Bug 1823572 - Chosing sound output device in GNOME sound settings does not switch device
Summary: Chosing sound output device in GNOME sound settings does not switch device
Keywords:
Status: CLOSED EOL
Alias: None
Product: Fedora
Classification: Fedora
Component: gnome-audio
Version: 32
Hardware: x86_64
OS: Unspecified
unspecified
unspecified
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: Orphan Owner
QA Contact: Fedora Extras Quality Assurance
URL:
Whiteboard:
Depends On:
Blocks:
TreeView+ depends on / blocked
 
Reported: 2020-04-13 22:40 UTC by c.flasskamp
Modified: 2021-05-25 15:56 UTC (History)
5 users (show)

Fixed In Version:
Clone Of:
Environment:
Last Closed: 2021-05-25 15:56:59 UTC
Type: Bug
Embargoed:


Attachments (Terms of Use)

Description c.flasskamp 2020-04-13 22:40:18 UTC
Description of problem:

After upgrading from Fedora 31 to 32 (followed steps on https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/quick-docs/dnf-system-upgrade/) the audio output switch in GNOME settings doesn't work for me anymore. Doesn't matter which output I am selecting, sound still comes out of internal speakers.

Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable): Not sure which component is responsible for the bug.

- pulseaudio 13.99.1-rebootstrapped
- GNOME 3.36.1

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Upgrade from Fedora 31 to 32 by following official steps
2. Go to settings -> audio
3. Select another audio output device

Actual results:

After selecting another audio output, the sound from any application still comes out of internal speakers.

Expected results:

Sound comes out of selected speakers / headphones.

Additional info:

- Selecting an audio device and then click on "test" and clicking on the desired audio direction, the sound still comes out of internal speakers
- Clicking in GNOME right in the global bar on top of the display, then change the audio volume / click on the dot in the slider the "pop" sound comes out of the correct (selected) output device!

Comment 1 c.flasskamp 2020-04-14 19:38:00 UTC
- Tried sudo dnf reinstall pulseaudio - didn't work
- Tried using my notebook (Thinkpad Yoga 460 with Thinkpad Dock) without dock and devices directly connected - didn't work either

Comment 2 Henri Hyyryläinen 2020-04-24 12:03:37 UTC
I'm still on Fedora 31. I have the same issue, changing the output device in gnome settings stopped working about 2-3 weeks ago.
The output audio device changing, sometimes works for some programs. I can't get spotify to output to my headphones, but mplayer and chrome (sometimes) correctly switch when changing the output device in settings.

I found some people talking that a recent kernel update caused issues: https://www.reddit.com/r/Fedora/comments/emt3me/kernel_v548_on_fedora_31_breaks_sound/
I tried installing the alsa-firmware package, but that didn't fix it for me.

Comment 3 c.flasskamp 2020-04-24 12:25:09 UTC
(In reply to Henri Hyyryläinen from comment #2)
> I found some people talking that a recent kernel update caused issues:
> https://www.reddit.com/r/Fedora/comments/emt3me/
> kernel_v548_on_fedora_31_breaks_sound/
> I tried installing the alsa-firmware package, but that didn't fix it for me.

Thanks for the link but unfortunately neither the alsa-firmware nor the alsa-sof-firmware package and reboot did help. The problem didn't occur with Fedora 31 (kernel 5.5.x) for me.

Comment 4 Johannes Postler 2020-05-05 17:11:38 UTC
Same here both before Upgrade to F32 and after the upgrade. Interestingly enough: the hardware volume buttons seem to work for the selected device. So, if I select my bluetooth headphones and play audio (that comes from the internal speakers), the volume for the bluetooth headsets is changed. If I switch to internal speakers and change the volume, the volume is actually changed.

Hardware: Thinkpad T480s

Related Tickets:

Comment 6 Henri Hyyryläinen 2020-06-25 20:12:05 UTC
I still have this issue, just installed latest updates on Fedora 31. I have some further observations on what's going on my system.
Some programs always work with the output switching, and some programs never work. And some programs that have audio output selection built in, also work.
So Firefox and Spotify never work with the output switching and always output to the default device.
While Chrome, MPlayer, and Godot work perfectly when switching the audio output in gnome settings.
And things like Skype and Discord work when I select the right output in their own settings menus.

This might be quite wrong conclusion, but I think this indicates something like programs using a different output method (perhaps alsa vs pulseaudio) work, while the other ones don't.
So maybe some update there has made it so that the non-primary sound server doesn't properly get the output switch command.
Does anyone know what I could do to try to narrow this down more?

Comment 7 Johannes Postler 2020-06-26 06:32:39 UTC
The issues has vanished for me. While it persisted when switching from F31 to F32, it now disappeared with one of the updates...

Comment 8 Henri Hyyryläinen 2020-06-26 14:44:38 UTC
Just upgraded to 32, and made sure latest updates are installed, and unfortunately I still have the problem that specific programs don't react to the output device change.

Comment 9 Marc Ponschab 2020-09-09 11:00:01 UTC
I had this problem until some update on Fedora 31, then it reappeared on Fedora 32 at about the time of the update to kernel 5.7 (I don't know if this is related). 

A workaround is using the shell extension "Sound Input & Output Device Chooser" (https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/906/sound-output-device-chooser/). If you select the output device using the extension, the audio output is switched correctly system-wide. 

So this seems to be clearly a bug in gnome-control-center.

I found the hint for this here: https://www.mail-archive.com/desktop-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com/msg752633.html

Ubuntu has probably fixed it (https://www.mail-archive.com/desktop-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com/msg752657.html), unfortunately not upstream:

http://launchpadlibrarian.net/415025250/gnome-control-center_1%3A3.32.0.1-1ubuntu3_1%3A3.32.0.1-1ubuntu4.diff.gz

Comment 10 Henri Hyyryläinen 2020-09-09 11:19:56 UTC
Wow, that shell extension just works for me as well. I've been having this issue for so long. Thanks, Marc!

Comment 11 Fedora Program Management 2021-04-29 16:18:18 UTC
This message is a reminder that Fedora 32 is nearing its end of life.
Fedora will stop maintaining and issuing updates for Fedora 32 on 2021-05-25.
It is Fedora's policy to close all bug reports from releases that are no longer
maintained. At that time this bug will be closed as EOL if it remains open with a
Fedora 'version' of '32'.

Package Maintainer: If you wish for this bug to remain open because you
plan to fix it in a currently maintained version, simply change the 'version' 
to a later Fedora version.

Thank you for reporting this issue and we are sorry that we were not 
able to fix it before Fedora 32 is end of life. If you would still like 
to see this bug fixed and are able to reproduce it against a later version 
of Fedora, you are encouraged  change the 'version' to a later Fedora 
version prior this bug is closed as described in the policy above.

Although we aim to fix as many bugs as possible during every release's 
lifetime, sometimes those efforts are overtaken by events. Often a 
more recent Fedora release includes newer upstream software that fixes 
bugs or makes them obsolete.

Comment 12 Marc Ponschab 2021-04-29 16:36:14 UTC
On Fedora 34, at least for me, switching the audio device in gnome-control-center works again. 

Please confirm so that the bug can be closed.

Comment 13 c.flasskamp 2021-04-29 17:13:50 UTC
Can't confirm anymore because the target system has been reinstalled. If the bug doesn't exist for anybody else anymore, it can for sure be closed. Thanks to everyone.

Comment 14 Henri Hyyryläinen 2021-04-29 17:39:21 UTC
I can check once I update my main rig to 34. I'm currently running Fedora 33 where this issue is still present.

Comment 15 Henri Hyyryläinen 2021-05-06 15:55:46 UTC
Just updated to Fedora 34 and from a quick test it seems that changing the sound device in the settings now works correctly. Though, for my everyday usage the update to 34 has switched one bug for another: https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1884977

Comment 16 Ben Cotton 2021-05-25 15:56:59 UTC
Fedora 32 changed to end-of-life (EOL) status on 2021-05-25. Fedora 32 is
no longer maintained, which means that it will not receive any further
security or bug fix updates. As a result we are closing this bug.

If you can reproduce this bug against a currently maintained version of
Fedora please feel free to reopen this bug against that version. If you
are unable to reopen this bug, please file a new report against the
current release. If you experience problems, please add a comment to this
bug.

Thank you for reporting this bug and we are sorry it could not be fixed.


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