Stop the POP! from Debian/Ubuntu sound devices

By default the Linux kernel will put unused devices into a power saving mode to promote battery life on portable devices. This has the unfortunate effect of causing an audible pop when the kernel wakes the sound driver to emit sound after which it will put the driver back into power saving mode after a time without activity for the driver. Causing another pop - naturally 😒

This is a continuation of my Stop The Pop! series and is a better cleaner way to stop the pop compared to my previous article To check if your driver module is configured to do this cat the following file

cat /sys/module/snd_hda_intel/parameters/power_save

If a 1 is returned then yes, your sound device is using the power save feature. You can temporarily turn it off with the following:

echo "0" | sudo tee /sys/module/snd_hda_intel/parameters/power_save

Test you notification sounds, they sound now be clear and pop free.

This option can be permenantly disabled, by creating an option file in /etc/modprobe.d This can be done with the following:

echo "options snd_hda_intel power_save=0" | sudo tee -a /etc/modprobe.d/audio_disable_powersave.conf

Enjoy your pop free sound !