[SOLVED] Airplay No Sound Output

[christopherr]

I'm using moode with airplay and I have an issue on two different pi devices that when selecting the airplay output, both the  
iPhone and moode report that airplay is playing (including metadata in the UI) however no sound is output of the device. If I leave the audio playing, the sound will eventually start playing after about a minute or so without any latency issues.

Anyone experienced this before?  What kind of logs can I add here to help troubleshoot.

Moode is version 9.3.6 on Pi 3B+ and Pi 4B with USB connected Dacs on both

[Nutul]

It is unknown to me while it would eventually play sound; but Airplay's volume is controlled by the Apple device's volume...
Try to check that out, first.

[christopherr]

It is unknown to me while it would eventually play sound; but Airplay's volume is controlled by the Apple device's volume...
Try to check that out, first.

Yes, validated volume is up.  Also to note is I have installed RoonBridge and Plexamp. Is it possible that these services could interfere with audio output even if they are not outputting anything?

[Tim Curtis]

Thats odd.

To troubleshoot try the following:

- Choose one of the the Pi's for testing
- Turn ON AirPlay in Renderer Config
- Terminate shairport-sync and run it from the command line with verbose -vv debug logging

Code:

# Terminate
sudo killall shairport-sync

# Run with -vv debug logging
sudo shairport-sync -vv -a "AIRPLAY-TEST" -- -d _audioout > /var/log/moode_shairport-sync.log

# The name AIRPLAY-TEST should show up on your iPhone

- Examine the AirPlay log

Code:

cat /var/log/moode_shairport-sync.log

[Tim Curtis]

It is unknown to me while it would eventually play sound; but Airplay's volume is controlled by the Apple device's volume...
Try to check that out, first.

Yes, validated volume is up.  Also to note is I have installed RoonBridge and Plexamp. Is it possible that these services could interfere with audio output even if they are not outputting anything?

Yes, both acquire the ALSA output when they start and don't release it. IIRC Plexamp will release it after the first playback session. Something like that.

ETA: From the Renderer Setup Guide.

Code:

These audio renderers try to acquire exclusive access to the audio device
when they are turned ON and thus no other renderer can be also be ON.

- Squeezelite (if -c <timeout> option is not specified)
- Plexamp
- RoonBridge

[christopherr]

Thanks for the debug instructions. I disabled plexampe and roonbridge from the moode UI and still encounter audio delays.  Audio started outputting after this logline

... 
       85.034407103 "rtp.c:1406" Connection 1: NQPTP master clock 5c3e1b0347550008.                                                                                                                                   
         0.000127239 "rtp.c:2494" Play started.                                                                                                                                                                                                  
         0.000025677 "rtp.c:2750" block sequence number changed from expected 1 to actual 7745801.                                                                                                                  
         0.430937761 "rtp.c:2576" Connection 1: buffered audio starting frame: 1703185487, lead time: 0.003905 seconds.                                                                                       
         0.000130364 "player.c:489" Connection 1: synced by first packet, seqno 0.     
...

Whats the best way to attach complete logs in the forum?

[christopherr]

I see sonos users also experience this issue, and I do have a sonos on my network. I suspect the sonos is messing with the shairport clock sync protocol. I'll do some experimenting and confirm if this is the case.

[Tim Curtis]

Thanks for the debug instructions. I disabled plexampe and roonbridge from the moode UI and still encounter audio delays.  Audio started outputting after this logline

... 
       85.034407103 "rtp.c:1406" Connection 1: NQPTP master clock 5c3e1b0347550008.                                                                                                                                   
         0.000127239 "rtp.c:2494" Play started.                                                                                                                                                                                                  
         0.000025677 "rtp.c:2750" block sequence number changed from expected 1 to actual 7745801.                                                                                                                  
         0.430937761 "rtp.c:2576" Connection 1: buffered audio starting frame: 1703185487, lead time: 0.003905 seconds.                                                                                       
         0.000130364 "player.c:489" Connection 1: synced by first packet, seqno 0.     
...

Whats the best way to attach complete logs in the forum?

I don't have the expertise to analyze it so no need to post the entire log, but generally you would just paste it into a code box.

Best place for the issue is prolly the shairport-sync repo.

Btw, what model Pi?

[christopherr]

So I disconnected and rebooted all my networked devices one at a time (router included), and it was my macbook pro which when rebooted resolved my airplay issues. Thanks for your support!