Yep, the bug is really absurd.

Laptop: HP 8710p running debian squeeze 64-bit with 2.6.33 kernel.
Windows environment gnome. Flash player: abode version 10, 64-bits.

If I play this youtube video (not many others cause this) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtoQp...eature=related and have 100% hardware volume as selected by the "pull your finger-scale" above the keyboard on the laptop, then all accesses to the SATA drive hang.

I have tested with this script to be able to see exactly when communication stops: "while [ 1 ]; do smartctl -a /dev/sda; done". I know this only tests SMART accesses, but nothing else works meantime either.

If I turn the sound off, either from the menu, or by touching the mute-button with my finger, or lower the volume below 100%, all is fine again, and SMART data arrived regularly. If I restore the volume to 100%, disk access stops, and eventually the youtube playback along with all processes in the computer stop. Eventually an error about SATA errors is posted in dmesg if I dont seize in time.


What on earth could be causing this, and how do I get rid of it?

Check your computer manufacturer's web site for motherboard chip set driver updates. Wouldn't it be a laugh if one of those actually stated that it corrects this problem? Install the new firmware whether this problem is mentioned or not.

Of course if all of that is available and works it might only reduce the maximum volume available on the audio chip which you can simulate yourself by keeping the volume lower than 100%.