Random, but frequent, audio drops began with the latest linux-cachyos kernel (6.15.3). Sometimes it may go a few minutes before I experience a drop, while other times I experience 3+ drops within 30 seconds. I generally see issues first occur within 5 minutes of playing audio.
I tried troubleshooting pipewire and wireplumber, including increasing buffer size and headroom, but to no avail. When I switched to using the LTS kernel (linux-cachyos-lts) audio works correctly again, suggesting to me that it may be a deeper issue.
I use HDMI for both my video and audio. Please let me know what other things I can grab to further aid in troubleshooting.
Now that you mention it i noticed this 2 times when watching movies last night. Very short drops. One close to the beginning of a movie and i actually skipped back to see if it was not in the movie, which it wasn’t. Then noticed another one near the end of another movie as well but didn’t check. I actually already forgot until i saw your post.
But so far it seems it only happened in mpv with AC3/DTS passthrough. Haven’t noticed it anywhere else (yet), definitely not youtube. However iu am using mpv-git which got updated 2 days ago so that might possibly be the culprit. Or just using ao=pipewire as that only works for AC3/DTS passthrough in mpv since a pipewire update a few weeks ago.
Might just be coincidence tho, but interesting, i’ll keep an eye (or ear out.
Interesting. I see (or more accurately, hear) issues across the board, including youtube, games, etc. unless I use the older kernel. Out of all those, MPV is where I hear the fewest issues (no issues at all if I use the current lts kernel with MPV).
However, I am at the limit of my troubleshooting knowledge at the moment, though I am trying to learn more. If there is anything else I should look at to help document or resolve this issue, please let me know.
I didn’t notice anymore drops so i guess in my case it was just a one time issue.
I am running the 6.16 rc kernel tho which got updated in the mean time. Maybe if it’s a kernel thing it got fixed in rc. Very small chance tho but at least worth a shot.
There is also this in the documentation: General System Tweaks | CachyOS
Tbh it’s pretty vague but i guess it’s there for a reason. It seemed i didn’t needed it so i never did. Also pretty easy so worth a shot maybe?
Thanks dyna, your suggestion helped a lot. I installed the 6.16rc3-1 kernel (had already made the suggested system tweaks for audio) using the linux-cachyos-rc package and haven’t experienced any audio drops in the past 30 minutes or so I’ve been using it.
I’ll see how things pan out over the next couple days using the rc kernel and update.
Ah good to hear. Just installing a newer kernel has fixed so many issues for me as well over the years. Now it’s pretty much the first thing i try it when it comes to problem with devices, before looking for bug reports.
Don’t forget to remove the RC kernel (or change boot order) when 6.16 gets released tho, else you will keep defaulting to 6.16 rc until the 6.17 rc comes.
Thanks Some_Guy. I’m actually all for beta testing.
Tangential rant:
In my experience with software in general I have found using the latest updates available to provide the best experience, primarily because it include the latest fixes in addition to the latest and greatest additions for a generally less buggy experience. I know exceptions exist, and the magnitude of some new bugs introduced has been great at times, but playing the odds, I find the least risk when using the most recent software possible rather than the philosophy of “stable” older software. However, I admit the extra time/work required for packaging of betas from gits, etc. even with the help of AUR with yay or paru does effectively prevent me from generally trying and using all the beta packages available.
If I had to downgrade to fix this issue, I wouldn’t want to accept that as a solution. Luckily that isn’t necessary here.
Back on topic:
I was previously unaware that a 6.16 kernel was available to test right now (or that it was readily available in the standard cachyos repositories). Now that I have spent a couple days verifying this issue is gone when using the newer kernel, I am happy and I’ll close this out.
out.