Static noise, brightness keys, lid ignored and more

Technical Issues and Assistance
, ,
#1

So, I've been having many issues with a new laptop but I have realized that all of them are somehow related to power management and/or drivers:

  • I wasn't able to use the FN brightness keys and nothing worked so I had to remap them.

  • The speakers make a static noise unless I mute them or plug in some headphones (then, the noise comes from the headphones instead). No solution so far. I also get a static noise when using the mouse's scroll wheel in dark-themed sites.

  • No matter what I change in my Power Management settings, the behavior is always default. The laptop won't sleep when closing the lid and it will completely ignore changes in the timeout for dimming the screen, sleeping or hibernating on battery/AC modes. EDIT: Partially solved, but the lid is still ignored.

  • Log-in settings such as user avatar (it does show up after sleep though) or NumLock activation on start never worked. EDIT: Both solved! Thanks @DarkWav!

I've tried three different kernels and looking for some individual solutions for each issue but everything was futile, so I am suspicious this might be a single problem related with drivers or some kernel/grub settings that produces all of these issues.

My system info:

System:    Host: pavilion Kernel: 5.4.40-1-MANJARO x86_64 bits: 64 Desktop: KDE Plasma 5.18.5 
           Distro: Manjaro Linux 
Machine:   Type: Laptop System: HP product: HP Pavilion Gaming Laptop 15-dk0xxx v: Type1ProductConfigId 
           serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: HP model: 85FC v: 42.34 serial: <filter> UEFI: Insyde v: F.13 date: 09/04/2019 
Battery:   ID-1: BAT1 charge: 34.7 Wh condition: 50.3/52.5 Wh (96%) 
CPU:       Topology: 6-Core model: Intel Core i7-9750H bits: 64 type: MT MCP L2 cache: 12.0 MiB 
           Speed: 800 MHz min/max: 800/4500 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 800 2: 800 3: 800 4: 800 5: 800 6: 800 
           7: 800 8: 800 9: 800 10: 800 11: 800 12: 800 
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel UHD Graphics 630 driver: i915 v: kernel 
           Device-2: NVIDIA TU117M [GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile / Max-Q] driver: nvidia v: 440.82 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.8 driver: modesetting,nvidia unloaded: intel,nouveau 
           resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel UHD Graphics 630 (CFL GT2) v: 4.6 Mesa 20.0.6 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel Cannon Lake PCH cAVS driver: snd_hda_intel 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.40-1-MANJARO 
Network:   Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet driver: r8169 
           IF: eno1 state: down mac: <filter> 
           Device-2: Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 driver: iwlwifi 
           IF: wlo1 state: up mac: <filter> 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 476.94 GiB used: 45.09 GiB (9.5%) 
           ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Samsung model: MZVLB512HBJQ-000H1 size: 476.94 GiB 
RAID:      Hardware-1: Intel 82801 Mobile SATA Controller [RAID mode] driver: ahci 
Partition: ID-1: / size: 451.40 GiB used: 45.09 GiB (10.0%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 
           ID-2: swap-1 size: 17.03 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/nvme0n1p3 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 30.0 C mobo: 29.8 C 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Gaming Performance on hp pavilion gaming 15
#2

Hello :slightly_smiling_face:!

Well, about the static noise I can't really tell why exactly its happening, but here's my story:

I do know my Intel Z390 Chipset or MSI NVidia Turing GPU has a very slight coil whine (more like a coil buzz tbh) when scrolling via mouse wheel on Dark Mode sites, but this sound doesn't come from the speakers but actually my Chipset's/GPU's coils directly. However, depending on how the laptop is constructed the coils might tamper with your speakers via Induction-based influence on the magnets inside the speakers, generating "wrong" sounds. However this is just one possible theory and very unlikely, I cannot confirm that in any way. Disabling Power-States in your BIOS/UEFI often helps with Z390, but I'm not sure if it will do anything in this case.

One thing you could try is disabling PulseAudio and letting sound run via ALSA to make sure its not a PulseAudio-Related problem:

systemctl --user stop pulseaudio.socket

After this PulseAudio is disabled until next reboot. All apps that can use ALSA will default to it, but you might have to restart some. If the permanent noise is gone after this command, the problem is probably related to PulseAudio. If not, you might have a kernel/driver-level or even hardware-level issue.

About your second issue, changing your Profile Icon in KDE works as follows:

1. Open KDE Settings.
2. Go to "User account Details"
3. Select "User Management"
4. Select the user for which you want to change the Icon
5. Click on the Icon of your user and select "load from file"
7. Select the Icon you want and click "OK" followed by "Apply"

I've marked the area where you have to click in a screenshot (sorry system locale isn't english):
scn001

In case this does not work, could you try to use an Icon from the Library and see if that functions?

About NumLock on startup, changing this from KDE's settings has never worked for me, I reccommend setting it to "Leave as it is" in KDE and enabling it in SDDM.
You can do this by adding the file /etc/sddm.conf.d/enable_numlock.conf
Once you created it, put the following code in the file and save it:

[General]
Numlock=on

On next reboot numlock should be enabled even before you log into KDE so you can already use it on login screen.

I am not really experienced concerning power management as I have a desktop, hopefully someone else can help. If you have any further questions/problems feel free to reply.

1 Like
#3

That seems to be the case, although bascially it stopped because disabling Pulse left me with no audio devices at all so there was no sounds at all.

This worked! Thank you. I had been using the method where you copy a .face.icon file to a couple of folders but this is much easier and effective.

Unfortunately this did not work. I created the file but numlock was still disabled on log-in when I rebooted. But I just noticed that I hadn't checked the "leave unchanged" as you said, so I will try again and get back to you on that. EDIT: Nope, still not working.

Apparently this was not what I thought, it was just that KDE has an extra setting in a different place that locks the screen every 5 minutes... so one thing solved. However, my lid is still ignored (I click on sleep manually) and my brightness buttons remapped.

But hey, little by little I'm getting to solve the issues. I had lost hope on anyone replying so thanks a lot!

#4

For NumLock on startup there are countless methods, let's just try another one :upside_down_face:.
First, remove the old numlock sddm enable script:

sudo rm /etc/sddm.conf.d/enable_numlock.conf

After this you need to install a program called "numlockx"

sudo pacman -Syu numlockx

Now when you run the command numlockx numlock should activate.
Since you want this to happen on startup we have to tell SDDM to run numlockx at start:

su -c "echo numlockx >> /usr/share/sddm/scripts/Xsetup"

After this numlock should be enabled when SDDM is loaded.
If it still doesn't work, feel free to reply.

About PulseAudio, could you post the output of

pacmd list-sinks

and

aplay -L

?

#5

numlockx did the trick! Thank you!

About the audio, I noticed that the output from pacmd list-sinks is different depending on whether the static noise is on or not (sometimes it just shuts up on its on after a few seconds until a new sound is played). The changes are in "state", "suspend cause", "current latency", "max request", "max rewind" and "configured latency".

EDIT: If I mute and unmute quickly, it plays a sound and consequently there's static noise for a few seconds even if already muted. I'm starting to think this is a latency issue or something, it's like the static is created whenever there is a sound and after the sound is over it takes a while for it to stop. However, sometimes it just makes a static sound for no reason and it won't stop until I mute the laptop. It's all kinda random.

  • Sound on, no static:
1 sink(s) available.
  * index: 0
        name: <alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1f.3.analog-stereo>
        driver: <module-alsa-card.c>
        flags: HARDWARE HW_MUTE_CTRL HW_VOLUME_CTRL DECIBEL_VOLUME LATENCY DYNAMIC_LATENCY
        state: SUSPENDED
        suspend cause: IDLE
        priority: 9039
        volume: front-left: 22935 /  35% / -27.36 dB,   front-right: 22935 /  35% / -27.36 dB
                balance 0.00
        base volume: 65536 / 100% / 0.00 dB
        volume steps: 65537
        muted: no
        current latency: 0.00 ms
        max request: 0 KiB
        max rewind: 0 KiB
        monitor source: 0
        sample spec: s16le 2ch 48000Hz
        channel map: front-left,front-right
                     Stereo
        used by: 0
        linked by: 0
        configured latency: 0.00 ms; range is 0.50 .. 2000.00 ms
        card: 0 <alsa_card.pci-0000_00_1f.3>
        module: 6
        properties:
                alsa.resolution_bits = "16"
                device.api = "alsa"
                device.class = "sound"
                alsa.class = "generic"
                alsa.subclass = "generic-mix"
                alsa.name = "ALC285 Analog"
                alsa.id = "ALC285 Analog"
                alsa.subdevice = "0"
                alsa.subdevice_name = "subdevice #0"
                alsa.device = "0"
                alsa.card = "0"
                alsa.card_name = "HDA Intel PCH"
                alsa.long_card_name = "HDA Intel PCH at 0xb4618000 irq 159"
                alsa.driver_name = "snd_hda_intel"
                device.bus_path = "pci-0000:00:1f.3"
                sysfs.path = "/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1f.3/sound/card0"
                device.bus = "pci"
                device.vendor.id = "8086"
                device.vendor.name = "Intel Corporation"
                device.product.id = "a348"
                device.product.name = "Cannon Lake PCH cAVS"
                device.form_factor = "internal"
                device.string = "front:0"
                device.buffering.buffer_size = "384000"
                device.buffering.fragment_size = "192000"
                device.access_mode = "mmap+timer"
                device.profile.name = "analog-stereo"
                device.profile.description = "Analog Stereo"
                device.description = "Built-in Audio Analog Stereo"
                alsa.mixer_name = "Realtek ALC285"
                alsa.components = "HDA:10ec0285,103c85fc,00100002 HDA:8086280b,80860101,00100000"
                module-udev-detect.discovered = "1"
                device.icon_name = "audio-card-pci"
        ports:
                analog-output-speaker: Speakers (priority 10000, latency offset 0 usec, available: unknown)
                        properties:
                                device.icon_name = "audio-speakers"
                analog-output-headphones: Headphones (priority 9900, latency offset 0 usec, available: no)
                        properties:
                                device.icon_name = "audio-headphones"
        active port: <analog-output-speaker>
  • Sound on, static:
1 sink(s) available.
  * index: 0
        name: <alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1f.3.analog-stereo>
        driver: <module-alsa-card.c>
        flags: HARDWARE HW_MUTE_CTRL HW_VOLUME_CTRL DECIBEL_VOLUME LATENCY DYNAMIC_LATENCY
        state: IDLE
        suspend cause: (none)
        priority: 9039
        volume: front-left: 22935 /  35% / -27.36 dB,   front-right: 22935 /  35% / -27.36 dB
                balance 0.00
        base volume: 65536 / 100% / 0.00 dB
        volume steps: 65537
        muted: no
        current latency: 1999.88 ms
        max request: 375 KiB
        max rewind: 375 KiB
        monitor source: 0
        sample spec: s16le 2ch 48000Hz
        channel map: front-left,front-right
                     Stereo
        used by: 0
        linked by: 0
        configured latency: 2000.00 ms; range is 0.50 .. 2000.00 ms
        card: 0 <alsa_card.pci-0000_00_1f.3>
        module: 6
        properties:
                alsa.resolution_bits = "16"
                device.api = "alsa"
                device.class = "sound"
                alsa.class = "generic"
                alsa.subclass = "generic-mix"
                alsa.name = "ALC285 Analog"
                alsa.id = "ALC285 Analog"
                alsa.subdevice = "0"
                alsa.subdevice_name = "subdevice #0"
                alsa.device = "0"
                alsa.card = "0"
                alsa.card_name = "HDA Intel PCH"
                alsa.long_card_name = "HDA Intel PCH at 0xb4618000 irq 159"
                alsa.driver_name = "snd_hda_intel"
                device.bus_path = "pci-0000:00:1f.3"
                sysfs.path = "/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1f.3/sound/card0"
                device.bus = "pci"
                device.vendor.id = "8086"
                device.vendor.name = "Intel Corporation"
                device.product.id = "a348"
                device.product.name = "Cannon Lake PCH cAVS"
                device.form_factor = "internal"
                device.string = "front:0"
                device.buffering.buffer_size = "384000"
                device.buffering.fragment_size = "192000"
                device.access_mode = "mmap+timer"
                device.profile.name = "analog-stereo"
                device.profile.description = "Analog Stereo"
                device.description = "Built-in Audio Analog Stereo"
                alsa.mixer_name = "Realtek ALC285"
                alsa.components = "HDA:10ec0285,103c85fc,00100002 HDA:8086280b,80860101,00100000"
                module-udev-detect.discovered = "1"
                device.icon_name = "audio-card-pci"
        ports:
                analog-output-speaker: Speakers (priority 10000, latency offset 0 usec, available: unknown)
                        properties:
                                device.icon_name = "audio-speakers"
                analog-output-headphones: Headphones (priority 9900, latency offset 0 usec, available: no)
                        properties:
                                device.icon_name = "audio-headphones"
        active port: <analog-output-speaker>
  • Sound off
1 sink(s) available.
  * index: 0
        name: <alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1f.3.analog-stereo>
        driver: <module-alsa-card.c>
        flags: HARDWARE HW_MUTE_CTRL HW_VOLUME_CTRL DECIBEL_VOLUME LATENCY DYNAMIC_LATENCY
        state: SUSPENDED
        suspend cause: IDLE
        priority: 9039
        volume: front-left: 22935 /  35% / -27.36 dB,   front-right: 22935 /  35% / -27.36 dB
                balance 0.00
        base volume: 65536 / 100% / 0.00 dB
        volume steps: 65537
        muted: yes
        current latency: 0.00 ms
        max request: 0 KiB
        max rewind: 0 KiB
        monitor source: 0
        sample spec: s16le 2ch 48000Hz
        channel map: front-left,front-right
                     Stereo
        used by: 0
        linked by: 0
        configured latency: 0.00 ms; range is 0.50 .. 2000.00 ms
        card: 0 <alsa_card.pci-0000_00_1f.3>
        module: 6
        properties:
                alsa.resolution_bits = "16"
                device.api = "alsa"
                device.class = "sound"
                alsa.class = "generic"
                alsa.subclass = "generic-mix"
                alsa.name = "ALC285 Analog"
                alsa.id = "ALC285 Analog"
                alsa.subdevice = "0"
                alsa.subdevice_name = "subdevice #0"
                alsa.device = "0"
                alsa.card = "0"
                alsa.card_name = "HDA Intel PCH"
                alsa.long_card_name = "HDA Intel PCH at 0xb4618000 irq 159"
                alsa.driver_name = "snd_hda_intel"
                device.bus_path = "pci-0000:00:1f.3"
                sysfs.path = "/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1f.3/sound/card0"
                device.bus = "pci"
                device.vendor.id = "8086"
                device.vendor.name = "Intel Corporation"
                device.product.id = "a348"
                device.product.name = "Cannon Lake PCH cAVS"
                device.form_factor = "internal"
                device.string = "front:0"
                device.buffering.buffer_size = "384000"
                device.buffering.fragment_size = "192000"
                device.access_mode = "mmap+timer"
                device.profile.name = "analog-stereo"
                device.profile.description = "Analog Stereo"
                device.description = "Built-in Audio Analog Stereo"
                alsa.mixer_name = "Realtek ALC285"
                alsa.components = "HDA:10ec0285,103c85fc,00100002 HDA:8086280b,80860101,00100000"
                module-udev-detect.discovered = "1"
                device.icon_name = "audio-card-pci"
        ports:
                analog-output-speaker: Speakers (priority 10000, latency offset 0 usec, available: unknown)
                        properties:
                                device.icon_name = "audio-speakers"
                analog-output-headphones: Headphones (priority 9900, latency offset 0 usec, available: no)
                        properties:
                                device.icon_name = "audio-headphones"
        active port: <analog-output-speaker>

Finally, for the other command the output is the same:

surround21
    2.1 Surround output to Front and Subwoofer speakers
surround40
    4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41
    4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50
    5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51
    5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71
    7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
null
    Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)
samplerate
    Rate Converter Plugin Using Samplerate Library
speexrate
    Rate Converter Plugin Using Speex Resampler
jack
    JACK Audio Connection Kit
oss
    Open Sound System
pulse
    PulseAudio Sound Server
speex
    Plugin using Speex DSP (resample, agc, denoise, echo, dereverb)
upmix
    Plugin for channel upmix (4,6,8)
vdownmix
    Plugin for channel downmix (stereo) with a simple spacialization
default
    Default ALSA Output (currently PulseAudio Sound Server)
sysdefault:CARD=PCH
    HDA Intel PCH, ALC285 Analog
    Default Audio Device
front:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
    HDA Intel PCH, ALC285 Analog
    Front speakers
surround21:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
    HDA Intel PCH, ALC285 Analog
    2.1 Surround output to Front and Subwoofer speakers
surround40:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
    HDA Intel PCH, ALC285 Analog
    4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
    HDA Intel PCH, ALC285 Analog
    4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
    HDA Intel PCH, ALC285 Analog
    5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
    HDA Intel PCH, ALC285 Analog
    5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
    HDA Intel PCH, ALC285 Analog
    7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
hdmi:CARD=PCH,DEV=0
    HDA Intel PCH, HDMI 0
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=PCH,DEV=1
    HDA Intel PCH, HDMI 1
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=PCH,DEV=2
    HDA Intel PCH, HDMI 2
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=PCH,DEV=3
    HDA Intel PCH, HDMI 3
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=PCH,DEV=4
    HDA Intel PCH, HDMI 4
    HDMI Audio Output
usbstream:CARD=PCH
    HDA Intel PCH
    USB Stream Output
#6

What immediately seems akward is that the configured latency is not within the allowed range, causing latency to get set to random values between 0 and 2000 which is TWO WHOLE seconds! For reference, my system has it configured to 75ms. It very much seems like something has gone horribly wrong with the latency config, currently trying to find a way to change "configured latency"......

The reason for it taking a while for the static noise to stop is because PulseAudio completely suspends a sink after it isn't being used for a certain amount of time which causes the noise to go away, too.

The first thing I'd suggest is to disable timer-based scheduling of PulseAudio, this can be done by modifying the file /etc/pulse/default.pa
Once you opened it, try to find the line

load-module module-udev-detect

and replace it with

load-module module-udev-detect tsched=0

Save the file and reboot the system afterwards.
If it does not help we'll try to modify the configured latency.

#7

Currently looking like this:

### Automatically load driver modules depending on the hardware available
.ifexists module-udev-detect.so
load-module module-udev-detect tsched=0
.else
### Use the static hardware detection module (for systems that lack udev support)
load-module module-detect
.endif

Restarted pulseaudio, rebooted the system but the noise is still there.

#8

please post the output of 'cat /sys/module/snd_hda_intel/parameters/power_save' . Is it 0 ?
If not try this for a temporary change:
'echo 0 | sudo tee /sys/module/snd_hda_intel/parameters/power_save '
'echo N | sudo tee /sys/module/snd_hda_intel/parameters/power_save_controller '

if this solves the problem temporary than you can fix it finally by changing the config with
'echo "options snd-hda-intel power_save=0 power_save_controller=N" | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/hda.conf'

#9

You should try what @olli suggested.
Another thing you could try is to change the fragment size.
First, roll back the tsched=0 stuff.
Then, edit the file /etc/pulse/daemon.conf
Search for the following 2 lines:

; default-fragments = 4
; default-fragment-size-msec = 25

Now, remove the ";" befire those settings, it should look like this:

default-fragments = 4
default-fragment-size-msec = 25

Save the file and reboot.
If it still isn't working, please reply.

#10

Nope, they were indeed set to 1 and Y, but setting them to 0 and N made no difference regarding the lid, brightness keys or the noise (although I guess your reply was only addressed to the first two).

#11

Didn't work either, but I realised that I get the noise for a few seconds even on the HP logo when starting the machine... So maybe it is not the OS but just that the laptop is faulty? Although I really hope not.

#12

please post the output of 'cat /proc/asound/card0/codec* | grep Codec' to see which codec you use.

#13

Thanks for trying to help, my output is this:

Codec: Realtek ALC285
Codec: Intel Kabylake HDMI
#14

have you checked a newer or older kernel. try kernel 5.6.12-1 this is the actual one otherwise try 4.19 this is well known as very stable.

#15

I have tried 5.4, 5.5 and 5.6. I thought 4.x would be too old (?) but I'll try 4.19 and get back to you.

#16

Okay 4.19 didn't solve it either and it broke my Wi-Fi ,so I'm back at 5.6 .

#17

OK, I researched a bit about PulseAudio.
Next you could try changing latency settings and Timer-Based scheduling simultaneously.
This time we'll try a temporary workaround first, if it works we can make it permanent.
First, I will need the output of the following command:

pactl list modules

With this output we can create a script that loads your alsa sound card in a custom way that allows us to modify latency, timer-based-scheduling and latency ranges, etc.

#18

Oh great! Thanks for not giving up on my case. There you go:

Module #0
        Name: module-device-restore
        Argument: 
        Usage counter: n/a
        Properties:
                module.author = "Lennart Poettering"
                module.description = "Automatically restore the volume/mute state of devices"
                module.version = "13.0"

Module #1
        Name: module-stream-restore
        Argument: 
        Usage counter: n/a
        Properties:
                module.author = "Lennart Poettering"
                module.description = "Automatically restore the volume/mute/device state of streams"
                module.version = "13.0"

Module #2
        Name: module-card-restore
        Argument: 
        Usage counter: n/a
        Properties:
                module.author = "Lennart Poettering"
                module.description = "Automatically restore profile of cards"
                module.version = "13.0"

Module #3
        Name: module-augment-properties
        Argument: 
        Usage counter: n/a
        Properties:
                module.author = "Lennart Poettering"
                module.description = "Augment the property sets of streams with additional static information"
                module.version = "13.0"

Module #4
        Name: module-switch-on-port-available
        Argument: 
        Usage counter: n/a
        Properties:
                module.author = "David Henningsson"
                module.description = "Switches ports and profiles when devices are plugged/unplugged"
                module.version = "13.0"

Module #5
        Name: module-udev-detect
        Argument: 
        Usage counter: n/a
        Properties:
                module.author = "Lennart Poettering"
                module.description = "Detect available audio hardware and load matching drivers"
                module.version = "13.0"

Module #6
        Name: module-alsa-card
        Argument: device_id="0" name="pci-0000_00_1f.3" card_name="alsa_card.pci-0000_00_1f.3" namereg_fail=false tsched=yes fixed_latency_range=no ignore_dB=no deferred_volume=yes use_ucm=yes avoid_resampling=no card_properties="module-udev-detect.discovered=1"
        Usage counter: 2
        Properties:
                module.author = "Lennart Poettering"
                module.description = "ALSA Card"
                module.version = "13.0"

Module #7
        Name: module-jackdbus-detect
        Argument: channels=2
        Usage counter: n/a
        Properties:
                module.author = "David Henningsson"
                module.description = "Adds JACK sink/source ports when JACK is started"
                module.version = "13.0"

Module #8
        Name: module-bluetooth-policy
        Argument: 
        Usage counter: n/a
        Properties:
                module.author = "Frédéric Dalleau, Pali Rohár"
                module.description = "Policy module to make using bluetooth devices out-of-the-box easier"
                module.version = "13.0"

Module #9
        Name: module-bluetooth-discover
        Argument: 
        Usage counter: n/a
        Properties:
                module.author = "João Paulo Rechi Vita"
                module.description = "Detect available Bluetooth daemon and load the corresponding discovery module"
                module.version = "13.0"

Module #10
        Name: module-bluez5-discover
        Argument: 
        Usage counter: n/a
        Properties:
                module.author = "João Paulo Rechi Vita"
                module.description = "Detect available BlueZ 5 Bluetooth audio devices and load BlueZ 5 Bluetooth audio drivers"
                module.version = "13.0"

Module #11
        Name: module-dbus-protocol
        Argument: 
        Usage counter: n/a
        Properties:
                module.author = "Tanu Kaskinen"
                module.description = "D-Bus interface"
                module.version = "13.0"

Module #12
        Name: module-native-protocol-unix
        Argument: 
        Usage counter: n/a
        Properties:
                module.author = "Lennart Poettering"
                module.description = "Native protocol (UNIX sockets)"
                module.version = "13.0"

Module #13
        Name: module-gsettings
        Argument: 
        Usage counter: n/a
        Properties:
                module.author = "Sylvain Baubeau"
                module.description = "GSettings Adapter"
                module.version = "13.0"

Module #14
        Name: module-default-device-restore
        Argument: 
        Usage counter: n/a
        Properties:
                module.author = "Lennart Poettering"
                module.description = "Automatically restore the default sink and source"
                module.version = "13.0"

Module #15
        Name: module-rescue-streams
        Argument: 
        Usage counter: n/a
        Properties:
                module.author = "Lennart Poettering"
                module.description = "When a sink/source is removed, try to move its streams to the default sink/source"
                module.version = "13.0"

Module #16
        Name: module-always-sink
        Argument: 
        Usage counter: n/a
        Properties:
                module.author = "Colin Guthrie"
                module.description = "Always keeps at least one sink loaded even if it's a null one"
                module.version = "13.0"

Module #17
        Name: module-intended-roles
        Argument: 
        Usage counter: n/a
        Properties:
                module.author = "Lennart Poettering"
                module.description = "Automatically set device of streams based on intended roles of devices"
                module.version = "13.0"

Module #18
        Name: module-suspend-on-idle
        Argument: 
        Usage counter: n/a
        Properties:
                module.author = "Lennart Poettering"
                module.description = "When a sink/source is idle for too long, suspend it"
                module.version = "13.0"

Module #19
        Name: module-console-kit
        Argument: 
        Usage counter: n/a
        Properties:
                module.author = "Lennart Poettering"
                module.description = "Create a client for each ConsoleKit session of this user"
                module.version = "13.0"

Module #20
        Name: module-systemd-login
        Argument: 
        Usage counter: n/a
        Properties:
                module.author = "Lennart Poettering"
                module.description = "Create a client for each login session of this user"
                module.version = "13.0"

Module #21
        Name: module-position-event-sounds
        Argument: 
        Usage counter: n/a
        Properties:
                module.author = "Lennart Poettering"
                module.description = "Position event sounds between L and R depending on the position on screen of the widget triggering them."
                module.version = "13.0"

Module #22
        Name: module-role-cork
        Argument: 
        Usage counter: n/a
        Properties:
                module.author = "Lennart Poettering"
                module.description = "Mute & cork streams with certain roles while others exist"
                module.version = "13.0"

Module #23
        Name: module-filter-heuristics
        Argument: 
        Usage counter: n/a
        Properties:
                module.author = "Colin Guthrie"
                module.description = "Detect when various filters are desirable"
                module.version = "13.0"

Module #24
        Name: module-filter-apply
        Argument: 
        Usage counter: n/a
        Properties:
                module.author = "Colin Guthrie"
                module.description = "Load filter sinks automatically when needed"
                module.version = "13.0"

Module #25
        Name: module-x11-publish
        Argument: display=:0
        Usage counter: n/a
        Properties:
                module.author = "Lennart Poettering"
                module.description = "X11 credential publisher"
                module.version = "13.0"

Module #26
        Name: module-x11-xsmp
        Argument: display=:0 session_manager=local/pavilion:@/tmp/.ICE-unix/1321,unix/pavilion:/tmp/.ICE-unix/1321
        Usage counter: n/a
        Properties:
                module.author = "Lennart Poettering"
                module.description = "X11 session management"
                module.version = "13.0"

Module #27
        Name: module-cli-protocol-unix
        Argument: 
        Usage counter: n/a
        Properties:
                module.author = "Lennart Poettering"
                module.description = "Command line interface protocol (UNIX sockets)"
                module.version = "13.0"
#19

If you take a look at "Module #6", it actually represents your Laptop's sound card.
Looking at the card's "Arguments", there are several ones like device_id, card_name and name, but the ones which are interesting are:

tsched=yes ### Turn timer-based scheduling on/off
fixed_latency_range=no ### Use a fixed latency range
avoid_resampling=no ### Avoid resampling

and additionally, there are 2 properties not configured yet:

fragments=<some value> ### How many latency buffer fragments should be used
fragment_size=<some value> ### Size of one latency buffer fragment

What we will try to do is unload your sound card module and then re-load it with those settings changed.
First, unload your sound card. This may make the sound slider in your tray disappear.

pactl unload-module 6

Next, we're going to re-load the module, but with our own custom settins:

pactl load-module module-alsa-card device_id="0" name="pci-0000_00_1f.3" card_name="alsa_card.pci-0000_00_1f.3" namereg_fail=false tsched=no fixed_latency_range=yes ignore_dB=no deferred_volume=yes use_ucm=yes avoid_resampling=yes card_properties="module-udev-detect.discovered=1" fragments=1 fragment_size=15

Check if that helps anything. If it breaks something, simply reboot. If it helps, tell me, and I can tell you how to make changes permanent.

EDIT: If you notice weird sound cracking after performing the fix, try to unload the moudle again (pactl unload-module 28) and afterwars re-load the card with the following options:

pactl load-module module-alsa-card device_id="0" name="pci-0000_00_1f.3" card_name="alsa_card.pci-0000_00_1f.3" namereg_fail=false tsched=no fixed_latency_range=yes ignore_dB=no deferred_volume=yes use_ucm=yes avoid_resampling=yes card_properties="module-udev-detect.discovered=1"
#20

Okay this is weird because I executed pactl unload-module 6 while the noise was playing and it didn't even stop. I got the message that a module was unlodaded and there were no audio devices, but the noise was still there during unloading and loading with the new settings.

Rebooted and tried again, same behavior. So far the only way to make it completely silent is by muting computer audio.

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