MInt 20 and 21 - A possible solution for the Sound 'stuttering' Audio Problem

[rossdv8]

There has been an annoying Sound problem plaguing some Mint users and Ubuntu users (I haven't checked other distros) for the last couple of years, where something is playing audio and it plays a short time. But then it might seem to stutter, repeating the last bit ast bi of a sentence or song or piece of music. Just enough to annoy the person listening. that 'ast bi' was an example of what it would sound like if this post was being read.

Some members, including me, have given advice in this forum based on our experiences. It has driven me bonkers trying to work out why, out of several machines running Mint 20 and now 21, only one had the problem.
A BRIX running Mint 20 was ok, and still ok after upgrade to Mint 21.
A Lenovo m93p Tiny running Mint 20 had the problem, so I started running multimedia through the BRIX over VNC. Upgrading the m93p to Mint 21 seemed to fix it for a while, but suddenly it started doing the same thing.
A Raspberry Pi (not running Mint) was immune.
A Lenovo m900 Tiny put into service because I wanted to see what a fresh install of Mint 21 would be like (and because I've had a brand new 2TB SSD lying on the bench looking bored) did NOT have the problem. So I rotated the BRIX out of service and hooked the m900 up on VNC while I did the install.

What I learned initially was that the problem seems isolated to the m93p. Until today!. Today I was messing around with the m93p (that HAS the sound problem) and Right Clicking the networking icon in the system tray I saw the [x] Enable WiFi was checked ON. as was the [x] Enable Networking.
I have no reason to bother with WiFi on the m93p for now, and I usually turn it OFF whenever I install an OS unless I plan to use WIFI Internet.
So, I turned [ ] Enable WiFi OFF

I thought nothing of it until I was watching a video on YouTube. I have got so used to the annoying stuttering that I rarely notice it these days, mostly because I can play almost all of my multimedia over 'fast VNC' in a Virtual Desktop window. I realised I had not heard a stutter for a while. At the moment, I am hoping I haven't jinxed this situation - but I am writing this up
1) to remind me that I am monitoring thisa in case it works.
2) in case someone else with the problem tries it (and posts success or otherwise)

It would be interesting to know if turning WiFi networking OFF fixes the problem, and assuming it is confined to specific chisets, which models of computer, and chipsets are (and are not) affected.

I'll keep checking audio over the next week or so and post again. I would be interested to see if anyone else that had this problem tries Un Checking Enable WiFi, and if it works.

This problem is reported across a number of forums on different distros, and a topic can be found in somewhere in Mint forum. I didn;t want to bury it in the middle of something that can't be found again though, just in case it turns out to be correct.

[AZgl1800]

I thought it was a problem with the YT guys and wind blowing across their microphones.

very annoying

[rossdv8]

You just reminded me to fire up a YouTube Playlist to see if yesterday's success was a fluke.
So far 'Sweet Home Alabama was got through the first couple of minutes without a glitch. If I get through enough music today with no stuttering, I will Enable WiFi and see what happens. I want to give it a fair go though - especially as this is the first time in a couple of years I have had uninterrupted streaming music (YouTube OR direct from HDD) on this machine.

OK - Just finished a full song and into Copperhead Road. Still no hiccups / stuttering I'm a 'Happy Little Vegemite' !

If it solves the problem I'll post the full system specs.
For now though the Audio chip is supposed to be:
Integrated Audio (ALC283)
- (Intel Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor HD Audio)
running ALSA and Pipewire with PulseAudio.

Just finished the 4th song (The Wandering Wobblies) and into the fifth - so about 20 minutes without a single glitch.

I'd suggest if anyone is experiencing that annoying sound issue - it is definitely worth Disabling WiFi for now, or possibly checking if anything is messing with your WiFi Frequency (2.4GHz or 5GHz on most systems).
Maybe, if your computer AND router have both frequencies available, DISCONNECT WiFi - then CONNECT to the alternate frequency.

As someone who was trained as a radio Technician in the 70s just before I started working with computers, these are just my thoughts on possible reasons and solutions seeing that Disabling WiFi seems to be working for me, and I can't see any logical reason other than Wireless Interference that might cause it.

Over 30 minutes without an audio glitch now

[AZgl1800]

We only have Cellular Wireless available in our area.
Fibreglass Cable is just a figment of my imagination, and memory left over from moving out of Phoenix, AZ 12 years ago....

So, you can imagine how frustrated I was after enjoying Cox Cable for two decades, then moving to a rural area where I had two choices.

1) ATT ADSL with a max of 10 down, and 1 to 5 up.

2) Satellite with a huge Latency, and horrible speeds and when a storm moved in, the signal disappeared for up to an hour or more.

Then 10 years later, the Cellular carriers started to appear, and we crawled along with 5 dn and 0.5 to 1 up normally.

then about a year ago, T-Mobile opened with their 600mHz so called 5g speeds....
we actually now get up to 120 down and maybe 10 to 15 up, when the gods smile on us.

I have two T-Mobile 5g hotspots which give us 30 down usually.
One T-Mobile Gateway which now gives us about 100-110 down most of the time, and 10% of that is the Throttle limit for uploads.

Last July, Verizon offered me a Gateway and I jumped on it....
it is slower than T-Mobile, but immensely more stable, and has never once, lost sync with the Verizon servers.

each of those has 2.4 and 5g WiFi bands available....
I bounce back and forth between them, when the audio burbles, one seems to always be a bit better at times, than the others do.

I am keeping all of them, as it gives us full time Internet, no matter how bad the storms get...
T-Mobile seems to go down for upwards of an hour at times, and the Customer Service response is always the same, " oh, there is a crew there working on the tower".

uh huh, I can see the tower, and no one is there, period.
Verizon? slow, but never, ever, drops out.

When things are good, I always use the T-Mobile 5g WiFi as it is 5 times faster than the other WiFi signals.


.

[rossdv8]

That's why I added the last bit about WiFi interference on different frequencies.

This post is ONLY for those who have the Audio Stuttering problem that has plagued Mint and Ubuntu for the last couple of years.

I probably should have suggested that people like you for whom Unchecking [ ] Enable WiFi solved the audio stuttering problem, but who rely on WiFi for their Internet, could not only try logging in to their Router with a different frequency (if the router and the computer allow that), but to explore setting the router to broadcast on a different channel. Info will be available in the router's manual or online.

For the moment though, Disabling WiFi solves the problem on 'my' computer. Now I have to find out why the problem exists in the first place.
Is it an Audio chip or driver problem? (unlikely)
Is it a problem with Interference? (very likely)
If it is interference, is it something like the Amazon Alexa devices on WiFi? (in my case the problem was there long before I got them)
Is it one of my other computers with WiFi enabled? (not in this case - they are ALL disabled)
Is it the Microwave? (unlikely - too far away)
Another router on the same frequencies and channels? (There are a couple on either sides with neighbours so that is possible)

WiFi DOES however seem to be the cause. Now it is a process of elimination.

Disabling WiFi in the Network Applet could at least give someone suffering the inconvenience of this problem, a decent first step before they start messing with config files.

[AZgl1800]

I forgot to mention,

that I have turned the WiFi OFF, then back ON....
did not keep any records as to whether that resolves the stuttering issue.

Changing to a Different Wireless Modem and its' WiFi seems to fix it.


I have quite a few available to me tonight, one of the Hotspots is OFF, this week....
it is used normally to take with me when away from the house

the 'C227' is the T-Mobile Gateway

[AZgl1800]

for me,
the Stutter is gone,

this is just one of the musicals I have been listening to tonight,
out of at least 20 or more

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehQb3zQkUIc

[giordano]

Turning Wi-fi Notifications (right click on XFCE, 20.3 Una) worked for me.

Curiously only *audio* seemed to be effected. Firefox/Chromium video seemed ok. Although I didn't test video extensively, cold restarts didn't help my VLC and Celluloid mp3 streams. But toggling the Wi-fi notifications does seem to have worked.

[rossdv8]

I haven't had the problem at all since upgrading to Mint 21.1. Don;t know if it was fixed in a Mint / Ubunti fix, or if it was fixed in some other upgrade.
Whatever it is, both my systems m900 series systems with iNtel boards are working perfectly since 21.1