Fixing the buzzing noise from speakers in Linux

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Moonraker
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Fixing the buzzing noise from speakers in Linux

Post by Moonraker »

(If this is in the wrong forum, my apologies; please move it to a more relevant forum.)

I noticed this issue started (for me) with the latest Mint update, and I thought the fix was worth sharing.
Originally found at this URL, I've condensed it a bit for readability: https://itsfoss.com/buzzing-noise-speaker-linux/

The problem is that often when audio starts playing, it fades in with a loud buzzing noise.

The root cause of the issue is because of capacitor discharge in the speakers, and it can be solved by turning off the power-saving setting of a sound card. By turning off power saving, you are allowing the system to constantly keep the sound card powered up (the normal state).

You can check whether the power-saving setting for the sound card is enabled on your system by using the given command (this may or may not need to be run as root):

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cat /sys/module/snd_hda_intel/parameters/power_save


if you get "1" as the output, then power saving is turned on. Switch to the root user:

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sudo su
Execute the command below, and it should stop the buzzing sound until the next boot:

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echo 0 > /sys/module/snd_hda_intel/parameters/power_save 
If you're using a USB sound card, you have to interchange 'snd_hda_intel' with 'snd_usb_audio' as shown here:

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echo 0 > /sys/module/snd_usb_audio/parameters/power_save 
Fixing the buzzing noise issue (permanently)
All this requires is for you make a minor change in kernel parameters. Change your working directory to:

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cd /etc/modprobe.d
And now, create a new file named audio_disable_powersave.conf and open with the nano text editor using the given command:

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sudo nano audio_disable_powersave.conf
Save the changes and exit the Nano text editor by pressing Ctrl+X keys. Reboot your system, and enjoy a noise-free workspace.

Hope this helps someone; it drove me bonkers until I found this fix.
Last edited by SMG on Thu Apr 18, 2024 8:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Moved from Other Topics to Sound because the issue is removing a buzzing sound coming from speakers.
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gigabitnick
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Re: Fixing the buzzing noise from speakers in Linux

Post by gigabitnick »

This works on Kubuntu. Thank you very much, I've been dealing with the buzzing on my Dell laptop for a while now and this instantly fixed it.
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