Audacity using 100% cpu [semi-solved]

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Akkara · Post by **Akkara** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 1:35 pm

Audacity uses 100% cpu whether it is working on something or just sitting there idle. Have had this problem for a while (over 6 months, perhaps over a year now). Doesn't seem to be affecting functionality just is *very* resource-intensive for no apparent reason.

I have tried searching the web and found this problem mentioned, but pertaining to a much earlier version (1.3.2 if I recall), and apparently it had been long since fixed.

I tried removing the ~/.audacity* startup files in case it was a bad configuration. Still uses 100% cpu. Curiously it starts up defaulting to OSS. I can change that to use Jack, and that works (still with 100% cpu use). But if I try selecting 'alsa', it hangs for about 30 seconds while repeatedly issuing error messages:

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Expression 'ret' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 1034
Expression 'AlsaOpen( &alsaApi->baseHostApiRep, params, streamDir, &self->pcm )' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 1191
Expression 'PaAlsaStreamComponent_Initialize( &self->capture, alsaApi, inParams, StreamDirection_In, NULL != callback )' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 1407
Expression 'PaAlsaStream_Initialize( stream, alsaHostApi, inputParameters, outputParameters, sampleRate, framesPerBuffer, callback, streamFlags, userData )' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 1983
Expression 'ret' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 1034
Expression 'AlsaOpen( &alsaApi->baseHostApiRep, params, streamDir, &self->pcm )' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 1191
[...]

What's even more curious is the roomie, running 64-bit Fedora 7, has no problems with audacity.

Any idea of what might be wrong with mine?

Thanks!

[Edit: just looked at roomie's - that one's version 1.3.2 - maybe I'll try a downgrade]

[Edit 2: Just tried downgrading to media-sound/audacity-1.3.2-r1. That one failed to compile in the link step:

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x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-g++ -o ../audacity AColor.o AboutDialog.o AudacityApp.o AudioIO.o AutoRecovery.o BatchCommandDialog.o BatchCommands.o BatchProcessDialog.o Benchmark.o Dependencies.o Envelope.o FFT.o FileNames.o FreqWindow.o Help.o HistoryWindow.o ImageManipulation.o InterpolateAudio.o LabelDialog.o LabelTrack.o Languages.o LangChoice.o Legacy.o Matrix.o Menus.o Mix.o NoteTrack.o PitchName.o PlatformCompatibility.o Printing.o Project.o Resample.o RingBuffer.o Shuttle.o ShuttleGui.o ShuttlePrefs.o SmartRecordDialog.o Spectrum.o Tags.o Theme.o TimeDialog.o TimeTrack.o Track.o TrackArtist.o TrackPanel.o TrackPanelAx.o UndoManager.o UploadDialog.o VoiceKey.o WaveClip.o WaveTrack.o WrappedType.o commands/CommandManager.o commands/Keyboard.o effects/Effect.o effects/SimpleMono.o effects/SimplePairedTwoTrack.o effects/SoundTouchEffect.o effects/LoadEffects.o effects/Amplify.o effects/BassBoost.o effects/ChangeLength.o effects/ChangePitch.o effects/ChangeSpeed.o effects/ChangeTempo.o effects/ClickRemoval.o effects/Compressor.o effects/Echo.o effects/Equalization.o effects/Fade.o effects/Filter.o effects/Invert.o effects/Leveller.o effects/Noise.o effects/NoiseRemoval.o effects/Normalize.o effects/Phaser.o effects/Repair.o effects/Repeat.o effects/Reverse.o effects/Silence.o effects/SpikeCleaner.o effects/StereoToMono.o effects/ToneGen.o effects/TruncSilence.o effects/TwoPassSimpleMono.o effects/Wahwah.o export/Export.o export/ExportMultiple.o export/ExportMP2.o export/ExportMP3.o export/ExportOGG.o export/ExportFLAC.o export/ExportPCM.o export/ExportCL.o import/Import.o import/ImportFLAC.o import/ImportLOF.o import/ImportMIDI.o import/ImportMP3.o import/ImportOGG.o import/ImportPCM.o import/ImportRaw.o import/RawAudioGuess.o prefs/AudioIOPrefs.o prefs/BatchPrefs.o prefs/DirectoriesPrefs.o prefs/FileFormatPrefs.o prefs/GUIPrefs.o prefs/KeyConfigPrefs.o prefs/MousePrefs.o prefs/PrefsDialog.o prefs/QualityPrefs.o prefs/SpectrumPrefs.o prefs/ThemePrefs.o toolbars/ControlToolBar.o toolbars/DeviceToolBar.o toolbars/EditToolBar.o toolbars/MeterToolBar.o toolbars/MixerToolBar.o toolbars/SelectionBar.o toolbars/ToolBar.o toolbars/ToolDock.o toolbars/ToolManager.o toolbars/ToolsToolBar.o toolbars/TranscriptionToolBar.o widgets/treebook.o widgets/AButton.o widgets/ASlider.o widgets/AttachableScrollBar.o widgets/ExpandingToolBar.o widgets/Grabber.o widgets/Grid.o widgets/ImageRoll.o widgets/Meter.o widgets/MultiDialog.o widgets/Ruler.o widgets/TimeTextCtrl.o widgets/Warning.o xml/XMLFileReader.o xml/XMLWriter.o effects/nyquist/Nyquist.o effects/nyquist/LoadNyquist.o  effects/ladspa/LoadLadspa.o effects/ladspa/LadspaEffect.o ../lib-src/libresample.a ../lib-src/libSoundTouch.a ../lib-src/libnyquist.a ../lib-src/allegro.a ../lib-src/portaudio-v19/lib/libportaudio.a ../lib-src/portmixer/libportmixer.a libaudacity.a -lvorbisenc -lvorbisfile -lvorbis -logg -lmad -lsndfile -lFLAC++ -lFLAC -lid3tag -lexpat -L/usr/lib64 -pthread   -L/usr/X11R6/lib64  -lwx_gtk2u_xrc-2.6 -lwx_gtk2u_qa-2.6 -lwx_gtk2u_html-2.6 -lwx_gtk2u_adv-2.6 -lwx_gtk2u_core-2.6 -lwx_baseu_xml-2.6 -lwx_baseu_net-2.6 -lwx_baseu-2.6  -lasound -ljack -lpthread -lrt   -lrt
../lib-src/portaudio-v19/lib/libportaudio.a(pa_jack.o): In function `RealStop':
pa_jack.c:(.text+0x1934): undefined reference to `jack_port_lock'
pa_jack.c:(.text+0x1a00): undefined reference to `jack_port_unlock'
pa_jack.c:(.text+0x1a7c): undefined reference to `jack_port_lock'
pa_jack.c:(.text+0x1b45): undefined reference to `jack_port_unlock'
collect2: ld returned 1 exit status
make[1]: *** [../audacity] Error 1
make[1]: Leaving directory `/var/tmp/portage/media-sound/audacity-1.3.2-r1/work/audacity-src-1.3.2-beta/src'
make: *** [audacity] Error 2
 * 
 * ERROR: media-sound/audacity-1.3.2-r1 failed.
 * Call stack:
 *                  ebuild.sh, line 1701:  Called dyn_compile
 *                  ebuild.sh, line 1039:  Called qa_call 'src_compile'
 *                  ebuild.sh, line   44:  Called src_compile
 *   audacity-1.3.2-r1.ebuild, line   90:  Called die

emerge -pv audacity

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[ebuild   R   ] media-sound/audacity-1.3.4  USE="flac ladspa mp3 unicode* vorbis -id3tag -libsamplerate -soundtouch -twolame -vamp"

(Regarding the unicode* : I had read that some people had trouble with audacity built with unicode so tried turning it off, but no difference here.)

emerge --info | head -20

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Portage 2.1.3.19 (default-linux/amd64/2006.1, gcc-4.1.2, glibc-2.6.1-r0, 2.6.23-gentoo-r3 x86_64)
=================================================================
System uname: 2.6.23-gentoo-r3 x86_64 Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E6850 @ 3.00GHz
Timestamp of tree: Sat, 19 Jan 2008 09:46:01 +0000
app-shells/bash:     3.2_p17-r1
dev-java/java-config: 1.3.7, 2.0.33-r1
dev-lang/python:     2.4.4-r6
dev-python/pycrypto: 2.0.1-r6
sys-apps/baselayout: 1.12.10-r5
sys-apps/sandbox:    1.2.18.1-r2
sys-devel/autoconf:  2.13, 2.61-r1
sys-devel/automake:  1.4_p6, 1.5, 1.7.9-r1, 1.8.5-r3, 1.9.6-r2, 1.10
sys-devel/binutils:  2.18-r1
sys-devel/gcc-config: 1.4.0-r4
sys-devel/libtool:   1.5.24
virtual/os-headers:  2.6.23-r2
ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="amd64"
CBUILD="x86_64-pc-linux-gnu"
CFLAGS="-O2 -pipe -march=nocona -fno-ident -momit-leaf-frame-pointer"
CHOST="x86_64-pc-linux-gnu"

TenPin · Post by **TenPin** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 6:05 am

I also have this problem no matter what I do. I'm using an Intel HDA soundcard with a SigmaTel STAC9200 chipset.

padoor · Post by **padoor** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 6:58 am

try stopping artsd.
sometimes artsd causes cpu runaway.

Akkara · Post by **Akkara** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 6:45 am

No artsd running. kde-base/arts isn't even installed.

padoor · Post by **padoor** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 8:29 am

make sure it is sound problem or adacious problem
you can see if stopping alsasound drops cpu usage.

Hylocereus · Post by **Hylocereus** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 6:09 pm

Hallo,
I have the same problem with audacity and qjackctl 100%CPU load.
But i think it is a qt-problem , because when i start jackd on the console:
/usr/bin/jackd -R -p128 -t200 -m -dalsa -r48000 -p1024 -n2 -D -Chw:1 -Phw:1 -zt
everything is allright 0%CPU load.
On the other hand my sound works fine, so it is a problem of power saving.
bye

jamatik · Post by **jamatik** » Mon May 12, 2008 3:57 am

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echo "media-sound/jack-audio-connection-kit -caps" >> /etc/portage/package.use

and re-emerging the package solved the 100% cpu load of audacity while idle

is caps needed here anyway?

Akkara · Post by **Akkara** » Sun Jun 22, 2008 12:16 pm

After over a year of puzzling over and trying everything, I *finally* solved this.

Building it without jack use-flag gives the expected behavior of no cpu use when the program is idle.

When built with jack use-flac, audacity uses 100% cpu even when idle. It does this both when running thru jack output and also when the jack server isn't being used and audacity is outputting to alsa.

My current use-flags:

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[ebuild   R   ] media-sound/audacity-1.3.5  USE="alsa flac ladspa libsamplerate mp3 vorbis -id3tag -jack -soundtouch -twolame -vamp" 0 kB

(the stable audacity-1.3.4-r3 has the same problem)

Alas this is not a ideal solution, but a choice between power conservation and audio-workstation functionality. On a laptop both are important.

----

If I wish to file a bug-report about this, where should it go? It sounds like it may be a real bug in audacity, which would suggest gentoo's bugzilla isn't the place. Searches (and I've done many over the months) reveal a hodge-podge of things - "audacity 100% cpu use idle" gets mostly hits from ms.windows users hitting upon some antivirus scan while the program's running.

Searching for "audacity bugs" gives, among other links, one that takes to a page that says, "This is a read-only archive for bugs submitted to our Bugzilla bug-tracker. Bugzilla is not now in active use." Oh..kay, so what *is* the actively-used bugtracker? A forwarding link would have been helpful. A different search-result gives a 'contact us' page but I'm not sure it is really meant to be emailed to with a bug - or is it?

This is actually a more general question I have - the bug-reporting how-to process on many OSS projects is a big mystery-box to me. I could probably be contributing every now and then, if I could know how.

jamatik · Post by **jamatik** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 9:42 am

You don't have to build audacity without jack use-flag. My previous post explains it.