When I do some tasks like opening more Firefox instances, with media playing, or running some code etc - whenever the RAM usage is high, the system freezes for a few seconds, and my sound just stops. To be precise, I suspect something happens to Viper4Linux installed in my device. When the sound goes silent, I have to “Reload Driver” in V4L in order to get it to work again.
There is only 8GB RAM and I know it isn’t a lot. But why is sound the only thing that gets stopped when the system is frozen?
Some times the entire V4L gets terminated. Then, I have to go to Audio Mixer, mess with configuration and reopen V4L.
My inxi output:
System:
Kernel: 6.11.11-1-MANJARO arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 14.2.1
clocksource: tsc avail: hpet,acpi_pm
parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.11-x86_64
root=UUID=d4fb6d47-48d2-4f0e-a794-ee1c9932880a rw quiet splash apparmor=1
security=apparmor udev.log_priority=3
Desktop: Xfce v: 4.20.0 tk: Gtk v: 3.24.43 wm: xfwm4 v: 4.20.0
with: xfce4-panel tools: light-locker vt: 7 dm: LightDM v: 1.32.0
Distro: Manjaro base: Arch Linux
Machine:
Type: Desktop Mobo: N/A model: H110 serial: <superuser required>
uuid: <superuser required> UEFI: American Megatrends v: 5.12 date: 12/31/2020
Battery:
Message: No system battery data found. Is one present?
Memory:
System RAM: total: 8 GiB available: 7.67 GiB used: 7 GiB (91.4%)
Message: For most reliable report, use superuser + dmidecode.
Array-1: capacity: 64 GiB slots: 4 modules: 1 EC: None
max-module-size: 16 GiB note: est.
Device-1: ChannelA-DIMM0 type: no module installed
Device-2: ChannelA-DIMM1 type: no module installed
Device-3: ChannelB-DIMM0 type: DDR4 detail: synchronous unbuffered
(unregistered) size: 8 GiB speed: spec: 2667 MT/s actual: 2400 MT/s volts:
note: check curr: 1 min: 1 max: 1 width (bits): data: 64 total: 64
manufacturer: 04cb part-no: N/A serial: <filter>
Device-4: ChannelB-DIMM1 type: no module installed
CPU:
Info: model: Intel Core i5-7400 bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Kaby Lake
gen: core 7 level: v3 note: check built: 2018 process: Intel 14nm family: 6
model-id: 0x9E (158) stepping: 9 microcode: 0xF8
Topology: cpus: 1x dies: 1 clusters: 4 cores: 4 smt: <unsupported> cache:
L1: 256 KiB desc: d-4x32 KiB; i-4x32 KiB L2: 1024 KiB desc: 4x256 KiB
L3: 6 MiB desc: 1x6 MiB
Speed (MHz): avg: 1600 min/max: 800/3500 scaling: driver: intel_pstate
governor: powersave cores: 1: 1600 2: 1600 3: 1600 4: 1600 bogomips: 24008
Flags: 3dnowprefetch abm acpi adx aes aperfmperf apic arat
arch_capabilities arch_perfmon art avx avx2 bmi1 bmi2 bts clflush
clflushopt cmov constant_tsc cpuid cpuid_fault cx16 cx8 de ds_cpl dtes64
dtherm dts epb ept ept_ad erms est f16c flexpriority flush_l1d fma fpu
fsgsbase fxsr ht hwp hwp_act_window hwp_epp hwp_notify ibpb ibrs ida
intel_pt invpcid lahf_lm lm mca mce md_clear mmx monitor movbe mpx msr
mtrr nonstop_tsc nopl nx pae pat pbe pcid pclmulqdq pdcm pdpe1gb pebs pge
pln pni popcnt pse pse36 pti pts rdrand rdseed rdtscp rep_good sdbg sep
smap smep ss ssbd sse sse2 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 stibp syscall tm tm2
tpr_shadow tsc tsc_adjust tsc_deadline_timer vme vmx vnmi vpid x2apic
xgetbv1 xsave xsavec xsaveopt xsaves xtopology xtpr
Vulnerabilities:
Type: gather_data_sampling mitigation: Microcode
Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX disabled
Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: conditional cache flushes, SMT
disabled
Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT disabled
Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI
Type: mmio_stale_data mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT disabled
Type: reg_file_data_sampling status: Not affected
Type: retbleed mitigation: IBRS
Type: spec_rstack_overflow status: Not affected
Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via
prctl
Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer
sanitization
Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: IBRS; IBPB: conditional; STIBP: disabled; RSB
filling; PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected; BHI: Not affected
Type: srbds mitigation: Microcode
Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
Device-1: Intel HD Graphics 630 driver: i915 v: kernel arch: Gen-9.5
process: Intel 14nm built: 2016-20 ports: active: DP-1,HDMI-A-2
empty: DP-2,HDMI-A-1,HDMI-A-3 bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:5912
class-ID: 0300
Display: x11 server: X.org v: 1.21.1.15 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.4
compositor: xfwm4 v: 4.20.0 driver: X: loaded: modesetting
alternate: fbdev,vesa dri: iris gpu: i915 display-ID: :0.0 screens: 1
Screen-1: 0 s-res: 3286x1080 s-size: <missing: xdpyinfo>
Monitor-1: DP-1 pos: bottom-l model: VGA serial: <filter> built: 2020
res: 1366x768 hz: 60 dpi: 101 gamma: 1.2 size: 344x194mm (13.54x7.64")
diag: 403mm (15.9") ratio: 16:9 modes: max: 1366x768 min: 720x400
Monitor-2: HDMI-A-2 mapped: HDMI-2 pos: primary,top-right
model: Lenovo D24-40 serial: <filter> built: 2024 res: 1920x1080 hz: 60
dpi: 93 gamma: 1.2 size: 527x296mm (20.75x11.65") diag: 604mm (23.8")
ratio: 16:9 modes: max: 1920x1080 min: 720x400
API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: intel iris platforms: device: 0 drv: iris
device: 1 drv: swrast gbm: drv: iris surfaceless: drv: iris x11: drv: iris
inactive: wayland
API: OpenGL v: 4.6 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: intel mesa v: 24.3.2-arch1.1
glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 630 (KBL GT2)
device-ID: 8086:5912 memory: 3.74 GiB unified: yes
API: Vulkan v: 1.4.303 layers: 9 device: 0 type: integrated-gpu name: Intel
HD Graphics 630 (KBL GT2) driver: N/A device-ID: 8086:5912
surfaces: xcb,xlib
Audio:
Device-1: Intel 100 Series/C230 Series Family HD Audio driver: snd_hda_intel
v: kernel alternate: snd_soc_avs bus-ID: 00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:a170
class-ID: 0403
API: ALSA v: k6.11.11-1-MANJARO status: kernel-api with: aoss
type: oss-emulator tools: alsactl,alsamixer,amixer
Server-1: JACK v: 1.9.22 status: off tools: N/A
Server-2: PipeWire v: 1.2.7 status: off with: 1: wireplumber status: off
2: pipewire-alsa type: plugin tools: pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Server-3: PulseAudio v: 17.0-43-g3e2bb status: active with: pulseaudio-alsa
type: plugin tools: pacat,pactl,pavucontrol
Network:
Device-1: Realtek RTL810xE PCI Express Fast Ethernet driver: r8169 v: kernel
pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: e000 bus-ID: 01:00.0
chip-ID: 10ec:8136 class-ID: 0200
IF: enp1s0 state: down mac: <filter>
Device-2: Realtek RTL8192EU 802.11b/g/n WLAN Adapter driver: rtl8xxxu
type: USB rev: 2.1 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 1-5:4
chip-ID: 0bda:818b class-ID: 0000 serial: <filter>
IF: wlp0s20f0u5 state: up mac: <filter>
IP v4: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global
broadcast: <filter>
IP v6: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: link
IF-ID-1: tun0 state: unknown speed: 10000 Mbps duplex: full mac: N/A
IP v4: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: global broadcast: <filter>
IP v6: <filter> virtual: stable-privacy proto kernel_ll scope: link
Info: services: NetworkManager, systemd-timesyncd, wpa_supplicant
WAN IP: <filter>
Bluetooth:
Message: No bluetooth data found.
Logical:
Message: No logical block device data found.
RAID:
Message: No RAID data found.
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 357.72 GiB used: 250.41 GiB (70.0%)
SMART Message: Required tool smartctl not installed. Check --recommends
ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Hikvision model: HS-SSD-E100 256G
size: 238.47 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: AA20 scheme: GPT
ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: Crucial model: CT120BX500SSD1
size: 111.79 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: R013 scheme: GPT
ID-3: /dev/sdc maj-min: 8:32 vendor: SanDisk model: Cruzer Blade
size: 7.45 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B type: USB rev: 2.0
spd: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 tech: N/A serial: <filter> fw-rev: 1.26
scheme: MBR
Message: No optical or floppy data found.
Partition:
ID-1: / raw-size: 43.35 GiB size: 42.12 GiB (97.16%) used: 33.51 GiB (79.6%)
fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2 maj-min: 8:2 label: root
uuid: d4fb6d47-48d2-4f0e-a794-ee1c9932880a
ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 300 MiB size: 299.4 MiB (99.80%)
used: 25.9 MiB (8.6%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/sda4 maj-min: 8:4 label: N/A
uuid: B6AE-2520
ID-3: /home raw-size: 186.83 GiB size: 183.34 GiB (98.13%)
used: 164.39 GiB (89.7%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda3 maj-min: 8:3 label: home
uuid: d29146b1-18e8-4782-a8cf-e1ba69862e6f
ID-4: /mnt/shared raw-size: 72.71 GiB size: 72.71 GiB (100.00%)
used: 51.07 GiB (70.2%) fs: ntfs dev: /dev/sdb4 maj-min: 8:20
label: New Volume uuid: C4E229DBE229D30A
Swap:
Kernel: swappiness: 60 (default) cache-pressure: 100 (default) zswap: no
ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 8 GiB used: 1.4 GiB (17.5%) priority: -2
dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1 label: N/A
uuid: 13d1eb82-e509-4b11-9a7b-fda9e62c4487
Unmounted:
ID-1: /dev/sdb1 maj-min: 8:17 size: 39.06 GiB fs: ntfs label: N/A
uuid: 980895050894E412
ID-2: /dev/sdb2 maj-min: 8:18 size: 16 MiB fs: <superuser required>
label: N/A uuid: N/A
ID-3: /dev/sdc1 maj-min: 8:33 size: 3.63 GiB fs: iso9660
ID-4: /dev/sdc2 maj-min: 8:34 size: 4 MiB fs: vfat label: MISO_EFI
uuid: 9D59-BEAA
USB:
Hub-1: 1-0:1 info: hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 10 rev: 2.0
speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 chip-ID: 1d6b:0002
class-ID: 0900
Device-1: 1-1:2 info: USB OPTICAL MOUSE type: mouse
driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 1 rev: 1.1 speed: 1.5 Mb/s (183 KiB/s)
lanes: 1 mode: 1.0 power: 100mA chip-ID: 30fa:0300 class-ID: 0301
Device-2: 1-2:3 info: Logitech Keyboard K120 type: keyboard,HID
driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 2 rev: 1.1 speed: 1.5 Mb/s (183 KiB/s)
lanes: 1 mode: 1.0 power: 90mA chip-ID: 046d:c31c class-ID: 0300
Device-3: 1-5:4 info: Realtek RTL8192EU 802.11b/g/n WLAN Adapter
type: Network driver: rtl8xxxu interfaces: 1 rev: 2.1
speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 power: 500mA
chip-ID: 0bda:818b class-ID: 0000 serial: <filter>
Device-4: 1-6:5 info: SanDisk Cruzer Blade type: mass storage
driver: usb-storage interfaces: 1 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s)
lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 power: 200mA chip-ID: 0781:5567 class-ID: 0806
serial: <filter>
Hub-2: 2-0:1 info: super-speed hub ports: 4 rev: 3.0
speed: 5 Gb/s (596.0 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 3.2 gen-1x1 chip-ID: 1d6b:0003
class-ID: 0900
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 56.0 C pch: 44.0 C mobo: N/A
Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A
Info:
Processes: 245 Power: uptime: 10h 11m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: s2idle
wakeups: 0 hibernate: platform avail: shutdown, reboot, suspend, test_resume
image: 3.05 GiB services: upowerd,xfce4-power-manager Init: systemd v: 257
default: graphical tool: systemctl
Packages: 1633 pm: pacman pkgs: 1601 libs: 485 tools: pamac pm: snap
pkgs: 32 Compilers: clang: 18.1.8 gcc: 14.2.1 Shell: Bash v: 5.2.37
running-in: xfce4-terminal inxi: 3.3.36
I am not an advanced user. It took a lot of work to get sound work when I first installed Manjaro + V4L. Since then, I didn’t dare touch anything that works.
Used to plug my headphone directly to PC front output. Same story back then. But since migrating to HDMI, I plug them into the monitor, because it is chosen as default sound output on every reboot.