Bluetooth freezing video playback In Ubuntu/Kubuntu 16.04

[Stephen Stewart]

In 16.04 when a bluetooth audio device is connected it freezes video playback and also no sound comes from online audio only streams. Issue does not exist with a wired headset.

This issue does not exist with 15.10. All updates have been installed on 16.04 including backports but they have not fixed the issue.

It is not browser specific and not website specific.

It is not hardware specific as it affects my laptop with an intel 7260 card and my pc with an intel 8260 card.

The issue exists on both ubuntu and kubuntu 16.04.

I have reported it on the ubuntu support forums and after investigation a moderator noticed changed in the kernel from 4.4 and 4.2 that may becausing the issue and asked me to file a bug report.

The ubuntu forum thread can be found here. http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2326672

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 16.04
Package: linux-image-4.4.0-23-generic 4.4.0-23.41
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.4.0-23.41-generic 4.4.10
Uname: Linux 4.4.0-23-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia_uvm nvidia_modeset nvidia
ApportVersion: 2.20.1-0ubuntu2.1
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC1: stephen 1435 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/controlC0: stephen 1435 F.... pulseaudio
CurrentDesktop: KDE
Date: Fri Jun 3 23:50:00 2016
HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=78e7aefc-d517-4c58-836f-a90f0b6017c6
InstallationDate: Installed on 2016-05-06 (28 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Kubuntu 15.10 "Wily Werewolf" - Release amd64 (20151021)
Lsusb:
 Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
 Bus 001 Device 003: ID 8087:0a2b Intel Corp.
 Bus 001 Device 002: ID 046d:c52b Logitech, Inc. Unifying Receiver
 Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
MachineType: MSI MS-7978
ProcFB: 0 EFI VGA
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-4.4.0-23-generic.efi.signed root=UUID=bccf2ca7-4e23-412a-ba10-7a3f915270dd ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-restricted-modules-4.4.0-23-generic N/A
 linux-backports-modules-4.4.0-23-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.157
SourcePackage: linux
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to xenial on 2016-06-03 (0 days ago)
dmi.bios.date: 05/16/2016
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: C.60
dmi.board.asset.tag: Default string
dmi.board.name: H170 GAMING M3 (MS-7978)
dmi.board.vendor: MSI
dmi.board.version: 2.0
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: Default string
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: MSI
dmi.chassis.version: 2.0
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvrC.60:bd05/16/2016:svnMSI:pnMS-7978:pvr2.0:rvnMSI:rnH170GAMINGM3(MS-7978):rvr2.0:cvnMSI:ct3:cvr2.0:
dmi.product.name: MS-7978
dmi.product.version: 2.0
dmi.sys.vendor: MSI

[Brad Figg (brad-figg)]

This change was made by a bot.

[Joseph Salisbury (jsalisbury)]

Would it be possible for you to test the latest upstream kernel? Refer to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelMainlineBuilds . Please test the latest v4.7-rc1 kernel[0].

If this bug is fixed in the mainline kernel, please add the following tag 'kernel-fixed-upstream'.

If the mainline kernel does not fix this bug, please add the tag: 'kernel-bug-exists-upstream'.

Once testing of the upstream kernel is complete, please mark this bug as "Confirmed".

Thanks in advance.

[0] http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.7-rc1-yakkety/

[Stephen Stewart (s-g-stewart1)]

Tested using the latest kernel and the issue is unchanged. System behaves exactly as described in the bug description even with the latest kernel.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Stephen Stewart, the latest mainline kernel is 4.7-rc4. Could you please which kernel you tested specifically?

[Stephen Stewart (s-g-stewart1)]

I tested 4.7-rc3 as it was the latest kernel at the time of testing. According to the mainline kernel page rc4 was only released today.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Stephen Stewart, in order to keep this relevant to upstream, one would want to test 4.7-rc4.

[Stephen Stewart (s-g-stewart1)]

That cannot be done. When I was asked to test the latest kernel it was RC1. I used a more recent RC3 and the problem still existed. I can not keep wiping my computer and installed a fresh version of Ubuntu each time to test if the kernel works. My issue existed on every kernel used on 16.04LTS up to 4.7-rc3. I can not test any more as it will mean wiping my computer again.

[Ethan Shalev (shalev-ethan)]

I'm also suffering from this same problem. Just tested with 4.7-rc6 (released today), and the problem has been resolved.
(There are other issues I'm experiencing with this kernel, so I will boot back to 4.4)

@Stephen, installing another kernel alongside your existing one is rather easy, and does not require wiping your computer or a fresh install. I followed the guide here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/MainlineBuilds?action=show&redirect=KernelMainlineBuilds#Installing_upstream_kernels_.28manually.29, and then when I rebooted my computer, chose advanced options for Ubuntu, and chose the kernel I wanted. Going back to the original kernel is one reboot away.

@Joseph, do you happen to know if/ when 4.7 is scheduled to be released?

[Stephen Stewart (s-g-stewart1)]

Thanks for that but I am aware that I can have multiple kernels installed. I keep wiping as I experience other issue with 16.04 as well as the bluetooth issue. I kept installing 16.04 to test and then had to go back to 15.10 when the the test showed the issues where still there. The other issues are not kernel related but are problems with programms.

[Thomas Mayer (thomas303)]

I experience the same issue for device

Bus 002 Device 003: ID 413c:8187 Dell Computer Corp. DW375 Bluetooth Module

together with an Arctic P311 head set.

For me, the problem does not occur reproducably, but about every 3-4 tries. Steps to reproduce

- Play video (e.g. youtube video in Firefox)
- Connect headset (by pressing the connect button of the headset)
- When connected via BT, the video playback stops instantly after the connect

Workaround:
- Go to sound settings / head set audio device
- switch from A2DP to SCO (mono playback with low resolution) -> video playback continues
- switch back to A2DP -> video playback still continues, now in HiFi stereo

At least after reboot, the workaround has to be applied again.

[Thomas Mayer (thomas303)]

I have ubuntu 16.04, kernel 4.4.0-28-generic, up-to-date. I did not experience the freezing video in 14.04.

However, in 14.04 (kernel 4.2) I sometimes did not have sound unless toggling between A2DP and SCO. Freezing videos in 16.04 just come on-top now.

[Christoph Grimmer-Dietrich (christoph-grimmer)]

Ubuntu 16.10 with the current 4.8 kernel. The headset worked like a charm until now. After the last reboot connecting the headset freezes video playback in chrome and firefox. This sucks pretty bad.

[Kal Palatov (lambda25)]

Just updated from 14.04 to 16.04. Reproduced the bug. This is a Joke. Any plans to fix?

[Stephen Stewart (s-g-stewart1)]

No one seems to care about this. I stopped using kubuntu and have went back to Windows 10. Far too many issues with that release, this was just one of them.

[fifi (felixwhimsy)]

After having the same issue I found that the headset connected and playback did not cease when in the lower quality "headset head unit (HSP/HFP)" profile

Once connected like that you can switch it to "High Fidelity Playback (A2DP Sink)" mode

It is seriously not obvious what's wrong though and irritating to do this every time the headset connects

[Nyirfalvi Gyula (problemdog)]

Exactly same issue here.
Kernel: 4.8.0-36-generic

For me the "workaround" of switching to headset profile and then back again to A2DP Sink does not work, though the video playback continues in headset profile - when trying to switch back to A2DP "Blueman manager" says "Failed to change profile to a2dp_sink"

[JaSauders (jasauders)]

Same deal here on 4.8.0-34-generic with 16.04. Just got a Bluetooth headset hoping they were less terrible than they were years ago. I was excited that it worked well, sounded great, etc., but here we are with the operating system being the one with issues.

I tried the workarounds above. Once the issue comes up I can switch to the headset mode without issue, however switching back to high fidelity playback fails. It doesn't error out, but it will automatically switch to my laptop speakers despite the fact I specifically chose high fidelity mode on the bluetooth headset.

In my experience, it's not difficult to instigate this issue. I've had it happen a half dozen times in the 30-40 minutes that I've been working with these headphones.

[Nyirfalvi Gyula (problemdog)]

Hi, just to confirm the issue is still there in mainline 4.10.0-041000rc8-generic

[Thomas Mayer (thomas303)]

Tracked it further down (ubuntu 16.04).

On a fresh boot
- bluetooth device connects, with sound enabled (I configured bluetooth to default to bluetooth sound device on connect)
- video playback does not stop
- Sound is played perfectly fine.

After a suspend to ram and suspend
- bluetooth connects, but sound is not enabled
- video playback stops
- Workaround: I have to switch from A2DP to HSP/HFP and back to A2DP.
- After applying the workaround (manually, every time), video playback continues, sound plays fine via BT.

I've just updated to HWE kernel 4.8.0-36-generic. But that did not change anything, compared to 4.4 kernel.

To sum up: It's related to suspend/resume, at least sometimes. And Kernel 4.8 does not fix it.

[Manolis Kapernaros (kapcom01)]

Exactly what Thomas desccribed above is happening to me too.

[Sleep NoMore (sleepnomore)]

Same thing as Thomas described is happening to me three.

[monteleo (monteleone-c)]

It is several months that this bug has been confirmed and still no fix is available. This is the typical bug that prevent people to switch to linux as desktop. This is not a minor bug, a lot of people use bluetooth audio with laptop/desktop. Who cares of new features if people still has to fight with these basic things!!

[JohnyS (odopeyone)]

Same thing happens to me.
But I can't even do the manual workaround.

It would be great to have a solution...

[Mark (mark-sechter)]

This also affects me. And it's why people don't use linux, unfortunately

[Kal Palatov (lambda25)]

Hi all, good news I found a fix! well more of a work around:

My Ubuntu partition spontaneously decided to stop booting altogether a few weeks ago so as a result I have switched back to using windows 7 full time. This has resolved my issue.

:)

[Michael Scott (michaelscott)]

Hey all,

This workaround has seemingly fixed the issue for me (temporarily)

- Unpair the headphones from the USB adapter using the Bluetooth Manager application
- sudo service bluetooth restart
- Pair headphones again and choose A2DF from Sound settings.

This has worked for me without fail each time this issue pops up. Hope it helps!

[Thomas Mayer (thomas303)]

As bluetooth headsets tend to deal with audio, I assume that the cause of this issue is somewhere between pulseaudio and bluetooth.

Pulseaudio also deals with bluetooth directly, like in issue #508522. As long as it is unclear where this issue really comes from, I'll add pulseaudio package to this issue. Would still be helpful if pulseaudio maintainers could state if or if not this issue should be fixed via pulseaudio.

[spearson (sam-ed-pearson)]

This issue affects me as well, I've spent half a workday attempting to work around it and thought my experience might be useful to whomever works on fixing the issue.

I'm using a Dell Precision 5510 with this audio card:

user@hostname ~ $ lspci | grep -i audio
00:1f.3 Audio device: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H HD Audio (rev 31)

This morning I logged in and noticed an available kernel upgrade, from 4.4.0-53 to 4.4.0-78 .

After upgrading, no audio player would play(with my bluetooth headset connected) . The timer would remain at 0:00 ; this includes pithos, youtube, and xplayer. If I changed the output device from my bluetooth headset to the built-in speakers, audio and video would play without issue.

If I changed the bluetooth headset's audio profile to "Headset Head Unit HSP/HFP" audio and video would play (though at a quality that's not quite acceptable for listening to music). When changing the audio profile to "High Fidelity Playback A2DP Sink" any media player would freeze at 0:00 again.

I attempted to diagnose the issue by checking dmesg after launching a media player; nothing new appeared after running dmesg, then xplayer, then dmesg again.

I attempted to run xplayer from a terminal to see if any debugging or error information appeared, it did not.

The only way I have been able to correct the issue was by rebooting, selecting "Linux mint with advanced options" from grub, selecting the older kernel (4.4.0-53), and uninstalling the new kernel. After doing so I can set the headset to the higher audio quality without media players freezing. No other packages were installed/uninstalled.

[Stephen Stewart (s-g-stewart1)]

I've given up using Linux/Ubuntu because of this one bug. I need to use a Bluetooth headset. I cannot be wired to my desk all day. It's a shame this is not taken seriously as it has caused me to go back to windows. This should be treated as a major issue as it has caused me and possibly others to dump Linux. Forget new features, just make the system work properly.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[Kai-Heng Feng (kaihengfeng)]

What Bluetooth module do you use?

[MrGrummpy (mrgrummpy)]

I have Blueman Bluetooth manager on my Ubuntu Mate laptop.
Is that the 'module' you were asking about?

On Wed, May 31, 2017 at 10:28 PM, Kai-Heng Feng <<email address hidden>
> wrote:

> What Bluetooth module do you use?
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1589008
>
> Title:
> Bluetooth freezing video playback In Ubuntu/Kubuntu 16.04
>
> Status in linux package in Ubuntu:
> Confirmed
> Status in pulseaudio package in Ubuntu:
> Confirmed
>
> Bug description:
> In 16.04 when a bluetooth audio device is connected it freezes video
> playback and also no sound comes from online audio only streams. Issue
> does not exist with a wired headset.
>
> This issue does not exist with 15.10. All updates have been installed
> on 16.04 including backports but they have not fixed the issue.
>
> It is not browser specific and not website specific.
>
> It is not hardware specific as it affects my laptop with an intel 7260
> card and my pc with an intel 8260 card.
>
> The issue exists on both ubuntu and kubuntu 16.04.
>
> I have reported it on the ubuntu support forums and after
> investigation a moderator noticed changed in the kernel from 4.4 and
> 4.2 that may becausing the issue and asked me to file a bug report.
>
> The ubuntu forum thread can be found here.
> http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2326672
>
> ProblemType: Bug
> DistroRelease: Ubuntu 16.04
> Package: linux-image-4.4.0-23-generic 4.4.0-23.41
> ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.4.0-23.41-generic 4.4.10
> Uname: Linux 4.4.0-23-generic x86_64
> NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia_uvm nvidia_modeset nvidia
> ApportVersion: 2.20.1-0ubuntu2.1
> Architecture: amd64
> AudioDevicesInUse:
> USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
> /dev/snd/controlC1: stephen 1435 F.... pulseaudio
> /dev/snd/controlC0: stephen 1435 F.... pulseaudio
> CurrentDesktop: KDE
> Date: Fri Jun 3 23:50:00 2016
> HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=78e7aefc-d517-4c58-836f-a90f0b6017c6
> InstallationDate: Installed on 2016-05-06 (28 days ago)
> InstallationMedia: Kubuntu 15.10 "Wily Werewolf" - Release amd64
> (20151021)
> Lsusb:
> Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
> Bus 001 Device 003: ID 8087:0a2b Intel Corp.
> Bus 001 Device 002: ID 046d:c52b Logitech, Inc. Unifying Receiver
> Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
> MachineType: MSI MS-7978
> ProcFB: 0 EFI VGA
> ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-4.4.0-23-generic.efi.signed
> root=UUID=bccf2ca7-4e23-412a-ba10-7a3f915270dd ro quiet splash
> vt.handoff=7
> RelatedPackageVersions:
> linux-restricted-modules-4.4.0-23-generic N/A
> linux-backports-modules-4.4.0-23-generic N/A
> linux-firmware 1.157
> SourcePackage: linux
> UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to xenial on 2016-06-03 (0 days ago)
> dmi.bios.date: 05/16/2016
> dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
> dmi.bios.version: C.60
> dmi.board.asset.tag: Default string
> dmi.board.name: H170 GAMING M3 (MS-7978)
> dmi.board.vendor: MSI
> dmi.board.vers...

[Andy Schultheis (andreasj64)]

I did find a workaround, but it's not exactly convenient.

While connected to your bluetooth device...

1. Configure your audio profile to HSP/HFP and save it.

2. Disconnect bluetooth device.

3. Reconnect bluetooth device.

4. Configure your audio profile back to A2DP

Should hold during the session. I have to do it every reboot. could probably script it.

[Andy Schultheis (andreasj64)]

As others have stated on this thread, this is a major bug, and just another reason not to use Linux. It's a great OS in general terms but has never been ready for prime time. It's a very small percentage of the public willing to tinker with the OS on a fundamental level, and an even smaller percentage willing to work in a command line to fix or install programs. It's just not practical and takes a level of patience and skill 99.99% of the population don't possess. Take the lead of Windows and Mac. Click on something and have it install, and more importantly, just work. This bluetooth bug is simply the tip of the iceberg.

That being said, I like Linux and will continue to use it. Makes me feel like a rebel!

Honestly though, it's never been an easy operating system to work with with. It's buggy and complicated. It fights you continuously.

I run the latest Kubuntu, which I personally like the best, but have tried dozens of iterations over the years.

[Bram Biesbrouck (b-m)]

Please don't nag about the stability of an operating system in a small bugthread about a bluetooth issue over and over again. If you feel like being a member of the community and you care about contributing to the solution, please do, but this is hardly the place to start complaining about Linux as a whole.

[Chad H (cdhsorted)]

Bug is confirmed to still be active in:

4.8.0-54-generic #57~16.04.1-Ubuntu SMP Wed May 24 16:22:28 UTC 2017 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

I am doing what andreasj64 does to get by. If I was a C programmer I'd work on it, but I'm Java and Python.

[Kai-Heng Feng (kaihengfeng)]

@MrGrummpy
No, I mean the BT host. On most laptops, it's an USB device.
Can you attach the output of `lsusb -v`?

[MrGrummpy (mrgrummpy)]

Kai,

I was up against a time limit within which I could return the Plugable
Bluetooth adapter and the ear phones. I returned them for refund. I no
longer have them.

The output from `lsusb -v` (entered with sudo) is below.

Thank you for your help.

arnold@arnold-U46E:~$ sudo lsusb -v
[sudo] password for arnold:

Bus 002 Device 003: ID 046d:c526 Logitech, Inc. Nano Receiver
Device Descriptor:
  bLength 18
  bDescriptorType 1
  bcdUSB 2.00
  bDeviceClass 0 (Defined at Interface level)
  bDeviceSubClass 0
  bDeviceProtocol 0
  bMaxPacketSize0 32
  idVendor 0x046d Logitech, Inc.
  idProduct 0xc526 Nano Receiver
  bcdDevice 5.00
  iManufacturer 1 Logitech
  iProduct 2 USB Receiver
  iSerial 0
  bNumConfigurations 1
  Configuration Descriptor:
    bLength 9
    bDescriptorType 2
    wTotalLength 59
    bNumInterfaces 2
    bConfigurationValue 1
    iConfiguration 4 RQR05.00_B0023
    bmAttributes 0xa0
      (Bus Powered)
      Remote Wakeup
    MaxPower 98mA
    Interface Descriptor:
      bLength 9
      bDescriptorType 4
      bInterfaceNumber 0
      bAlternateSetting 0
      bNumEndpoints 1
      bInterfaceClass 3 Human Interface Device
      bInterfaceSubClass 1 Boot Interface Subclass
      bInterfaceProtocol 2 Mouse
      iInterface 0
        HID Device Descriptor:
          bLength 9
          bDescriptorType 33
          bcdHID 1.11
          bCountryCode 0 Not supported
          bNumDescriptors 1
          bDescriptorType 34 Report
          wDescriptorLength 67
         Report Descriptors:
           ** UNAVAILABLE **
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength 7
        bDescriptorType 5
        bEndpointAddress 0x81 EP 1 IN
        bmAttributes 3
          Transfer Type Interrupt
          Synch Type None
          Usage Type Data
        wMaxPacketSize 0x0008 1x 8 bytes
        bInterval 1
    Interface Descriptor:
      bLength 9
      bDescriptorType 4
      bInterfaceNumber 1
      bAlternateSetting 0
      bNumEndpoints 1
      bInterfaceClass 3 Human Interface Device
      bInterfaceSubClass 0 No Subclass
      bInterfaceProtocol 0 None
      iInterface 0
        HID Device Descriptor:
          bLength 9
          bDescriptorType 33
          bcdHID 1.11
          bCountryCode 0 Not supported
          bNumDescriptors 1
          bDescriptorType 34 Report
          wDescriptorLength 79
         Report Descriptors:
           ** UNAVAILABLE **
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength 7
        bDescriptorType 5
        bEndpointAddress 0x82 EP 2 IN
        bmAttributes 3
         ...

[Thomas Mayer (thomas303)]

I think that one of the recent updates fixed it (and it also survives S2RAM):

libpulse0 1:8.0-0ubuntu3.3
libpulsedsp 1:8.0-0ubuntu3.3
libpulse-mainloop-glib0 1:8.0-0ubuntu3.3
pulseaudio 1:8.0-0ubuntu3.3
pulseaudio-module-bluetooth 1:8.0-0ubuntu3.3
pulseaudio-module-gconf 1:8.0-0ubuntu3.3
pulseaudio-module-x11 1:8.0-0ubuntu3.3
pulseaudio-module-zeroconf 1:8.0-0ubuntu3.3
pulseaudio-utils 1:8.0-0ubuntu3.3

linux-generic-hwe-16.04 4.8.0.58.29
linux-headers-4.8.0-58 4.8.0-58.63~16.04.1
linux-headers-4.8.0-58-generic 4.8.0-58.63~16.04.1
linux-headers-generic-hwe-16.04 4.8.0.58.29
linux-hwe-tools-4.8.0-58 4.8.0-58.63~16.04.1
linux-image-4.8.0-58-generic 4.8.0-58.63~16.04.1
linux-image-extra-4.8.0-58-generic 4.8.0-58.63~16.04.1
linux-image-generic-hwe-16.04 4.8.0.58.29
linux-tools-4.8.0-58-generic 4.8.0-58.63~16.04.1
linux-tools-generic-hwe-16.04 4.8.0.58.29

I could not reproduce this issue at least. This time, I repaired my device with Blueman as pure audio device. Could also be that this works around the issue. At least does it seem to work now.

[Thomas Mayer (thomas303)]

I just reproduced the freeze again after switching off wireless devices with a physical switch in my laptop. After reenabling wireless devices, videos froze again. Worked around it by changing bluetooth profiles (away from A2DP and back again).

So this issue is still not fixed.

[UbuntuOne (baldman)]

From what I can tell, it's not just videos being affected. My KDE desktop freezes when I connect my BlueTooth device as well. Kubuntu 17.04.

[Jason Gambrel (jaygambrel)]

Same problem on Linux Mint 18.2. Lenovo G510, Jabra Talk headset. Video freezes shortly after starting playing when audio is connected to bluetooth.

[Keera Studios (keera-studios)]

The issue persists when using A2DP (as opposed to HSP/HFP), with the following setup:

BT Adapter: Bus 004 Device 014: ID 0a12:0001 Cambridge Silicon Radio, Ltd Bluetooth Dongle (HCI mode)

BT Headphones: Mixcder ShareMe Wireless Bluetooth Headphones with Mic, Shareme Fuction, Bluetooth 4.1 Stereo Headset

Ubuntu 16.04, with kernel: Linux dash-desktop 4.4.0-89-generic #112-Ubuntu x86_64

Same with my mac, also running 16.04 with the same headphone.

Switching to HSP always works for me, but the sound quality is terrible.

The following workaround works for me when using the USB dongle:

- Disconnect bluetooth device.
- Restart bluetooth daemon.
- Connect bluetooth adapter.
- Manually connect to the headphones again.
- Change sound settings, possibly selecting the BT device for audio playback, and sometimes switching to HSP and back to A2DP.

[Keera Studios (keera-studios)]

(Not 100% sure, but it seems to happen more frequently if I have two youtube videos open at the same time, or pause one and open a new one in a separate tab.)

[Si Dedman (si-dedman)]

Also affects Xubuntu 16.06, 16.10 & 17.04. Potentially could/should change bug name to reflect wider generality of problem.

[monteleo (monteleone-c)]

I have the same problem on a fresh installation of kubuntu 17.04,

[Bram Biesbrouck (b-m)]

It seems to be fixed here on KDE neon...

[Jason Gambrel (jaygambrel)]

Has anyone tried compiling/installing pulseaudio 9 to see if it resolves the bug as it seems to be present on multiple version of Ubuntu/derivatives and across multiple kernels? Just a thought.

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

I'm not sure that would help. A few people above have said that 17.04 is affected and 17.04 ships with PulseAudio 10.0 already.

[Jason Gambrel (jaygambrel)]

Received pulseaudio update last night. Appears to have resolved issue so far for me, still need a bit of testing. If it is resolved then MANY thanks to those who squashed this annoying bug.

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

That's great. But all we intended to fix was...
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/pulseaudio/1:8.0-0ubuntu3.4

[Jason Gambrel (jaygambrel)]

Sorry to report that bug still persists. Took longer to show up though. Was able to watch video for about 15 min. Slowly started losing sync between audio and video, then eventually video freezes. Unable to resume normal playback even after reboot. Able to resume if I play video through built in speakers for a time then switch back to bluetooth. After about 15 minutes, problem resumes, again until I play audio through built in speakers.

Hope this info helps.

[Jason Gambrel (jaygambrel)]

The other very strange part is that the longer I play audio through the internal speakers, the longer bluetooth plays before the problem arises. If I only play a few seconds through the internal speakers, I only get a few minutes of bluetooth. Longer through internal, longer through bluetooth. I hope this helps.

[Kai-Heng Feng (kaihengfeng)]

Does your wifi connect to a 2.4G AP?
Do you use some other wireless input devices?

These might interfere Bluetooth.

[Jason Gambrel (jaygambrel)]

No other wireless devices. I use the touchpad or a wired mouse on my laptop. I use a Wireless G AP (I'm guessing that is 2.4G) I will try using my bluetooth headset connecting to my phone while I use my laptop to see if it interferes.

[HuaiDan (dhutchison69)]

Still an issue; Ubuntu 17.04; 4.10.0-35-generic.

[Pawel W (shamdog)]

I can confirm the issue is present in Ubuntu 16.04, 4.10.0-35-generic. I had my bluetooth turned on without any devices connected, and after upgrading the kernel I've noticed no video playback was possible in any browser. After I've found this bug report, I just turned off bluetooth, did a reboot and everything was working again.

[stark (theeran)]

Still Happens in 4.10.0-38-generic.

I love ubuntu so much that I have installed as second operating system in my macbook pro. In MacOs I used to connect to Bluetooth speaker with out any problem and audio plays without any stuck or anyting.

Here in Ubuntu its not even connecting properly in native bluetooth. I have installed Blueman and able to connect after many tries and even after that I am not able to play anything properly.

Ubuntu team please fix this issue. I cant able to full use Ubuntu as my primary machine.

Dont make me hate ubuntu.

[Jason Gambrel (jaygambrel)]

I tried downgrading to 4.4.0-101-generic - no change

I tried adding the ppa ppa:ci-train-ppa-service/2685 and using sudo apt update then sudo apt full-upgrade to upgrade bluez to 5.46 in Linux Mint 18.2 - this improved things a bit. Less video freezing and able to resume from freezing.

I tried editing /etc/pulse/default.pa and commenting out load-module module-suspend-on-idle:
### Automatically suspend sinks/sources that become idle for too long
#load-module module-suspend-on-idle

Source: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/PulseAudio/Troubleshooting#Bluetooth

This seems to have fixed the issue for me.

[anti-ego (anti-ego)]

Hi All,

No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 17.10
Release: 17.10
Codename: artful

Spent a few hours trying to resolve the issue; I managed to resolve it by doing the following.

ls /etc/ | grep *blue*

if bluetooth folder exists then change IdleTimeout on input.conf to value 0 as seen below:
# Set idle timeout (in minutes) before the connection will
# be disconnect (defaults to 0 for no timeout)
IdleTimeout=0

if bluetooth dir does not exist under /etc then execute:
apt get install tlp

I also disabled TLP (power management) by editing /etc/default/tlp , example of change in file below:

# Set to 0 to disable, 1 to enable TLP.
TLP_ENABLE=0

I restarted both Network-manager and bluetooth by executing:
systemctl restart network-manager bluetooth

I of course am under the opinion that running the these two commands resolved the issue:
sudo apt get install tlp #installed tlp
and editing the tlp conf file under /etc/default/ and turning it off.

Let me know what the issue is a result of; it will be interesting to know root cause or how power management might be affecting bluetooth.

[anti-ego (anti-ego)]

Im sure screwing around with fine tuning /etc/default/tlp might yield a more clarified cause of issue. however I'm happy to disable tlp completely in the meantime. I might look at this later when I have more time to screw with options.

[Jason Gambrel (jaygambrel)]

I was wrong about my solution. It seemed to be working. Was watching video for 45 minutes no problem. Now it is recurring. Sorry.

I am going to try anti-ego's solution. Thanks.

[Pete Hildebrandt (send2ph)]

Ubuntu: 17.10
Mainline Kernel: 4.14.7

Still not working :(

anti-egos fix didn't help.

[sdfsdf (sdfdds)]

Thought I'd let you guys know, especially given the complaints above, that oddly I just developed this exact same bug but in Windows! On a Windows 10 only laptop which just updated itself to the 'Fall' Creators edition or whatever it's called.

Now when trying to stream videos while connected to Bluetooth headphones, they just don't play. When I switch over to laptop speakers, it automatically starts playing.

They've done something to the audio because the volume icon now has extra popup option to easily switch between them.

Have RealTek audio which I updated the driver but no difference.

Why on earth would this coincidence happen?

[riki34 (vladislav-kosko)]

Guys, try to switch at PulseAudio 12. As for me audio freezes when watching videos is now gone.

[Si Dedman (si-dedman)]

"pulseaudio --version" to check
v12.2 link https://www.freedesktop.org/software/pulseaudio/releases/pulseaudio-12.2.tar.xz

[Si Dedman (si-dedman)]

In case it helps anyone else on *buntu systems:
sudo apt-get install libcap-dev
sudo apt-get install libsndfile-dev
Warning: UDEV & SPEEX not enabled:
./configure --enable-udev --enable-speex
didn't work for me. See https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/pulseaudio/pulseaudio/issues/28 and comment 4 here: https://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-software-2/audio-problems-pulseaudio-installation-938130/
./configure --enable-speex
make
sudo make install
pulseaudio --version

[Si Dedman (si-dedman)]

Edit: be advised, the above install process means I have no cards available & can't play any sound. Probably fixable, probably a pain. Unless the bluetooth bug is a big issue for you, maybe don't bother upgrading.

[Adam Nielsen (elenktik)]

I can confirm this bug in 18.04. I had the issue a couple of weeks ago, then everything suddenly worked, and now I have the problem again. I restarted my pc multiple times, reconnected to my usb-bluetooth adapter, tried every slot, rebootet bluetooth device, reinstalled headset driver, but I don't get it to work again :/

[Adam Nielsen (elenktik)]

It turned out that there was a firmware bluetooth issue with my Broadcom device. I found the issue with `dmesg | grep -i bluetooth ` and I could fix it by simply downloading the missing firmware from https://github.com/winterheart/broadcom-bt-firmware - now everything works.

[Markus Majer (mpathy)]

BT device is in the wrong mode / on the wrong profile.

Solution is here: https://askubuntu.com/questions/889737/video-not-playing-in-web-browser-with-bluetooth-headphones-connected-how-can-i

wget https://gist.github.com/pylover/d68be364adac5f946887b85e6ed6e7ae/archive/d698974910bbb7d016ec0ad08c1bf41b4b524364.zip

unzip d698974910bbb7d016ec0ad08c1bf41b4b524364.zip

in there is a a2dp.py

chmod +x a2dp.py

Run the file (modify python3.5 to python3 if needed in the first line) when you have the device connected.

Choose it from the list.

It changes the profile, now everything works, the video is also running. What the reason is, I cant tell, but I can tell you that this solves it