Energy Saving kills audio

[vkd]

Mac OS 10.9.4
VLC Player 2.1.5
Energy Saving set to Default (10 mins)

If I load a set of audio files (mp3) for listening in VLC Player and then do not use the computer for other activity, the Energy Saver facility in Mac OS comes into effect, specifically the Display Sleep function and Computer Sleep. When Sleep functionality starts, the audio file playing at that moment continues playing until the end as normal. However the next song in the list of loaded files will not start playing and the VLC Player effectively stops functioning, the play/pause button continues to display the pause icon, as if it were still in play mode, and upon 2x clicking on any file in the list it will not play that file. If I select all the files in the list and delete them (to clear the list) and then drag and drop another folder containing mp3 audio files from the Finder to the VLC Player icon in the Dock, the Playlist becomes filled with a one-line entry, the folder name and it does not list the files contained within. It appears as if the Energy Saving features of Mac OS cut the link between VLC Player and the file system. I have looked in the Preferences but cannot find anything relevant. Is there a way around this?

Thanks.

[vkd]

Still suffering from the Sleep-Audio-KIll. Actually what is written above is not strictly true. What happens is, VLC Player continues functioning when the computer is in Sleep mode, just the audio is muted. Upon awakening, if any other item in the playlist is 2x clicked it will play as normal with sound. Just the one that was playing muted continues muted. If you 2x click any other item then 2x click the item that was previously playing muted, it plays normally with sound again.

[dfuhrmann]

Uh? How can VLC do anything while the whole computer is on sleep mode?
Note that display sleep and computer sleep are different things. The first one is expected while playing audio files, whereas the second one should be prevented.

Can you please describe what happens in more detail (regarding seperate display and computer sleep events), when exactly VLC is muted, and what the problem after wakeup is?

[vkd]

Fair comment, but the fact is that the default Energy Saver settings in Mac OS 10.9.3 (at least) are 10 mins for both Computer Sleep and Display Sleep. When that kicks in, VLC Player actually continues playing, but with audio muted. Just like uTorrent, for example, continues downloading when in Sleep mode. Yes, Computer Sleep can be extended to a longer setting, say 1 hour, and audio will continue for 1 hour, with the display off. That may resolve this VLC problem but it overrides system sleep settings which is undesirable.

[vkd]

Seems this same problem occurs on Windows too: https://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.ph ... io#p408045

[vkd]

Just found the answer to this problem: download VLC Player v1.1.x!

[dfuhrmann]

Just like uTorrent, for example, continues downloading when in Sleep mode.

Sorry, but no application can do anything in sleep mode. You misinterpret something here. Only exception is maybe applications using powerNap.

Just found the answer to this problem: download VLC Player v1.1.x!

This is not a good solution. VLC 1.1 is an utterly old version, full of security vulnerabilities.

[vkd]

Thanks for your feedback.


Sorry to contradict you but on my iMac Mid-2011, uTorrent does continue downloading even when Energy Saving so-called Sleep mode(s) kick in. Even your VLC 1.1 continues to work in Sleep mode, playing audio playlists until they finish. It is only since VLC 2.x that this does not function any more.

Talking of VLC 1.1, please could you let me know of a security vulnerability?


Have a nice day!

[dfuhrmann]

And how do you see that your Mac actually sleeps?

Typically, your monitor should go dark, but the Mac should just continue working normal, playing Audio. But this has nothing to do with "sleep". The same behaviour should happen with VLC 2.x and is probably happening with uTorrent and VLC 1.x. They might be a bug in current VLC versions though, and I will try to reproduce it.

But your definition of "sleep" still confuses me... Additionally if I understood you correctly, that VLC continues playing (the time slider moves forward), but you just do not hear audio? Another hint that your mac is not actually sleeping / in standby mode.

For security, just look into VLC's NEWS file in our repository. You will find a lot of security bumps of external libraries, as well as in VLCs own code.

[vkd]

Sleep is defined by Apple in this case.

In System Preferences > Energy Saver, there are 2 sliders, one labeled 'Computer sleep' and the other 'Display sleep'. The default is for both of them to be set at 10 minutes, which is what I set my computer at. However, if I set 'Display sleep' to 1 minute and 'Computer sleep' to 2 minutes, load a playlist in VLC and set it playing, after 1 minute the display will turn off and go black. VLC will continue playing. With VLC 1.1, it will play until the end of the playlist, independent of the 'Computer sleep' setting. With VLC 2.x the present song will play until the end. Then, if by then the 'Computer sleep' function has been called, no more sound will be audible, even when the computer is 'awoken' by touching the keyboard or pointing device. Then, it can be observed that VLC is still playing, it moved to the next song in the playlist and the slider is moving indicating that it is playing that song, although without sound. If some time is left (say, 10 mins) between the computer 'sleeping' and being 'awoken', it can be seen that VLC will have advanced through the playlist that duration of time, possibly through a number of separate 'items' (songs).

I hope that is clear for you.

[TheWingnut]

I am experiencing this same problem. I will try to explain it clearly, so that hopefully a developer or someone with more experience with VLC can recommend a solution. OSX 10.10 Yosemite, VLC 2.2.3, Energy Saving set to 5 mins.

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 turns dark)
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
8- Computer screen comes back on, audio returns, song is at 1:00 mark

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

Basically, I want behavior with audio playback similar to the behavior when I'm playing a video or streaming a video from the Internet. That is, the OS recognizes there is an important process ongoing (audio playback) and won't go into Energy Saving mode.

I know that the simplest option might be to readjust my Energy Saving to kick in after a longer period of time, but I do feel like there should be a solution in VLC.

[ajmas]

@TheWingnut, please avoid using old threads for new issues. A thread that has been dormant for more than 6 months should not be used, unless you have a very good reason to.