> Have installed RealPlayer on Debian Sarge and there is a horrid,
> loudish, crackly, static-like background noise.
>
> This problem is not new to me. I had it on Fedora Core 2 but could very
> often get rid of it by "jiggling" things around or giving the system a
> "blast through" by playing say a .wmv file with MPlayer or Xine. I got
> it on Ubuntu when I installed the KDE desktop (everything was alright
> with Gnome), seemed to get rid of it, but got it back again without
> remedy after installing and playing about with MPlayer.
>
> In "Volume Control" varying the PCM control varies both this background
> noise and the desired audio level while varying the VIA DXS controls
> only varies the audio level. (But one requires a certain PCM level to
> get any sound at all, so it's no way of eliminating the noise.)
>
> There is much reference to the problem in the various lists but I've not
> so far found a solution.
<snip>
>
> 2GHz Intel Celeron
> Shuttle AV49VN Mainboard
> VT8233/A/8235/8237 AC97 (Onboard Audio Controller)

I don't know exactly what's causing your problem, but I had a lot of
similar hard-to-trace problems with my onboard audio. They only went
away for good when I changed to a new sound card. Many people have
reported problems with onboard sound.

The SoundBlaster series are very popular sound cards, but a lot of
people report problems with them too, and I had a lot of hassles with
one. Finally got a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz, for $36 at NewEgg. It runs
on the cs46xx driver, just a smooth as silk. Since I got it I've
finally been able to stop constantly screwing with sound-- it just
works.

Good luck,
Andrew.

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