(vlc_3.0.17.4-2~20.04.sav0_amd64.deb) No audio after update.

[lnxusr]

After today's (18 May, 2022) VLC 3 update to 3.0.17.4, there is no audio. Trying to adjust with the scroll wheel switches between 0% and 5%, and adjusting via the UI, although allows to max out scale, still produces no audio. Audio->Mute has no affect, and Audio->Increase Volume and Audio->Decrease Volume do not change audio volume scale from where it was set. I use VLC extensively, and there was absolutely no issues yesterday prior to the update.

Base Ubuntu: focal
Operating System: KDE neon 5.24
KDE Plasma Version: 5.24.5
KDE Frameworks Version: 5.93.0
Qt Version: 5.15.3
Kernel Version: 5.13.0-35-generic (64-bit)

The only SavOS ppa I have installed is savory1/vlc3.

Here is what the apt history.log says was updated:

Start-Date: 2022-05-18 00:53:18
Commandline: packagekit role='update-packages'
Install: vlc-plugin-pipewire:amd64 (3-1~20.04.sav0), libdav1d6:amd64 (1.0.0-1~20.04.sav0), libcodec2-1.0:amd64 (1.0.1-3~20.04.sav0)
Upgrade: vlc-bin:amd64 (3.0.17.4-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav0, 3.0.17.4-2~20.04.sav0), libpcre16-3:amd64 (2:8.39-12build1, 2:8.39-12ubuntu0.1), vlc-plugin-video-output:amd64 (3.0.17.4-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav0, 3.0.17.4-2~20.04.sav0), libavformat58:amd64 (7:4.4.2-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav1, 7:4.4.2-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav1.2), libavfilter7:amd64 (7:4.4.2-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav1, 7:4.4.2-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav1.2), libldap2-dev:amd64 (2.4.49+dfsg-2ubuntu1.8, 2.4.49+dfsg-2ubuntu1.9), ffmpeg:amd64 (7:4.4.2-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav1, 7:4.4.2-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav1.2), libpcre3-dev:amd64 (2:8.39-12build1, 2:8.39-12ubuntu0.1), brave-browser:amd64 (1.38.115, 1.38.119), libldap-2.4-2:amd64 (2.4.49+dfsg-2ubuntu1.8, 2.4.49+dfsg-2ubuntu1.9), libldap-2.4-2:i386 (2.4.49+dfsg-2ubuntu1.8, 2.4.49+dfsg-2ubuntu1.9), vlc-plugin-samba:amd64 (3.0.17.4-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav0, 3.0.17.4-2~20.04.sav0), libswresample3:amd64 (7:4.4.2-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav1, 7:4.4.2-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav1.2), vlc-plugin-qt:amd64 (3.0.17.4-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav0, 3.0.17.4-2~20.04.sav0), libvlccore-dev:amd64 (3.0.17.4-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav0, 3.0.17.4-2~20.04.sav0), apt:amd64 (2.0.6, 2.0.8), vlc-plugin-skins2:amd64 (3.0.17.4-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav0, 3.0.17.4-2~20.04.sav0), libspeex-dev:amd64 (1.2~rc1.2-1.1ubuntu1.20.04.1, 1.2.0-1ubuntu1~20.04.sav1), vlc-plugin-visualization:amd64 (3.0.17.4-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav0, 3.0.17.4-2~20.04.sav0), vlc-l10n:amd64 (3.0.17.4-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav0, 3.0.17.4-2~20.04.sav0), libavformat-dev:amd64 (7:4.4.2-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav1, 7:4.4.2-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav1.2), vlc-plugin-notify:amd64 (3.0.17.4-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav0, 3.0.17.4-2~20.04.sav0), libvlc5:amd64 (3.0.17.4-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav0, 3.0.17.4-2~20.04.sav0), libpcre32-3:amd64 (2:8.39-12build1, 2:8.39-12ubuntu0.1), passwd:amd64 (1:4.8.1-1ubuntu5.20.04.1, 1:4.8.1-1ubuntu5.20.04.2), libswresample-dev:amd64 (7:4.4.2-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav1, 7:4.4.2-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav1.2), libapt-pkg6.0:amd64 (2.0.6, 2.0.8), libpostproc55:amd64 (7:4.4.2-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav1, 7:4.4.2-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav1.2), libvlccore9:amd64 (3.0.17.4-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav0, 3.0.17.4-2~20.04.sav0), libvlc-bin:amd64 (3.0.17.4-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav0, 3.0.17.4-2~20.04.sav0), libavutil-dev:amd64 (7:4.4.2-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav1, 7:4.4.2-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav1.2), libvlc-dev:amd64 (3.0.17.4-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav0, 3.0.17.4-2~20.04.sav0), libavcodec-dev:amd64 (7:4.4.2-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav1, 7:4.4.2-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav1.2), python3-apport:amd64 (2.20.11-0ubuntu27.23, 2.20.11-0ubuntu27.24), libavcodec-extra:amd64 (7:4.4.2-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav1, 7:4.4.2-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav1.2), libpcre3:amd64 (2:8.39-12build1, 2:8.39-12ubuntu0.1), libpcre3:i386 (2:8.39-12build1, 2:8.39-12ubuntu0.1), libspeex1:amd64 (1.2~rc1.2-1.1ubuntu1.20.04.1, 1.2.0-1ubuntu1~20.04.sav1), libldap-common:amd64 (2.4.49+dfsg-2ubuntu1.8, 2.4.49+dfsg-2ubuntu1.9), lintian:amd64 (2.62.0ubuntu2, 2.62.0ubuntu2.1), vlc-plugin-access-extra:amd64 (3.0.17.4-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav0, 3.0.17.4-2~20.04.sav0), vlc:amd64 (3.0.17.4-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav0, 3.0.17.4-2~20.04.sav0), libavutil56:amd64 (7:4.4.2-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav1, 7:4.4.2-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav1.2), vlc-data:amd64 (3.0.17.4-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav0, 3.0.17.4-2~20.04.sav0), libavdevice58:amd64 (7:4.4.2-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav1, 7:4.4.2-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav1.2), login:amd64 (1:4.8.1-1ubuntu5.20.04.1, 1:4.8.1-1ubuntu5.20.04.2), apt-utils:amd64 (2.0.6, 2.0.8), libswscale5:amd64 (7:4.4.2-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav1, 7:4.4.2-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav1.2), libspeexdsp1:amd64 (1.2~rc1.2-1.1ubuntu1.20.04.1, 1.2.0-1~20.04.sav0), vlc-plugin-video-splitter:amd64 (3.0.17.4-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav0, 3.0.17.4-2~20.04.sav0), apt-transport-https:amd64 (2.0.6, 2.0.8), libavcodec-extra58:amd64 (7:4.4.2-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav1, 7:4.4.2-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav1.2), vlc-plugin-base:amd64 (3.0.17.4-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav0, 3.0.17.4-2~20.04.sav0), libpcrecpp0v5:amd64 (2:8.39-12build1, 2:8.39-12ubuntu0.1), python3-problem-report:amd64 (2.20.11-0ubuntu27.23, 2.20.11-0ubuntu27.24), libheif1:amd64 (1.12.0-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav0, 1.12.0-2+20.04.sav0)

[Rob Savoury (savoury1)]

No sound makes this quite a significant bug. It is proving difficult to trace the cause, though I have replicated the symptoms you described in a test Ubuntu 20.04 LTS VirtualBox install, with the same 0% or 5% volume only when using the mouse wheel, and no volume even when clicking the volume slider to 100% manually.

Curiously the bug is not present on either Ubuntu 16.04 or 18.04 with the same latest VLC builds (3.0.17.4-2~XX.04.sav0) for those releases, which are built against essentially the same set of VLC dependency versions as the Focal build.

Someone has actually reported an identical bug to upstream VLC [*] two days ago, but the suggestion to reset VLC preferences did not work in my testing within the VBox 20.04 installation. So this may well be a bug and issue with upstream source code changes by the VLC team.

[*] https://code.videolan.org/videolan/vlc/-/issues/26996

[lnxusr (bjwest)]

This may be about the difference in libraries between our systems. I downloaded the sources and versions 3.0.17.3 and 3.0.17.4 from VLC's site, and the 4.0.0-dev from their git repository. All three compile without errors and run fine without the audio/volume issue. The only dependency I had to install that I didn't already have installed was the lua development package.

Anything I can do to help resolve this, just let me know.

[lnxusr (bjwest)]

A bit more info on my self compiled version 3.0.17.4. Performing make install installs it under the default /usr/local, leaving the original deb installed under /usr untouched but changing the system default to run /usr/local/bin/vlc. Running that, however, results in the prior audio issue. I uninstalled it and edited the Application Menu to run the version I compiled, renamed the original (non-working) /usr/bin/vlc to vlc-bak and sym linked the one I compiled to /usr/bin/vlc. This seems to be working.

My next step later today or tomorrow will be to uninstall the PPA version entirely and try installing my compiled version again.

[Mattia Vianello (vianello85)]

I confirm that after the May 18th update vlc no longer plays any sound, and going to vlc audio devices, it does not show me any audio devices. On windows it shows me the device (realtek) installed correctly.

System sounds are played correctly.

Xubuntu 20.04 operating system. The operating system is up to date.

[Mattia Vianello (vianello85)]

I add two images:
On xubuntu with 3.0.17.4-2 no sound card is detected
https://i.postimg.cc/HxfYk2C4/No-option-audio-vlc-xubuntu.png

While on windows 10 with 3.0.17.4 the sound card is detected
https://i.postimg.cc/RZbjm0mw/VLC-audio-windows.png

[Rob Savoury (savoury1)]

Given that the previous build for Focal (3.0.17.4-0ubuntu1~20.04.sav0 on 28/4/2022) worked fine the focus here for this bug needs to be on precisely what changed between that build and the current build (3.0.17.4-2~20.04.sav0 on 17/5/2022). All other considerations about local builds are not really relevant, as the libraries used for such builds can easily be quite different than those used for the builds uploaded here to Launchpad.

Looking into this further over the past day one change stood out to me, which was the addition of a "Recommends" vlc-plugin-pipewire to the main vlc package, as per the Debian 3.0.17.4-2 VLC package. It turns out that this vlc-plugin-pipewire package is the cause of the no audio bug.

With my test VirtualBox 18.04 Bionic system and my own 16.04 Xenial based systems the "Recommends" packages are not installed automatically. On the VBox 18.04 installation packages under Recommends are not installed due the existence of the file /etc/apt/apt.conf with the following contents:

APT::Install-Recommends "0" ;
APT::Install-Suggests "0" ;

This file /etc/apt/apt.conf with the above settings is not present on the VBox 20.04 install and so it appears that all "Recommends" packages are therefore installed by default on Ubuntu 20.04 (and presumably newer, ie. 22.04 Jammy) systems, which is the same default as for all Debian systems.

Based on the above, in the test VBox 20.04 system where I installed VLC and did replicate the bug, today I removed vlc-plugin-pipewire entirely and as soon as that package was gone the audio device was available as usual in VLC and sound worked fine once again. So the resolution to this bug for Focal users at the present moment is as follows:

  sudo apt-get purge vlc-plugin-pipewire

From the README file of src:vlc-plugin-pipewire is this revealing comment:

"The plug-in runs automatically assuming that PipeWire is available in the user session. No further actions are required."

So it seems that as soon as vlc-plugin-pipewire is installed it "takes over" the VLC audio output which is then directed to PipeWire. However, given that no Debian/Ubuntu systems are using PipeWire as the audio provider (user session level) by default as yet, then there is no sound output.

A revision of the latest VLC builds (for all series) will be forthcoming, which will "demote" the vlc-plugin-pipewire package from Recommends to Suggests, which should stop that package from being automatically installed on Ubuntu 20.04 Focal (and newer) systems. Then those who are pioneering the way with PipeWire use can choose to install the vlc-plugin-pipewire package if they want, and choose to deal with any/all complications that arise from doing so.

[Mattia Vianello (vianello85)]

The command you recommended solved the problem

Once typed from the terminal
'' sudo apt-get purge vlc-plugin-pipewire ''

VLC audio started working. Thanks.

[Rob Savoury (savoury1)]

Thanks Mattia for your extra details on this bug, including the missing audio device, which is what helped to spark my consideration of vlc-plugin-pipewire being the culprit. Thanks also for confirming that removing vlc-plugin-pipewire on your system has fixed the problem, just as it did in my test VBox 20.04 installation.

New VLC packages (3.0.17.4-2~XX.04.sav1) are now built and available for all supported LTS series at ppa:savoury1/vlc3 and vlc-plugin-pipewire has been demoted from Recommends to Suggests for the new builds. Once again, for anyone who installed the earlier VLC package (3.0.17.4-2~XX.04.sav0) who still has no audio the following command should resolve the issue:

  sudo apt-get purge vlc-plugin-pipewire

[lnxusr (bjwest)]

Thank you, Rob, for the quick response and fix to this issue. I'd removed the PPA and uninstalled VLC earlier today, and after adding the PPA back just now and reinstalling, VLC ran without the audio issue without me purging vlc-plugin-pipewire. I purged it anyway.

[Rob Savoury (savoury1)]

Thanks @lnxusr for reporting the bug and also confirming that it is now resolved. Possibly vlc-plugin-pipewire was removed in the process of you removing the PPA and uninstalling VLC, depending on how the "Recommends" dependencies where handled during uninstall. Anyhow, that package is clearly not needed unless someone is doing PipeWire experimentation, which is so far not most users.