[BUG] ALSA FireWire: poll timeout causes JACK to stop (6.10 – 6.17-rc2)
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Hello ALSA developers,
I would like to report a reproducible issue with snd-fireface on Linux kernels 6.10 through 6.17-rc2.
________________________________
System Information
Kernel versions tested: 6.10 → 6.17-rc2
Audio interface: RME Fireface 800
Driver in use: snd-fireface
Audio server: JACK (tested with jackd and QJackCtl)
Distribution: Debian 12
Kernel config: ALSA FireWire drivers enabled, no FFADO in use
Chip 1394: Texas Instrumets
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Steps to Reproduce
Boot kernel 6.10 … 6.17-rc2 with snd-fireface loaded.
Start JACK with ALSA backend, for example:
jackd -d alsa -d hw:Fireface -p 64 -n 3
Use the system normally — during playback, recording, or even when idle. The issue may occur at any time without apparent external cause.
Actual Behavior
After some idle time, ALSA stops responding and JACK prints:
ERROR: ALSA: poll time out, polled for ... usecs ERROR: JackAudioDriver::ProcessAsync: read error, stopping...
JACK immediately terminates. The Fireface 800 does not recover until JACK is restarted.
________________________________
Expected Behavior
The ALSA FireWire driver should maintain the stream and allow JACK to continue running without manual restart, even when idle.
________________________________
Notes
With FFADO backend (jackd -d firewire), the same hardware works reliably and does not exhibit this issue.
This suggests that the problem lies in the ALSA FireWire streaming engine rather than the hardware itself.
The problem has been reproducible across all tested kernels (vanila, rt, liquorix) from 6.10 through 6.17-rc2.
________________________________
Request
Could you please confirm if this issue is known? Is there any ongoing work on the ALSA FireWire streaming engine (snd-fireface) to address these poll timeout conditions?
I can provide additional logs (dmesg, journalctl) or test patches if needed.
Thank you,
Ilya Kuznetsov.
Hi,
I'm sorry for your inconvenience.
If you have ever used your device with Pipewire, I would like to see your experiences how it works, since both servers uses the different ways to handle ALSA PCM device in respect to no-period-wakeup mode..
On Tue, Sep 02, 2025 at 03:11:52PM +0500, Илья Кузнецов wrote:
Hello ALSA developers,
I would like to report a reproducible issue with snd-fireface on Linux kernels 6.10 through 6.17-rc2.
System Information
Kernel versions tested: 6.10 → 6.17-rc2
Audio interface: RME Fireface 800
Driver in use: snd-fireface
Audio server: JACK (tested with jackd and QJackCtl)
Distribution: Debian 12
Kernel config: ALSA FireWire drivers enabled, no FFADO in use
Chip 1394: Texas Instrumets
Steps to Reproduce
Boot kernel 6.10 … 6.17-rc2 with snd-fireface loaded.
Start JACK with ALSA backend, for example:
jackd -d alsa -d hw:Fireface -p 64 -n 3
Use the system normally — during playback, recording, or even when idle. The issue may occur at any time without apparent external cause.
Actual Behavior
After some idle time, ALSA stops responding and JACK prints:
ERROR: ALSA: poll time out, polled for ... usecs ERROR: JackAudioDriver::ProcessAsync: read error, stopping...
JACK immediately terminates. The Fireface 800 does not recover until JACK is restarted.
Expected Behavior
The ALSA FireWire driver should maintain the stream and allow JACK to continue running without manual restart, even when idle.
Notes
With FFADO backend (jackd -d firewire), the same hardware works reliably and does not exhibit this issue.
This suggests that the problem lies in the ALSA FireWire streaming engine rather than the hardware itself.
The problem has been reproducible across all tested kernels (vanila, rt, liquorix) from 6.10 through 6.17-rc2.
Request
Could you please confirm if this issue is known? Is there any ongoing work on the ALSA FireWire streaming engine (snd-fireface) to address these poll timeout conditions?
I can provide additional logs (dmesg, journalctl) or test patches if needed.
Thank you,
Ilya Kuznetsov.
Regards
Takashi Sakamoto
Hi Takashi,
Thank you for your reply. I tried PipeWire in the past, but my overall experience was rather negative. With its ALSA drivers I could not achieve the same low latency as with FFADO. When using PipeWire together with FFADO, the results were even worse, with many clearly audible xruns.
Because of this, I stopped using PipeWire for ProAudio purposes. As far as I know, there is still an unresolved issue with about 90 ms of additional latency, which makes it unsuitable for my workflow.
I am aware of the ongoing work on the Linux FireWire stack, but my understanding was that with ALSA I should not be getting xruns on my system. For reference: I am running a Ryzen 7 7700 CPU and tested with both RT and Liquorix kernels.
Best regards, Ilya Kuznetsov
ср, 3 сент. 2025 г., 04:45 Takashi Sakamoto o-takashi@sakamocchi.jp:
Hi,
I'm sorry for your inconvenience.
If you have ever used your device with Pipewire, I would like to see your experiences how it works, since both servers uses the different ways to handle ALSA PCM device in respect to no-period-wakeup mode..
On Tue, Sep 02, 2025 at 03:11:52PM +0500, Илья Кузнецов wrote:
Hello ALSA developers,
I would like to report a reproducible issue with snd-fireface on Linux kernels 6.10 through 6.17-rc2.
System Information
Kernel versions tested: 6.10 → 6.17-rc2
Audio interface: RME Fireface 800
Driver in use: snd-fireface
Audio server: JACK (tested with jackd and QJackCtl)
Distribution: Debian 12
Kernel config: ALSA FireWire drivers enabled, no FFADO in use
Chip 1394: Texas Instrumets
Steps to Reproduce
Boot kernel 6.10 … 6.17-rc2 with snd-fireface loaded.
Start JACK with ALSA backend, for example:
jackd -d alsa -d hw:Fireface -p 64 -n 3
Use the system normally — during playback, recording, or even when idle. The issue may occur at any time without apparent external cause.
Actual Behavior
After some idle time, ALSA stops responding and JACK prints:
ERROR: ALSA: poll time out, polled for ... usecs ERROR: JackAudioDriver::ProcessAsync: read error, stopping...
JACK immediately terminates. The Fireface 800 does not recover until JACK is restarted.
Expected Behavior
The ALSA FireWire driver should maintain the stream and allow JACK to continue running without manual restart, even when idle.
Notes
With FFADO backend (jackd -d firewire), the same hardware works reliably and does not exhibit this issue.
This suggests that the problem lies in the ALSA FireWire streaming engine rather than the hardware itself.
The problem has been reproducible across all tested kernels (vanila, rt, liquorix) from 6.10 through 6.17-rc2.
Request
Could you please confirm if this issue is known? Is there any ongoing work on the ALSA FireWire streaming engine (snd-fireface) to address these poll timeout conditions?
I can provide additional logs (dmesg, journalctl) or test patches if
needed.
Thank you,
Ilya Kuznetsov.
Regards
Takashi Sakamoto
participants (2)
-
Takashi Sakamoto -
Илья Кузнецов