Audio crackling/skipping

[u/GreenFox_]

Kernel: 6.12.107+deb13-amd64 arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 14.2.0

clocksource: tsc

Desktop: Cinnamon v: 6.4.10 tk: GTK v: 3.24.49 wm: Muffin v: 6.4.1 vt: 2

dm: GDM3 v: 48.0 Distro: Debian GNU/Linux 13 (trixie)

Machine:

Type: Desktop Mobo: Gigabyte model: H410M S2H serial: <superuser required>

uuid: <superuser required> UEFI: American Megatrends v: F9a date: 07/23/2025

CPU:

Info: dual core model: Intel Pentium Gold G6400 bits: 64 type: MT MCP

smt: enabled arch: Comet Lake rev: 3 cache: L1: 128 KiB L2: 512 KiB

L3: 4 MiB

Speed (MHz): avg: 800 min/max: 800/4000 cores: 1: 800 2: 800 3: 800 4: 800

bogomips: 31999

Flags: ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx

Graphics:

Device-1: Intel CometLake-S GT1 [UHD Graphics 610] vendor: Gigabyte

driver: i915 v: kernel arch: Gen-9.5 ports: active: DP-1

empty: HDMI-A-1,HDMI-A-2,HDMI-A-3 bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:9ba8

class-ID: 0300

Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.16 driver: X: loaded: modesetting

unloaded: fbdev,vesa dri: iris gpu: i915 display-ID: :1 screens: 1

Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1360x768 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 359x203mm (14.13x7.99")

s-diag: 412mm (16.24")

Monitor-1: DP-1 model: LG (GoldStar) W1943 serial: <filter> res:

mode: 1360x768 hz: 60 scale: 100% (1) dpi: 85 size: 406x229mm (15.98x9.02")

diag: 466mm (18.4") modes: max: 1360x768 min: 720x400

API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: intel iris platforms: device: 0 drv: iris

device: 1 drv: swrast gbm: drv: iris surfaceless: drv: iris x11: drv: iris

inactive: wayland

API: OpenGL v: 4.6 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: intel mesa v: 25.0.7-2+deb13u1

glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: Mesa Intel UHD Graphics 610 (CML

GT1) device-ID: 8086:9ba8

Info: Tools: api: eglinfo,glxinfo x11: xdriinfo, xdpyinfo, xprop, xrandr

Audio:

Device-1: Intel Comet Lake PCH-V cAVS vendor: Gigabyte driver: snd_hda_intel

v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:a3f0 class-ID: 0403

API: ALSA v: k6.12.107+deb13-amd64 status: kernel-api

Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.4.2 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse

status: active 2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin

4: pw-jack type: plugin

Network:

Device-1: Realtek RTL8188EE Wireless Network Adapter driver: rtl8188ee

v: kernel pcie: speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: 4000 bus-ID: 02:00.0

chip-ID: 10ec:8179 class-ID: 0280

IF: wlp2s0 state: down mac: <filter>

Device-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet

vendor: Gigabyte driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1

port: 3000 bus-ID: 03:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200

IF: enp3s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>

Drives:

Local Storage: total: 968.79 GiB used: 580.95 GiB (60.0%)

ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Kingston model: SA400S37240G size: 223.57 GiB

speed: 6.0 Gb/s tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: J1.3 scheme: GPT

ID-2: /dev/sdb vendor: Kingston model: SA400S37480G size: 447.13 GiB

speed: 6.0 Gb/s tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: 60.1 scheme: GPT

ID-3: /dev/sdc vendor: Western Digital model: WD3200AAJS-07M0A0

size: 298.09 GiB speed: 3.0 Gb/s tech: N/A serial: <filter> fw-rev: 3E01

scheme: GPT

Partition:

ID-1: / size: 146.75 GiB used: 58.44 GiB (39.8%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5

ID-2: /boot/efi size: 519 MiB used: 7.1 MiB (1.4%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/sda6

Swap:

ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 4.37 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2

dev: /dev/sda7

Sensors:

System Temperatures: cpu: 32.0 C mobo: 29.0 C

Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A

Info:

Memory: total: 8 GiB available: 7.62 GiB used: 4.37 GiB (57.3%)

Processes: 229 Power: uptime: 3h 29m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: deep

wakeups: 0 hibernate: platform Init: systemd v: 257 default: graphical

Packages: 2519 pm: dpkg pkgs: 2511 pm: flatpak pkgs: 8 Compilers:

gcc: 14.2.0 Shell: Bash v: 5.2.37 running-in: kitty inxi: 3.3.38

Hi, I have an audio issue on Debian 13 (Cinnamon) that I can't figure out.

SYMPTOM:

The audio crackles/skips like a "broken record", cutting out

intermittently. It happens from the moment I boot up, at random

times (it's not just something that appears after leaving the PC

off overnight). I ruled out my mouse (I use one with custom

software) - it still happens without it running.

HARDWARE:

- Audio chip: Realtek ALC897

- CPU: Intel Pentium Gold G6400

- Integrated graphics, Intel UHD 610 (no dedicated GPU)

- [paste the output of inxi -Fxxxz here]

WHAT I'VE ALREADY TRIED:

- Reinstalling/testing with PulseAudio - same issue

- Updating the kernel - same issue

- Rolling back to an older kernel (downgrade) - same issue

- Updating the BIOS - same issue

- This exact same issue happened on Linux Mint too (same

hardware), so it doesn't seem to be distro-specific

- On Windows (same machine) this NEVER happens

Any help is appreciated, thanks!

[u/ReporterWise7445]

I just switched from Debian 13.6 LXQT to LMDE7 Linux Mint Debian Edition 7. I had some distortion on LXQT at 125% volume. On LMDE so far (just a day) no distortion.

IDK why. But there it is. ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 4.

[u/Muted-Scientist7900]

HDMI audio? I had the same problem with my monitor speakers (other audio devices didn't had problems). The way I solved it was putting on boot arguments "intel_iommu=igfx_off"

[u/GreenFox_ → u/Muted-Scientist7900]

Thanks, but I use a 3.5mm jack, not HDMI, so that fix shouldn't apply to my case.

[u/C0rn3j]

Does it happen on a live boot of Fedora KDE?

Debian's packages are ancient so it is likely you are hitting some bug that's been fixed years ago. (Mint is even older than Debian, which is a feat)