FS#71982 - [pipewire/linux] Audio stuttering with PipeWire when using low timer frequency
Attached to Project:
Arch Linux
Opened by Angelo Geulin (arvl) - Wednesday, 01 September 2021, 13:32 GMT
Last edited by David Runge (dvzrv) - Wednesday, 01 February 2023, 16:31 GMT
Opened by Angelo Geulin (arvl) - Wednesday, 01 September 2021, 13:32 GMT
Last edited by David Runge (dvzrv) - Wednesday, 01 February 2023, 16:31 GMT
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Details
Description:
I recently moved from PulseAudio to PipeWire on two of my older machines (ThinkPad X220, Toshiba NB510). I am getting heavy audio stuttering with PipeWire when the machines are under load. They are most noticeable when playing heavier games, like Minecraft Java. The audio stuttering is also quite bad when running video conferencing software, like Google Meet. I did some testing and ruled out a configuration issue, as this was not an issue when running the same loads, with the same default configs, on other distributions (Fedora, in my testing). Digging a bit more, it is apparently caused by a difference in kernel configuration. Fedora sets the following in the kernel: CONFIG_HZ_1000=y CONFIG_HZ=1000 Whereas, Arch sets the following: CONFIG_HZ_300=y CONFIG_HZ=300 Applying Fedora's timer frequency configuration, on the default arch kernel package solves the issue. I'm no longer getting any stuttering with Minecraft or Google Meet. I'm reporting this here to see if the maintainers are willing to apply this in the package as well. Running `defconfig` from the kernel.org sources tell me 1000 Hz timer frequency is the default. So why the use of 300 Hz? I've also read that Professional audio software needs this higher frequency. So it made me a bit more curious. https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Professional_audio#Realtime_kernel http://tedfelix.com/linux/linux-midi.html I used the following package versions in my testing: * linux v5.13.13 * PipeWire 0.3.34 * Minecraft v1.16.5 P.S. I'm aware this isn't a noticeable issue on newer machines. But on older machines, the difference is between being able to, and not being able to use increasingly popular professional audio software like PipeWire unfortunately. |
This task depends upon
Closed by David Runge (dvzrv)
Wednesday, 01 February 2023, 16:31 GMT
Reason for closing: Upstream
Additional comments about closing: Please contact either kernel maintainers or pipewire upstream if this is still an issue.
Wednesday, 01 February 2023, 16:31 GMT
Reason for closing: Upstream
Additional comments about closing: Please contact either kernel maintainers or pipewire upstream if this is still an issue.
Anybody knows anything or have seen a relevant bug report somewhere? I should probably go somewhere else than here, but this was the first relevant bug report I found...
EDIT: Sorry, I have: Audio device: Intel Corporation Comet Lake PCH-LP cAVS, driver snd_hda_intel. And AX201 bluetooth.