Audacity Very Slow To Startup

[Singtoh]

Hello All,

I was wondering if others have an Audacity slow startup problem? I am using Audacity 2.0.2 on Ubuntu 12.04 64bit, Thinkpad computer with a fast SSD drive, 4gig ram and 2.5gig core duo processor. First I installed it from the repositories and noticed it very slow to startup, then I purged that and did a apt-build install Audacity and I have the same exact result. I tried to compile Audacity with: Open a terminal and type the following commands:

1. sudo apt-get install subversion
2. svn checkout http://audacity.googlecode.com/svn/audacity-src/trunk/ audacity-read-only
3. sudo apt-get build-dep audacity
4. cd audacity-read-only
5. ./configure
6. sudo make install

but it failed with cmake error command not found(something like that)?? All my other programs start with a snap. Audacity is taking around 30 to 40 seconds to start with all default settings fresh install of Audacity. Once started it does everything I want it to very quickly but it’s just the slow startup that aggrevates the crap out of me. I am a novice user of Audacity. Any ideas or feedback on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for any replies to help with this issue.

Cheers,

Singtoh

[steve]

I’m on Debian Squeeze 32 bit, 3 GB RAM 2 GHz Intel Core 2.
Launching Audacity takes about 3 seconds, so yes 30 to 40 seconds does seem to be very slow.

@Singtoh

but it failed with cmake error command not found(something like that)??

The resampling library used by Audacity is currently being changed to libsoxr (which is capable of exceptionally good resampling). This may temporarily cause some difficulties building from SVN as the dependencies may not all be satisfied. The release version of the source code is not affected by this so building from the 2.0.2 tarball should be straightforward.

Audacity 2.0.2 source tarball (.tar.bz2 file, 6.5 MB) is available here: Redirecting to: https://www.audacityteam.org/download

To build from this tarball, extract the contents somewhere convenient, then in a terminal, navigate to the location where you extracted the source code, them run:

./configure
make

If both “./configure” and “make” completes without error, launch Audacity with:

./audacity

If Audacity launches OK, install with:

sudo make install

[Singtoh]

Hello Steve,

Thanks for the super speedy reply. Ok, I will give what you said a go and reply back with the results.

Cheers Steve

[Singtoh]

Hello again Steve,
Ok, I have successfully built audacity with your instructions and launched it with ./audacity and in the terminal as it was starting up came the following:

ALSA lib pcm.c:2217:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.rear
ALSA lib pcm.c:2217:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.center_lfe
ALSA lib pcm.c:2217:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.side
ALSA lib audio/pcm_bluetooth.c:1614:(audioservice_expect) BT_GET_CAPABILITIES failed : Input/output error(5)
ALSA lib audio/pcm_bluetooth.c:1614:(audioservice_expect) BT_GET_CAPABILITIES failed : Input/output error(5)
ALSA lib audio/pcm_bluetooth.c:1614:(audioservice_expect) BT_GET_CAPABILITIES failed : Input/output error(5)
ALSA lib audio/pcm_bluetooth.c:1614:(audioservice_expect) BT_GET_CAPABILITIES failed : Input/output error(5)
ALSA lib pcm_dmix.c:957:(snd_pcm_dmix_open) The dmix plugin supports only playback stream
Expression 'stream->playback.pcm' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 4541
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
Expression 'ret' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 1670
Expression 'AlsaOpen( &alsaApi->baseHostApiRep, params, streamDir, &self->pcm )' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 1830
Expression 'PaAlsaStreamComponent_Initialize( &self->capture, alsaApi, inParams, StreamDirection_In, NULL != callback )' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 2092
Expression 'PaAlsaStream_Initialize( stream, alsaHostApi, inputParameters, outputParameters, sampleRate, framesPerBuffer, callback, streamFlags, userData )' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 2764
Expression 'stream->playback.pcm' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 4541
Expression 'stream->playback.pcm' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 4541

and still the same launch time 30-40 seconds.

Sorry Steve, I am not really an expert on Ubuntu/Linux either but when I do a sudo make install I get the following:

make -C lib-src
make[1]: Entering directory `/home/patrick/audacity-src-2.0.2/lib-src'
make -C FileDialog
make[2]: Entering directory `/home/patrick/audacity-src-2.0.2/lib-src/FileDialog'
make[2]: Nothing to be done for `all'.
make[2]: Leaving directory `/home/patrick/audacity-src-2.0.2/lib-src/FileDialog'
ln -sf FileDialog/FileDialog.a FileDialog.a
make -C libresample libresample.a
make[2]: Entering directory `/home/patrick/audacity-src-2.0.2/lib-src/libresample'
make[2]: `libresample.a' is up to date.
make[2]: Leaving directory `/home/patrick/audacity-src-2.0.2/lib-src/libresample'
ln -sf libresample/libresample.a libresample.a
make -C libnyquist
make[2]: Entering directory `/home/patrick/audacity-src-2.0.2/lib-src/libnyquist'
make[2]: Nothing to be done for `all'.
make[2]: Leaving directory `/home/patrick/audacity-src-2.0.2/lib-src/libnyquist'
ln -sf libnyquist/libnyquist.a libnyquist.a
make -C portmixer
make[2]: Entering directory `/home/patrick/audacity-src-2.0.2/lib-src/portmixer'
make[2]: Nothing to be done for `all'.
make[2]: Leaving directory `/home/patrick/audacity-src-2.0.2/lib-src/portmixer'
ln -sf portmixer/libportmixer.a libportmixer.a
make -C lib-widget-extra
make[2]: Entering directory `/home/patrick/audacity-src-2.0.2/lib-src/lib-widget-extra'
make[2]: Nothing to be done for `all'.
make[2]: Leaving directory `/home/patrick/audacity-src-2.0.2/lib-src/lib-widget-extra'
make[1]: Leaving directory `/home/patrick/audacity-src-2.0.2/lib-src'
make -C src
make[1]: Entering directory `/home/patrick/audacity-src-2.0.2/src'
make[1]: Nothing to be done for `all'.
make[1]: Leaving directory `/home/patrick/audacity-src-2.0.2/src'
make -C locale
make[1]: Entering directory `/home/patrick/audacity-src-2.0.2/locale'
make[1]: Nothing to be done for `all'.
make[1]: Leaving directory `/home/patrick/audacity-src-2.0.2/locale'
# install desktop file
/usr/bin/install -c -d /usr/local//share/applications
/usr/bin/install -c -m 644 src/audacity.desktop /usr/local//share/applications/audacity.desktop
# install MIME information
/usr/bin/install -c -d /usr/local//share/mime/packages
/usr/bin/install -c -m 644 src/audacity.xml /usr/local//share/mime/packages
# install the binary
/usr/bin/install -c -d /usr/local//bin
/usr/bin/install -c -m 755 audacity /usr/local//bin/audacity
# install docs
/usr/bin/install -c -d /usr/local//share/doc/audacity
/usr/bin/install -c -m 644 README.txt /usr/local//share/doc/audacity/README.txt
/usr/bin/install -c -m 644 LICENSE.txt /usr/local//share/doc/audacity/LICENSE.txt
# install manpage
/usr/bin/install -c -d /usr/local//share/man/man1
test -f help/audacity.1.gz && 
		/usr/bin/install -c -m 644 help/audacity.1.gz 
		/usr/local//share/man/man1/audacity.1.gz
# install nyquist
/usr/bin/install -c -d /usr/local//share/audacity/nyquist
/usr/bin/install -c -m 644 nyquist/*.lsp nyquist/nyquist-plot.txt /usr/local//share/audacity/nyquist
/usr/bin/install -c -d /usr/local//share/audacity/nyquist/rawwaves
/usr/bin/install -c -m 644 nyquist/rawwaves/*.raw /usr/local//share/audacity/nyquist/rawwaves
# install plug-ins
/usr/bin/install -c -d /usr/local//share/audacity/plug-ins
/usr/bin/install -c -m 644 plug-ins/*.ny /usr/local//share/audacity/plug-ins
# install resources that use wxStandardPaths::GetResourceDir()
/usr/bin/install -c -m 644 presets/EQDefaultCurves.xml /usr/local//share/audacity/EQDefaultCurves.xml
# install locales
make -C locale install
make[1]: Entering directory `/home/patrick/audacity-src-2.0.2/locale'
linguas='af ar be bg bn bs ca ca@valencia cs cy da de el es eu fa fi fr ga gl he hi hu id it ja ka km ko lt mk my nb nl oc pl pt pt_BR ro ru sk sl sr_RS sr_RS@latin sv tg tr uk vi zh zh_TW'; for lang in $linguas ; do 
	   /usr/bin/install -c -d /usr/local//share/locale/$lang/LC_MESSAGES ; 
	   /usr/bin/install -c -m 644 $lang/audacity.mo /usr/local//share/locale/$lang/LC_MESSAGES/audacity.mo ; 
	done
make[1]: Leaving directory `/home/patrick/audacity-src-2.0.2/locale'
# install icons for audacity
/usr/bin/install -c -d /usr/local//share/pixmaps/
/usr/bin/install -c -m 644 images/AudacityLogo48x48.xpm /usr/local//share/pixmaps/audacity.xpm
/usr/bin/install -c -d /usr/local//share/icons/hicolor/16x16/apps
/usr/bin/install -c -m 644 images/audacity16.png /usr/local//share/icons/hicolor/16x16/apps/audacity.png
/usr/bin/install -c -d /usr/local//share/icons/hicolor/22x22/apps
/usr/bin/install -c -m 644 images/audacity22.png /usr/local//share/icons/hicolor/22x22/apps/audacity.png
/usr/bin/install -c -d /usr/local//share/icons/hicolor/24x24/apps
/usr/bin/install -c -m 644 images/audacity24.png /usr/local//share/icons/hicolor/24x24/apps/audacity.png
/usr/bin/install -c -d /usr/local//share/icons/hicolor/32x32/apps
/usr/bin/install -c -m 644 images/audacity32.png /usr/local//share/icons/hicolor/32x32/apps/audacity.png
/usr/bin/install -c -d /usr/local//share/icons/hicolor/48x48/apps
/usr/bin/install -c -m 644 images/audacity48.png /usr/local//share/icons/hicolor/48x48/apps/audacity.png
/usr/bin/install -c -d /usr/local//share/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps
/usr/bin/install -c -m 644 images/audacity.svg /usr/local//share/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps/audacity.svg
/usr/bin/install -c -d /usr/local//share/pixmaps
/usr/bin/install -c -m 644 images/audacity16.xpm /usr/local//share/pixmaps/audacity16.xpm
/usr/bin/install -c -m 644 images/audacity32.xpm /usr/local//share/pixmaps/audacity32.xpm
# note we don't use the AUDACITY_NAME variable here, because the mime type
# doesn't depend on it
/usr/bin/install -c -m 644 images/gnome-mime-application-x-audacity-project.xpm /usr/local//share/pixmaps/gnome-mime-application-x-audacity-project.xpm
patrick@singtoh-pc:~/audacity-src-2.0.2$

so it seems that it won’t install like this. I don’t see an icon to launch Audacity anywhere so I am pretty sure it didn’t install?? Do I have to change to another directory or something. Not sure what to do Steve, Sorry.

Cheers,

Singtoh

[Gale_Andrews]

@steve

I’m on Debian Squeeze 32 bit, 3 GB RAM 2 GHz Intel Core 2.
Launching Audacity takes about 3 seconds, so yes 30 to 40 seconds does seem to be very slow.

Audacity takes 30 seconds to launch for me on Ubuntu 12.04 32-bit on a 1 GB RAM, 1 GHz single core netbook, but no app opens faster than 10 seconds.

@Singtoh

but it failed with cmake error command not found(something like that)??

sudo apt-get install cmake

should fix it.


Gale

[Gale_Andrews]

@Singtoh

Hello again Steve,
Ok, I have successfully built audacity with your instructions and launched it with ./audacity and in the terminal as it was starting up came the following:

I see identical on Ubuntu 12.04.

@Singtoh

when I do a sudo make install I get the following:

so it seems that it won’t install like this. I don’t see an icon to launch Audacity anywhere so I am pretty sure it didn’t install??

Install looks OK. Try:

/usr/local/bin/audacity

What does Applications > Sound and Video > Audacity open? (that’s Gnome-fallback path). It would probably be better to uninstall the repository package then reinstalling HEAD will give you an Audacity icon in the application menus if the menus currently still point to the package.


Gale

[Singtoh]

Hello Gale,

Thanks for the replies. Yes, I saw the Audacity program was in /usr/local/bin so I moved it to where all my other programs are whiach is in /usr/bin and now the icon to launch the program is back where it should be so all is ok on that part of it, but it still takes it 30-40 seconds to launch?? It just installed in a different directory than I am used to. Anyway, still a 30-40 second launch issue?? Thanks Gale, I appreciate your help.

Cheers,

Singtoh

[Gale_Andrews]

Audacity does do checking for LAME and FFmpeg (see Help > Show Log) as well as querying of sound devices that you see in the terminal.

Obviously Audacity can launch quickly as Steve testifies, but Ubuntu mainstream is no longer a lightweight OS in my opinion. You may want to try something like Lubuntu ( http://www.osnews.com/story/24476/Lubuntu_Finally_a_Lightweight_Ubuntu_ ).


Gale

[Singtoh]

Hello Gale,

Il’l do the LAME and ffmpeg check as you said. I realize Ubuntu isn’t that lightweight anymore but with my SSD drive Ubuntu boots in 12 seconds according to bootchart with all the programs installed and on a fresh install it boots in 8 seconds.All my other programs start easily within a second or two so I am just wondering why Audacity wants to take 30-40 seconds to start?? Program settings maybe?? I have only the default settings applied?? Just wondering.

Cheers Gale,

Singtoh

[Gale_Andrews]

I am not a Linux expert, so I can’t add much more than I’ve said. If you have a lot of audio devices, or one that is slow to respond, for example, a USB device, that could be part of the explanation.

You could also try Ubuntu 12.10 if you want to stay with Ubuntu - most of the early bugs in it have been resolved now.


Gale

[Singtoh]

Hello again Gale,

Thanks again for the help. Yeah, maybe I’ll try Ubuntu 12.10 on a spare harddisk just for giggles.

Cheers Gale,

Singtoh

[steve]

@Singtoh

ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave

I don’t get all of this mess when I launch Audacity.
These are not “errors”, these are notifications that occur as Audacity is searching for a usable sound system. It is normal to get a few messages - this is what happens on my machine:

ALSA lib pcm.c:2190:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.rear
ALSA lib pcm.c:2190:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.center_lfe
ALSA lib pcm.c:2190:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.side
ALSA lib pcm_dmix.c:957:(snd_pcm_dmix_open) The dmix plugin supports only playback stream
Cannot connect to server socket err = No such file or directory
Cannot connect to server socket
jack server is not running or cannot be started
Expression 'stream->capture.pcm' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 3857
Expression 'ret' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 1035
Expression 'AlsaOpen( &alsaApi->baseHostApiRep, params, streamDir, &self->pcm )' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 1192
Expression 'PaAlsaStreamComponent_Initialize( &self->capture, alsaApi, inParams, StreamDirection_In, NULL != callback )' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 1433
Expression 'PaAlsaStream_Initialize( stream, alsaHostApi, inputParameters, outputParameters, sampleRate, framesPerBuffer, callback, streamFlags, userData )' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 2105

You will notice that these messages are similar to yours, but far less of them, in particular the dozens of “ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave” messages do not occur. In fact I have only seen all of those extra messages on recent versions of Ubuntu.

I’m not sure what Ubuntu have done to make this occur, but this article suggests that it is because “there is something wrong with ALSA configuration”. YJL: PyAudio, PortAudio, and ALSA messages I suspect that this is the main reason for the slowness in launching on Ubuntu and I doubt that it will be fixed any time soon as it does eventually sort itself out.

[Singtoh]

Hello Steve,

Thanks for your help and input. So, I guess it is a Ubuntu problem, I guess no big issue. Like I said I am a novice Audacity user, and I think Audacity is really really good from my novice perspective of the program. What I have been trying to find is a way to scan all the files in my music library for clipping(I guess this is another topic). I have I guess a small to medium sized library (700gig) of flac files and I would like to find if there is clipping in them without having to open each individual file, this could take me years to complete. Being a novice user I have found that when I open many files, Audacity simply gives up and shows me nothing, then I restart Audacity and hence the slow startup issue arises because I have to do this every 5 minutes or so. Is there another way to acomplish what I seek? Anyway, I thank you for your patience and help and all of your replies to this issue. I have searched Hi and Lo for an easy way to do what I want but it eludes me??

Cheers,

Singtoh

[steve]

@Singtoh

What I have been trying to find is a way to scan all the files in my music library for clipping(I guess this is another topic).

You guess right

It would probably be best to raise this on the “Audio Processing” board Audio Processing - Audacity Forum
(do mention in your post that you are on Linux).

[Singtoh]

Ok, Steve. I will do that, and thanks again for your help. It is much appreciated.

Cheers,

Singtoh

[Gale_Andrews]

On Ubuntu 12.10 64-bit (2.4 GHz, 6 GB RAM dual core, not SSD) Audacity launches in a couple of seconds without the dmix slave messages:

ALSA lib pcm.c:2217:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.rear
ALSA lib pcm.c:2217:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.center_lfe
ALSA lib pcm.c:2217:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.side
ALSA lib audio/pcm_bluetooth.c:1614:(audioservice_expect) BT_GET_CAPABILITIES failed : Input/output error(5)
ALSA lib audio/pcm_bluetooth.c:1614:(audioservice_expect) BT_GET_CAPABILITIES failed : Input/output error(5)
ALSA lib audio/pcm_bluetooth.c:1614:(audioservice_expect) BT_GET_CAPABILITIES failed : Input/output error(5)
ALSA lib audio/pcm_bluetooth.c:1614:(audioservice_expect) BT_GET_CAPABILITIES failed : Input/output error(5)
ALSA lib pcm_dmix.c:957:(snd_pcm_dmix_open) The dmix plugin supports only playback stream
Expression 'stream->playback.pcm' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 4541
Expression 'stream->playback.pcm' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 4541
Expression 'stream->playback.pcm' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 4541
Expression 'stream->playback.pcm' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 4541
Expression 'stream->playback.pcm' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 4541
gale@ubuntu:~$ audacity
ALSA lib pcm.c:2217:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.rear
ALSA lib pcm.c:2217:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.center_lfe
ALSA lib pcm.c:2217:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.side
ALSA lib audio/pcm_bluetooth.c:1614:(audioservice_expect) BT_GET_CAPABILITIES failed : Input/output error(5)
ALSA lib audio/pcm_bluetooth.c:1614:(audioservice_expect) BT_GET_CAPABILITIES failed : Input/output error(5)
ALSA lib audio/pcm_bluetooth.c:1614:(audioservice_expect) BT_GET_CAPABILITIES failed : Input/output error(5)
ALSA lib audio/pcm_bluetooth.c:1614:(audioservice_expect) BT_GET_CAPABILITIES failed : Input/output error(5)
ALSA lib pcm_dmix.c:957:(snd_pcm_dmix_open) The dmix plugin supports only playback stream
Expression 'stream->playback.pcm' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 4541
Expression 'stream->playback.pcm' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 4541
Expression 'stream->playback.pcm' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 4541
Expression 'stream->playback.pcm' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 4541
Expression 'stream->playback.pcm' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 4541

On 12.04 my ~/.asoundrc is exactly as Steve said it should be but there are still many audio quirks such as monitor of built-in analog stereo (for recording computer playback) recording silence. That works on 12.10.


Gale

[Singtoh]

Hello Again,

Thought I would check back and see if there is any more info on this slowness problem. I guess I will bite the bullet after a backup and install 12.10 and give that a go, this is to frustrating and there is a few other small issues not worth mentioning that bothers me as well. I’ll install 12.10 and report back if I have any luck. If all else fails I can revert back to 12.04 in 15min. or so.

Cheers and thanks again for the help,

Singtoh

[Singtoh]

Hello Again Gale or Steve,

Well it seems that the slowness problem is not an issue on ubuntu 12.10. Freshly installed and launching from terminal Audacity opens in two to three seconds and launching from the icon is the same, so it’s all good This is what I get now from launching in the terminal:

ALSA lib pcm.c:2217:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.rear
ALSA lib pcm.c:2217:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.center_lfe
ALSA lib pcm.c:2217:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.side
ALSA lib audio/pcm_bluetooth.c:1614:(audioservice_expect) BT_GET_CAPABILITIES failed : Input/output error(5)
ALSA lib audio/pcm_bluetooth.c:1614:(audioservice_expect) BT_GET_CAPABILITIES failed : Input/output error(5)
ALSA lib audio/pcm_bluetooth.c:1614:(audioservice_expect) BT_GET_CAPABILITIES failed : Input/output error(5)
ALSA lib audio/pcm_bluetooth.c:1614:(audioservice_expect) BT_GET_CAPABILITIES failed : Input/output error(5)
ALSA lib pcm_dmix.c:957:(snd_pcm_dmix_open) The dmix plugin supports only playback stream
Cannot connect to server socket err = No such file or directory
Cannot connect to server request channel
jack server is not running or cannot be started
Expression 'stream->playback.pcm' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 4541
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
Expression 'ret' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 1670
Expression 'AlsaOpen( &alsaApi->baseHostApiRep, params, streamDir, &self->pcm )' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 1830
Expression 'PaAlsaStreamComponent_Initialize( &self->capture, alsaApi, inParams, StreamDirection_In, NULL != callback )' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 2092
Expression 'PaAlsaStream_Initialize( stream, alsaHostApi, inputParameters, outputParameters, sampleRate, framesPerBuffer, callback, streamFlags, userData )' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 2764
Expression 'stream->playback.pcm' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 4541
Expression 'stream->playback.pcm' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 4541

(audacity:3062): LIBDBUSMENU-GLIB-WARNING **: Trying to remove a child that doesn't believe we're it's parent.

(audacity:3062): LIBDBUSMENU-GLIB-WARNING **: Trying to remove a child that doesn't believe we're it's parent.

(audacity:3062): LIBDBUSMENU-GLIB-WARNING **: Trying to remove a child that doesn't believe we're it's parent.

(audacity:3062): LIBDBUSMENU-GLIB-WARNING **: Trying to remove a child that doesn't believe we're it's parent.

(audacity:3062): LIBDBUSMENU-GLIB-WARNING **: Trying to remove a child that doesn't believe we're it's parent.

(audacity:3062): LIBDBUSMENU-GLIB-WARNING **: Trying to remove a child that doesn't believe we're it's parent.

(audacity:3062): LIBDBUSMENU-GLIB-WARNING **: Trying to remove a child that doesn't believe we're it's parent.

(audacity:3062): LIBDBUSMENU-GLIB-WARNING **: Trying to remove a child that doesn't believe we're it's parent.

(audacity:3062): LIBDBUSMENU-GLIB-WARNING **: Trying to remove a child that doesn't believe we're it's parent.

I have no idea what all the above means, but as I said there is no slowness issue anymore.

Thanks for all the help, I appreciate it

Cheers,

Singtoh

[Gale_Andrews]

Hi Singtoh,

You get still get a lot of “ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:612:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave” entries, it just seems that doesn’t cause such a hold up as before. I don’t get those messages on 12.10, but that 12.10 was a fresh ISO install. Was yours an inplace upgrade over 12.04?



Gale

[Singtoh]

Hello Gale,

No, this was a fresh install from scratch. I even zeroed my SSD drive as I normally do before installing a new fresh system. I was hoping for a near instant startup of Audacity, but was denied that pleasure. It seems that all of the “error messages” that I am getting is part of the problem?? As I have said before, I have no program that takes even 3 seconds to execute and become usable, but having said that, I can live with what it is at the moment. Actually, Audacity, after having timed it more accuratley is taking about 4-5 seconds to start on this machine, where as all other programs start within a second or two?? SSD’s are a beautiful thing The way it is now is acceptable, but it would be nice to eliminate the errors and whatnot that Audicity produces on startup?? Sorry, I am kind of sticky on issues like this, and sorry again, I have had a few beers as well I thank you very much for your input and please, if you can think of something else I can try please let me know. I really think that Audacity should launch quicker, but it is acceptable to me at this time The alsa lib pcm errors, if you have any input on getting rid of those, possibly for a faster start, please let me know?? Anything to shave a second or two

Cheers,

Singtoh