recording inexplicably stops after a few minutes

[dsc3507]

Ubuntu 14.04 mate desktop - kernel 3.19.0-56-generic

Very aggravating that I have to go to Windows to get something stable. Repository version did this and also crashed randomly. Went to ppa - 2.1.2 - same stop in recording. I guess I will just find something else until this is fixed.

Here is one run of returned errors but this was running from console version 2.05? This was with suggested latency fix. It did seem to make things better in that version but not perfect. Do I not to continue using this in 2.1.2?

Code: Select all

[email protected]:~$ env PULSE_LATENCY_MSEC=300 audacity

(process:17585): GLib-GObject-WARNING **: Attempt to add property GnomeProgram::sm-connect after class was initialised

(process:17585): GLib-GObject-WARNING **: Attempt to add property GnomeProgram::show-crash-dialog after class was initialised

(process:17585): GLib-GObject-WARNING **: Attempt to add property GnomeProgram::display after class was initialised

(process:17585): GLib-GObject-WARNING **: Attempt to add property GnomeProgram::default-icon after class was initialised
ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:618:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_dmix.c:1022:(snd_pcm_dmix_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm.c:2239:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.rear
ALSA lib pcm.c:2239:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.center_lfe
ALSA lib pcm.c:2239:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.side
bt_audio_service_open: connect() failed: Connection refused (111)
bt_audio_service_open: connect() failed: Connection refused (111)
bt_audio_service_open: connect() failed: Connection refused (111)
bt_audio_service_open: connect() failed: Connection refused (111)
ALSA lib pcm_dmix.c:1022:(snd_pcm_dmix_open) unable to open slave
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: 4611
Expression 'stream->playback.pcm' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 4611
Expression 'stream->playback.pcm' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 4611
ALSA lib pcm.c:7843:(snd_pcm_recover) underrun occurred
Expression 'err' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 3355
Expression 'ContinuePoll( self, StreamDirection_In, &pollTimeout, &pollCapture )' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 3881
Expression 'PaAlsaStream_WaitForFrames( stream, &framesAvail, &xrun )' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 4253
Killed

[steve]

Post split to its own topic.
What exactly are you trying to do and what is happening? Does Audacity record successfully for several minutes and then stop (as described by the topic title)? What are you trying to record?

[kozikowski]

Do a one sentence:
"I want to record my Blue Yeti USB microphone."

Koz

[dsc3507]

I don't really see what this problem would have to do with "what do you want to record?" To answer the question I am recording old reel-to-reel audio tapes.

So now that, that is out of the way how about a real answer to my question? We know there is a Ubuntu problem with Audacity. The prior thread where I wanted to post this question had a great deal of information on it but no real answers. So please go back to my original post and give me some concrete answers if you can.

I decided to just use sound recorder and that captures fine. No lapses in hours of recordings. Yes I would like to use Audacity but at least at this point it is not usable for me.

[steve]

I don't really see what this problem would have to do with "what do you want to record?"

It can make a great deal of difference. Recording audio from an internet stream is a very different proposition to recording from a microphone, and recording from USB devices can have issues that are specific to USB devices, and recording a network stream is different again .... We don't ask for information just to make conversation, we ask because we want to be able to help you, but we can't do that without clear information.

The prior thread where I wanted to post this question had a great deal of information on it but no real answers.

The "answer" in the other thread was probably that the user was running critically low on disk space. Is that likely to be relevant to you?

To answer the question I am recording old reel-to-reel audio tapes.

So how are you doing that?
Example:
You have the AUX output from your Fostex reel to reel player connected to the line inputs of a Behringer UCA 202, and you have selected "USB audio hd:1" as the recording input in the device toolbar. After a couple of minutes there are "dead spots" in the recording where the recorded waveform briefly goes to flat line, then a few seconds later the recording stops altogether with the error message: "...<direct quote of error message>..."

but at least at this point it is not usable for me.

That doesn't give us much to work with. Try fleshing out the description - we don't know what's happening or not happening unless you tell us. So far I've got "something is wrong when recording".

[dsc3507]

Audio is Intel internal audio on a fast PC. Nothing special. Every other audio program I run works. There is nothing wrong with the audio streams.

I don't understand why you can't acknowledge there is a SW problem here. Yes I understand that many devices can cause issues but that is not my case and beyond that there seems to be many experiencing problems. Below are but a few links about program freezes and record stop issues. This just should not happen. It never happened to me in Window7 so why in Linux? I had to restart a 15 minute recording several times to get through it. Then when I was editing it would freeze and require a forced exit. Yes when I restarted I recovered the file but aggravated I had to restart. I can't be the only one that has these problems. At the beginning of this thread I copied output from the console when running Audacity from there showing several errors throughout the run.

I am open to suggestions. 14.04 currently downloads 2.0.5 - I upgraded through ppa to 2.1.2. In both versions I experienced issue roughly the same, random freezes and stopping recording.

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+sour ... bug/792549

http://ubuntuhandbook.org/index.php/201 ... -from-ppa/

http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic ... 48&t=79925

[steve]

I had to restart a 15 minute recording several times to get through it.

Why was that? What went wrong?

I sometimes get Audacity freezing when I set it to use PulseAudio. This is a known issue on Linux and there are several workarounds. The workaround that I use is to bypass PulseAudio by recording directly from the ALSA "hw" device, or I use Jack Audio system.

[dsc3507]

The recording stopped several times in that - while recording and monitoring the recording it stopped digitizing data. The waveform display stops. Most of the time I can hit audacity stop, back up, hear where it left off, back up the recorder, and start at that point, doing final editing later. Then go on until it randomly stops again.

Although I do have pulseaudio installed the dropdown only shows ALSA.

[Gale Andrews]

Although I do have pulseaudio installed the dropdown only shows ALSA.

That dropdown does not show pulse. The "default" and "pulse" recording device choices (and probably others) all use pulse.

As Steve suggested, have you tried the "hw: 0, <some number>" recording choice for the input you are using? You may need to open alsamixer in a terminal to select that input. That choice bypasses pulse.

We do recognise the issue between pulse and Audacity. It has a high priority but it is a specialised area so many of our volunteer developers would not be able to tackle it.

Gale