Sound problem with firefox

[Hadmut Danisch]

I'm using Ubuntu on more than half a dozen machines. Only on one of these machines I had the problem, that I did not hear sound when playing videos with firefox, although the sound on that machine works (e.g. when watchting the same videos with mplayer from command line.)

Which caused me a lot of headache and debugging time.

I'fe finally found the problem. I need to use pavucontrol or pacmd , then identify the input stream from firefox (a firefox logo and named as CubebUtils , and set the volume from 0 to 100% or do something like

pacmd set-sink-input-volume 1 65535

where 1 is the input number determined with e.g. pacmd list

So it seems as if the sound driver of firefox lacks a proper volume setting, which might not cause any problems with most sound cards, however, my sound card (or it's driver) has a volume of 0.

% lspci | fgrep Audio
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 05)

regards

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
Package: firefox 34.0+build2-0ubuntu0.14.04.1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-43.72-generic 3.13.11.11
Uname: Linux 3.13.0-43-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: zfs zunicode zavl zcommon znvpair
AddonCompatCheckDisabled: False
ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.5
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: hadmut 3307 F.... panel-12-mixer
                      hadmut 3316 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/pcmC0D0p: hadmut 3316 F...m pulseaudio
BuildID: 20141127111021
CRDA: Error: [Errno 2] Datei oder Verzeichnis nicht gefunden: 'iw'
Channel: Unavailable
CurrentDesktop: XFCE
Date: Thu Dec 18 16:54:17 2014
Extensions: extensions.sqlite corrupt or missing
ForcedLayersAccel: False
IncompatibleExtensions: Unavailable (corrupt or non-existant compatibility.ini or extensions.sqlite)
InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-08-06 (133 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu-Server 14.04.1 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Release amd64 (20140722.3)
IpRoute:
 default via 192.168.164.1 dev p5p1
 169.254.0.0/16 dev p5p1 scope link metric 1000
 192.168.164.0/24 dev p5p1 proto kernel scope link src 192.168.164.100
 192.168.200.0/24 dev vlan0 proto kernel scope link src 192.168.200.1
Locales: extensions.sqlite corrupt or missing
Plugins:
 Windows Media Player Plug-in - /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/gecko-mediaplayer-wmp.so (gecko-mediaplayer)
 RealPlayer 9 - /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/gecko-mediaplayer-rm.so (gecko-mediaplayer)
 QuickTime Plug-in 7.6.9 - /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/gecko-mediaplayer-qt.so (gecko-mediaplayer)
 DivX Browser Plug-In - /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/gecko-mediaplayer-dvx.so (gecko-mediaplayer)
 mplayerplug-in is now gecko-mediaplayer 1.0.8 - /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/gecko-mediaplayer.so (gecko-mediaplayer)
PrefSources: prefs.js
Profiles: Profile0 (Default) - LastVersion=34.0/20141127111021 (In use)
RelatedPackageVersions: gecko-mediaplayer 1.0.8-4ubuntu1
RfKill:
 0: phy0: Wireless LAN
  Soft blocked: no
  Hard blocked: no
RunningIncompatibleAddons: False
SourcePackage: firefox
Themes: extensions.sqlite corrupt or missing
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 10/12/2012
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: H61TIW08.111
dmi.board.asset.tag: To be filled by O.E.M.
dmi.board.name: H61H2-TI2
dmi.board.vendor: Medion
dmi.board.version: 1.0
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: Medion
dmi.chassis.version: 1.0
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvrH61TIW08.111:bd10/12/2012:svnMedion:pnG24:pvr1.0:rvnMedion:rnH61H2-TI2:rvr1.0:cvnMedion:ct3:cvr1.0:
dmi.product.name: G24
dmi.product.version: 1.0
dmi.sys.vendor: Medion

[Hadmut Danisch (hadmut)]

Maybe it is sufficient to change the volume only once. PulseAudio seems to store the volume in
~/.config/pulse/*-stream-volumes.tdb

(at least as long as the file persists, a standard procedure to solve sound trouble is to remove ~/.config/pulse and to restart the daemon)

[Hadmut Danisch (hadmut)]

No, it's not persistent. Volume must be manually set from 0 to 100% in almost all cases, even within a video when jumping to a different point of time (FF obviously closes and reopens the connection to pulseaudio).

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[prawns (prawns)]

I've got the same problem:
1. sound is distorted
2. this is because in the default Ubuntu (14.04) mixer on the tab "Applications", the application "CubebUtils" that has Firefox icon the sound level slider is set to max value
3. When I decrease the sound value for that particular application, sound becomes not-destorted even if I increase the overall volume way beyond 100% ("Allow louder than 100%" is ticked)
4. Such destortion can be achieved for any app playing sound by manually setting that individual app's volume slider to the right. However:
5. All other apps do remember value that I set. Firefox (CubebUtils) does not. This means every time I play a new track or even jump to another position within the same track, the sound volume of CubebUtils automatically jumps to max.
6. I've noticed that YouTube appears on the "Applications" tab as "Alsa plugin", whereas for example "Sound cloud" or "Free Music Archive" appear as "CubebUtils".

[prawns (prawns)]

7. One more thing: every time I open a new track, yet another (additional) instance of CubebUtils appears on the list (at least off SoundCloud). So as I write this, I've got 6 (six) instances of the CubebUtils on the list, and these are assigned to individual tracks. For example, if I pause currently played track and un-pause (play) another tack, it is the slider of that another track that takes effect (makes sound distorted).

Please see attached file - a screenshot of my sound mixer

[prawns (prawns)]

bump.

[JVD (jason-vas-dias)]

The KDE Mixer volume control used to work until a firefox update a few weeks ago .

Then the playback stream shown in KDE Mixer changed to 'CubebUtils' , and the volume is
reset to a fixed 65% for every new stream , meaning I have to open KDE Mixer and adjust
the volume for every new stream . Annoying !

Please restore previous behavior - use the default 'Playback Devices' instead of 'CubebUtils',
and let the current volume setting for 'Playback Devices' be used for new streams instead of
setting the volume to same level for every new stream.

[Shelagh (shelagh-manton)]

I have the same problems as prawns. Everytime I open up a new video or sound file in firefox cubeutils is at 100% volume which is not good when you have headphones on.

[Daan (daanbiesterbos)]

Thanks for not fixing this and making me feel like my ears are bleeding. Awesome.

[Philip J Reilly (pjpreilly)]

Fixed! Just use any other browser. Firefox is on its death bed anyway!

[G.M. (sexxxenator)]

I have the same problem, but sound is muted... VERYYYYY ANNOYING !!!

[Ed (darkhorseidioc)]

A workaround for those who are getting their ears blasted:
----------------------------------------------------------

For those who haven't yet lost patience with FireFox, having found out that this CubebUtils thing
has got into Firefox through this thread. Weirdly, I only noticed it in 47.0 and had no issues prior.

On https://people.mozilla.org/~bgirard/doxygen/media/CubebUtils_8cpp.html a setting called "media.volume_scale" has been added, default value 1.0.

1) Type "about:config" into a tab.
2) Click the "I'll be careful" box on the "Here be dragons..." screen.
3) Search for "volume" and -- as of writing -- the only setting you'll find is the relevant one.
4) Reduce the number; see below for some hints.
5) Play music or a video with pavucontrol (PulseAudio Volume Control) to see where the volume level gets to: tweak the number again if needed.

The bugger will still jump up to a set volume level regardless of what you set it to in pavucontrol, but tweaking this setting sets a ceiling of sorts.

By way of illustration: The volume kept jumping to 89% and blowing my eardrums before this tweak with media.volume_scale at 1.0. I set it to 0.1 and it seems stable around 46%; different videos go between 41% and 49% at times. See what numbers your system throws at you.

If this is set to 0, no sound will play. If you don't get any sound at all, check this setting.

[MarcD (vonloschz-gmail)]

Previous solution has worked for me. Thanks !!!

Description: Linux Mint 17.3 Rosa
ii firefox 47.0+linuxmint1+rosa amd64 Safe and easy web browser from Mozilla

[Jens (i-m-jens-3)]

Post #13 worked for me too! (Kubuntu 14.04, FF 47.0)

I had the problem that on every change of video and its playback position cubeutil's volume was reset to 100%. Really annoying! Thank God I've got two monitors: one for FF and the other one for the volume control ...

Interestingly, now that I changed this mentioned setting to 1.4 (I need to increase my volume to 140%) it stays stable!?! Now it won't reset and keeps my selected volume even if it is not 140%.

Very strange, but it works.

[G.M. (sexxxenator)]

Hi,

Tried changing the value, changed it to various values, including 1.4. Does not change anything: I still have no sounds at any change of position or video.

[G.M. (sexxxenator)]

I find it quite incredible that a bug from 2014 is still there... Even no working work-around available...

[G.M. (sexxxenator)]

https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=196044
doesn't work either

[G.M. (sexxxenator)]

https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=803042
changing .asoung does NOT work either

https://askubuntu.com/questions/666041/firefox-doesnt-play-audio
changing output back & forth does WORK either

[G.M. (sexxxenator)]

Just noticed that setting§muting the volume in the flash player has absolutely NO effect

[G.M. (sexxxenator)]

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/6084099/how-to-view-delete-local-storage-in-firefox
Clearing localstorage has NO effect

[G.M. (sexxxenator)]

Changing "Auto-mute" control in alsa-mixer does NOTHING either

[G.M. (sexxxenator)]

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/firefox/+bug/1447022
Using "Private Window" or new Profile does NOT work either

[G.M. (sexxxenator)]

Again, noticed a "funny" behaviour:

When I open an HTML5 sound/video (e.g. from jango.com) in FF, an entry for it appears in pavucontrol. If I mute this, then close the FF tab, the entry in pavucontrol remains, whereas it disappear as soon as I close the window/stop the music when I don't mute anything.

Even more funny: If I open another FF tab on with another HTML5 sound/video, then change its volume, to set it to a different value as the other, then I close this new tab, then the old entry is removed, but the new entry remains!!!!!

THERE'S CLEARLY A BIG BUG IN HOW THE STREAMS ARE HANDLED BY CubebUtils!!!!!!!

[G.M. (sexxxenator)]

Also played with

pactl unload-module module-match

pactl unload-module module-stream-restore
pactl unload-module module-device-restore
pactl unload-module module-card-restore

no results... Just purging the useless FF browser...

[Jens (i-m-jens-3)]

Meanwhile (new Kubuntu 14 installation & FF 51) I'm back where I began.
The workaround with the "media.volume_scale" used to work, but now no more.

Every time I switch in FF to another video stream, volume is switched to 0%. Interestingly this does not happen, when I let the video play until the end. I even can jump through the video but I may not loose focus of the video tab but I may loose focus of the window.

All other audio controls remain stable where I left them the last time.

So now I just tried to play around with this setting and found out that – now – any value above 1.0 will kill the sound when switching to another video stream or loosing tab's focus.
Setting any value blow or equal to 1.0 will reset the volume this value on switching.

If I do not loose the videos focus (I guess, that's the point of it) the volume remains where it was set before and even through restarting FF or Kubuntu.

So, this problem is a real paint is the a… !!!
Could please someone fix that?
Or does anyone have a better workaround?
Or a better browser without loosing all those fine addons I got used to?

HELP !!! PLEASE !!!

[Hugo Ferreira (hmf)]

@i-m-jens-3)

Try the following:

1. Open the Ubuntu "settings" (use the docker or search for it)
2. Go to the sound tab
3. Select an output device you want to test
4. Click the "test speakers"
5. If it is *not* working check if the sound applet in the top bar shows the device muted
6. Un-mute it
7. Go to the browser and test a youtube video

Note that you may need to install gnome tweaks to have access to these setting options (not sure).

HTHs

[Mark (mago90)]

will it get fixed? It persist on FF64..