Ubuntou 21.10 Sound stops working

On Ubuntu 21.10 after hours of use the sound just randomly stops working. Youtube.com says “Audio Renderer error please restart your computer”

… Restarting seems to work… But it’s annoying issue that needs to be fixed. Any suggestions are welcomed.

Ubuntu 21.10 upgraded Pulseaudio to version 15, I believe. Curious if the following command would just make things work again without a reboot:

pulseaudio -k

While that certainly isn’t a proper fix, it’s a decent hold over in the meantime versus rebooting. Beyond that, you’d have to start in the pulseaudio logs to look for anything that just doesn’t look right to figure out what’s happening.

Edit: got caught up something else and forgot to mention, the command kills pulseaudio in a way that forces it to immediately restart itself. It’s a reset button just for the audio system itself. Fairly safe to do without consequences, at least nothing that I’ve ever seen/heard of.

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Whats weird is

pulseaudio -k

only enables audio on the right speaker not the left…

@JP_Powers I am trailing syslog with pulse|audio|sound grepped to see if I can see anything next time it crashes

PulseAudio does not log to syslog. It runs as a user process and I don’t think it logs by default at all. You have enable logging manually. See here.

@lightrush I am seeing some logs… Though it looks like they are coming from systemd mainly from when I restart:

Oct 14 22:01:21 ShinyNewToy-Charlie pulseaudio[931]: After module unload, module 'module-null-sink' was still loaded!
Oct 14 22:01:21 ShinyNewToy-Charlie systemd[893]: pulseaudio.service: Deactivated successfully.
Oct 14 22:01:31 ShinyNewToy-Charlie systemd[893]: pulseaudio.socket: Deactivated successfully.
Oct 14 22:09:48 ShinyNewToy-Charlie boltd[697]: watchdog: enabled [pulse: 90s]
Oct 14 22:10:09 ShinyNewToy-Charlie pulseaudio[932]: After module unload, module 'module-null-sink' was still loaded!
Oct 14 22:10:09 ShinyNewToy-Charlie systemd[897]: pulseaudio.service: Deactivated successfully.
Oct 14 22:10:19 ShinyNewToy-Charlie systemd[897]: pulseaudio.socket: Deactivated successfully.
Oct 15 09:50:07 ShinyNewToy-Charlie boltd[703]: watchdog: enabled [pulse: 90s]
Oct 15 09:50:32 ShinyNewToy-Charlie pulseaudio[930]: After module unload, module 'module-null-sink' was still loaded!
Oct 15 09:50:32 ShinyNewToy-Charlie systemd[877]: pulseaudio.service: Deactivated successfully.
Oct 15 09:50:42 ShinyNewToy-Charlie systemd[877]: pulseaudio.socket: Deactivated successfully.
grep: (standard input): binary file matches
charlie@ShinyNewToy-Charlie:~$

I will follow the link you sent thank you.

if restarting the PC “fixes” the audio properly but pulseaudio -k only resets audio on one channel, I’d have to guess the startup procedure is starting pulse with some options that the pulseaudio configs don’t otherwise “know of.” I’d check the pulseaudio configs and the systemd pulse .service files to see if either are doing anything very differently.

Oh look at this, there’s a pulseaudio service now. This is new. It doesn’t exist on 20.04. Maybe what I said isn’t valid anymore. Also that implies some changes on how PA is started.

Number of opened output audio streams 50 exceed the max allowed number 50

@lightrush @JP_Powers more interesting logs:

5455:ERROR:audio_manager_base.cc(213)] Number of opened output audio streams 50 exceed the max allowed number 50
Oct 18 19:01:35 ShinyNewToy-Charlie gnome-shell[3844]: [4303:4303:1018/190135.295681:ERROR:pulse_util.cc(343)] pa_operation is nullptr.
Oct 18 19:02:05 ShinyNewToy-Charlie gnome-shell[3844]: [4303:4303:1018/190205.455693:ERROR:pulse_util.cc(343)] pa_operation is nullptr.
Oct 18 19:02:05 ShinyNewToy-Charlie gnome-shell[3844]: [4303:4303:1018/190205.455870:ERROR:pulse_util.cc(343)] pa_operation is nullptr.
Oct 18 19:02:05 ShinyNewToy-Charlie gnome-shell[3844]: [4303:4303:1018/190205.456120:ERROR:audio_manager_base.cc(213)] Number of opened output audio streams 50 exceed the max allowed number 50
Oct 18 19:02:05 ShinyNewToy-Charlie gnome-shell[3844]: [4303:4303:1018/190205.458022:ERROR:pulse_util.cc(343)] pa_operation is nullptr.
Oct 18 19:02:05 ShinyNewToy-Charlie gnome-shell[3844]: [4303:4303:1018/190205.458224:ERROR:audio_manager_base.cc(213)] Number of opened output audio streams 50 exceed the max allowed number 50
Oct 18 19:02:05 ShinyNewToy-Charlie gnome-shell[3844]: [4303:4303:1018/190205.458314:ERROR:pulse_util.cc(343)] pa_operation is nullptr.
Oct 18 19:02:35 ShinyNewToy-Charlie gnome-shell[3844]: [4303:4303:1018/190235.616156:ERROR:pulse_util.cc(343)] pa_operation is nullptr.
Oct 18 19:02:35 ShinyNewToy-Charlie gnome-shell[3844]: [4303:4303:1018/190235.616385:ERROR:pulse_util.cc(343)] pa_operation is nullptr.
Oct 18 19:02:35 ShinyNewToy-Charlie gnome-shell[3844]: [4303:4303:1018/190235.616654:ERROR:audio_manager_base.cc(213)] Number of opened output audio streams 50 exceed the max allowed number 50
Oct 18 19:02:35 ShinyNewToy-Charlie gnome-shell[3844]: [4303:4303:1018/190235.618545:ERROR:pulse_util.cc(343)] pa_operation is nullptr.
Oct 18 19:02:35 ShinyNewToy-Charlie gnome-shell[3844]: [4303:4303:1018/190235.618752:ERROR:audio_manager_base.cc(213)] Number of opened output audio streams 50 exceed the max allowed number 50
Oct 18 19:02:35 ShinyNewToy-Charlie gnome-shell[3844]: [4303:4303:1018/190235.618796:ERROR:pulse_util.cc(343)] pa_operation is nullptr.
Oct 18 19:03:03 ShinyNewToy-Charlie gnome-shell[3844]: [4303:4303:1018/190303.381644:ERROR:pulse_util.cc(343)] pa_operation is nullptr.
Oct 18 19:03:03 ShinyNewToy-Charlie gnome-shell[3844]: [4303:4303:1018/190303.382289:ERROR:pulse_util.cc(343)] pa_operation is nullptr.
Oct 18 19:03:03 ShinyNewToy-Charlie gnome-shell[3844]: [4303:4303:1018/190303.382328:ERROR:audio_manager_base.cc(213)] Number of opened output audio streams 50 exceed the max allowed number 50
Oct 18 19:03:04 ShinyNewToy-Charlie gnome-shell[3844]: [4303:4303:1018/190304.661072:ERROR:pulse_util.cc(343)] pa_operation is nullptr.
Oct 18 19:03:04 ShinyNewToy-Charlie gnome-shell[3844]: [4303:4303:1018/190304.661514:ERROR:pulse_util.cc(343)] pa_operation is nullptr.
Oct 18 19:03:04 ShinyNewToy-Charlie gnome-shell[3844]: [4303:4303:1018/190304.661556:ERROR:audio_manager_base.cc(213)] Number of opened output audio streams 50 exceed the max allowed number 50
Oct 18 19:03:05 ShinyNewToy-Charlie gnome-shell[3844]: [4303:4303:1018/190305.750678:ERROR:pulse_util.cc(343)] pa_operation is nullptr.
Oct 18 19:03:05 ShinyNewToy-Charlie gnome-shell[3844]: [4303:4303:1018/190305.750853:ERROR:pulse_util.cc(343)] pa_operation is nullptr.
Oct 18 19:03:05 ShinyNewToy-Charlie gnome-shell[3844]: [4303:4303:1018/190305.751106:ERROR:audio_manager_base.cc(213)] Number of opened output audio streams 50 exceed the max allowed number 50
Oct 18 19:03:05 ShinyNewToy-Charlie gnome-shell[3844]: [4303:4303:1018/190305.753170:ERROR:pulse_util.cc(343)] pa_operation is nullptr.
Oct 18 19:03:05 ShinyNewToy-Charlie gnome-shell[3844]: [4303:4303:1018/190305.753378:ERROR:audio_manager_base.cc(213)] Number of opened output audio streams 50 exceed the max allowed number 50
Oct 18 19:03:05 ShinyNewToy-Charlie gnome-shell[3844]: [4303:4303:1018/190305.753446:ERROR:pulse_util.cc(343)] pa_operation is nullptr.
Oct 18 19:03:09 ShinyNewToy-Charlie gnome-shell[3844]: [4303:4303:1018/190309.743738:ERROR:pulse_util.cc(343)] pa_operation is nullptr.
Oct 18 19:03:09 ShinyNewToy-Charlie gnome-shell[3844]: [4303:4303:1018/190309.744097:ERROR:pulse_util.cc(343)] pa_operation is nullptr.
Oct 18 19:03:09 ShinyNewToy-Charlie gnome-shell[3844]: [4303:4303:1018/190309.744135:ERROR:audio_manager_base.cc(213)] Number of opened output audio streams 50 exceed the max allowed number 50
Oct 18 19:03:09 ShinyNewToy-Charlie gnome-shell[3844]: [4303:4303:1018/190309.887340:ERROR:pulse_util.cc(343)] pa_operation is nullptr.
Oct 18 19:03:09 ShinyNewToy-Charlie gnome-shell[3844]: [4303:4303:1018/190309.887872:ERROR:pulse_util.cc(343)] pa_operation is nullptr.
Oct 18 19:03:09 ShinyNewToy-Charlie gnome-shell[3844]: [4303:4303:1018/190309.887910:ERROR:audio_manager_base.cc(213)] Number of opened output audio streams 50 exceed the max allowed number 50
Oct 18 19:03:35 ShinyNewToy-Charlie gnome-shell[3844]: [4303:4303:1018/190335.904919:ERROR:pulse_util.cc(343)] pa_operation is nullptr.
Oct 18 19:03:35 ShinyNewToy-Charlie gnome-shell[3844]: [4303:4303:1018/190335.905169:ERROR:pulse_util.cc(343)] pa_operation is nullptr.
Oct 18 19:03:35 ShinyNewToy-Charlie gnome-shell[3844]: [4303:4303:1018/190335.905967:ERROR:audio_manager_base.cc(213)] Number of opened output audio streams 50 exceed the max allowed number 50
Oct 18 19:03:35 ShinyNewToy-Charlie gnome-shell[3844]: [4303:4303:1018/190335.907519:ERROR:pulse_util.cc(343)] pa_operation is nullptr.
Oct 18 19:03:35 ShinyNewToy-Charlie gnome-shell[3844]: [4303:4303:1018/190335.907736:ERROR:audio_manager_base.cc(213)] Number of opened output audio streams 50 exceed the max allowed number 50
Oct 18 19:03:35 ShinyNewToy-Charlie gnome-shell[3844]: [4303:4303:1018/190335.907780:ERROR:pulse_util.cc(343)] pa_operation is nullptr.

do you have a dock or other USB devices that could be adding more audio devices to the system? Even if there aren’t 50 total, it could be one or some of them are “flakey,” going on and off line repeatedly, and Pulse isn’t enumerating them properly.

@JP_Powers … no I don’t think so… But I am connected to my work desktop computer via a “citrix workspace” remote desktop connection.

Perhaps using Pipewire might help? I’ve heard it’s much better than existing pulseaudio interfaces

a remote desktop session shouldn’t be providing new devices for pulse to have to interpret. Just checking, is Ubuntu 21.10 the only OS you’ve tried on your Framework? Do we know the laptop’s sound device itself isn’t just broken and it’s just 21.10?

I did a 21.04 to 21.10 upgrade, so while I can say, “Mine’s fine, sounds like your laptop might be a problem” I can’t be certain you’re seeing a broken device as the upgrade process carries over a lot instead of setting up 21.10 “fresh.” That said, this is the first we’re hearing of it, and I’d expect others would be having a similar problem if there wasn’t something specific to you (the laptop itself, accessories in use, etc.) that was causing it.

As @gs1 said, you can try switching to pipewire. I haven’t tried it myself but I’ve seen a number of people switching to it for various reasons and it seems to be the go-to solution when pulse is just borked.

Wow the internet doesn’t know about this one. You may have found a bug. You should report it at the bugtracker. In addition and if you feel like doing the work, you should try to narrow down the component. Try a known good Ubuntu version where Framework’s audio works - like 20.04.3 or 21.04 to eliminate the possibility of defective hw. If successful, try to swap out the kernel in 21.10 for something that is known to work, like 5.11, in order to eliminate the kernel. If successful, then the problem would be somewhere in ALSA, PulseAudio or GNOME. Then the next component and so on. This gets harder to do with ALSA and GNOME.

Alternatively, say fuck it and put 20.04.3 on, workaround the AX210 and fingerprint reader issues and forget it for another couple of years. In my experience, it’s easier and more reliable to workaround few issues on a generally stable OS version, than throwing a whole new and less stable OS version that resolves those issues but can bring an unknown number of new, unknown issues, which by definition much fewer people encounter and therefore solutions are more scarce. Plus Ubuntu 20.04 would get the kernel and graphics stack from 21.10 at some point in the future.

It seems to be an issue with google chrome exceeding the max allowed output streams… so perhaps not a frame.work/ubuntu issue (although I swear the speaker stopped working in other apps too):

https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src/media/+/refs/heads/main/audio/audio_manager_base.cc#213