[alsa-devel] Possible ALSA loopback bug?

[Timothy Pearson]

On 01/20/2019 07:00 PM, Timothy Pearson wrote:
> I've been running a dedicated machine with ALSA loopback, feeding
> darkice on the capture side and (currently) using mplayer to provide
> audio on the playback side.  I've seen sporadic hangs for a couple of
> years on this setup, but recently with the switch to mplayer I have
> additional information that points more to ALSA than the other applications.
> 
> When the audio hangs, mplayer prints a continuous stream of:
> "Audio device got stuck!"
> 
> The only way to "unstick" the audio stream is to terminate and restart
> mplayer.  Restarting darkice does not fix the stuck stream.  There is no
> pulseaudio on this sytem.
> 
> What would be the next steps to debug this setup?  It's shown up on two
> entirely different installs at this point (Ubuntu 14.04 and Debian 9).
> 
> Thanks!

A bit of additional information:  before audio output ceases entirely,
the messages start printing and the audio becomes very choppy.  The
system has no processes stuck at 100% CPU or any other visible signs of
duress during this time.

Suggestions on debug are welcome!

-- 
Timothy Pearson
Raptor Engineering
+1 (415) 727-8645 (direct line)
+1 (512) 690-0200 (switchboard)
https://www.raptorengineering.com