No AAC codec for Pipewire on Ubuntu Kinetic

[Sarath Kumar]

The AAC codec is not showing up in the sound settings when a device that is capable of that codec is connected, but other supported codecs do work.Tested using the Sony WH1000XM4 and other bluetooth devices that support the codec.

[Ubuntu Kernel Bot (ubuntu-kernel-bot)]

This bug is missing log files that will aid in diagnosing the problem. While running an Ubuntu kernel (not a mainline or third-party kernel) please enter the following command in a terminal window:

apport-collect 1991936

and then change the status of the bug to 'Confirmed'.

If, due to the nature of the issue you have encountered, you are unable to run this command, please add a comment stating that fact and change the bug status to 'Confirmed'.

This change has been made by an automated script, maintained by the Ubuntu Kernel Team.

[Aaron Rainbolt (arraybolt3)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. Please execute the following command only once, as it will automatically gather debugging information, in a terminal:
apport-collect 1991936

When reporting bugs in the future please use apport by using 'ubuntu-bug' and the name of the package affected. You can learn more about this functionality at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ReportingBugs.

[Dylan Aïssi (daissi)]

See related issues:
- https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/fdk-aac/+bug/1977614
- https://bugs.debian.org/981285

[Nikita Koval (nikodll)]

The problem was solved when I added the upstream repo:

add-apt-repository ppa:pipewire-debian/pipewire-upstream

[Stephan Roth (nanobonk)]

libspa-codec-bluez5-aac.so is not part of libspa-0.2-bluetooth, see https://packages.ubuntu.com/kinetic/amd64/libspa-0.2-bluetooth/filelist

[Anton Alexandrenok (the-spyke)]

As I understand both AAC and aptX are not "free" codecs and so are disabled during the build. Miltiverse has libraries required for these codes, but PipeWire is in Universe and can't depend on Multiverse.

AAC and aptX are the main codecs for Bluetooth headsets nowadays. It is not convenient without them. Maybe Ubuntu could add these codecs to Universe and install them with the "3-rd party software and media formats" checkbox selected?

There is also a PPA rebuilding PipeWire from Universe with support of AAC/aptX:

https://launchpad.net/~aglasgall/+archive/ubuntu/pipewire-extra-bt-codecs