Audio sounds like skipping CD.

This doesn't happen only when you surf but it happens also when you use extremely your PC' resources. Just precise more information about the way you've installed your Distribution (the size of swap , Just use "System-> Administration-> System Monitor-> Resource")

The install was primarily all of the defaults. I dont remember exactly when it started but here is what you asked for (I think)...

Memory - currently using 288 MB of 433 MB
Swap - currently using 27 MB of 1200 MB

If there is anything else I can offer, please let me know and I will be happy to get you what you need.

This is normal , you have just 512 Mb of memory and the rest is lost but used the integrated graphic card.

There is something you have to know , when memory is used about 50% the system uses SWAP so the system slows down a little bit (SWAP is not like RAM), and the consequence shows itself on this Bug of Audio Skipping.

The software you use while navigating is Totem ??? , if yes you should replace by VLC because it is lighter and you won't suffer from this problem . You can Install it from the Add/Remove program.

Note:
If you don't see it in the list , choose "Show all avaible applications" from the combo box in Add/Remove

Good luck

Thanks for the response...I guess I need to start shopping for more memory...

You mentioned "Totem" and "VLC". If I try installing the "VLC" program you mentioned, would it interfere with "Totem"?

No , not at all , you can install 1000 media player without any conflict.

Thanks for the info. I do have another question on this issue.

On occasion, the audio "skips" on start-up - when the login box comes up. There is nothing running at that point to use up memory, is there? I wouldnt think it a hardware issue because it never happened when I had Windows (XP and 7 Beta) installed.

Is there something else I can do or try?

Thanks.
JT

When the computer is starting up it's actually doing a lot of different tasks, starting X, starting Gnome, etc..., so it's no surprise to me that the start-up audio is skipping.

Personally, I turn off my startup audio so that my laptop is quiet if I need to start it up during a meeting.

OK...so I finally got some more memory - 512 MB to 2 GB.

I fired up the laptop this morning and when the login box came up the audio was skipping again.

Is there something else I should be looking at? I do not use the laptop in an environment where sound may cause a problem so I dont want to turn it off.

Thanks in advance.
JT

I'm going to explain why and when there is this skipping , when you do something big on the PC and you try directly to read an Audio File .... The default player is Totem , and the problem is from that software ... Install Real Player as instance or may be VLC player ... you won't have the problem with these softs , if the problem persists post a comment.

Good Luck ;)

I was so hoping that what you had suggested was going to work. I removed all of the Totem stuff (at least I think I did) and installed VLC.

Could it be a hardware driver issue? If so, being new to the Ubuntu world, how would I go about checking for the proper drivers?

Thanks again to all!!!
JT

OK , if you want to do a check on you hardware for drivers , go to System->Administration->Hardware Drivers

If there is any deactivated restricted drivers , the software will show in the list , and so as to activate click on it and click then on "Activate Button". The software wil download and install the driver.

And tell what is the size you've given to the SWAP memory (it is necessary to activate it , and I recommend you 4096 Mb of disk space because you've 2 Gb Of RAM).

And sorry for being late , I had a connection problem these last days !!!

Good Luck ;)

Dilmi,
Thank you for your suggestion. First of all, dont worry about your response time, as far as I am concenrned, it was plenty fast and I really appreciate it!

As for my audio issue and your questions, I got the message when I was at work and by the time I got home, it was late and I didnt have a chance to check. I will get the info for you when I get home tonight and let you know what I find.

Thanks again!!
JT

PS - On an unrelated note, how much do you know about Ubuntus ability to suspend and hibernate?

OK , waiting for you concerning the information and concerning the suspend and hibernate abilities of ubuntu , there is nothing special:

1- The suspend function is the Stand By function under windows (we use it when we are going away for so long )
2- The Hibernate function is like the suspend function but used when go away for long time
Both of the 2 fucntions shut electricity and all hardware , but when you wake up the PC after using SUSPEND function , you'll only type the password and resume the work.

But when you wake it up after using the hibernate function , the PC will load the BIOS as if you have started the PC now , and you'll type the password and resume the work too.

As you see there is no big difference .

I use the hibernate function because I shut the PC down only when I go to sleep. And use the SUSPEND function when I go out for 1-2 hours. And shutdown , I use it rarely , I use restart when something has a relation with the system Kernel hhhhh. I do so in order to gain time , because I the PC too much.

Good Luck ;)

I am still at work for the next 4 hours from the typing of this message. As soon as I get home and have a chance to get the requested info, I will reply on the audio issues.

The reason I questioned the suspend/hibernate functionality is because for some reason when I enabled the suspend/hibernate, after having come back when either mode has activated, when I try to "wake" the laptop, nothing happens. The power light goes green, the drive sounds like it wants to spin up (spins up then stops) and the screen stays off. I have let it sit there for the better part of a couple hours with no change. I have a Toshiba Satellite A105-S1712 and removed windows so I would have the whole drive for ubuntu. Again, could it be a hardware driver issue?

Ok, so I finally got around to checking the things you suggested. At the time of writing, the swap file was set to 1.2 GB and 0 B were being used. Now, I did some minor searching but was unable to find where to set the swap file size - maybe I just missed it so I am going to go back and look again in a bit.

As for the audio settings, while looking for the swap file management tool, I came across "Audio Settings Management (alsa-utils)" in the services section that was NOT checked - so I checked it off. Would there have been a reason it was unchecked? I then checked the Hardware Drivers util and the only things listed there were the wireless card (said to only activate if the wireless net wasnt working) and the modem. Since I have no use for a modem right now, I didnt activate it. If you think it might help, let me know and I will try it.

Thanks again for all of your help...
JT

PS - Any suggestions on the suspend/hibernate issue I am having?

================================
Suspend/Wake UP function:
================================
1- The suspend function needs a graphic card , as under windows , the function Stand By is not activated till the graphic card driver is installed , Have you a good graphic card ??
2- I use the suspend function and when you run the PC another time (wake up) it is supposed that you'll going to see automatically the password box (no BIOS loading).
================================
The audio skipping
================================
OK , sometimes I got this skipping when I use Totem while doing something which uses the system resources , But using Real Player or VLC , there is no skipping (even though when using the 3D effects). Download Real Player directly from here:

http://www.real.com/realcom/R?href=http://forms.real.com/real/player/download.html?f=unix/RealPlayer11GOLD.deb

Double Click on the downloaded file in order to Install , it may also download some files !!

Now try it by running an audio file and do some work in order to check if this skipping occurs.

Put any problem here !!

Good Luck ;)

if It doesn't always work , take this command

sudo sed -i -e 's/^load-module module-hal-detect/load-module module-hal-detect tsched=0/' /etc/pulse/default.pa

Good Luck ;)