VLC stop audio when screen dimmed off

[bouleur]

i put some mp3 in vlc to listen then, do other things... and when my macbook screen dim off, vlc stop playing. i have to click to dim screen on and vlc play back. how do i make vlc always play audio even on sleep ? thank you

[TheWingnut]

I am experiencing the same problem; however, unfortunately, I don't have an answer. This earlier thread addresses the same problem:
https://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=121712

[ajmas]

What OS version, Mac model and VLC version?

[TheWingnut]

OSX 10.10.5 Yosemite, VLC 2.2.3 Weatherwax (Intel 64-bit), MacBook Pro Retina (Early 2015), native audio (built-in speakers, native audio and video drivers, etc.).

More information about this bug can be found in my post on the old topic page (@ajmas I apologize for not knowing the rules about reviving old threads—this bug seems to have been around for awhile, and I didn't want to start a 4th or 5th separate forum topic on this same bug, so I chose the thread that seemed to have the most extensive information on the bug instead of the most recent).

But for convenience, I'll copy over my use case / instructions to reproduce below:

Observed behavior:
1) Construct playlist in VLC
2) Start playing music
3) Start working out in my room while listening to music
...5 minutes elapse...
4) Computer switches into Energy Saving mode, screen dims
5) Song currently playing will finish
6) VLC switches to next song, but no audio is heard
...1 minute elapses...
7) Frustrated that workout is interrupted, walk over to computer and touch trackpad
Computer screen comes back on, audio returns, song is at 1:00 mark (this tells me that the process is active and the computer has been prevented from entering sleep mode, but for some reason the audio is not outputted)

Desired behavior:
1) Construct playlist in VLC
2) Start playing music
3) Start working out in my room while listening to music
4) Finish 30-minute workout with uninterrupted audio

[ajmas]

It is an unwritten rule in most forums, a form of forum etiquette if you wish. You may have been okay, I just looked at the date and made a call. No stress, I have been guilty of that myself in the past :-/

As to your issue, does this happen with video playlists too? Also, could you se if this is an issue with latest 2.x or 3.x nightlies: http://nightlies.videolan.org/build/mac ... l/?C=M;O=D . It would seem that the Mac is going to sleep, rather than simply dimming the screen. I would have expected VLC to keep the computer awake.

BTW I have opened an issue ticket at this point: https://trac.videolan.org/vlc/ticket/16932 , though information about nighlties behaviour will be appreciated.

[TheWingnut]

Video playback works fine. I can watch as long as a video as I like without the screen dimming or the computer entering sleep mode.

I've downloaded both the nightlies (the 2.x release from May 6 and the 3.x release from March 21), but, alas, I experience the same issue on both of the nightlies. (For testing, I changed the energy saver settings to kick in at 1 minute, then queued up a 90-second song and a longer song. Same behavior was observed—screen dims at 60 seconds, first song continues playing until it finishes, audio cuts off completely, and when I wait 10 seconds and then touch the trackpad, the second song audio starts to be heard at exactly 10 seconds into the song. So, it seems VLC is still "playing"/"processing" the song, it's just that the audio doesn't come out for whatever reason.)

Thanks for opening a ticket on my behalf. I actually had already opened one a couple days ago (https://trac.videolan.org/vlc/ticket/16924). Feel free to close mine in favor of the one you opened, if you think that would be better.

If you need any more information that would help to track down and isolate this bug, please let me know.

[ajmas]

I missed that one when I searched the issues. Thanks.