How To Fix PC Making Crackling Noise – Linux & Windows

Are you hearing a crackling sound on a Linux or Windows computer? When the audio is playing, does your computer occasionally make a cracking noise? If so, this blog might be helpful for you.

The noise reminds me of a lot of static from an old analogue television. For your reference, I have captured the noise on video and shared it below.

I’m new to Linux and am still learning how to use and troubleshoot it. Although I am not an expert, I am describing my procedure for resolving a crackling sound that occurred on my desktop Linux machine. As part of my study guide and for your reference, the fundamental troubleshooting procedure for a computer running Windows has also been detailed at the end of the blog.

Background

Since then, the computer has operated without any problems, but after being in use for almost six months, it has started to occasionally emit a crackling noise whenever the audio is played, as when watching YouTube. While the problem persisted, I got in touch with ASUS assistance and ultimately had to RMA the motherboard. Regrettably, it did not fix the issue and was returned to its original state. But at least I could say that the motherboard wasn’t damaged and needed more examination from my end.

Some Facts

Basic Troubleshooting

It is advised to check below as the initial troubleshooting step:

1. Test on different audio output options. If noise only occurs on certain output and not on all outputs, an issue can be narrowed down;
2. Unplug and plug the audio cable of the speaker (check if cables are known to be good);
3. Update audio driver;
4. Update BIOS;
5. Clean inside the computer and dust off (especially around CPU fan and chipset fan), and re-seat all the connection and components on the motherboard.

You can try the following additional steps if the basic troubleshooting mentioned above does not resolve the issue.

Cause of the crackling noise (identified)

I tried all of the basic troubleshooting methods given above, but sadly nothing worked for me until I changed the PulseAudio file.

What is PulseAudio?
PulseAudio is the sound server used by many Linux systems and is often already installed by your package as default. For example, the OS I use is Linux Mint and it was already installed in my package.
Why PulseAudio?
PulseAudio uses timer-based scheduling, which can contribute to some audio issues such as crackling, and by deactivating it, some audio issues on Linux can be resolved.

How to fix (Linux)

My crackling audio issue was resolved by following the easy procedures below:

1. Go to the terminal and edit the following file /etc/pulse/default.pa

Any text editor will work to open the file. Use the following command in the terminal to open the file if using nano editor.

sudo nano /etc/pulse/default.pa

Once you open the above file, look for a line where it says load-module module-udev-detect, and add tsched=0 at the end of the line.

Before:

load-module module-udev-detect

After:

load-module module-udev-detect tsched=0

Save the file (For nano, Ctrl + X will quit the editor and it will ask if we want to save the changes before quitting. Press Y for Yes).

2. Use the following command in the terminal to end the PulseAudio daemon’s current state.

pulseaudio -k

Using the aforementioned command will kill (stop) PulseAudio in use and cause it to relaunch.
In my instance, taking the aforementioned actions resolved the cracking noise issue.

How to fix (Case of Windows)

There was a lot of information about how to fix the crackling noise on the Windows-running machine when I was researching how to diagnose it. The information below may assist in resolving the audio crackling issue if you are using Windows rather than Linux.

Change the audio format

1. Right-click Speaker → Playback devices
2. Double click the Default Playback Device
3. Go to Advanced Tab
4. Set your audio quality to “16 bit, 44100 Hz (CD Quality)”
5. Click OK
6. Test if audio problems persist

(If still continues) Go back to Playback Devices

1. Right-click Speaker → Properties
2. Go to Enhancement Tab → Disable all enhancements (manually uncheck all)
3. Click OK
4. Test if audio problems persist

(If still continues) Change the audio format

1. Right-click Speaker → Playback devices
2. Double Click the Default Playback Device
3. Go to Advanced Tab
4. In Exclusive Mode
   → Uncheck “Allow applications to exclusive control of this device”
   → Click OK