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Click sound

Posted: Tue Sep 10, 2019 1:14 am
by derek
I have an IPC3 running Ubuntu 19.04, and sound output is via the analogue port.

From time to time I get two click sounds one after the other in quick succession.

Is this intentional? i.e. some alert or notification sound that is attempting to tell me something. If so, what?

Is this a bug?

I have a vague impression that the sound is output once each time an application starts to output sound, including once when booting, but then it will also happen again with a given application after some time has elapsed.

I have not encountered this issue before but too many things have changed (new computer, Ubuntu installed from scratch, all other software installed from scratch, all settings from scratch) so I don't even know whether it's hardware or software.

Re: Click sound

Posted: Tue Sep 10, 2019 8:20 am
by tamir
The IPC3 has no moving part except for a possible HDD installed on your machine that could make a tick noise, this could be easily checked by either removing it or testing another.

Another option is that you might hear a tick that the coil may produce when electricity flow through it - That's normal.

Re: Click sound

Posted: Tue Sep 10, 2019 9:47 am
by derek
tamir wrote:The IPC3 has no moving part except for a possible HDD installed on your machine
No HDD. Disk is M.2. There are no moving parts. It is perhaps that very silence that allows me to hear the clicks.

I think the click sound is coming from the speakers.

Simply opening up Settings / Sound is often enough to exhibit the problem.

Re: Click sound

Posted: Tue Sep 10, 2019 1:49 pm
by tamir
This could be related to the 3.5 audio jack.
Have you tried using headphones or other audio device to see if you exhibit the same behavior?

Re: Click sound

Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2019 5:28 am
by derek
tamir wrote:Have you tried using headphones or other audio device to see if you exhibit the same behavior?
Disconnecting the speakers from the analogue audio port and plugging in headphones seems to exhibit the same problem.

Connecting the speakers to the monitor and changing sound output to be via HDMI does not seem to exhibit the problem (but HDMI sound output doesn't seem to work properly at all - sound missing at the beginning of a clip - so playing an MP3 file is OK but notification sounds are hit and miss and the "Test" button on Settings / Sound, which plays "Front Left" and "Front Right", is flaky).

So the problem seems to stay with the analogue audio port rather than moving with the speakers. That still doesn't say whether it is hardware or software.

I don't have any USB-based audio output device, so can't try that.

Re: Click sound

Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2019 11:22 am
by tamir
I have consulted the project manager regarding this.
This is apparently an electrical noise coming from digital circuits leaking to the analogue which result in audible noise coming from the audio device.

Re: Click sound

Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2019 7:49 am
by derek
Any insight into why HDMI sound output does not work properly? Do you experience that problem or is it just me?

If one or the other worked, I wouldn't mind - it's just a question of whether the speakers are plugged directly into the IPC3 or plugged into the monitor.

Re: Click sound

Posted: Wed Sep 18, 2019 3:30 pm
by tamir
Please try to test the HDMI audio output via Linux mint LiveUSB environment which is known to work well.
Alternatively you could also check in known to work Windows environment if possible to eliminate SW issues.

Linux mint installation guide:
http://fit-pc.com/wiki/index.php?title= ... _Mint_19.1

Windows installation guide:
http://fit-pc.com/wiki/index.php?title= ... _UEFI_mode

Re: Click sound

Posted: Tue Sep 24, 2019 10:23 pm
by derek
Mint 19.1 Live and Ubuntu 19.04 Live both exhibit the same problem. Repeatedly playing "Front Left" (or "Front Right") gives inconsistent behaviour. Sometimes it comes out correctly and sometimes the first part of the audio clip is missing. (This is particularly bad for the "alert sound" since the first part of the audio clip may be almost all of the audio clip!)

Because the speakers themselves work when connected to the analog audio out port (other than the original problem that I was reporting!), I am wondering whether it is a problem with my monitor (or maybe my HDMI cable).

I will try to test with another monitor, if I can get one.

Re: Click sound

Posted: Wed Sep 25, 2019 7:32 am
by derek
I have been able to get hold of a USB device that gives a 3.5mm analog audio output port. I will test that over the next several days. However initial testing suggests that it works !! (no sporadic click sounds as with the built-in analog audio output port; no dropping of the first part of the audio as with HDMI audio output).

Assuming that this USB device tests out OK, it is a lot cheaper than getting a new monitor, but I will still try to borrow another monitor to test.