[SOLVED] AMD ThinkPad crackling microphone audio

[kapansa]

Hey all,

I've got my AMD-based T495 working well on Kubuntu 19.10 (after all sorts of video card problems on Elementary OS, Manjaro, and Kubuntu 18.04).

Only problem left to fix is the quality of audio captured through my microphone. Running kernel 5.3.0.40 it's not bad, almost as good as Windows 10. But running kernel 5.3.0.40 I have the black screen after suspend problem. Switching to kernel 5.1.16 (as suggested here), fixed my suspend issues completely, but now microphone quality is crap. It's quieter and filled with crackles, so I've had multiple people on Zoom calls not be able to finish the call and asked me to call them from my cell phone . I read that this is a long-standing problem with microphone Linux drivers on AMD machines, that was finally solved with Kernel 5.3 (article here). Problem is, when I switch back to 5.3.0.40 I can't close my laptop (without being greeted by the black screen of death), and for some reason now it's super sluggish. Kernel 5.3.0.40 takes like 5-6 times longer to boot than 5.1.16 and everything (including the applications menu) take forever to open and close.

Recordings:
Windows 10 recorded in Audio Recorder (note that the furnace kicked on while recording on Windows 10 so it has more background noise)
5.3.0.40 recorded in Audacity
5.1.16 recorded in Audacity

So I feel stuck. Either find a 5.3 kernel that isn't super slow on my T495 and never suspend my computer or close the lid, OR run 5.1.16 smoothly and never use the internal mic nor an external mic (i.e. don't work from this machine that was suppose to be my daily driver).

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance. K

UPDATE: I've now tried with the newest kernel 5.5.9 and just like 5.3.0.40 audio is good but everything is super slow and black screen after closing the lid. I also tried with 4.14.173 (for some reason ukuu failed to install any of the 4.15 kernels, which are certified for T495 with Ubuntu 18.04), and it wouldn't even boot. I've found that the other pre-installed kernel, 5.3.0.18.19.1 is NOT slow and audio works well, but unlike 5.1.16 I have the suspend black screen issue. So now it's between 5.3.0.18.19.1 and not being able to close the lid of my laptop and 5.1.16 and not being able to have a call from my laptop. Also forgot to mention that before messing with kernels I tried adding the suggested kernel parameter amd_iommu=off as suggested in one thread but didn't fix the suspend issues at all.

[jwrober]

I have an Intel Lenovo X1 Carbon. I run Kubuntu 18.04 running stock kernel. I get ok support for suspend. Sometimes my laptop just wakes up on its own after being put to sleep. I do not have any issues with black screen of death.

[FONT=monospace]5.3.0-40-generic #32~18.04.1-Ubuntu SMP Mon Feb 3 14:05:59 UTC 2020 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux[/FONT]

I too had the microphone issue and solved it by installing the pulse audio noise canceling driver - https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php...e-Cancellation

This is what I added to my /etc/pulse/default.pa file

[FONT=monospace]### Enable Echo/Noise-Cancellation
load-module module-echo-cancel use_master_format=1 aec_method=webrtc aec_args="analog_gain_control=0\ digital_gain_control=1\ noise_suppression=1" source_name=echoCancel_source sink_name=echoCancel_sink
set-default-source echoCancel_source
set-default-sink echoCancel_sink
[/FONT]

[kapansa]

Thanks for the reply jwrober. I'll try that code if I end up having to go back to 5.1.16. But all of a sudden suspend seems to be working. I accidentally left my laptop unplugged (but open) when I went to the gym and came back and it was asleep. Figured I'd get the black screen but to my surprise when pressing the button I was able to log right in. So then I tried actually clicking the 'sleep' option in the menu (without closing the lid) and that worked fine to. So then i closed the lid and opened it and it seems to be working. Might be that I need to let it suspend itself or click to suspend the first time before simply closing the lid for some reason, but on 5.3.0.18.19.1 my microphone is working well and I'm able to suspend the laptop with no problems! Fingers crossed it continues to work!