Audio Suddenly Gone on all File Formats

[tonyawards]

I am running 2.0.1 in sabayon, the gentoo based distro. No problems at all until just this week – suddenly all audio was gone. No output from mp4, flv, etc. Video feeds look fine with no issues.

I use (I think) PulseAudio and have alsamixer and have always used default settings on everything.

I checked in messages, after setting it to 2-debug, and got his output (truncated where it begins to repeat ad infinitum:

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main debug: adding item `Pete_Gabriel_Growing_Gotan_-_Milan_Italy.mp4' ( file:///home/me/Music/_MP4%20Files/Pete_Gabriel_Growing_Gotan_-_Milan_Italy.mp4 ) main debug: rebuilding array of current - root Playlist main debug: rebuild done - 1 items, index -1 main debug: processing request item: Pete_Gabriel_Growing_Gotan_-_Milan_Italy.mp4, node: null, skip: 0 main debug: resyncing on Pete_Gabriel_Growing_Gotan_-_Milan_Italy.mp4 main debug: Pete_Gabriel_Growing_Gotan_-_Milan_Italy.mp4 is at 0 main debug: starting playback of the new playlist item main debug: creating new input thread main debug: Creating an input for 'Pete_Gabriel_Growing_Gotan_-_Milan_Italy.mp4' qt4 debug: Adding a new MRL to recent ones: file:///home/me/Music/_MP4%20Files/Pete_Gabriel_Growing_Gotan_-_Milan_Italy.mp4 main debug: using timeshift granularity of 50 MiB, in path '/tmp' main debug: `file:///home/me/Music/_MP4%20Files/Pete_Gabriel_Growing_Gotan_-_Milan_Italy.mp4' gives access `file' demux `' path `/home/me/Music/_MP4%20Files/Pete_Gabriel_Growing_Gotan_-_Milan_Italy.mp4' main debug: creating demux: access='file' demux='' location='/home/me/Music/_MP4%20Files/Pete_Gabriel_Growing_Gotan_-_Milan_Italy.mp4' file='/home/me/Music/_MP4 Files/Pete_Gabriel_Growing_Gotan_-_Milan_Italy.mp4' main debug: looking for access_demux module: 2 candidates main debug: no access_demux module matching "file" could be loaded main debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.403 ms - Total 0.403 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.403 ms) main debug: creating access 'file' location='/home/me/Music/_MP4%20Files/Pete_Gabriel_Growing_Gotan_-_Milan_Italy.mp4', path='/home/me/Music/_MP4 Files/Pete_Gabriel_Growing_Gotan_-_Milan_Italy.mp4' main debug: looking for access module: 2 candidates filesystem debug: opening file `/home/me/Music/_MP4 Files/Pete_Gabriel_Growing_Gotan_-_Milan_Italy.mp4' main debug: using access module "filesystem" main debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.189 ms - Total 0.189 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.189 ms) main debug: Using stream method for AStream* main debug: starting pre-buffering main debug: received first data after 0 ms main debug: pre-buffering done 1024 bytes in 0s - 25641 KiB/s main debug: looking for stream_filter module: 7 candidates main debug: no stream_filter module matching "any" could be loaded main debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.347 ms - Total 0.347 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.347 ms) main debug: looking for stream_filter module: 1 candidate main debug: using stream_filter module "stream_filter_record" main debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.124 ms - Total 0.124 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.124 ms) main debug: creating demux: access='file' demux='' location='/home/me/Music/_MP4%20Files/Pete_Gabriel_Growing_Gotan_-_Milan_Italy.mp4' file='/home/me/Music/_MP4 Files/Pete_Gabriel_Growing_Gotan_-_Milan_Italy.mp4' main debug: looking for demux module: 51 candidates main debug: Creating an input for 'Pete_Gabriel_Growing_Gotan_-_Milan_Italy.mp4' mp4 warning: unknown box type btrt (incompletely loaded) qt4 debug: IM: Setting an input mp4 warning: unknown box type gsst (incompletely loaded) mp4 warning: unknown box type gstd (incompletely loaded) mp4 warning: unknown box type gssd (incompletely loaded) mp4 warning: unknown box type gspu (incompletely loaded) mp4 warning: unknown box type gspm (incompletely loaded) mp4 warning: unknown box type gshh (incompletely loaded) mp4 debug: dumping root Box "root" mp4 debug: | + ftyp size 24 mp4 debug: | + moov size 1785040 mp4 debug: | | + mvhd size 108 mp4 debug: | | + iods size 21 mp4 debug: | | + trak size 640595 mp4 debug: | | | + tkhd size 92 mp4 debug: | | | + mdia size 640495 mp4 debug: | | | | + mdhd size 32 mp4 debug: | | | | + hdlr size 45 mp4 debug: | | | | + minf size 640410 mp4 debug: | | | | | + vmhd size 20 mp4 debug: | | | | | + dinf size 36 mp4 debug: | | | | | | + dref size 28 mp4 debug: | | | | | | | + url size 12 mp4 debug: | | | | | + stbl size 640346 mp4 debug: | | | | | | + stsd size 170 mp4 debug: | | | | | | | + avc1 size 154 mp4 debug: | | | | | | | | + avcC size 48 mp4 debug: | | | | | | | | + btrt size 20 mp4 debug: | | | | | | + stts size 24 mp4 debug: | | | | | | + stss size 11180 mp4 debug: | | | | | | + stsc size 52 mp4 debug: | | | | | | + stsz size 580520 mp4 debug: | | | | | | + stco size 48392 mp4 debug: | | + trak size 1143551 mp4 debug: | | | + tkhd size 92 mp4 debug: | | | + mdia size 1143451 mp4 debug: | | | | + mdhd size 32 mp4 debug: | | | | + hdlr size 76 mp4 debug: | | | | + minf size 1143335 mp4 debug: | | | | | + smhd size 16 mp4 debug: | | | | | + dinf size 36 mp4 debug: | | | | | | + dref size 28 mp4 debug: | | | | | | | + url size 12 mp4 debug: | | | | | + stbl size 1143275 mp4 debug: | | | | | | + stsd size 91 mp4 debug: | | | | | | | + mp4a size 75 mp4 debug: | | | | | | | | + esds size 39 mp4 debug: | | | | | | + stts size 24 mp4 debug: | | | | | | + stsc size 94744 mp4 debug: | | | | | | + stsz size 1000020 mp4 debug: | | | | | | + stco size 48388 mp4 debug: | | + udta size 757 mp4 debug: | | | + meta size 749 mp4 debug: | | | | + hdlr size 33 mp4 debug: | | | | + ilst size 704 mp4 debug: | | | | | + gsst size 25 mp4 debug: | | | | | + gstd size 31 mp4 debug: | | | | | + gssd size 56 mp4 debug: | | | | | + gspu size 152 mp4 debug: | | | | | + gspm size 152 mp4 debug: | | | | | + gshh size 280 mp4 debug: | + mdat size 1497203802 mp4 debug: unrecognized major file specification (mp42). mp4 debug: found 2 tracks mp4 debug: track[Id 0x1] read 12094 chunk mp4 debug: track[Id 0x1] read 145125 samples length:5805s main debug: selecting program id=0 mp4 debug: adding track[Id 0x1] video (enable) language undef mp4 debug: track[Id 0x2] read 12093 chunk mp4 debug: track[Id 0x2] read 250000 samples length:5804s mp4 debug: adding track[Id 0x2] audio (enable) language undef main debug: using demux module "mp4" main debug: TIMER module_need() : 167.819 ms - Total 167.819 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 167.819 ms) main debug: looking for a subtitle file in /home/me/Music/_MP4 Files main debug: looking for decoder module: 27 candidates main debug: meta ok for (null), need to fetch art main debug: looking for meta fetcher module: 1 candidate lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /home/spike/.local/share/vlc/lua/meta/fetcher lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /usr/lib64/vlc/lua/meta/fetcher lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script /usr/lib64/vlc/lua/meta/fetcher/tvrage.luac main debug: using meta fetcher module "lua" main debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.631 ms - Total 0.631 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.631 ms) main debug: removing module "lua" main debug: searching art for Pete_Gabriel_Growing_Gotan_-_Milan_Italy.mp4 main debug: looking for art finder module: 2 candidates lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /home/spike/.local/share/vlc/lua/meta/art lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /usr/lib64/vlc/lua/meta/art lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script /usr/lib64/vlc/lua/meta/art/00_musicbrainz.luac lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script /usr/lib64/vlc/lua/meta/art/01_googleimage.luac lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script /usr/lib64/vlc/lua/meta/art/02_frenchtv.luac lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script /usr/lib64/vlc/lua/meta/art/03_lastfm.luac lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /usr/share/vlc/lua/meta/art main debug: no art finder module matching "any" could be loaded main debug: TIMER module_need() : 10.529 ms - Total 10.529 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 10.529 ms) main debug: art not found for Pete_Gabriel_Growing_Gotan_-_Milan_Italy.mp4 avcodec debug: libavcodec initialized (interface 0x352300) avcodec debug: trying to use direct rendering avcodec debug: allowing 1 thread(s) for decoding avcodec debug: ffmpeg codec (H264 - MPEG-4 AVC (part 10)) started main debug: using decoder module "avcodec" main debug: TIMER module_need() : 79.032 ms - Total 79.032 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 79.032 ms) main debug: looking for decoder module: 27 candidates main debug: using decoder module "faad" main debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.302 ms - Total 0.302 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.302 ms) main debug: looking for meta reader module: 2 candidates lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /home/spike/.local/share/vlc/lua/meta/reader lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /usr/lib64/vlc/lua/meta/reader lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script /usr/lib64/vlc/lua/meta/reader/filename.luac lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /usr/share/vlc/lua/meta/reader main debug: no meta reader module matching "any" could be loaded main debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.848 ms - Total 0.848 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.848 ms) main debug: `file:///home/me/Music/_MP4%20Files/Pete_Gabriel_Growing_Gotan_-_Milan_Italy.mp4' successfully opened mp4 debug: track[Id 0x1] using Sync Sample Box (stss) mp4 debug: stts gives 0 --> 0 (sample number) mp4 debug: track[Id 0x2] does not provide Sync Sample Box (stss) main debug: Buffering 0% main debug: looking for text renderer module: 3 candidates freetype debug: Building font databases. freetype debug: Took 1 microseconds freetype debug: Using Sans as font from file /usr/share/fonts/dejavu/DejaVuSans.ttf freetype debug: using fontsize: 2 main debug: using text renderer module "freetype" main debug: TIMER module_need() : 14.065 ms - Total 14.065 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 14.065 ms) main debug: looking for video filter2 module: 18 candidates swscale debug: 32x32 chroma: YUVA -> 16x16 chroma: RGBA with scaling using Bicubic (good quality) main debug: using video filter2 module "swscale" main debug: TIMER module_need() : 1.305 ms - Total 1.305 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 1.305 ms) main debug: looking for video filter2 module: 18 candidates yuvp debug: YUVP to YUVA converter main debug: using video filter2 module "yuvp" main debug: TIMER module_need() : 1.760 ms - Total 1.760 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 1.760 ms) main debug: Deinterlacing available main debug: deinterlace 0, mode blend, is_needed 0 faad warning: decoded zero sample main debug: Buffering 0% main debug: Buffering 33% main debug: Opening vout display wrapper main debug: looking for vout display module: 6 candidates main debug: Buffering 66% main debug: Buffering 100% main debug: Stream buffering done (400 ms in 22 ms) main debug: looking for vout window xid module: 4 candidates qt4 debug: requesting video... qt4 debug: Video was requested 0, 0 main debug: using vout window xid module "qt4" main debug: TIMER module_need() : 86.981 ms - Total 86.981 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 86.981 ms) main debug: looking for inhibit module: 2 candidates main debug: using inhibit module "xdg_screensaver" main debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.664 ms - Total 0.664 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.664 ms) xcb_xv debug: connected to X11.0 server xcb_xv debug: vendor : The X.Org Foundation xcb_xv debug: version: 11104000 xcb_xv debug: using screen 0x243 xcb_xv debug: using XVideo extension v2.2 xcb_xv debug: using adaptor NV17 Video Texture xcb_xv debug: using port 505 xcb_xv debug: using image format 0x30323449 xcb_xv debug: using X11 visual ID 0x21 (depth: 24) xcb_xv debug: using X11 window 0x07800000 xcb_xv debug: using X11 graphic context 0x07800002 main debug: VoutDisplayEvent 'fullscreen' 0 main debug: VoutDisplayEvent 'resize' 1280x677 window main debug: using vout display module "xcb_xv" main debug: TIMER module_need() : 106.286 ms - Total 106.286 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 106.286 ms) main debug: original format sz 1280x720, of (0,0), vsz 1280x720, 4cc I420, sar 1:1, msk r0x0 g0x0 b0x0 main debug: removing module "freetype" main debug: looking for text renderer module: 3 candidates freetype debug: Building font databases. freetype debug: Took 1 microseconds freetype debug: Using Sans as font from file /usr/share/fonts/dejavu/DejaVuSans.ttf freetype debug: using fontsize: 2 main debug: using text renderer module "freetype" main debug: TIMER module_need() : 1.461 ms - Total 1.461 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 1.461 ms) main debug: creating audio output main debug: looking for audio output module: 3 candidates avcodec warning: disabling direct rendering xcb_xv debug: display is visible xcb_xv debug: display is visible xdg_screensaver debug: started xdg-screensaver (PID = 10514) pulse debug: using stereo channel map pulse debug: using library version 2.0.0 pulse debug: (compiled with version 2.0.0, protocol 26) pulse debug: connected locally to unix:/tmp/pulse-s6MGfZnfzwpx/native as client #4 pulse debug: using protocol 26, server protocol 26 pulse debug: using buffer metrics: maxlength=4194304, tlength=14296, prebuf=0, minreq=7056 pulse debug: connected to sink 0: alsa_output.pci-0000_00_10.1.analog-stereo main debug: using audio output module "pulse" main debug: TIMER module_need() : 30.563 ms - Total 30.563 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 30.563 ms) main debug: output 'f32l' 44100 Hz Stereo frame=1 samples/8 bytes main debug: mixer 'f32l' 44100 Hz Stereo frame=1 samples/8 bytes main debug: filter(s) 'f32l'->'f32l' 44100 Hz->44100 Hz Stereo->Stereo main debug: conversion pipeline completed main debug: looking for audio mixer module: 2 candidates main debug: using audio mixer module "float32_mixer" main debug: TIMER module_need() : 7.539 ms - Total 7.539 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 7.539 ms) main debug: input 'f32l' 44100 Hz Stereo frame=1 samples/8 bytes main debug: looking for audio filter module: 1 candidate scaletempo debug: format: 44100 rate, 2 nch, 4 bps, fl32 scaletempo debug: params: 30 stride, 0.200 overlap, 14 search scaletempo debug: 1.000 scale, 1323.000 stride_in, 1323 stride_out, 1059 standing, 264 overlap, 617 search, 2204 queue, fl32 mode main debug: using audio filter module "scaletempo" main debug: TIMER module_need() : 19.997 ms - Total 19.997 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 19.997 ms) main debug: filter(s) 'f32l'->'f32l' 44100 Hz->44100 Hz Stereo->Stereo main debug: conversion pipeline completed main debug: filter(s) 'f32l'->'f32l' 44100 Hz->44100 Hz Stereo->Stereo main debug: conversion pipeline completed main debug: filter(s) 'f32l'->'f32l' 48510 Hz->44100 Hz Stereo->Stereo main debug: looking for audio filter module: 13 candidates main debug: End of video preroll main debug: Received first picture main debug: looking for video blending module: 1 candidate main debug: using audio filter module "speex_resampler" main debug: TIMER module_need() : 92.654 ms - Total 92.654 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 92.654 ms) main debug: conversion pipeline completed main debug: End of audio preroll main debug: using video blending module "blend" main debug: TIMER module_need() : 26.155 ms - Total 26.155 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 26.155 ms) main debug: Post-processing available xcb_xv debug: display is visible main debug: Decoder buffering done in 625 ms main warning: PTS is out of range (-31685), dropping buffer pulse error: cannot write: Connection terminated pulse error: cannot write: Connection terminated pulse error: cannot write: Connection terminated

Does this make sense to anyone? I don't know how to read the errors. The last mp4 file I started worked for about 3 seconds and then went silent, though it continued to play video perfectly.

[tonyawards]

I neglected to mention that the lack of audio is also in SMPlayer, but I am getting normal sound with Amarok (on mp3s), Clementine (on mp3s and mp4s), and any flv files, etc. played directly from YouTube in Firefox are all working fine.

It seems like my PulseAudio and alsamixer (also on default settings) must be ok for all those to work, and I have never had to tell vlc to use anything specific before, so I am not sure what to follow up on next.

My setup is:

Sound Card: HDA nVidia & Chip: Conexant CX20549 (Venice) - in my HP Pavilion dv6000.
Software versions: PulseAudio 2.0-r1, alsamixer 1.0.25, vlc 2.0.1~4, phonon-vlc-0.5.0

Thank you all.

[Rémi Denis-Courmont]

pulse error: cannot write: Connection terminated
pulse error: cannot write: Connection terminated

Either the PulseAudio daemon crashed, was forcefully restarted, or rejects VLC connections. That's clearly a problem on PA side.

[tonyawards]

Thanks, Remi. I realize that PulseAudio isn't really your responsibility here, but do you have any idea how I might go about debugging that? I have checked all the settings several times in PA and my alsamixer, and they all look normal. Do you think it would help to remove and reinstall either or both?

What would have caused a sudden crash or connection rejection, and what do you mean by "forcefully restarted"? I'm not quite sure where to go with this next...

[kmf31]

You should not need to "reinstall" pulse audio etc.

1) In general pulse audio refuses to give access to more than two programms on the same audio device (but this does not explain the problem of "crashed"). You can verify with

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ps aux | grep <your_user_name>

if there is no other hidden process who still may use pulse audio (may be even an old vlc instance which is not really "dead" !). You may/should kill the appropriate process.

2) Verify if actually the pulse audio daemon is running with:

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ps aux | grep pulseaudio | grep -v grep

3) if 2) shows empty result you may restart manually the daemon by:

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/usr/bin/pulseaudio --start --log-target=syslog

and reverify with 2). If 2) is still empty see in the log files, for example:

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tail /var/log/warn

4) if before or after 3) the pulseaudio is (again) running you may use the utility "pavucontrol" (can be easily installed on every distribution if it is not yet present) and run it in parallel with your applications using pulse (vlc etc.) and here you can do a lot of things to control pulse, esspecially attribute each audio device to a specific application, modify the volume etc.

All this (except installation of pavucontrol if necessary) should be possible as a normal user (i.e. without root priviliges). Normally the pulse audio daemon is automatically started at many occasions (every program that tries to use it, also gnome or kde window manager etc.). However if it is not running it is easy to start manually.
Note that there also (possible) user configuration files: ~/.asoundrc for alsa and in the folder ~/.pulse/... for pulse. You can verify if the first file exists (especially with the date of last modification) and the same for files inside ~/.pulse/... You can actually do very nice audio configuration things here (if you have more than one audio device, analog and digital etc., upmixing 2.0 to 5.1 etc.). Note that there are also system files for the also and pulse configuration: /etc/asound.conf (or /etc/asound-pulse.conf) or in /etc/pulse/... but your personal copies (if present) in ~/.asoundrc or ~/.pulse/... should have the priority. However, if some bizarre application has modified these files it is more likely to have happened in your personal copies (therefore verify date of last modifications of all the configuration files and if they exist).

If absolutely nothing works with pulse you can tell vlc to bypath pulse and directly use alsa (pulse is nothing more than a proxy between alsa and the client applications), by the vlc option: --aout alsa (or in the preferences) and if necessary you can also choose with another option the alsa device if there are several and if you do not want to use the default device. I think with direct alsa (instead of pulse) access several programs can actually access the audio device at the same time.

[tonyawards]

Hi kmf31 - thank you for such a detailed and thoughful reply. I'll explain what I've checked after reading your post.

It does appear that PA is starting automatically - the output from all your commands is in the code box below, and this time I have done nothing except boot up, open the browser to check for your post, and then run through the command sequence. If I read it right, this line

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spike 9554 0.1 0.3 324916 7140 ? Sl 12:05 0:00 /usr/bin/pulseaudio --start --log-target=syslog

is telling me it did initiate, thought I ran your entire sequence just to be sure.

Here's the commands sequence output:

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spike@localhost ~ $ ps aux | grep spike lp 9027 0.0 0.1 23524 2628 ? S 12:04 0:00 HL-5170DNLT 179 spike splitter-parts-list-2 1 PageSize=A4 job-uuid=urn:uuid:855de048-1091-3108-67b9-d895c01ca1ee job-originating-host-name=localhost time-at-creation=1337456628 time-at-processing=1342379099 lp 9028 0.0 0.0 51584 1752 ? S 12:04 0:00 socket://192.168.0.110 179 spike splitter-parts-list-2 1 PageSize=A4 job-uuid=urn:uuid:855de048-1091-3108-67b9-d895c01ca1ee job-originating-host-name=localhost time-at-creation=1337456628 time-at-processing=1342379099 lp 9274 0.0 0.0 23520 1976 ? S 12:05 0:00 HL-5170DNLT 179 spike splitter-parts-list-2 1 PageSize=A4 job-uuid=urn:uuid:855de048-1091-3108-67b9-d895c01ca1ee job-originating-host-name=localhost time-at-creation=1337456628 time-at-processing=1342379099 lp 9275 0.0 0.0 23536 1892 ? S 12:05 0:00 HL-5170DNLT 179 spike splitter-parts-list-2 1 PageSize=A4 job-uuid=urn:uuid:855de048-1091-3108-67b9-d895c01ca1ee job-originating-host-name=localhost time-at-creation=1337456628 time-at-processing=1342379099 spike 9292 0.0 0.0 94032 1720 ? Ss 12:05 0:00 /bin/sh /usr/bin/startkde spike 9304 0.0 0.0 26400 792 ? S 12:05 0:00 /usr/bin/dbus-launch --sh-syntax --exit-with-session spike 9305 1.1 0.1 21836 2376 ? Ss 12:05 0:05 /usr/bin/dbus-daemon --fork --print-pid 5 --print-address 7 --session spike 9348 0.1 2.1 444896 43564 ? Ss 12:05 0:00 kdeinit4: kdeinit4 Running... spike 9378 0.0 1.2 451064 25116 ? S 12:05 0:00 kdeinit4: klauncher [kdeinit] --fd=8 spike 9380 0.4 2.2 733000 44748 ? Sl 12:05 0:01 kdeinit4: kded4 [kdeinit] spike 9382 0.0 0.0 20176 1472 ? S 12:05 0:00 /usr/libexec/gam_server spike 9386 0.1 1.6 533040 32672 ? S 12:05 0:00 kdeinit4: kglobalaccel [kdeinit] spike 9388 0.1 1.6 541516 32280 ? S 12:05 0:00 kdeinit4: kwalletd [kdeinit] spike 9390 0.0 0.8 349180 17352 ? S 12:05 0:00 /usr/bin/kactivitymanagerd spike 9434 0.0 0.0 4080 340 ? S 12:05 0:00 kwrapper4 ksmserver spike 9435 0.1 1.6 548832 33408 ? Sl 12:05 0:00 kdeinit4: ksmserver [kdeinit] spike 9447 3.2 4.6 713720 92296 ? Sl 12:05 0:13 kwin -session 10e9de6e62000133505517700000077820000_1342347878_255814 spike 9474 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? Z 12:05 0:00 [kwin] <defunct> spike 9478 1.7 4.6 866872 92616 ? Sl 12:05 0:07 kdeinit4: plasma-desktop [kdeinit] spike 9479 0.1 1.2 649372 24624 ? Sl 12:05 0:00 /usr/bin/knotify4 spike 9484 0.0 0.5 280900 11256 ? S 12:05 0:00 /usr/bin/kuiserver spike 9492 0.0 0.0 9292 1308 ? S 12:05 0:00 ksysguardd spike 9494 0.5 0.2 151412 5928 ? Sl 12:05 0:02 /usr/bin/akonadi_control spike 9497 0.0 0.5 507708 11492 ? Sl 12:05 0:00 akonadiserver spike 9507 0.0 0.9 303240 18264 ? Sl 12:05 0:00 /usr/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_akonotes_resource akonadi_akonotes_resource_0 spike 9508 0.0 0.9 303240 18268 ? Sl 12:05 0:00 /usr/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_akonotes_resource akonadi_akonotes_resource_1 spike 9509 0.0 0.9 303244 18292 ? Sl 12:05 0:00 /usr/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_akonotes_resource akonadi_akonotes_resource_2 spike 9510 0.0 0.9 303244 18296 ? Sl 12:05 0:00 /usr/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_akonotes_resource akonadi_akonotes_resource_3 spike 9511 0.0 0.9 303244 18288 ? Sl 12:05 0:00 /usr/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_akonotes_resource akonadi_akonotes_resource_4 spike 9512 0.0 0.9 368772 18284 ? Sl 12:05 0:00 /usr/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_akonotes_resource akonadi_akonotes_resource_5 spike 9513 0.0 0.9 303248 18420 ? Sl 12:05 0:00 /usr/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_akonotes_resource akonadi_akonotes_resource_6 spike 9514 0.0 0.9 296788 17952 ? Sl 12:05 0:00 /usr/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_contacts_resource akonadi_contacts_resource_0 spike 9515 0.0 0.9 296788 17952 ? Sl 12:05 0:00 /usr/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_contacts_resource akonadi_contacts_resource_1 spike 9516 0.0 0.9 296788 17952 ? Sl 12:05 0:00 /usr/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_contacts_resource akonadi_contacts_resource_2 spike 9517 0.0 0.9 299408 18120 ? Sl 12:05 0:00 /usr/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_ical_resource akonadi_ical_resource_0 spike 9518 0.0 0.9 299408 18120 ? Sl 12:05 0:00 /usr/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_ical_resource akonadi_ical_resource_1 spike 9519 0.0 0.9 299408 18344 ? Sl 12:05 0:00 /usr/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_ical_resource akonadi_ical_resource_2 spike 9520 0.0 0.9 299408 18120 ? Sl 12:05 0:00 /usr/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_ical_resource akonadi_ical_resource_3 spike 9521 0.0 0.9 299408 18116 ? Sl 12:05 0:00 /usr/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_ical_resource akonadi_ical_resource_4 spike 9522 0.0 0.9 299412 18420 ? Sl 12:05 0:00 /usr/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_ical_resource akonadi_ical_resource_5 spike 9523 0.0 1.0 304896 19936 ? Sl 12:05 0:00 /usr/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_maildir_resource akonadi_maildir_resource_0 spike 9524 0.0 1.1 410200 23172 ? S 12:05 0:00 /usr/bin/akonadi_maildispatcher_agent --identifier akonadi_maildispatcher_agent spike 9525 0.1 1.9 587892 38048 ? S 12:05 0:00 /usr/bin/akonadi_mailfilter_agent --identifier akonadi_mailfilter_agent spike 9526 0.0 1.1 373788 22364 ? Sl 12:05 0:00 /usr/bin/akonadi_nepomuk_feeder --identifier akonadi_nepomuk_feeder spike 9527 0.0 1.1 365852 21912 ? S 12:05 0:00 /usr/bin/akonadi_pop3_resource --identifier akonadi_pop3_resource_0 spike 9529 0.0 1.1 365852 21900 ? S 12:05 0:00 /usr/bin/akonadi_pop3_resource --identifier akonadi_pop3_resource_1 spike 9530 0.0 1.1 365852 21908 ? S 12:05 0:00 /usr/bin/akonadi_pop3_resource --identifier akonadi_pop3_resource_10 spike 9531 0.0 1.1 365852 21912 ? S 12:05 0:00 /usr/bin/akonadi_pop3_resource --identifier akonadi_pop3_resource_11 spike 9532 0.0 1.1 365856 21916 ? S 12:05 0:00 /usr/bin/akonadi_pop3_resource --identifier akonadi_pop3_resource_12 spike 9533 0.0 1.1 365856 21908 ? S 12:05 0:00 /usr/bin/akonadi_pop3_resource --identifier akonadi_pop3_resource_2 spike 9534 0.0 1.1 365856 21912 ? S 12:05 0:00 /usr/bin/akonadi_pop3_resource --identifier akonadi_pop3_resource_3 spike 9535 0.0 1.1 365852 21912 ? S 12:05 0:00 /usr/bin/akonadi_pop3_resource --identifier akonadi_pop3_resource_5 spike 9536 0.1 1.6 538496 32812 ? S 12:05 0:00 kdeinit4: kaccess [kdeinit] spike 9537 0.0 1.1 365856 21912 ? S 12:05 0:00 /usr/bin/akonadi_pop3_resource --identifier akonadi_pop3_resource_6 spike 9538 0.0 1.1 365852 21916 ? S 12:05 0:00 /usr/bin/akonadi_pop3_resource --identifier akonadi_pop3_resource_7 spike 9539 0.0 1.1 365852 21904 ? S 12:05 0:00 /usr/bin/akonadi_pop3_resource --identifier akonadi_pop3_resource_8 spike 9540 0.0 1.1 365852 21912 ? S 12:05 0:00 /usr/bin/akonadi_pop3_resource --identifier akonadi_pop3_resource_9 spike 9541 0.0 0.9 296836 17940 ? Sl 12:05 0:00 /usr/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_vcard_resource akonadi_vcard_resource_0 spike 9549 0.4 2.5 784176 51336 ? Sl 12:05 0:01 kdeinit4: krunner [kdeinit] spike 9554 0.1 0.3 324916 7140 ? Sl 12:05 0:00 /usr/bin/pulseaudio --start --log-target=syslog spike 9630 0.1 1.2 388272 25276 ? Rl 12:05 0:00 /usr/bin/yakuake -session 10e9de6e62000133505520000000077820019_1342347872_585695 spike 9632 0.1 1.9 616432 37876 ? Sl 12:05 0:00 kdeinit4: kmix [kdeinit] -session 10e9de6e62000133505520000000077820040_1342347872_586338 spike 9633 0.2 2.5 510520 51204 ? S 12:05 0:00 /usr/bin/python2 -O /usr/lib/entropy/magneto/magneto.py -session 1014cd7d2d4000134231194300000094450042_1342347872_589361 spike 9635 0.0 0.1 102596 2276 pts/0 Ss 12:05 0:00 /bin/bash spike 9683 0.0 0.9 481156 18600 ? S 12:06 0:00 /usr/bin/korgac --icon korgac spike 9688 0.0 0.9 377852 18080 ? Sl 12:06 0:00 /usr/lib64/kde4/libexec/polkit-kde-authentication-agent-1 spike 9689 0.0 1.6 538876 33576 ? S 12:06 0:00 kdeinit4: klipper [kdeinit] spike 9700 0.0 0.5 205568 10004 ? S 12:06 0:00 /usr/bin/nepomukserver spike 9723 1.1 2.5 578128 50284 ? Sl 12:06 0:03 kdeinit4: dolphin [kdeinit] --icon system-file-manager -caption Dolphin spike 9740 33.5 20.1 1207588 399732 ? Sl 12:07 1:44 /usr/lib64/firefox/firefox spike 9743 0.0 0.1 129900 2624 ? S 12:07 0:00 /usr/libexec/gconfd-2 spike 9749 0.0 0.1 123120 2284 ? S 12:07 0:00 /usr/libexec/gvfsd spike 9751 0.0 0.1 86836 3568 ? Sl 12:07 0:00 /usr/libexec//gvfs-fuse-daemon -f /home/spike/.gvfs spike 9790 1.0 2.4 459060 49336 ? Sl 12:08 0:02 /usr/lib64/firefox/plugin-container /opt/Adobe/flash-player/flash-plugin/libflashplayer.so -greomni /usr/lib64/firefox/omni.ja 9740 false plugin spike 9819 0.0 0.0 97688 1276 pts/0 R+ 12:12 0:00 ps aux spike 9820 0.0 0.0 88860 856 pts/0 S+ 12:12 0:00 grep --colour=auto spike spike@localhost ~ $ ps aux | grep pulseaudio | grep -v grep spike 9554 0.0 0.3 324916 7140 ? Sl 12:05 0:00 /usr/bin/pulseaudio --start --log-target=syslog spike@localhost ~ $ /usr/bin/pulseaudio --start --log-target=syslog spike@localhost ~ $ tail /var/log/warn tail: cannot open ‘/var/log/warn’ for reading: No such file or directory spike@localhost ~ $ ls -l /dev/snd total 0 drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 60 Jul 15 05:04 by-path crw-rw---- 1 root audio 116, 6 Jul 15 05:04 controlC0 crw-rw---- 1 root audio 116, 5 Jul 15 05:04 hwC0D0 crw-rw---- 1 root audio 116, 4 Jul 15 12:05 pcmC0D0c crw-rw---- 1 root audio 116, 3 Jul 15 12:06 pcmC0D0p crw-rw---- 1 root audio 116, 2 Jul 15 12:05 pcmC0D1p crw-rw---- 1 root audio 116, 1 Jul 15 05:04 seq crw-rw---- 1 root audio 116, 33 Jul 15 05:04 timer spike@localhost ~ $

I looked for the ~/.asoundrc and ~/.pulse/ directories - I have .pulse, but not .asoundrc. The only file that I see as readable (all the others are .gdbm files, not sure how to see them) is 338251fac253095df9a956cf0000001b-default-sink and an identical one suffixed -source. Contents of both are identical: "alsa_input.pci-0000_00_10.1.analog-stereo" and both are dated today with my most recent boot time. There are older gdbm files in there but I don't know how to access the databases (I'm a little new to all this, in case you haven't guessed that by now...).

Inside /etc/pulse (there is no /etc/asound.conf) the client.conf file has everything commented out, and the daemon.conf file does as well.

I had previously installed pavucontrol, and the settings in it seem pretty standard, with Analog Stereo Duplex selected in the Configuration tab.

I am not sure what all this means, if anything. If I did want to bypass PA completely and use alsa directly as you suggest at the end, where in the full prefs list would I do that? (I'm not sure how to apply the vlc option "--aout alsa" you refer to, though I'm happy to do that if it's simpler.) And if I did bypass PA, what do I lose for overall sound configuration and control for the system, if anything? Do you think that this would also bring back MPlayer as well (though I don't really use it - it comes already installed in my distro but I much prefer vlc) so I could check it as a test?


I hope this is not far too involved or indulgent a post, like I mentioned, I'm rather new to all this, and I just wanted to try to give all the data I could to assist any diagnosis.

Thank you very much.

[kmf31]

The absence of personal configuration files is quite normal and it means you use system defaults which should be okay if you use only one (analog) audio device/card. I mentionned these files in case that some strange program might have created them and created a problem for vlc.
Normally you should create the file .asoundrc if you want more complicated things for alsa. Concerning pulse you can copy files as such as client.conf, daemon.conf or default.pa from /etc/pulse/ to your personel ~/.pulse/ folder and afterwards you can edit them without needing root permissions (if you want). But again in simple standard configurations this should not be necessary.

For the alsa option it simply applies if you start vlc as a command line, e.g.:

Code: Select all

vlc --aout alsa file.mp3

If you want to change this in the vlc preferences:

start vlc => tools => preferences => all => Audio => output modules

and here you have the choice between:

Code: Select all

Default Dummy audio output File audio output Alsa audio output Audio memory output Pulse audio ouput

"Default" is in principle your system default, either pulse or alsa (probably pulse).
You may chose Alsa here and inside the preference menu of output modules you see a further Alsa sub-menu where you can chose between different alsa devices of your sound card (or "cards" if there are more than one). There may be analog audio, digital spdif audio, hdmi audio (if your computer has an hdmi connector) etc. Don't forget to save the preferences afterwards.

As long as you use only stereo audio (analog or digital) direct alsa access is perfect. However for 5.1 with ac3 it is better to use pulse because of some bug/limitation of the alsa driver in vlc.
Other programs use their own settings to decide for direct alsa or pulse access so here vlc-settings don't modify anything for them.

For alsa don't forget to verify with the program "alsamixer" (or an equivalent gnome or KDE tool) if everything is okay (activated and volume not put to zero). By the way the window managers of gnome or kde may manipulate themselves audio settings. You can search in the different kde or gnome menus for audio settings. These kind of things are always annoying since the window manager may change things outside the standard configuration files.

[tonyawards]

When I open vlc with the command line using your instructions - “vlc --aout” and then select a file – it plays perfectly well. I went to check what opening in this manner had done to the prefs. In vlc => tools => preferences => all => Audio => output modules, I have only three options: ALSA, File, and JACK. And in ALSA, it had changed the Output Device from “Default” to “HDA NVidia, Conexant Analog Audio Device”. All the others are just different speaker set configurations, and I'm on a basic laptop anyway.

But video and audio both work just fine. Finally.

However, If I close the file and reopen vlc with the normal start menu dropdown, it reverts back to NOT playing the audio, even though the settings in the prefs have remained the same. That one I do not understand.... Open it agin with the command, all is fine.

What would cause the difference with my opening vlc via the command line, and reopening it with the saved settings that "--aout" chose?

SMPlayer is still not working, by the way, but vlc does just fine opening one file at a time. I wish I understood why the command line settings are not rolling over from one instance of vlc to the next – I looked and do not see any other prefs that look different.

It is a workaround though for now, and thank you for suggesting it, kmf31 – that's a really big help and step forward. Now if I can figure out why it only works in this manner... maybe this suggests some issue to you that I cannot think of?

[Rémi Denis-Courmont]

"--aout alsa" is exactly the same as selecting ALSA in the preferences and saving - so long as the player does not crash before saving.

[kmf31]

Do not forget to save the preference settings after modifying it and then to restart vlc.

Does vlc keeps the preference settings if you start it from the command line (even without the --aout option) ?
You can also check if vlc started from the command line or from the menu uses different preference settings.

It is possible that your Window manager adds some vlc options on his own.
To test this start vlc from the window manager with some audio file and then do the command:

Code: Select all

ps aux | grep vlc | grep -v grep

to see the full vlc command line (including options) the window manager adds to vlc. Actually, the option "--config <file>" defines an alternate configuration file. By default it is: ~/.config/vlc/vlcrc
Using such an option the window manager can in theory force a different config file to vlc.

Final point: if in the audio menu in the preferences you don't have the choice for pulse it seems that the pulse plugin for vlc has disappeared or is not installed ?
Assuming that vlc is installed in the top /usr tree you may look in the folder:
/usr/lib64/vlc/plugins/audio_output/
(or /usr/lib/vlc/puligns/audio_output or in general /<vlc-install-tree>/lib/vlc/plugins/audio_output )
if there is a file called: libpulse_plugin.so
Depending on the distribution this plugin is in a separate package, e.g. "vlc-aout-pulse". You may try to (re)install this package or verify if it is present.

Maybe there has been a problem with this package during an automatic upgrade of your distribution etc. and that is the reason that pulse is not working if the window manager tries to force pulse on vlc while starting it ?

[tonyawards]

Hello Rémi and kmf31 – I ran:

Code: Select all

$ vlc --aout alsa VLC media player 2.0.2 Twoflower (revision 2.0.1-453-g40d9fef) [0x14d9108] main libvlc: Running vlc with the default interface. Use 'cvlc' to use vlc without interface.

And vlc came right up. With ALSA now selected as the output module of choice, I saved the prefs, closed out, and restarted vlc a couple of times. I cleared the Recent Files list and opened fresh ones each time, and each time it opened them flawlessly.

Why that did not work the first time... ah, probably a case of PEBKAC...

There is a “scratchiness” or high end distortion in all files I have tested that I do not remember hearing before, happening at all volume levels. But it is working, and is in sync with the video, etc. I am not sure why that is, but I do notice it. Not as clear as it used to be, it sounds like a heavily played old vinyl LP.

Is there a parameter I could adjust to eliminate that, perhaps? It does not happen with the same files played directly from YouTube in the browser, nor is it happening in Clementine/Amarok.

At any rate, I also ran:

Code: Select all

$ ps aux | grep vlc | grep -v grep spike 10341 13.4 3.1 731364 61660 ? SLl 19:46 0:03 /usr/bin/vlc

Does this look appropriate, kmf31?. So the issue seems to lie with PA, just as you originally surmised, Rémi. Now I don't know if Dolphin &/or KDE is changing something, or something has become corrupted in PA. SMPlayer still does not work either, even with ALSA selected in its prefs, but that's not really an issue for me, except that it's likely indicative of the underlying problem, I suppose.

PulseAudio is available as an output module choice, kmf31, but does not give any sound when selected, saved, and vlc is restarted. ALSA does, several times in a row now.

In /usr/lib64/vlc/plugins/audio_output/, yes, there is a file called: libpulse_plugin.so. Perhaps there has been an error in a recent distro update, I'll have to check that and see.

But I am up and running in ALSA, and that's big step forward. If I could eliminate the distortion in my local files, I'd be fine.