Skip to content

Audio stuffer when forwarding to a localhost PULSE_SERVER #18026

@steven-ellis

Description

@steven-ellis

mpv Information

mpv v0.41.0 Copyright © 2000-2025 mpv/MPlayer/mplayer2 projects
libplacebo version: v7.360.1
FFmpeg version: 8.0.1 (runtime 8.1.1)
FFmpeg library versions:
   libavcodec      62.11.100 (runtime 62.28.101)
   libavdevice     62.1.100 (runtime 62.3.101)
   libavfilter     11.4.100 (runtime 11.14.101)
   libavformat     62.3.100 (runtime 62.12.101)
   libavutil       60.8.100 (runtime 60.26.101)
   libswresample   6.1.100 (runtime 6.3.101)
   libswscale      9.1.100 (runtime 9.5.101)

Other Information

- Linux version:
NAME="Fedora Linux"
VERSION_CODENAME=""
PRETTY_NAME="Fedora Linux 44 (Workstation Edition)"
CPE_NAME="cpe:/o:fedoraproject:fedora:44"
DEFAULT_HOSTNAME="fedora"
- Kernel Version:
Linux t14s.akl.redhat.com 7.0.9-205.fc44.x86_64 #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Thu May 21 16:31:48 UTC 2026 x86_64 GNU/Linux
- GPU Model:
  *-display                 
       description: VGA compatible controller
       product: TigerLake-LP GT2 [Iris Xe Graphics] [8086:9A49]
       vendor: Intel Corporation [8086]
       physical id: 2
       bus info: pci@0000:00:02.0
       version: 01
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pciexpress msi pm vga_controller bus_master cap_list rom
       configuration: driver=i915 latency=0
       resources: iomemory:600-5ff iomemory:400-3ff irq:193 memory:603c000000-603cffffff memory:4000000000-400fffffff ioport:3000(size=64) memory:c0000-dffff memory:4010000000-4016ffffff memory:4020000000-40ffffffff

- Mesa/GPU Driver Version:
OpenGL version string: 4.6 (Compatibility Profile) Mesa 26.0.6

- Window Manager and Version:
Gnome 50 + Wayland
- Source of mpv:
Fedora RPM
- Latest known working version:
mpv-0.40.0-1.fc42.x86_64
- Issue started after the following happened:

Reproduction Steps

Play any file and stream the audio to a local pulse enpoint. You would usually use this if you want to play local audio as a different user on a linux workstation

PULSE_SERVER=127.0.0.1 mpv --no-config  test.mp4  -vo null -ao pulse

● Video  --vid=1  (h264 1280x720 25 fps)
● Audio  --aid=1  (aac 2ch 48000 Hz 126 kbps)
AO: [pulse] 48000Hz stereo 2ch float
VO: [null] 1280x720 yuv420p
Audio device underrun detected.
Audio device underrun detected.
Audio device underrun detected.

Audio/Video desynchronisation detected! Possible reasons include too slow
hardware, temporary CPU spikes, broken drivers, and broken files. Audio
position will not match to the video (see A-V status field).
Consider trying `--profile=fast` and/or `--hwdec=auto` as they may help.

Audio device underrun detected.

Expected Behavior

When testing under Fedora 42 in a clean podman environment

podman run --rm -it --network host fedora:42
dnf install ffmpeg mpv
PULSE_SERVER=127.0.0.1 mpv --no-config  test.mp4  -vo null -ao pulse

Audio streams without any interruption or stutter.

Actual Behavior

Video playback suffers if enabled and the audio breaks up.

Tested with mplayer/ffmeg and firefox and google-chrome browsers with PULSE_SERVER defined with no playback issues.

Also re-tested with a clean build of 0.41 from git

Log File

output.txt

Sample Files

No response

I carefully read all instruction and confirm that I did the following:

  • I tested and confirmed that the issue exists with the latest release version or newer.
  • I provided all required information including system and mpv version.
  • I produced the log file with the exact same set of files, parameters, and conditions used in "Reproduction Steps", with the addition of --log-file=output.txt.
  • I produced the log file while the behaviors described in "Actual Behavior" were actively observed.
  • I attached the full, untruncated log file.
  • I attached the backtrace in the case of a crash.

Metadata

Metadata

Assignees

No one assigned

    Labels

    Type

    No fields configured for Bug.

    Projects

    No projects

    Milestone

    No milestone

    Relationships

    None yet

    Development

    No branches or pull requests

    Issue actions