pulseaudio stops working on the second volume change

[Alexander]

Steps to reproduce:
1. Install pulseaudio and MPD
2. Configure pulseaudio to system mode
PULSEAUDIO_SYSTEM_START=1 in /etc/default/pulseaudio
3. Configure MPD to play through pulseaudio
4. Start playing something
mpc play
5. Go to alsamixer and mute the Master channel
6. Unmute
Music is still playing fine
7. Mute and unmute again
The sound is not returned and mpc play does nothing (in status displayed [playing], but time is freezed)
You can toggle mute any number of times - no sound anyway
8. Restart pulseaudio and resume mpd
sudo /etc/init.d/pulseaudio restart
mpc play
Everything's fine again

You can twice change volume of the Master channel - the same effect

More over, you can do
mpc pause
mpc play
And sound gets really bad (with some noise and maybe a little slower). The CPU load is the same as during normal playing (about 15%).
Restarting pulseaudio also solves it.

When pulseaudio is stopped and MPD is playing direct to alsa everything's fine.

Also I've tried to play sound on RPI from another PC through network. I configured pulseaudio as described here:
http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=11124
When I change volume on RPI the same problem apperars.

Raspbian version: 2013-09-25.
Pulseaudio: 2.0-6.1
kernel: Linux raspberrypi 3.6.11+ #557 PREEMPT Wed Oct 2 18:49:09 BST 2013 armv6l GNU/Linux
libc6: 2.13-38+rpi2
System was upgraded with rpi-update - nothing changed

[laurenty (laurentyhuel)]

I have same issue.

I have same version of firmware:
Linux raspberrypi 3.6.11+ #557 PREEMPT Wed Oct 2 18:49:09 BST 2013 armv6l GNU/Linux
I also update my system with:
rpi-upgrade
apt-get upgrade
apt-get update

I want to use pulseaudio over network and when volume change or streaming stop/restart, sound quality is very bad with crakling, sometimes slower.

I try pulseaudio in user and system mode, change lot of parameters : resample-method, default-fragment, high-priority. I always have same behavior.

If stream and volume not change, I could read during more than 1 hour without problem.

Thanks for your help

[Alexander (alex8664)]

I've recently connected an USB to S/PDIF converter on PCM2704 (and digital-to-analog coverter to it's output). This device hasn't this problem with pulseaudio. I've tried to switch between the RPi sound and the S/PDIF: RPi sound has this problem, but S/PDIF plays fine* (also if I'm listening through the S/PDIF and changing volume on the RPi sound). Now I can suppose that this problem has place somewhere between pulseaudio and BCM sound driver.

* - there is another problem: I can hear a lot of clips in sound when LAN or other USB port are having activity. It happens because they are connected to one USB port through an USB hub (specificity of RPi). But it's another story.

[laurenty (laurentyhuel)]

Hello,

Thanks for your feedback.

Best regards
Laurent

2013/11/1 Alexander <email address hidden>

> I've recently connected an USB to S/PDIF converter on PCM2704 (and
> digital-to-analog coverter to it's output). This device hasn't this
> problem with pulseaudio. I've tried to switch between the RPi sound and
> the S/PDIF: RPi sound has this problem, but S/PDIF plays fine* (also if
> I'm listening through the S/PDIF and changing volume on the RPi sound).
> Now I can suppose that this problem has place somewhere between
> pulseaudio and BCM sound driver.
>
> * - there is another problem: I can hear a lot of clips in sound when
> LAN or other USB port are having activity. It happens because they are
> connected to one USB port through an USB hub (specificity of RPi). But
> it's another story.
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1239570
>
> Title:
> pulseaudio stops working on the second volume change
>
> Status in Raspbian - Debian Hard Float for Raspberry Pi:
> New
>
> Bug description:
> Steps to reproduce:
> 1. Install pulseaudio and MPD
> 2. Configure pulseaudio to system mode
> PULSEAUDIO_SYSTEM_START=1 in /etc/default/pulseaudio
> 3. Configure MPD to play through pulseaudio
> 4. Start playing something
> mpc play
> 5. Go to alsamixer and mute the Master channel
> 6. Unmute
> Music is still playing fine
> 7. Mute and unmute again
> The sound is not returned and mpc play does nothing (in status displayed
> [playing], but time is freezed)
> You can toggle mute any number of times - no sound anyway
> 8. Restart pulseaudio and resume mpd
> sudo /etc/init.d/pulseaudio restart
> mpc play
> Everything's fine again
>
> You can twice change volume of the Master channel - the same effect
>
> More over, you can do
> mpc pause
> mpc play
> And sound gets really bad (with some noise and maybe a little slower).
> The CPU load is the same as during normal playing (about 15%).
> Restarting pulseaudio also solves it.
>
> When pulseaudio is stopped and MPD is playing direct to alsa
> everything's fine.
>
>
> Also I've tried to play sound on RPI from another PC through network. I
> configured pulseaudio as described here:
> http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=11124
> When I change volume on RPI the same problem apperars.
>
> Raspbian version: 2013-09-25.
> Pulseaudio: 2.0-6.1
> kernel: Linux raspberrypi 3.6.11+ #557 PREEMPT Wed Oct 2 18:49:09 BST
> 2013 armv6l GNU/Linux
> libc6: 2.13-38+rpi2
> System was upgraded with rpi-update - nothing changed
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/raspbian/+bug/1239570/+subscriptions
>

[laurenty (laurentyhuel)]

I've resolved this issue.

I've used a SpeedLink VIGO USB Sound card.

And on my PC (client), I added line bellow in file /etc/pulse/client.conf, to use direct connection.
default-server = 192.168.1.5

(change 192.168.1.5 with your raspberry ip)

This tells Pulseaudio to send the sound to the server rather than trying to play it locally on the client.
Before:
Firefox(PC) => pulseaudio (PC) =>network => pulseaudio (raspberry) => soundcard (raspberry)
After
Firefox(PC) => network => pulseaudio (raspberry) => soundcard (raspberry)

I hope it helps other users