H.264 audio cutting out
Hi there,
I'm having intermittent issues with audio cutting out. The H.264 status at the bottom of the window never goes away or shows an issue, but the sound just drops. I can reliably fix it by hitting refresh in the browser window and it comes right back. This is using Chrome 112.0.5615.49 on an M1 Max.
It happens multiple times a day.
Debug logs are here: https://logs.tinypilotkvm.com/OZYtiF4e
Any hints or tips?
- CCharles Hague @cghague2023-04-18 15:30:35.668Z
Hi Darcy, thanks for reaching out. I'm sorry to hear you're having issues with audio.
I've reviewed your logs and couldn't see anything that would explain this so we'll need to investigate. As refreshing restores the sound it's likely that the issue is related to the client computer you are using to access your TinyPilot device. It could be the case that another application is trying to play audio or that Chrome is muting the tab.
Does the issue happen when the TinyPilot browser tab has been idle for some time? Can you still see and interact with the remote computer's desktop when the sound cuts out?
- SScott MacDonald @scottmac
Yes, it's much more likely to happen after coming back from being idle. But it has also happened when I'm actively working.
I'm using Chrome for this only because I cannot get Safari to use H.264 at all.
Are there any other browsers you'd recommend for this on macOS?
Forgot to say I'm using Tailscale, could that be a variable as well?
- CCharles Hague @cghague2023-04-19 14:40:36.970Z
Thanks for getting back to me.
I use Safari to access my TinyPilot device over a local network and H.264 works correctly, so it’s possible that Tailscale might be causing issues. However, if a Tailscale network issue was causing the audio to drop out in Chrome I’d also expect the video to fail.
Does the video cut out at the same time as the audio or can you still see and interact with the remote computer's desktop? Does the settings page at chrome://settings/content/sound show that audio playback is allowed, with no exceptions configured?
- SScott MacDonald @scottmac
Yeah, oddly, the video is fine. I can still interact with the remote computer.
Today I tried opening only the one chrome window for tiny pilot and used safari for everything else. It didn't drop at all, which is rare. It may be that something else I was doing in other Chrome windows was interfering. I'll keep experimenting and post here if I discover anything else.