Crackling sound in games

[Knight of Virtuosity]

Some games make this, it happened to me once before. I restart the computer, then no problem. Then, when I reenter the game, it crackles again. Not all games, just some. I don't want to make false predictions, but I do hope you do something about it. Restarting steam has no effect. Restarting computer solves it for a bit, but not for long. Thank you for your help in advance, I don't know what is causing this. I'm using Ubuntu 14.04.4

[Zyro]

I had this with mixer settings too high, and it may even be the wiring.
Does the same happen fro MP3, Youtube, ...?

[Knight of Virtuosity]

No, nothing. All other things work well.

[Vince ✟]

I'll try this fix out as well.

I have been having the exact same issue as the OP. It happens while playing Pillars of Eternity on a relatively new Ubuntu 14.0.4. installation. I am using the Nvidia proprietary/tested driver 352.63 for HD audio and even went so far as to remove and reinstall all pulseaudio related packages. Hopefully this fixes it, thank you!

Also for me, a short workaround to rebooting has been to launch an MP3 file then go back to gaming. The MP3 plays fine and temp fixes the issue for another 30-45 min.

[Vince ✟]

I went with the 48000 and changed the subsequent numbers to 8,1 and am having no problems now. I assume that these types of configurations change from system to system but overall the process of elimination is the same. Thank you for your help! I have had no more problems today.





EDIT":

I am still having these issues, but not as often. I can hear an audible clip and then a recovery of what sounds like my driver restarting over about 1 second, then all is well again. This happens about 1-2 times per 6-8 hour session. Only a few times have I had the static. This is still an issue either way.

14..0.4 Ubuntu.

[lnxpnk]

Same bug here, will try to edit pulse daemon.config file and post my results. Thanx for posting about the bug.

[DIRT]

The crackling bug has been in there ever since they switched to pulseaudio. Easiest way to fix is to install pulse audio volume control (pavucontrol) go the the output tab, switch the output to headphones then back to line out. Sometimes muting and unmuting an application fixes it. Skype is notorious for crackling sound on linux. I'm not sure how capable the sound management in unity is but i imagine you can switch the line out to headphones somewhere.

Or remove pulse audio if you hate it. Lubuntu uses alsa by default.. I like pulse for use on desktops so I keep it installed.

[lnxpnk]

I tried the above solution, with different values for default-fragments and default-fragment-size-msec to no avail.

[lnxpnk]

Any ideas? I have a way to powerfull rig to be having latency problems, I am using the low latency kernel. My take is missing/conflicting libraries. Any new work arounds?

I experience the bug in some games, not all. Mostly unity engine games, but not all unity engine games, and some games that are not unity.

[lnxpnk]

node357 eredeti hozzászólása:

i really thought this was gonna be the year where dual-booting wouldn't be needed. damn it. maybe the new Slackware release works better.

Ironicaly enough, I get the bug in Cannabalt and some low graphic games, but 3D games as Verdún, Metro 2033 or Insurgency (that are more demanding) run great. That's why I don't think is latency (at least in my case).

[Vince ✟]

I haven't noticed it yet in my two short days of using Xenial release but can say that my above post stood correct in that I never resolved the issue while using Trusty Thar. Staying subbed to this, I have a feeling I'm not done here either.

Good luck, I wish I could help troubleshoot but I've got very little experience still.

[Long Ago [Linux]]

I have only had 2 sound issues in Ubuntu 14.04 and that may be indirectly. Since Hammer is Windows only, if I edit a large Portal 2 map in Hammer in playonlinux, and without closing that play the map in Portal2 in playonlinux, the audio randomly glitches (garbled) or sometimes works fine. I think playonlinux 32-bit only.

The other issue is that Linux WebEx is a 32-bit only Java app. So when I start a WebEx session (live or recorded) in 32-bit Ubuntu 14.04 in a virtual box of 64-bit Ubuntu 14.04 host, the audio is usually garbled for awhile before it sync's to normal. I am using Oracle Java 8 because that is required for my Linux Java stock trading platform (thinkorswim).

I have not noticed any audio issues with native Linux Steam games (the Portal2 audio glitch does not happen in the Linux version, only the Windows version in playonlinux). Maybe it runs low on 32-bit RAM when both Hammer and Portal2 run in playonlinux at the same time.

[DIRT]

Um I forgot pulse does have a latency feature. Can you check if there is any latency in pavucontrol under the "output devices" tab?

[thedanyes]

DIRT eredeti hozzászólása:

The crackling bug has been in there ever since they switched to pulseaudio. Easiest way to fix is to install pulse audio volume control (pavucontrol) go the the output tab, switch the output to headphones then back to line out. Sometimes muting and unmuting an application fixes it. Skype is notorious for crackling sound on linux. I'm not sure how capable the sound management in unity is but i imagine you can switch the line out to headphones somewhere.

Or remove pulse audio if you hate it. Lubuntu uses alsa by default.. I like pulse for use on desktops so I keep it installed.

This was a great tip. I've been encountering issues getting audio in the Steam client itself to play and problems getting Darkest Dungeon to even start up because of audio. Just going into the Audio Preferences screen, selecting my usb headset as default output and clicking to test it immediately (temporarily) solves the problem for me. Thank you Dirt!

[Knight of Virtuosity]

Guys, I won't tweak my system just because of Steam! Fix it, please, OK? I have learned programming, it is not even a matter of time, it is a matter of care. After a lot of time, it is truly frustrating, sorry about me, raging out on you!

[lnxpnk]

Grammar Bane Lord eredeti hozzászólása:

Guys, I won't tweak my system just because of Steam! Fix it, please, OK? I have learned programming, it is not even a matter of time, it is a matter of care. After a lot of time, it is truly frustrating, sorry about me, raging out on you!:manualdetonator:

Some games that crackle on Steam native don't crackle on Wine :-/