No audio output in 5.20 RC5 (Linux)

[distoga]

To start, 5.19 works great and I don't have any issues with it. I can even switch back to .19 after trying .20 RC5 and .19 works so .20 RC5 is not locking up a buffer or causing an IO, driver or system issue. In fact, .20 RC5 shows it's outputting audio fine when doing measurements (in the REW vu meter) but no audio is being sent to alsa/pulse.

I am using the "default [default]" audio output device. I will note I haven't been able to get the pulseaudio output working directly in .19 but I get full 7.1 discrete channel output with 'default' which is all I need. I believe 'default' is still going through pulse but a different or indirect way.

I have tried all the other output options in .20 RC5 without any success. Even laptop speakers that work in .19 don't work in .20. If I monitor ubuntu 20.04's sound app, I see REW/Java listed as a playback source but the vu meter shows no audio coming from it. With .19 I see the vu meter move/light up when doing a measurement.

Has anyone else run into this issue and know what might be different? I've checked rew's options config file and don't see anything different for audio output options.

Thanks.

 

[John Mulcahy]

The device returned by the Default selection depends on the OS and may also depend on the selected sample rate. To access a specific device select that device from the list offered.

 

[distoga]

I b-tree tested all beta versions to find out where/which version audio broke. It's actually recent where the issue began. RC2 works fine, RC3, RC4 and RC5 do not. I checked change log and I don't see anything that stands out, although I did try different sample rates in Preferences and buffer (likely not it but tried anyway) but couldn't get any to work.

 

[John Mulcahy]

Could be related to this change in RC3 then, which was requested and verified as working by a Linux user:

• 32-bit sample width will be used with Java drivers if the interface offers that. Only macOS and Linux are affected as the Windows Java runtime only offers 16-bit data (use ASIO for full sample resolution on Windows).

 

[distoga]

Sorry, I should have attached logs to be more helpful than 'it's just broke'.

Feb 11, 2021 11:50:49 AM roomeqwizard.RoomEQ_Wizard main
INFO: REW V5.20 running JRE 1.8.0_282 64-bit on linux 4.4.0-201-generic, en, US, UTF-8 at 96 DPI
Feb 11, 2021 11:51:03 AM roomeqwizard.DD A
SEVERE: Timed out waiting for space to write the fade out block to the soundcard
Feb 11, 2021 11:51:09 AM roomeqwizard.DD A
SEVERE: Failed to write to the replay line
Feb 11, 2021 11:51:17 AM roomeqwizard.DD A
SEVERE: Timed out waiting for space to write the fade out block to the soundcard
Feb 11, 2021 11:51:21 AM roomeqwizard.DD A
SEVERE: Failed to write to the replay line
Feb 11, 2021 11:51:32 AM roomeqwizard.DD A
SEVERE: Timed out waiting for space to write the fade out block to the soundcard
Feb 11, 2021 11:51:49 AM roomeqwizard.DD A
SEVERE: Timed out waiting for space to write the fade out block to the soundcard

Is there something I could try or adjust to help investigate this?

 

[John Mulcahy]

I'm not a Linux user, but I believe that the definitions of the defaults for the audio interface include (or can include) settings for the sample format, so there may be something there. Configured in /etc/pulse/daemon.conf, it appears. https://linux.die.net/man/5/pulse-daemon.conf

Otherwise another Linux user might be able to advise, @phofman has an in-depth technical knowledge of the workings of the Linux audio system.

 

[teknico]

At first I saw the exact same behavior, under Ubuntu 20.04 too, then I remembered what I have to do to run the JACK sound daemon: I told pavuctl (PulseAudio Volume Control) to leave the Zoom U-44 USB interface alone (Configuration tab, set Profile to Off).

I restarted REW and the U-44 showed up in the soundcard preferences: REW is happier using it directly rather than through PulseAudio.

 

[rattus]

I just came across this thread looking for an answer to the "Timed out waiting for space to write the fade out block to the soundcard" problem which I was getting upon closing the Generator. Worked out it can be avoided by increasing the Output Device buffer size.
I also initially had confusion with getting audio output but it seems to be working now once I gained a little more understanding of what I was doing.
REW 5.20 RC9
Debian Bullseye with kernel 5.11.0-11.1-liquorix-amd64
pulseaudio 14.2-2
KDE Plasma 5.20.5
java version "1.8.0_291"