[NUC12WSKi5, Realtek ALC269VB, Green Headphone Out, Left] Playback problem with startup applications

[Christian Stussak]

I am starting an audio application (a.g. aplay, paplay, any media player) automatically after login (through the "Startup Applications"). I can see that the app is playing some audio through PulseAudio by checking pavucontrol. However, no sound is output to the speaker.

When I delay the startup of the app a couple of seconds (e.g. via sleep 5), the sound is played as expected.

We tried to analyze the issue here:
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/703840

It seems that there is something wrong with the mixer when audio apps are launched very early after boot (or login?): The "Master Playback Volume" is set to 0 at the ALSA level, and it seems that PulseAudio is not able to raise it if audio playback is started so early. Attempts to automatically raise the "Master Playback Volume" through amixer also failed. The "Master Playback Volume" stays at 0. As mentioned above, when the start of the playback is delayed a bit, the "Master Playback Volume" is at 100 as expected.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 22.04
Package: alsa-base 1.0.25+dfsg-0ubuntu7
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 5.15.0-53.59-generic 5.15.64
Uname: Linux 5.15.0-53-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.20.11-0ubuntu82.1
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: kiosk 1081 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/pcmC0D0c: kiosk 1081 F...m pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/pcmC0D0p: kiosk 1081 F...m pulseaudio
CasperMD5CheckResult: pass
Date: Mon Nov 21 10:35:48 2022
InstallationDate: Installed on 2022-11-21 (0 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 22.04.1 LTS "Jammy Jellyfish" - Release amd64 (20220809.1)
PackageArchitecture: all
SourcePackage: alsa-driver
Symptom: audio
Symptom_AlsaPlaybackTest: ALSA playback test through plughw:PCH successful
Symptom_Card: Built-in Audio - HDA Intel PCH
Symptom_Jack: Green Headphone Out, Left
Symptom_PulsePlaybackTest: PulseAudio playback test successful
Symptom_Type: None of the above
Title: [NUC12WSKi5, Realtek ALC269VB, Green Headphone Out, Left] Playback problem
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 07/18/2022
dmi.bios.release: 5.26
dmi.bios.vendor: Intel Corp.
dmi.bios.version: WSADL357.0085.2022.0718.1739
dmi.board.name: NUC12WSBi5
dmi.board.vendor: Intel Corporation
dmi.board.version: M46425-302
dmi.chassis.type: 35
dmi.chassis.vendor: Intel Corporation
dmi.chassis.version: 2.0
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnIntelCorp.:bvrWSADL357.0085.2022.0718.1739:bd07/18/2022:br5.26:svnIntel(R)ClientSystems:pnNUC12WSKi5:pvrM46708-302:rvnIntelCorporation:rnNUC12WSBi5:rvrM46425-302:cvnIntelCorporation:ct35:cvr2.0:skuNUC12WSKi5000:
dmi.product.family: WS
dmi.product.name: NUC12WSKi5
dmi.product.sku: NUC12WSKi5000
dmi.product.version: M46708-302
dmi.sys.vendor: Intel(R) Client Systems

[Christian Stussak (lauechpad)]

I managed to get audio output going using amixer:
amixer sset Master mute unmute 1- 1+

Both parts are necessary (mute/unmute and volume adjustment). Just muting/unmuting or adjusting the volume does not bring back audio output.

I can put it in my start script without adding any possibly insufficient delay prior to it.

I still don't understand why this is needed. If playback is delayed long enough, the "audio system" (I don't know which component) seems to do something similar internally and it magically works. However, this is not how it is supposed to work, because a user (or a start script) can not know how long the delay actually needs to be.