Chromium 79 and no sound on Slackware64 14.2

ruario · 11-18-2019, 10:02 AM

Hi, as many of you know I work for Vivaldi. Recently we updated the underlying Chromium that powers the browser to be based on 79 (in internal builds only). At this point I lost support for sound under Slackware. Although it continues to work fine in other distros such as Ubuntu.

I quickly tried a few other Chromium based browsers, that are 79 based (e.g. the Chrome beta) and see the same sound issue there. I also fired up a quick Slackware64 14.2 VM and can replicate. Has anyone else played with a Chromium 79 browser on Slackware64 and see this issue or have any ideas.

If you want to try for yourself you can quickly test by fetching the Chrome beta, unpacking it and running it in place, e.g.

Make a (temp) for for Chrome (beta)

Code:

mkdir /tmp/chrome-beta-sound-test
cd /tmp/chrome-beta-sound-test

Fetch and extract

Code:

wget -qO- --start-pos=60710 https://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/rpm/stable/x86_64/google-chrome-beta-79.0.3945.36-1.x86_64.rpm | xzcat | cpio -id

Launch and try to play a video with sound

Code:

opt/google/chrome-beta/google-chrome-beta https://help.vivaldi.com/article/html5-proprietary-media-on-linux/

For me on an up to date Slackware64 14.2, sound does not play. In addition I note the following is printed on the terminal

Code:

shm_open() failed: Function not implemented
ALSA lib pcm.c:2266:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM pulse
[9863:9863:1118/160536.924898:ERROR:alsa_util.cc(204)] PcmOpen: default,No such file or directory
ALSA lib pcm.c:2266:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM pulse
[9863:9863:1118/160536.924995:ERROR:alsa_util.cc(204)] PcmOpen: plug:default,No such file or directory

Can anyone replicate or have any ideas as to why this fails on Slackware only?

Lysander666 · 11-18-2019, 11:06 AM

I don't know if this helps at all, but sound in 79 works fine in -current.

Code:

lysander@lysultra-vi:~$ ls /var/log/packages | grep alsa
alsa-lib-1.2.1-x86_64-2
alsa-lib-compat32-1.2.1-x86_64-1compat32
alsa-oss-1.1.8-x86_64-1
alsa-oss-compat32-1.1.8-x86_64-1compat32
alsa-plugins-1.2.1-x86_64-1
alsa-plugins-compat32-1.2.1-x86_64-1compat32
alsa-utils-1.2.1-x86_64-1
alsaequal-0.6-x86_64-1_SBo
lysander@lysultra-vi:~$

Petri Kaukasoina · 11-18-2019, 11:43 AM

It works here on slackware64-14.2, with ffmpeg-3.4.2-x86_64-1alien installed, if that makes any difference.

Gordie · 11-18-2019, 12:08 PM

It works on 14.2 for me

ruario · 11-19-2019, 03:18 AM

Well… on the one hand that is encouraging. However I also find it super weird as I have tried 3 different installs of Slackware. My main work machine and two (VirtualBOX) VMs, the latest of which I just installed and it fails in all of them

ruario · 11-19-2019, 03:44 AM

Hmm… on further testing I have now noticed that there is a difference between my main machine and the latest VM I have setup. On my physical machine, neither Vivaldi (based on 79) nor Chrome 79 works. On the VM Vivaldi (based on 79) fails but Chrome 79 works. This further confuses me as we have done nothing special in this area that should account for such a difference. However, on the other hand it might explain why none of you see it. Perhaps you would have to test with a Vivaldi (based on 79) to see the issue.

I'll try and get a snapshot (test build) out soon with Vivaldi updated to Chromium 79 and perhaps ask you for another test.

ruario · 11-19-2019, 04:05 AM

Ok, I see that Opera Developer 66.0.3502.0 (based on Chromium 79) also has no sound either on neither my real machine nor VM. Perhaps one of you would mind testing this for me?

Code:

mkdir /tmp/opera-dev-sound-test
cd /tmp/opera-dev-sound-test
wget -O- --start-pos=28204 https://download3.operacdn.com/pub/opera-developer/66.0.3502.0/linux/opera-developer_66.0.3502.0_amd64.rpm | xzcat | cpio -id
usr/lib64/opera-developer/opera-developer https://hpr.dogphilosophy.net/test/ &

Petri Kaukasoina · 11-19-2019, 04:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ruario

Ok, I see that Opera Developer 66.0.3502.0 (based on Chromium 79) also has no sound either on neither my real machine nor VM.

It has sound in slackware64-current. I don't have 14.2 here at work...

Lysander666 · 11-19-2019, 04:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ruario

Ok, I see that Opera Developer 66.0.3502.0 (based on Chromium 79) also has no sound either on neither my real machine nor VM. Perhaps one of you would mind testing this for me?

Code:

mkdir /tmp/opera-dev-sound-test
cd /tmp/opera-dev-sound-test
wget -O- --start-pos=28204 https://download3.operacdn.com/pub/opera-developer/66.0.3502.0/linux/opera-developer_66.0.3502.0_amd64.rpm | xzcat | cpio -id
usr/lib64/opera-developer/opera-developer https://hpr.dogphilosophy.net/test/ &

I have no sound here in -current.

Code:

ALSA lib dlmisc.c:283:(snd_dlobj_cache_get0) Cannot open shared library /usr/lib64/alsa-lib/libasound_module_pcm_equal.so ((null): /usr/lib64/alsa-lib/libasound_module_pcm_equal.so: cannot open shared object file: Operation not permitted)
[26973:26973:1119/101626.969869:ERROR:alsa_util.cc(204)] PcmOpen: default,No such device or address
ALSA lib dlmisc.c:283:(snd_dlobj_cache_get0) Cannot open shared library /usr/lib64/alsa-lib/libasound_module_pcm_equal.so ((null): /usr/lib64/alsa-lib/libasound_module_pcm_equal.so: cannot open shared object file: Operation not permitted)
[26973:26973:1119/101626.970017:ERROR:alsa_util.cc(204)] PcmOpen: plug:default,No such device or address

Petri Kaukasoina · 11-19-2019, 04:23 AM

OK now I see it. If pulseaudio is not running yet, opera does not start it and gives

Code:

ALSA lib pcm.c:2642:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM pulse
[18025:18025:1119/121913.944006:ERROR:alsa_util.cc(204)] PcmOpen: default,No such file or directory
ALSA lib pcm.c:2642:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM pulse
[18025:18025:1119/121913.944101:ERROR:alsa_util.cc(204)] PcmOpen: plug:default,No such file or directory

and no sound. But if I have used e.g. firefox before with sound, firefox has started pulseaudio, and it's still running even without firefox using it. Then sound works in opera.

Lysander666 · 11-19-2019, 04:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Petri Kaukasoina

if I have used e.g. firefox before with sound, firefox has started pulseaudio, and it's still running even without firefox using it. Then sound works in opera.

I'm not sure if it's that. I was using Spotify before I fired up Opera and the sound in Opera didn't work.

Now I have tested Youtube with Vivaldi and Firefox, the sound in which worked, then Opera again, and still nothing.

EDIT: I can't help thinking that Opera is looking in the wrong place.

ruario · 11-19-2019, 05:10 AM

Ok, I think I worked it out (or at least I am on the right track now). I still do not fully understand what it going on with my main machine but in the VM, things are more clear cut. 79 based Vivaldi (snapshot) and Opera (developer) cannot play sound, Chrome can. I subsequently realised that Chrome (beta) is version 79.0.3945.36 (note the 36), while Vivaldi is built on 79.0.3945.27 and Opera is even older 79.0.3945.16. I went through the changes from 27 to 36 and noticed this commit: A fix/change to the audio sandbox policy

Chromium's own sandbox prevents other processes it spawns from accessing certain things, so it is reasonably to conclude that if it is misconfigured then a Chromium based browser might not be able to use the files it needs to play sound. As a test I tried running with “--no-sandbox” and sure enough sound plays just fine, even on my main machine. I therefore suspect that once we (and Opera) upgrade to 79.0.3945.36 (or above) this issue will be resolved for most people and this will obviously happen long before we go final.

My only slight concern is that I think that the policy is still slightly off given my main machine cannot play sound even with Chrome beta 79.0.3945.36 but I have time to work that out and who knows perhaps another fix is in the pipeline. Anyway, thanks to all for testing.

Petri Kaukasoina · 11-19-2019, 05:22 AM

Sorry to tell you this, but if pulseaudio is not running here yet, even google-chrome-beta-79.0.3945.36 does not start it here and there's no sound. If I play sound with firefox first, it starts pulseaudio, and chrome plays sound.

I use fvwm as window manager so I do not have anything playing sounds before I start chrome. Yesterday sound on chrome worked because I had played sounds earlier in firefox, so pulseaudio was already running.

EDIT: It's even more unpredictable. If I "killall pulseaudio" and then start chrome, it sometimes starts pulseaudio and sound works and sometimes pulseaudio does not start and there's no sound. But with "--no-sandbox" it seems to start pulseaudio every time and sound is ok.

ruario · 11-19-2019, 05:30 AM

Ok so there are also further issues (at least on Slackware). I'll keep looking.

ruario · 11-19-2019, 05:34 AM

@Petri Kaukasoina out of interest, if you launch once with “--no-sandbox” can you play sound in Chrome 79.0.3945.36.

P.S. Do not make that a permanent change. It is a key security feature. I just want to know as a one off test.