Audacity Forum

I seem to have gotten into a state where recording stops after 8 seconds. There is just one track showing on the screen. If I click the red button, recording starts -- and then stops dead after 8 seconds. So --

1. What can I do so that my next recording is not time-limited in this way? I just want to start all over again and discard whatever I've already done.

2. What did I probably do to get into this puzzling state in the first place?

What are you recording from?
Which Linux distro are you using?
What sort of sound card?
ALSA/OSS/PulseAudio/Jack?
Has recording ever worked?
Can you record with other applications?

I'm running Linux Kubuntu 10.10 and I'm recording from a USB turntable. I'm also running pulseaudio. The recording actually does seem to work -- until it stops. I can see the audio file being generated and I can hear it playing, since I've checked Software Playthrough in the Recording Preferences. I've left Sound Activated Recording unchecked. I haven't tried recording from the turntable before, though I've done voice recording and testing with the arecord / aplay combination. I haven't tried using audacity for recording before, though I've used it to test my microphone.

If I turn off Software Playthrough, the recording doesn't stop, but I don't know why that's relevant.

Software Playthrough should be off.

If you want to hear the record while it is recording, the usual way is to connect the analogue outputs of the turntable to an amplifier or powered speakers.

The Quick Start Guide says this about Software Playthrough when recording from a turntable:

Set up Audacity to record from the turntable
Connect the USB cable of the turntable to the computer, then launch Audacity (restart Audacity if it was already running when you connected the cable). Go to the Devices tab of Preferences and:
In the "Recording" section, select the USB device from the "Device" menu. Set the "Channels" menu to "2 (stereo)".
In the "Playback" section, select your inbuilt sound or sound card by name from the "Device" menu. Do NOT choose "Microsoft SoundMapper" if you are on Windows.

Switch to the Recording tab of Preferences and:
Check "Software Playthrough" if you want to hear the turntable through the computer speakers.

Am I misunderstanding this, or is the Guide in error?

That is referring (primarily) to Windows.
The same set-up will work on some versions (mostly old versions) of Linux, but does not usually work on modern Linux distributions because PulseAudio has an alternative (better) way of routing sound. Unfortunately most current Linux distributions do not by default implement this newer method.

If you want to experiment with how to achieve "loopback monitoring", you will need to have "PulseAudio Volume Control" (pavucontrol) installed so that you can configure it.
After installing PulseAudio Volume Control, turn down all audio inputs to minimum, then run this command in a terminal window: Assuming there's no errors, this will load the loopback module, which will then appear in PulseAudio Volume Control as an additional playback device.
Make a note of the number that is returned in the terminal window. If you want to unload the module you will need to use that number.

For example: To unload the module I would enter: To configure the input and output of the loopback device,
PulseAudio Volume Control > Recording tab
Select "All streams", then select the required device (your USB device) as the input for the loopback.

PulseAudio Volume Control > Playback tab
Select "All streams", then select the required device (your normal sound card) as the output for the loopback.

Using the "pactl load-module module-loopback" command will load the loopback device for the current session only and it will not be loaded the next time you log in.
To load the loopback module automatically, the command may be added to /etc/pulse/default.pa with: