Periodic 'pop-pop' sound when there is no media playback and power savings are enabled on Intel audio
Version, Distribution, Desktop Environment:
pipewire-0.3.24-4.fc34.x86_64
- Fedora 34 Beta
- Gnome 40
Description of Problem:
I have a Dell XPS 13 7390 laptop with integrated Intel audio. When power saving is enabled on the audio chip, I can hear a periodic 'pop-pop' sound from my laptop speakers (I hear it once every few minutes), even though the speakers are muted and no media is playing. I didn't experience this issue on the same hardware with Fedora 33.
A helpful user on Freenode #pipewire
explained to me that the 'pop' likely happens when the audio chip is powered on/off, which leads me to the conclusion that pipewire probably powers the audio device on and off periodically, even when there is no media playback.
Please note that this is not the same issue as the 'pop' that some people hear when media playback is started. This 'pop' can be heard every couple of minutes when there is no media playback, even when the speakers are muted.
How Reproducible:
Always, when power savings are enabled
Steps to Reproduce:
- Start the computer
- Make sure audio power saving is enabled, eg.
echo 1 > /sys/module/snd_hda_intel/parameters/power_save
- Mute the speakers, or just don't play any audio
- Wait for it
Actual Results:
I can hear a 'pop-pop' sound every few minutes.
Expected Results:
The laptop should stay silent.
Additional Info:
[Timur@timur-xps ~]$ lspci | grep [aA]udio
00:1f.3 Audio device: Intel Corporation Comet Lake PCH-LP cAVS
pw-dump > file