[SOLVED] Slight Audio Delay

Deemoney14 · 2011-07-28 19:32:11

I've noticed recently that my audio doesn't seem to be exactly in sync with some of my actions. There's this brief lag between when I click a button and when the corresponding sound change takes place (e.g. - pressing pause/play on VLC/Youtube videos). Not sure if it's the programs or my hardware/drivers, because when I use GNOME's sound test, it responds instantly.

It's the most noticeable in Flash. This I'm fairly certain is on the plugin end. I noticed it most on the main menu pages on homestarrunner.com, there is a severe delay on the audio when hovering over a menu item. I've encountered this behavior with the 32-bit plugin from multilib (I'm running x86_64) and the new beta 64-bit plugin from Adobe. Gnash actually is in sync, but the audio quality is significantly lower.

Any help is appreciated.

Last edited by Deemoney14 (2011-08-02 18:45:10)

triplesquarednine · 2011-07-28 20:23:56

hmm...

what GFX card / driver?

you are using gnome 3 with Pulseaudio i take it?

if i were you, i would post a little more information about your system/setup.

I know that i haven't experienced any lag / out of sync from the latest flash ~ it just uses a little more CPU than i think it should. lol.

i use Gnome3 as well, but i don't use Gnome-shell (i use G3+compiz) because i haven't seen it have exceptional performance (graphically, especially with nvidia hardware - which is what i am using). I am also not using Puseaudio...

One thing you might want to try (just to narrow down the search) would be to try fallback-mode in gnome, and see if the problem persists, if it doesn't -> it could be mutter, gnome-shell causing the issue and/or your GFX card/driver that might also play into the problem. (a combination of one or more of these things).

another option might be to temperarily disable Pulseaudio and use ALSA ~ and see if the problem still exists <- this might point to an issue between Pulseaudio settings and/or your card.

anyway, i would post some more details so that people can better understand what might be happening here...

cheerz

Last edited by triplesquarednine (2011-07-28 20:38:27)

Deemoney14 · 2011-07-28 21:08:48

Yeah, apologies but I'm new to Arch and more technical distros in general. Just not sure what details are relevant or where I can quickly look things up that will help people. Thank you for your suggestions.

My laptop is a Dell Inspiron N4110, very very new, running what was a net-install of Arch Linux on Tuesday. I am using GNOME 3 with Pulseaudio, at least that's what all is installed. I haven't really tinkered with it much, I altered the panel and the user menu and installed some extensions, haven't come close to personally altering anything sound-related until I installed and started playing with Flash this morning. The graphics card is Intel Integrated (very latest, I'm running a Sandy Bridge generation Core i3), using the latest xf86-video-intel and mesa drivers from pacman (2.15.0-2 for the intel driver, 7.10.3 for mesa). Sound is integrated as well from Intel.

Gnome-fallback didn't seem to fix the problem. So as you suggest, probably not gnome-shell. I wasn't exactly sure how to switch between pulseaudio and ALSA, I used gstreamer-properties and logged out and back in. Neither of them seemed to make a difference. My default was to autodetect, for what it's worth.

Edit: I watched 22 minutes worth of a DVD on VLC Media Player and there were no sync issues. I'm starting to wonder if it's a Firefox thing (I have version 5.0-1 installed, for the record).

Let me know what else I can provide as far as technical information/log files that might help.

Last edited by Deemoney14 (2011-07-28 21:44:11)

Inxsible · 2011-07-28 23:25:10

Deemoney14 wrote:

I'm starting to wonder if it's a Firefox thing

Or just a flash thing.

Deemoney14 · 2011-07-29 00:06:31

True. Just frustrates me that I saw this behavior on both the multilib 32-bit version of 10.3 and the beta 64-bit version of 11.0, while others are seemingly reporting no major issues. The fact that Gnash actually seemed to help the issue probably lends more credence to that hypothesis, I just don't know where the problem is and what I can do about it, if anything.

It could be the website I'm using to test it, too; I tried Lightspark and it flat out failed on the splash page for Homestar Runner. Or it could be some setting in Gnash I didn't bother to try.

Last edited by Deemoney14 (2011-07-29 00:28:17)

triplesquarednine · 2011-07-29 00:50:55

Deemoney14 wrote:

Yeah, apologies but I'm new to Arch and more technical distros in general. Just not sure what details are relevant or where I can quickly look things up that will help people. Thank you for your suggestions.

no apologies necessary, my friend. i was just pointing out that more info will be helpful to others who view this thread

Deemoney14 wrote:

My laptop is a Dell Inspiron N4110, very very new, running what was a net-install of Arch Linux on Tuesday. I am using GNOME 3 with Pulseaudio, at least that's what all is installed. I haven't really tinkered with it much, I altered the panel and the user menu and installed some extensions, haven't come close to personally altering anything sound-related until I installed and started playing with Flash this morning. The graphics card is Intel Integrated (very latest, I'm running a Sandy Bridge generation Core i3), using the latest xf86-video-intel and mesa drivers from pacman (2.15.0-2 for the intel driver, 7.10.3 for mesa). Sound is integrated as well from Intel.

hmmm... well, the latest Intel Sandy bridge eh....you can correct me if i am wrong on this, but isn't the sandy bridge support still a little dicey in Linux thus far? (or someone else can correct me) I've never used Intel Integrated graphics before but i have heard some negative things, but have also heard there are a number of improvements coming down the pipe (reading at Phoronix.com) ~ i wonder if the integrated graphics may be having an impact and/or could be a suspect?

Deemoney14 wrote:

Gnome-fallback didn't seem to fix the problem. So as you suggest, probably not gnome-shell. I wasn't exactly sure how to switch between pulseaudio and ALSA, I used gstreamer-properties and logged out and back in. Neither of them seemed to make a difference. My default was to autodetect, for what it's worth.

okay, so it's probably not gnome-shell or mutter... I'm leaning towards either the driver, and more likely flash itself (or how flash and the driver are working together)...

Deemoney14 wrote:

Edit: I watched 22 minutes worth of a DVD on VLC Media Player and there were no sync issues. I'm starting to wonder if it's a Firefox thing (I have version 5.0-1 installed, for the record).

well, if you think so, try another browser ~ Chrome maybe? if it's the same, than more likely it's flash/driver related.

Deemoney14 wrote:

Let me know what else I can provide as far as technical information/log files that might help.

i'll get back to you on that in a bit

Last edited by triplesquarednine (2011-07-29 00:55:39)

triplesquarednine · 2011-07-29 00:53:42

Deemoney14 wrote:

It could be the website I'm using to test it, too; I tried Lightspark and it flat out failed on the splash page for Homestar Runner. Or it could be some setting in Gnash I didn't bother to try.

it's not the website (homestar Runner) , i just went there and took a look around, played some of their toons ~ the voice and video were sync'd up perfect.

Last edited by triplesquarednine (2011-07-29 00:54:54)

Deemoney14 · 2011-07-29 01:20:26

You may be right, and this may all still be a manifestation of the fact that the hardware is so new. A big reason I'm using Arch now is because of that "perfect storm" created in Ubuntu 11.04 by Unity, the 2.6.38 kernel and the Intel drivers that locked the system up. Upgrading the kernel to 2.6.39.3 made a huge difference (before I couldn't play any games that needed OpenGL, afterwards they ran perfect), but I still had one or two lockups.

I read all the Phoronix reports too, and I know the support is not all the way there. I guess the test to end all tests would be to get this exact configuration, drivers and all on more reliable hardware (if such a thing exists with Intel integrated graphics). The final release of Mesa 7.11 is supposed to be out tomorrow Sunday, whether or not that will make a difference here I don't think I'm qualified to say.

Last edited by Deemoney14 (2011-07-29 02:28:03)

triplesquarednine · 2011-07-29 03:07:26

Deemoney14 wrote:

You may be right, and this may all still be a manifestation of the fact that the hardware is so new. A big reason I'm using Arch now is because of that "perfect storm" created in Ubuntu 11.04 by Unity, the 2.6.38 kernel and the Intel drivers that locked the system up. Upgrading the kernel to 2.6.39.3 made a huge difference (before I couldn't play any games that needed OpenGL, afterwards they ran perfect), but I still had one or two lockups.
I read all the Phoronix reports too, and I know the support is not all the way there. I guess the test to end all tests would be to get this exact configuration, drivers and all on more reliable hardware (if such a thing exists with Intel integrated graphics). The final release of Mesa 7.11 is supposed to be out tomorrow Sunday, whether or not that will make a difference here I don't think I'm qualified to say.

ya, dude. i think this is probably the case then...

I think if you google around about your integrated GFX + flash + linux, you will find you aren't the only one in this boat, for now. I don't know what kind of 'tweaks' for xorg + intel graphics there are, but you might want to have a look around, you might be able to improve the situation a little, ya know...

sorry, i wasn't more of a help here. but i am 'fairly' certain, especially considering what you have said above, that the Intel GFX are probably your problem, not flash, sound, or the like. the good news is things should improve in the next while ~ and hopefully all it will require is a little bit of patience.

triplesquarednine · 2011-07-30 00:22:45

hey Deemoney14,

a couple of things that you might be able to try to do with flash performance;

http://www.webgapps.org/tutorials/firef … timization

the 'Override GPU validation' might be of interest, as well as the xorg tweaks. however, with the xorg tweaks be prepared to have to login as single-user, to remove those setting, if those settings don't play nice with your card.

I just randomly saw this article, and myself i had forgotten to add the 'Override' it to my own configuration (and it does make a difference on my end, even with compiz enabled!).

cheerz

Last edited by triplesquarednine (2011-07-30 00:23:46)

Deemoney14 · 2011-07-30 00:48:23

Nice find!

I actually already have an mms.cfg containing one uncommented line:

EnableLinuxHWVideoDecode=1

Wondering if that could make a difference as well. Guess there's only one way to find out. I'd rather not mess with the xorg tweaks until I'm certain nothing else has worked.

Edit: Nothing has worked at all. Added in the override line and the xorg tweaks and rebooted my computer. Nothing doing. Guess I'll go back to sitting on my hands until Mesa 7.11 is out (not adventurous enough to try RC3 from testing after reading there was a SNAFU in the release cycle from Mesa's end). Not sure to what extent I have to refresh to test any edits I make to just mms.cfg, do I just have to close my browser, reload GNOME, log out and in, or reboot.

Last edited by Deemoney14 (2011-07-30 01:03:26)

triplesquarednine · 2011-07-30 01:04:26

Deemoney14 wrote:

Nice find!
I actually already have an mms.cfg containing one uncommented line:
EnableLinuxHWVideoDecode=1
Wondering if that could make a difference as well. Guess there's only one way to find out. I'd rather not mess with the xorg tweaks until I'm certain nothing else has worked.

leave that setting alone, just try the one mentioned in the article.

as for the xorg, yup do what you are comfortable with. but I can tell you that for myself it works, but again i use Nvidia, not intel

cheerz

Deemoney14 · 2011-07-31 04:15:31

I'm not sure what to make of it now. I played around some more on the other main pages of Homestar Runner, and the AV sync appeared fine; there was just this brief "stutter" before the animation played. That might explain why I didn't exactly see any problems on something like Youtube (i.e. - all the buttons appeared to respond with no audio lag). No idea if this makes my problem more or less serious, but more information never hurt.

P.S. - I'm running KDE 4.7 now, so for sure I can omit the desktop environment as a contributing factor.

triplesquarednine · 2011-07-31 12:38:22

Deemoney14 wrote:

I'm not sure what to make of it now. I played around some more on the other main pages of Homestar Runner, and the AV sync appeared fine; there was just this brief "stutter" before the animation played. That might explain why I didn't exactly see any problems on something like Youtube (i.e. - all the buttons appeared to respond with no audio lag). No idea if this makes my problem more or less serious, but more information never hurt.
P.S. - I'm running KDE 4.7 now, so for sure I can omit the desktop environment as a contributing factor.

so you went back to this website, after changing the settings in mms.cfg and also switching to KDE, and now it works?

or does it work in gnome-shell fine now too?

...and at what point did it start to work?

Deemoney14 · 2011-07-31 15:56:59

As stupid as it sounds, I think it was always the case and I never noticed it because I wasn't testing it rigorously enough.

If the audio and video are longer, they sync fine but there's a brief stutter before they start. If the audio is shorter, it looks like they're out of sync. Could very well be that some of the pages are better to test on than others.

Is there any better place I can go to see what's going on?

triplesquarednine · 2011-07-31 17:29:50

Deemoney14 wrote:

As stupid as it sounds, I think it was always the case and I never noticed it because I wasn't testing it rigorously enough.

that very well could be the case.

Deemoney14 wrote:

If the audio and video are longer, they sync fine but there's a brief stutter before they start. If the audio is shorter, it looks like they're out of sync. Could very well be that some of the pages are better to test on than others.

i suppose a quick stutter, and proper sync'd AV, is better than nothing. and yes, it is likely that the problem would be more noticable, depending on the website.

Deemoney14 wrote:

Is there any better place I can go to see what's going on?

off hand, i am not sure. but i could probably have a look around, later tonight and get back to you, if you like?

***and maybe someone else reading this post, might be able to provide our friend some info, please?***

cheerz

Deemoney14 · 2011-08-02 18:44:53

Latest Mesa came out today, all is well. The Flash 11 beta isn't perfect, but the multilib 32-bit version works like a charm.

Thanks for your help at any rate. One more thing I can cross off the list of things to get right

Arch Linux

#1 2011-07-28 19:32:11

[SOLVED] Slight Audio Delay

#2 2011-07-28 20:23:56

Re: [SOLVED] Slight Audio Delay

#3 2011-07-28 21:08:48

Re: [SOLVED] Slight Audio Delay

#4 2011-07-28 23:25:10

Re: [SOLVED] Slight Audio Delay

#5 2011-07-29 00:06:31

Re: [SOLVED] Slight Audio Delay

#6 2011-07-29 00:50:55

Re: [SOLVED] Slight Audio Delay

#7 2011-07-29 00:53:42

Re: [SOLVED] Slight Audio Delay

#8 2011-07-29 01:20:26

Re: [SOLVED] Slight Audio Delay

#9 2011-07-29 03:07:26

Re: [SOLVED] Slight Audio Delay

#10 2011-07-30 00:22:45

Re: [SOLVED] Slight Audio Delay

#11 2011-07-30 00:48:23

Re: [SOLVED] Slight Audio Delay

#12 2011-07-30 01:04:26

Re: [SOLVED] Slight Audio Delay

#13 2011-07-31 04:15:31

Re: [SOLVED] Slight Audio Delay

#14 2011-07-31 12:38:22

Re: [SOLVED] Slight Audio Delay

#15 2011-07-31 15:56:59

Re: [SOLVED] Slight Audio Delay

#16 2011-07-31 17:29:50

Re: [SOLVED] Slight Audio Delay

#17 2011-08-02 18:44:53

Re: [SOLVED] Slight Audio Delay

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