Sigh.... no sound from Clementine, Rhythmbox, etc.... Help please!

[jageorge72]

Newly built computer, Linux Mint 18.1 only. Clementine WAS working just fine just last week (problems with iPod Shuffle aside). I loaded my library of music in there, cleaned it up and organized it better.... everything was good to go. I'm not sure when this problem started. Maybe after an update?

Audio plays just fine on Netflix, YouTube, etc.... it only seems to be my music player(s) that are the problem. I *thought* I had this solved last night by loading PulseAudio Volume Control (read somewhere this might fix it). After a reboot, my audio worked again. Today, even after a reboot, it is not working.

....and actually, when launching this PulseAudio app, it displays "Establishing connection to PulseAudio, please wait"...... but it never connects.

Any ideas here? Making this switch to Linux has been pretty good so far, but this audio issue is a major problem for me, and absolutely needs to get fixed. Any ideas? Thanks.

[all41]

Hi jageorge72,
Not sure I can help here--but the ones who know will want to know more about your setup,
in particular your hardware. Please open a terminal and enter exactly, or copy/paste the following:

Code: Select all

inxi -Fxz

Then copy/paste those results back to this thread.
Here is a hint--you can always attract more exacting expertise by indicating your Desktop choice--
Cinnamon, Mate, Xfce, Kde

[jageorge72]

Thanks.... Running Linux Mint 18.1 Serena w/ Cinnamon Desktop. Here is the output from your command. ALSO...... see below. After much trial and error, I think I may have figured out WHAT was causing the problem, but not necessarily WHY it was causing my issues. See what you think......

System: Host: Computer Kernel: 4.4.0-62-generic x86_64 (64 bit gcc: 5.4.0)
Desktop: Cinnamon 3.2.7 (Gtk 3.18.9-1ubuntu3.1)
Distro: Linux Mint 18.1 Serena
Machine: Mobo: ASUSTeK model: Z170-A v: Rev 1.xx
Bios: American Megatrends v: 2202 date: 09/19/2016
CPU: Quad core Intel Core i5-6500 (-MCP-) cache: 6144 KB
flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 25535
clock speeds: max: 3600 MHz 1: 800 MHz 2: 800 MHz 3: 800 MHz
4: 862 MHz
Graphics: Card: Intel Sky Lake Integrated Graphics bus-ID: 00:02.0
Display Server: X.Org 1.18.4 drivers: intel (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
Resolution: 1920x1080@60.00hz
GLX Renderer: Mesa DRI Intel HD Graphics 530 (Skylake GT2)
GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 11.2.0 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio: Card-1 Intel Sunrise Point-H HD Audio
driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1f.3
Card-2 Logitech QuickCam Communicate Deluxe
driver: USB Audio usb-ID: 001-003
Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.4.0-62-generic
Network: Card: Intel Ethernet Connection (2) I219-V
driver: e1000e v: 3.2.6-k bus-ID: 00:1f.6
IF: enp0s31f6 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Drives: HDD Total Size: 500.1GB (51.5% used)
ID-1: /dev/sda model: Samsung_SSD_850 size: 500.1GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 443G used: 225G (54%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2
ID-2: swap-1 size: 17.05GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda3
RAID: No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors: System Temperatures: cpu: 29.8C mobo: 27.8C
Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: 0
Info: Processes: 201 Uptime: 20 min Memory: 1336.6/15926.4MB
Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 5.4.0
Client: Shell (bash 4.3.461) inxi: 2.2.35


So......... here is what I determined. I *think* running Google Chrome in a secure sandbox with Firejail was causing my issue. I have absolutely NO idea why, but maybe someone much smarter than me can figure it out.

It seemed like sometimes the audio from Clementine worked, but usually not. Here are the steps I took:

1. Restart computer.
2. Open Clementine
3. Play song..... it works
4. Shut Clementine.
5. Reopen Clementine, play song..... it works. Rhythmbox works too.
6. Open Google Chrome..... play YouTube video..... sound works just fine.
7. Open Clementine again..... music will not play. Nor will Rhythmbox.
8. Restart computer
9. Open Clementine
10. Play song..... it works
11. Open Firefox.... play video.... works just fine.
12. Open Clementine
13. Play song..... it works! Rhythmbox too. Just opening Google Chrome causes the problem.
14. Unload all Google Chrome extensions.
15. Restart computer.
16. Clementine.... works.
17. Open Chrome.... close Chrome.
18. Open Clementine...... does NOT work. So..... it was not the extensions causing the problem.
19. I un-sandbox Google Chrome.
20. Clementine now works before AND after opening Chrome. Yay!

So..... opening Google Chrome in a sandbox appears to be the culprit, disabling the audio of my music players, but not for website videos, YouTube or Netflix. Now the question..... WHY?! Has anyone else had this issue? I would like to keep using Chrome in the sandbox for better security. Anyone else come across this and know a solution? Hopefully this provides enough info to track it down. Thanks!

[all41]

I *think* running Google Chrome in a secure sandbox with Firejail was causing my issue.

Easy enough to prove.
Run:

Code: Select all

firejail firefox

and try the same urls
--perhaps the problem is in the etc/firejail/chromium-browser.profile

[jimallyn]

You figured it out alright, that's a known problem. See this page for more:

https://sites.google.com/site/easylinux ... ct/sandbox

[jageorge72]

You figured it out alright, that's a known problem. See this page for more:

https://sites.google.com/site/easylinux ... ct/sandbox

Yep! Following that advice seems to have solved the problem. That was driving me crazy for days.