I dual boot Ubuntu 15 and Windows 10, and I have been having audio issues for a couple of weeks now in both OSs and even sometimes during boot before either OS starts. My laptop's subwoofer makes a crackling or popping noise very much like a Geiger counter at unpredictable intervals. Muting the audio or plugging in headphones does not affect the behaviour. Sometimes the noise will swell and then the audio will cut out entirely. The headphones do not make the noise or drop the normal audio - they're unaffected by the problem. The IR jack on my sound card ordinarily emits a red light, but it doesn't when I'm having this problem. I've disassembled the laptop and checked the connections between the sound card and the mother board, between the subwoofer and the mother board, and between the left and right speakers and the mother board.
Any ideas of what is wrong and how I can fix it?