# intel HDA audio noisy on 957XBX (fixed)

## x264hack

quick tip for anyone else who has the same problem...

I have an intel 975XBX board rev304 with onboard intel hda audio.  loading the alsa snd-hda-intel module, everything works great *except* that loud playback (maybe over30% volume) sounds scratchy or noisy, ie you hear ocasional (really annoying) pops in the audio, sort of like a bad vinyl record.  no alsamixer / alsa config / etc settings have any effect on this.  also, this seems to be there in any 2.6.xx version of the kernel (gentoo or stock) at least up to 2.6.22 and any version of alsa tried.  i eventually tested a lot of the options to the snd-hda-intel module, and it turns out that power_save=0 fixes the problem.  no idea why  :Wink: 

in /etc/modules.autoload.d/kernel-2.6, add the following line:

options snd-hda-intel power_save=0

this may affect a number of other boards with the 975 chipset and hda audio, not sure.

enjoy.

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## PaulBredbury

That line should go in /etc/modules.d/alsa

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## Warhead

 *x264hack wrote:*   

> 
> 
> options snd-hda-intel power_save=0
> 
> 

 

I can not find this option mentioned in my kernel documentation. adding this to /etc/modules.d/alsa causes this on my system:

```

lilith ~ # update-modules 

 * Updating /etc/modprobe.conf by hand ...                        [ ok ]

 * Updating modules.dep ...                                               [ ok ]

lilith ~ # /etc/init.d/alsasound restart

 * WARNING:  you are stopping a boot service.

 * Storing ALSA Mixer Levels ...                                          [ ok ]

 * Killing processes using ALSA ...                                       [ ok ]

 * Unloading ALSA modules ...                                             [ ok ]

 * Loading ALSA modules ...

 *   Loading: snd-card-0 ...

FATAL: Error inserting snd_hda_intel (/lib/modules/2.6.22-gentoo-r5/alsa-driver/pci/hda/snd-hda-intel.ko): Unknown symbol in module, or unknown parameter (see dmesg)                                                                     [ !! ]

 *   Loading: snd-seq-oss ...                                             [ ok ]

 *   Loading: snd-pcm-oss ...                                             [ ok ]

 *   ERROR: Failed to load necessary drivers                              [ ok ]

 * Restoring Mixer Levels ...

alsactl: unrecognized option `---'

Usage: alsactl <options> command

Available options:

  -h,--help        this help

  -f,--file #      configuration file (default /etc/asound.state or /etc/asound.names)  -F,--force       try to restore the matching controls as much as possible

  -d,--debug       debug mode

  -v,--version     print version of this program

Available commands:

  store   <card #> save current driver setup for one or each soundcards

                   to configuration file

  restore <card #> load current driver setup for one or each soundcards

                   from configuration file

  names   <card #> dump information about all the known present (sub-)devices

                   into configuration file (DEPRECATED)

 * Errors while restoring defaults, ignoring                              [ ok ]

lilith ~ #

```

I checked for a typo several times, i fail to see the mistake.

Regards

Warhead

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## PaulBredbury

Look in /usr/src/linux/Documentation/sound/alsa/ALSA-Configuration.txt

```
  Module snd-hda-intel

  --------------------

    Module for Intel HD Audio (ICH6, ICH6M, ESB2, ICH7, ICH8),

      ATI SB450, SB600, RS600,

      VIA VT8251/VT8237A,

      SIS966, ULI M5461

    model   - force the model name

    position_fix - Fix DMA pointer (0 = auto, 1 = none, 2 = POSBUF, 3 = FIFO size)

    probe_mask  - Bitmask to probe codecs (default = -1, meaning all slots)

    single_cmd  - Use single immediate commands to communicate with

      codecs (for debugging only)

    enable_msi   - Enable Message Signaled Interrupt (MSI) (default = off)

    power_save   - Automatic power-saving timtout (in second, 0 =

      disable)

    power_save_controller - Reset HD-audio controller in power-saving mode

      (default = on)
```

This is with ALSA 1.0.15

As usual with audio problems, just read wiki article.

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## Warhead

 *PaulBredbury wrote:*   

> Look in /usr/src/linux/Documentation/sound/alsa/ALSA-Configuration.txt
> 
> 

 

That is exactly where I had a look...

 *PaulBredbury wrote:*   

> 
> 
> This is with ALSA 1.0.15
> 
> 

 

How can I check, what Version my kernel module is?

Regards

Warhead

[EDIT:] /proc/asound/version tells me, I am using Version 1.0.14. I will upgrade and try again with the latest driver module.

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