On Sat, Jul 04, 2020 at 11:58:41AM +0100, Bev Nicolson wrote:
I'm not sure if this is off topic or not but I could do with some help here. How do I reduce or remove the hum from my laptop? I use Mint and the sound gui doesn't offer much detail. (There's only one plug socket for headphones, btw.)
It's unlikely (but not totally impossible) that it's due to the laptop itself. It's more likely that you have a 'hum loop' due to the connection(s) to whatever you are playing the sound on.
If, of course, you're using the internal speaker(s) on the laptop then the above doesn't apply.
So, first question, from what you say I'd *guess* that you're connecting a cable from the 'headphone' output to an external speaker/amplifier of some sort. If so then the hum is most likely due to multiple earths through the cables between the laptop and the amplifier.
First things to try:-
Is there any hum using internal speaker(s), if you have any.
Is there any hum if you use headphones/earphones?
Is the laptop running on battery, if not then try on battery.
If the hum goes when you do any of the above then it's probably an interconnection problem of some sort.
Minimise the chance of a long earth loop by plugging the speakers/amplifier in to a socket as close as possible to the one powering the laptop.