Strange sound when booting

[Ivanp]

I have recently installed Kubuntu on my new PC. Originally, it booted fine, with no strange sounds.

After that I was adjusting settings of my NVidia card. It did not go well at the beginning, at one point I had to boot in recovery mode and had to reconfigure xorg.conf file manually. But after I had followed advice from this forum and installed Envy script, my card setup seems to be in a good shape and I can boot again in graphical mode (not recovery). However, when booting now a strange sound lasting for about 1 second is coming out from my monitors speakers. It is that kind of sound which you can hear when a connector is not properly plugged in. Kind of harsh sound not very pleasant and quite annoying. As if something is somewhere wrong.

After I boot the sound from the speakers seems to be OK.

I do not know if changing of my graphical card settings could have anything to do with this but I am not aware of any other change between the time when it booted without this sound and now.

I removed quite splash to see system messages when booting hoping to be able to see something unusual there. But from that very little I could understand (I must say I am new in this Kubuntu/Linux world) there is nothing unusual. The sound is always there.

I also booted in Windows Vista and it boots without this sound. Did some research on this and other (K) ubuntu forums but have not found anything. I am running out of ideas. Well actually I have one more - reinstalling the whole thing. But if somebody could spare me of this...

Ivan

[hangthedj]

Re: Strange sound when booting

I have the same problem with an internal dell card, with speakers and a woofer connected by usb. even if the sound is all the way down it does it. i'm not sure why. but i just ignore it. also i don't turn off or reboot my computer that often.

not sure what your setup is, if your speakers are connected usb or not. but that seems to be the issue with me.

[Qqmike]

Re: Strange sound when booting

I'm with hangthe dj on this. I had something similar, from my Logitech speakers, and in fact the manual said something about it, but I just ignore it. Sounds like crackling static for just a second, something to do with power-up etc. You are not getting any in XP; and in Kubuntu all seems well afterwards, so it doesn't sound like anything serious/systemic/persistent.

One diagnostic check is to run in Konsole
dmesg
just to see what shows up at about the same time you hear the sound (note the clock time on the PC when you power up, then run the command.

Maybe a sound expert will pipe in here.

[Ivanp]

Re: Strange sound when booting

One diagnostic check is to run in Konsole
dmesg
just to see what shows up at about the same time you hear the sound (note the clock time on the PC when you power up, then run the command.

Thanks for the tip ! This is what appears in the log about the time the "mosquito" sound comes out :

[ 13.782022] ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:05:00.0[A] -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 16
[ 14.549175] ath_rate_sample: 1.2 (0.9.3.1)
[ 14.557169] wifi0: 11b rates: 1Mbps 2Mbps 5.5Mbps 11Mbps
[ 14.560637] wifi0: 11g rates: 1Mbps 2Mbps 5.5Mbps 11Mbps 6Mbps 9Mbps 12Mbps 18Mbps 24Mbps 36Mbps 48Mbps 54Mbps
[ 14.567494] wifi0: turboG rates: 6Mbps 12Mbps 18Mbps 24Mbps 36Mbps 48Mbps 54Mbps
[ 14.570958] wifi0: H/W encryption support: WEP AES AES_CCM TKIP
[ 14.574356] wifi0: mac 7.9 phy 4.5 radio 5.6
[ 14.577686] wifi0: Use hw queue 1 for WME_AC_BE traffic
[ 14.580951] wifi0: Use hw queue 0 for WME_AC_BK traffic
[ 14.584157] wifi0: Use hw queue 2 for WME_AC_VI traffic
[ 14.587275] wifi0: Use hw queue 3 for WME_AC_VO traffic
[ 14.590317] wifi0: Use hw queue 8 for CAB traffic
[ 14.593283] wifi0: Use hw queue 9 for beacons
[ 14.639854] wifi0: Atheros 5212: mem=0xfebf0000, irq=16
[ 14.642899] ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:01:00.0[A] -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 16
[ 14.646020] PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:01:00.0 to 64
[ 14.646087] NVRM: loading NVIDIA UNIX x86 Kernel Module 100.14.11 Wed Jun 13 18:21:22 PDT 2007
[ 14.746028] usbcore: registered new interface driver hiddev
[ 14.802927] ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:00:1b.0[A] -> GSI 22 (level, low) -> IRQ 22
[ 14.806242] PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:00:1b.0 to 64
[ 14.858646] input: Genius NetScroll + Traveler as /class/input/input3
[ 14.862043] input: USB HID v1.10 Mouse [Genius NetScroll + Traveler] on usb-0000:00:1d.1-2
[ 14.865513] usbcore: registered new interface driver usbhid
[ 14.868982] drivers/usb/input/hid-core.c: v2.6:USB HID core driver
[ 15.256865] fuse init (API version 7.8)
[ 15.327638] lp: driver loaded but no devices found
[ 15.366505] Adding 1959888k swap on /dev/disk/by-uuid/731c98a0-cf85-4b92-b9ee-da2db7c262bc. Priority:-1 extents:1 across:1959888k
[ 15.534647] EXT3 FS on sda3, internal journal

So if anybody has an idea what may be the problem, please let me know.

[Qqmike]

Re: Strange sound when booting

I'm not a hardware guy at this "deep" level, but I don't see anything unusual in that log.
From your description, it's as if the southbridge chip on the motherboard (the input controller hub for I/O and peripherals) is probing/enabling ports and you get just like a wake-up signal on your speakers, which would be a USB port, right? (You can get USB port information at Konsole by: lsusb which shows info about all your devices on the USB. -v (verbose) is optional (may give too much info!).) But, also you don't get it in Windows XP, which would have to do with different drivers (graphics adaptor and/or sound).
It may be annoying, but it doesn't seem like any real "hardware" issue at this point.

[dibl]

Re: Strange sound when booting

My desktop rig has an onboard Intel HDA sound system. When I first power on the PC, there's a fairly quiet little "pop" out of it, and then as it goes through the Power On Self Test (POST) (but before the screen lights up) there's a sharper and louder "snap". Then it finishes the POST with the BIOS messages and presents the boot menu. Once I select the Linux of my choice, there are never any further sounds until I log in and hear the drums of Ubuntu or the harps of Kubuntu or the frogs of E-Live.

Can you tell where in this process you are hearing the noise? Is it before or after you select your OS to boot?

[Ivanp]

Re: Strange sound when booting

Thanks for your effort, guys !

From your description, it's as if the southbridge chip on the motherboard (the input controller hub for I/O and peripherals) is probing/enabling ports and you get just like a wake-up signal on your speakers, which would be a USB port, right? (You can get USB port information at Konsole by: lsusb which shows info about all your devices on the USB.

lsusb outputs the following :

Bus 008 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 005 Device 003: ID 0458:002e KYE Systems Corp. (Mouse Systems)
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 007 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 0000:0000

Via USB is just connected my mouse. My monitor's speakers are connected via a simple jack.

It may be annoying, but it doesn't seem like any real "hardware" issue at this point.

True, this is not a crucial hardware issue. My speakers are otherwise working fine. It is just annoying. But I can live with it. Nevertheless I would like to get rid of it, if possible.

@dibl

Can you tell where in this process you are hearing the noise? Is it before or after you select your OS to boot?

It is after I select OS (Kubuntu) to boot.

Message closest to the sound is the following :

[ 13.782022] ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:05:00.0[A] -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 16

[dibl]

Re: Strange sound when booting

It is after I select OS (Kubuntu) to boot.

Message closest to the sound is the following :

[ 13.782022] ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:05:00.0[A] -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 16

Hmmmm, well, that's different!

I agree it's unlikely that the noise is harmful to anything but your tranquility. The "ACPI" in this PCI bus message may be significant -- I don't know. Were you always using ACPI, before you added the Nvidia driver? Since we know your Nvidia card sits on the PCI bus, and ACPI appears to be tweaking an interrupt on the PCI bus during the bootup process, that may be the stimulus for a pulse to the Nvidia card during bootup. If you were to disable ACPI, it might (or might not) make a difference to this phenomenon, and of course other undesirable consequences may ensue. Sorry I can't offer something more crisp and useful .... :P

[Ivanp]

Re: Strange sound when booting

Were you always using ACPI, before you added the Nvidia driver?

I have no idea. I even don't know what ACPI is. Will have to google that one...

[Qqmike]

Re: Strange sound when booting

I’m not sure how one would put all this together, but . . .
At Konsole:

lspci Shows information about all devices on the PCI bus

/sbin/lsmod Loaded modules (device drivers)
/sbin/modinfo somemodule Shows more info about somemodule.

[SheeEttin]

Re: Strange sound when booting

I'd just ignore it. Like dibl said, it's probably a wakeup or polling.

I have nearly identical sounds to what dibl said. I don't notice them often, though, because I only have headphones on this computer and I'm not usually wearing them when I boot.

[Ivanp]

Re: Strange sound when booting

At Konsole:

lspci Shows information about all devices on the PCI bus

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Unknown device 29c0 (rev 02)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Unknown device 29c1 (rev 02)
00:1a.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation Unknown device 2937 (rev 02)
00:1a.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation Unknown device 2938 (rev 02)
00:1a.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation Unknown device 293c (rev 02)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation Unknown device 293e (rev 02)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Unknown device 2940 (rev 02)
00:1c.4 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Unknown device 2948 (rev 02)
00:1c.5 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Unknown device 294a (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation Unknown device 2934 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation Unknown device 2935 (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation Unknown device 2936 (rev 02)
00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation Unknown device 2939 (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation Unknown device 293a (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge (rev 92)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation Unknown device 2916 (rev 02)
00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation Unknown device 2920 (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation Unknown device 2930 (rev 02)
00:1f.5 IDE interface: Intel Corporation Unknown device 2926 (rev 02)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation Unknown device 0421 (rev a1)
03:00.0 IDE interface: Marvell Technology Group Ltd. Unknown device 6121 (rev b1)
04:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 01)
05:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications, Inc. AR5212 802.11abg NIC (rev 01)
05:02.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): VIA Technologies, Inc. IEEE 1394 Host Controller (rev c0)

/sbin/lsmod Loaded modules (device drivers)

Module Size Used by
xt_limit 3584 1
xt_tcpudp 4224 2
nf_conntrack_ipv4 19468 2
xt_state 3456 2
nf_conntrack 62600 2 nf_conntrack_ipv4,xt_state
nfnetlink 7704 2 nf_conntrack_ipv4,nf_conntrack
iptable_filter 3968 1
ip_tables 13796 1 iptable_filter
x_tables 16388 4 xt_limit,xt_tcpudp,xt_state,ip_tables
rfcomm 40856 0
l2cap 25856 5 rfcomm
bluetooth 55908 4 rfcomm,l2cap
ppdev 10116 0
acpi_cpufreq 10056 0
cpufreq_conservative 8200 0
cpufreq_stats 7360 0
cpufreq_powersave 2688 0
cpufreq_userspace 5408 0
cpufreq_ondemand 9228 2
freq_table 5792 3 acpi_cpufreq,cpufreq_stats,cpufreq_ondemand
dev_acpi 12292 0
tc1100_wmi 8068 0
sony_acpi 6284 0
pcc_acpi 13184 0
ac 6020 0
sbs 15652 0
i2c_ec 6016 1 sbs
dock 10268 0
battery 10756 0
asus_acpi 17308 0
container 5248 0
button 8720 0
video 16388 0
backlight 7040 1 asus_acpi
ipv6 268960 10
sbp2 23812 0
parport_pc 36388 0
lp 12452 0
parport 36936 3 ppdev,parport_pc,lp
fuse 46612 5
snd_hda_intel 21912 2
snd_hda_codec 205056 1 snd_hda_intel
snd_pcm_oss 44544 0
snd_mixer_oss 17408 1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm 79876 3 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_pcm_oss
snd_seq_dummy 4740 0
snd_seq_oss 32896 0
snd_seq_midi 9600 0
snd_rawmidi 25472 1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_midi_event 8448 2 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi
snd_seq 52592 6 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_mid i_event
snd_timer 23684 2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device 9100 5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi ,snd_seq
wlan_scan_sta 14976 1
nvidia 7252756 24
i2c_core 22656 2 i2c_ec,nvidia
snd 54020 14 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_ oss,snd_pcm,snd_seq_oss,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_ti mer,snd_seq_device
ath_rate_sample 14080 1
af_packet 23816 8
psmouse 38920 0
soundcore 8672 1 snd
ath_pci 97312 0
wlan 204868 4 wlan_scan_sta,ath_rate_sample,ath_pci
pcspkr 4224 0
serio_raw 7940 0
snd_page_alloc 10888 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
shpchp 34324 0
pci_hotplug 32576 1 shpchp
intel_agp 26140 1
agpgart 35400 2 nvidia,intel_agp
ath_hal 192592 3 ath_rate_sample,ath_pci
tsdev 8768 0
evdev 11008 3
ext3 133128 1
jbd 59816 1 ext3
mbcache 9604 1 ext3
usbhid 26592 0
hid 27392 1 usbhid
sg 36252 0
sd_mod 23428 5
sr_mod 17060 0
cdrom 37664 1 sr_mod
generic 5124 0 [permanent]
r8169 32392 0
ata_generic 9092 0
uhci_hcd 25360 0
ehci_hcd 34188 0
floppy 59524 0
ata_piix 15492 4
libata 125720 2 ata_generic,ata_piix
scsi_mod 142348 5 sbp2,sg,sd_mod,sr_mod,libata
ohci1394 36528 0
ieee1394 299448 2 sbp2,ohci1394
usbcore 134280 4 usbhid,uhci_hcd,ehci_hcd
thermal 14856 0
processor 31048 2 acpi_cpufreq,thermal
fan 5636 0
capability 5896 0
commoncap 8192 1 capability
vesafb 9220 1
fbcon 42656 71
tileblit 3584 1 fbcon
font 9216 1 fbcon
bitblit 6912 1 fbcon
softcursor 3200 1 bitblit

I’m not sure how one would put all this together, but . . .

Lets see

[Ivanp]

Re: Strange sound when booting

Were you always using ACPI, before you added the Nvidia driver?

I am not aware of any changes to Advanced Configuration and Power Interface.

Now I know at least what ACPI is.

OK. Not a big deal. I am getting used to the sound. Thanks everybody for their effort !