Sound & video cut out

[Oolong]

Sometimes sound and video work absolutely fine on my box with Linux Mint 12, other times my media player of choice will sort of grind to a halt. Movie Player tends to just stop playing, maybe play a couple of seconds choppily and then stop; VLC usually keeps playing video but audio cuts out entirely; if I switch to Banshee of Gnome MPlayer, they'll usually give me much the same results as Movie Player. Meanwhile, Flash tends to crash at the same time.

Most of the time if I restart, things will work normally again. That didn't work when I restarted just now, though, and obviously I don't want to be rebooting all the time. What should I be doing to try to fix this properly?

From lspci, I think this is the hardware I'm using for sound output (listed as 'Internal Audio Analog Stereo' in System Settings):
00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 02)

Here's the rest of lspci's output, in case this is helpful:

Code: Select all

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82865G/PE/P DRAM Controller/Host-Hub Interface (rev 02)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82865G/PE/P PCI to AGP Controller (rev 02)
00:06.0 System peripheral: Intel Corporation 82865G/PE/P Processor to I/O Memory Interface (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 02)
00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge (rev c2)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 02)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) IDE Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) SMBus Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 02)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc RV350 AP [Radeon 9600]
01:00.1 Display controller: ATI Technologies Inc RV350 AP [Radeon 9600] (Secondary)
02:02.0 USB Controller: OPTi Inc. 82C861 (rev 10)
02:06.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8169 Gigabit Ethernet (rev 10)


Here's what vlc says (while playing video but no sound) if I run it from the command line:

Code: Select all

VLC media player 1.1.12 The Luggage (revision exported)
Warning: call to srand(1334493465)
Warning: call to rand()
Blocked: call to unsetenv("DBUS_ACTIVATION_ADDRESS")
Blocked: call to unsetenv("DBUS_ACTIVATION_BUS_TYPE")
[0x8ad192c] main libvlc: Running vlc with the default interface. Use 'cvlc' to use vlc without interface.
Blocked: call to setlocale(6, "")
Blocked: call to setlocale(6, "")

(process:2455): Gtk-WARNING **: Locale not supported by C library.
   Using the fallback 'C' locale.
"sni-qt/2455" WARN  13:37:46.154 void StatusNotifierItemFactory::connectToSnw() Invalid interface to SNW_SERVICE
libdvdnav: Using dvdnav version 4.1.3
libdvdread: Using libdvdcss version 1.2.12 for DVD access
libdvdread: Couldn't find device name.
libdvdnav: Can't read name block. Probably not a DVD-ROM device.
libdvdnav: Unable to find map file '/home/oolong/.dvdnav/.map'
libdvdnav:DVDOpenFilePath:findDVDFile /VIDEO_TS/VIDEO_TS.IFO failed
libdvdnav:DVDOpenFilePath:findDVDFile /VIDEO_TS/VIDEO_TS.BUP failed
libdvdread: Can't open file VIDEO_TS.IFO.
libdvdnav: vm: failed to read VIDEO_TS.IFO
[0x8afb744] main demux error: option sub-original-fps does not exist
[0x8c50174] main input error: no suitable demux module for `file/subtitle:///home/oolong/Downloads/testfile/whatever.txt'
Warning: call to rand()
[0x8adff54] main playlist: stopping playback
Blocked: call to setenv("_PX_CONFIG_ORDER", "", 1)
Blocked: call to setenv("_PX_CONFIG_ORDER", "", 1)


It looks to me like probably none of that is relevant? I don't know though. Here's mplayer:

Code: Select all

MPlayer SVN-r33713-4.6.1 (C) 2000-2011 MPlayer Team
mplayer: could not connect to socket
mplayer: No such file or directory
Failed to open LIRC support. You will not be able to use your remote control.

Playing /home/oolong/Downloads/Community.S03E15.HDTV.XviD-AFG/Community.S03E15.HDTV.XviD-AFG.avi.
AVI file format detected.
[aviheader] Video stream found, -vid 0
[aviheader] Audio stream found, -aid 1
VIDEO:  [XVID]  640x360  12bpp  23.976 fps  975.5 kbps (119.1 kbyte/s)
Load subtitles in /home/oolong/Downloads/Community.S03E15.HDTV.XviD-AFG/
open: No such file or directory
[MGA] Couldn't open: /dev/mga_vid
open: No such file or directory
[MGA] Couldn't open: /dev/mga_vid
[VO_TDFXFB] Can't open /dev/fb0: Permission denied.
[VO_3DFX] Unable to open /dev/3dfx.
Failed to open VDPAU backend libvdpau_nvidia.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
[vdpau] Error when calling vdp_device_create_x11: 1
==========================================================================
Opening video decoder: [ffmpeg] FFmpeg's libavcodec codec family
Unsupported PixelFormat 61
Unsupported PixelFormat 53
Selected video codec: [ffodivx] vfm: ffmpeg (FFmpeg MPEG-4)
==========================================================================
==========================================================================
Requested audio codec family [mpg123] (afm=mpg123) not available.
Enable it at compilation.
Opening audio decoder: [ffmpeg] FFmpeg/libavcodec audio decoders
AUDIO: 48000 Hz, 2 ch, floatle, 128.0 kbit/4.17% (ratio: 16000->384000)
Selected audio codec: [ffmp3float] afm: ffmpeg (FFmpeg MPEG layer-3 audio)
==========================================================================
AO: [pulse] 48000Hz 2ch floatle (4 bytes per sample)
Starting playback...
Movie-Aspect is 1.78:1 - prescaling to correct movie aspect.
VO: [xv] 640x360 => 640x360 Planar YV12
A:   0.2 V:   0.3 A-V: -0.102 ct: -0.022   9/  9 ??% ??% ??,?% 3 0
A:   0.2 V:   0.4 A-V: -0.169 ct: -0.031  11/ 11 ??% ??% ??,?% 3 0
A:   0.3 V:   0.4 A-V: -0.166 ct: -0.031  11/ 11 ??% ??% ??,?% 3 0
  =====  PAUSE  =====

Exiting... (Quit)


[xenopeek]

Moved here by moderator

Please share the output of:

Code: Select all

inxi -Fxc 0

[Oolong]

Damn, I missed that reply. I still have the same problems. Here's the output of inxi -Fxc 0:

Code: Select all

System:    Host Hoji Kernel 3.0.0-12-generic i686 (32 bit gcc 4.6.1) Desktop Gnome  (Gtk 2.24.6) Distro Linux Mint 12 Lisa
Machine:   Mobo MICRO-STAR model MS-6728 version 3.00 Bios American Megatrends version V5.0 date 09/22/2004
CPU:       Single core Intel Pentium 4 CPU (-HT-) cache 1024 KB flags (sse sse2 sse3) bmips 6367.99
           Clock Speeds: (1) 3183.999 MHz (2) 3183.999 MHz
Graphics:  Card: ATI RV350 AP [Radeon 9600] bus-ID: 01:00.0
           X.Org 1.10.4 drivers ati,radeon unloaded: fbdev,vesa Resolution 1024x768@75.1hz
           GLX Renderer Gallium 0.4 on ATI RV350 GLX Version 2.1 Mesa 7.11 Direct Rendering Yes
Audio:     Card-1 Intel 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) AC'97 Audio Controller driver Intel ICH ports c800 c400 bus-ID: 00:1f.5
           Card-2 Pixart Imaging driver snd-usb-audio usb-ID: 093a:2620
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: 1.0.24
Network:   Card Realtek RTL-8169 Gigabit Ethernet driver r8169 v: 2.3LK-NAPI port bc00 bus-ID: 02:06.0
           IF: eth0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: 00:11:09:98:ef:88
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 90.0GB (70.4% used) 1: /dev/sda Maxtor_6Y080L0 82.0GB
           2: USB /dev/sdb CardReader_SD0 8.0GB
Partition: ID:/ size: 74G used: 53G (76%) fs: ext4 ID:swap-1 size: 1.96GB used: 0.10GB (5%) fs: swap
Sensors:   Error: You do not have the sensors app installed.
Info:      Processes 141 Uptime 1:11 Memory 638.4/1002.0MB Runlevel 2 Client Shell inxi 1.7.7

[xenopeek]

With a single core processor and 1 GB of memory, if you run a lot of applications or browser tabs at the same time this may cause hiccups of slow performance as the computer (slowly) swaps out memory to the swap partition on your harddisk so as to make room for other applications that are demanding more memory (and vice versa). I think you are currently using Linux Mint 12 with MATE. You may want to consider something more lightweight, like LXDE.

I see you don't have ATI's driver loaded from your graphics card, not sure if this could be affecting performance.

[Oolong]

Thanks Vincent. I'm not sure I'm convinced by this explanation though - closing my browser doesn't fix it, and it seems to be quite consistent that once it's messed up once, it will keep on doing it again and again unless I restart (which, alas, doesn't always fix it either). It's not just slow performance - I could live with that, just about, though playing videos through has not been a challenge on many far-lower-specced system - once it stops playing, it really stops. Won't play more than a couple of seconds more, usually - maybe 15 or 20 in rare circumstances, if I faff about pausing and unpausing and moving through the timeline a bit.

Erm, incidentally, I've been under the impression it's a dual-core processor. Certainly System Monitor reports two processors. So does inxi, seemingly, now I look at it - it says 'Single core' but then it also says 'Clock Speeds: (1) 3183.999 MHz (2) 3183.999 MHz' - what's that about?

Incidentally I downloaded the ATI driver while I was posting this last night, but it gives me 'Error: ./default_policy.sh does not support version
default:v2:i686:lib::none:3.0.0-12-generic; make sure that the version is being
correctly set by --iscurrentdistro'. Looks like I might need to downgrade to an older distribution to make it work.

Installing LXDE now, anyway. Figure it could be worth a go...

[Oolong]

Hm, I ran ./ati-driver-installer-9-3-x86.x86_64.run --listpkg at the suggestion of a poster in the thread I linked above, and chose Ubuntu/9.04 from the following list for --buildpkg, but I know what a disaster it can be to muck around with display drivers, and naturally I'm leery because this isn't exactly Ubuntu and it's definitely not 9.04, so I'm stopping there for now. I know Mint's largely Ubuntu-compatible, so how worried should I be (in case nothing else works out)?

Ubuntu/7.10
Ubuntu/8.04
Ubuntu/8.10
Ubuntu/9.04
Ubuntu/gutsy
Ubuntu/hardy
Ubuntu/intrepid
Ubuntu/jaunty
Ubuntu/source

[Oolong]

...aaaand it looks like lxde is no improvement, as far as video not grinding to a halt goes. I rather like it though, so thanks for the suggestion.

I guess the next thing to try is the proprietary video drivers. Trepidation...

[xenopeek]

Linux Mint 12 is based on Ubuntu 11.10 aka Oneiric. I don't think installing a driver from 2009 is a good idea The post you refer to is also from 2009.

If you immediately have the issue again on LXDE, then indeed it doesn't sound related to processor or memory. (And hey, I just read the first bit from inxi saying it was single core )

Perhaps make a new post in viewforum.php?f=59 asking for help installing proprietary driver for ATI RV350 AP [Radeon 9600] and including where you downloaded the driver and the error it gave. I'm no expert on installing proprietary drivers, but the forum members in that section of the forum can usually help

[Oolong]

I did start another thread here but then I remembered my sound is jiggered as well, which makes me think it's pretty unlikely that a rubbish video driver is the root problem here.

Any other ideas?

[Oolong]

Another point that may be relevant - I've concluded that LXDE is definitely worse than Gnome 2 was. It was stopping me from watching more than a few seconds at a time today, so I tried 'Gnome Classic' and watched a whole half-hour episode in Media Player with no problems, followed by a Flash video that was only slightly glitchy...

[Oolong]

Another thing to note - I've found that running

Code: Select all

pulseaudio -k

seems to fix the problem for a while, so I guess the cause of the problem is really more with the sound than the video.

It still doesn't turn up much in Gnome Classic, but this is not my preferred desktop environment, and I'd really like to get to the root of this anyway.

[Oolong]

So, uh, no clues, anyone? I should probably just switch back to Ubuntu eh?

Bother.

[xenopeek]

Sorry, no clues

[randerson07]

Im having a similar problem and wonder if there has been any progress.

My problem is probably related to the DAC(digital to analog converter) I have running into my stereo system, but Im hoping I can make it work.

The sound on my box will cut out, I can fix it by going into system settings and changing the output hardware to the digital out then back to the analog out. It will then work for a few min before it cuts out again.

Any ideas?

Thanks