628 2: 2097 3: 1404 4: 1403 5: 1494 6: 1424 7: 1404 8: 1404
Graphics:
Device-1: NVIDIA GM107 [GeForce GTX 750 Ti] vendor: eVga.com.
driver: nouveau v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.0 chip ID: 10de:1380
Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.11 driver: modesetting
unloaded: fbdev,vesa resolution: 1680x1050~75Hz
OpenGL: renderer: NV117 v: 4.3 Mesa 21.0.3 direct render: Yes
Audio:
Device-1: AMD SBx00 Azalia vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
bus ID: 00:14.2 chip ID: 1002:4383
Device-2: NVIDIA GM107 High Definition Audio [GeForce 940MX]
vendor: eVga.com. driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.1
chip ID: 10de:0fbc
Device-3: Logitech HD Webcam C910 type: USB driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo
bus ID: 8-2:2 chip ID: 046d:0821 serial: <filter>
Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-89-generic
Network:
Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
vendor: ASUSTeK P8 series driver: r8169 v: kernel port: c000
bus ID: 09:00.0 chip ID: 10ec:8168
IF: enp9s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 1.84 TiB used: 436.25 GiB (23.2%)
ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Kingston model: SA400S37960G size: 894.25 GiB
speed: 6.0 Gb/s serial: <filter> rev: 2101 scheme: GPT
ID-2: /dev/sdb vendor: Samsung model: SSD 850 EVO 500GB size: 465.76 GiB
speed: 6.0 Gb/s serial: <filter> rev: 3B6Q scheme: MBR
ID-3: /dev/sdc vendor: Samsung model: SSD 850 EVO 500GB size: 465.76 GiB
speed: 6.0 Gb/s serial: <filter> rev: 2B6Q scheme: MBR
ID-4: /dev/sdd type: USB vendor: SanDisk model: Cruzer size: 58.42 GiB
serial: <filter> rev: 1.00 scheme: MBR
Partition:
ID-1: / size: 869.37 GiB used: 49.49 GiB (5.7%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda4
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 28.2 C mobo: N/A gpu: nouveau temp: 29 C
Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Repos:
No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list
Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-earth-pro.list
1: deb [arch=amd64] http://dl.google.com/linux/earth/deb/ stable main
Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list
1: deb http://packages.linuxmint.com uma main upstream import backport #id:linuxmint_main
2: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal main restricted universe multiverse
3: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates main restricted universe multiverse
4: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-backports main restricted universe multiverse
5: deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-security main restricted universe multiverse
6: deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ focal partner
Info:
Processes: 267 Uptime: 2d 41m Memory: 15.54 GiB used: 5.50 GiB (35.4%)
Init: systemd v: 245 runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.3.0 alt: 9 Shell: bash
v: 5.0.17 running in: gnome-terminal inxi: 3.0.38

[xenopeek]

4) No other website does this, only Fidelity NetBenefits: https://login.fidelity.com/ftgw/Fas/Fid ... Login/Init

That's a broken link. Is this the correct link?
https://login.fidelity.com/ftgw/Fas/Fidelity/IspCust/Login/Init

It's a curious problem. Can you reproduce it with a different web browser? For example try Chromium.

[rene]

It's going to be an audio resampling issue and while I've not experienced the issue I believe that you may be helped by in Firefox's "about:config" setting "media.webspeech.synth.enabled" to "false" (and supposedly restarting Firefox).

[RJEinATX]

Thanks for the answers!

Yes, https://login.fidelity.com/ftgw/Fas/Fid ... Login/Init is the correct link.

I tried it in Chrome and the issue did not reproduce.

I set Firefox's "about:config" setting "media.webspeech.synth.enabled" to "false" , and the issue seems to have disappeared. YAY!!! And thanks!!!