CentOS - Feb 2012 - Sound drop out with totem. mplayer Can't open audio device /dev/dsp

Hey all.

This morning I found that my audio playback is randomly sprinkled with 
sound skips and dropouts.  I went to /var/log/yum.log and found this:

Feb 09 20:18:22 Updated: lame-3.99.4-2.el6.rf.i686

I'm not saying that caused the problem but it's all I could find that 
changed.

When I ls in /dev there is no dsp entry.
That would explain why mplayer Can't open audio device /dev/dsp.
I don't know why there is no /dev/dsp.
MPlayer 1.0rc4-4.4.6

aplay just makes a nasty hiss.
aplay: version 1.0.21

I'm using pulesaudio

$ rpm -qa | grep pulseaudio
alsa-plugins-pulseaudio-1.0.21-3.el6.i686
pulseaudio-module-bluetooth-0.9.21-13.el6.i686
pulseaudio-0.9.21-13.el6.i686
pulseaudio-libs-0.9.21-13.el6.i686
pulseaudio-utils-0.9.21-13.el6.i686
pulseaudio-module-gconf-0.9.21-13.el6.i686
pulseaudio-module-x11-0.9.21-13.el6.i686
pulseaudio-gdm-hooks-0.9.21-13.el6.i686
pulseaudio-libs-glib2-0.9.21-13.el6.i686

$ uname -a
Linux mushroom.patch 2.6.32-220.4.1.el6.i686 #1 SMP Mon Jan 23 22:37:12 
GMT 2012 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux

CentOS 6.2

Any of these may, or may not, be related.

-- 
     _
    ?v?
   /(_)\
    ^ ^  Mark LaPierre
Registerd Linux user No #267004

On 02/12/2012 05:07 PM, Mark LaPierre wrote:
> Hey all.
>
> This morning I found that my audio playback is randomly sprinkled with
> sound skips and dropouts.  I went to /var/log/yum.log and found this:
>
> Feb 09 20:18:22 Updated: lame-3.99.4-2.el6.rf.i686
>
> I'm not saying that caused the problem but it's all I could find
that
> changed.
lame-3.99.4-2.el6.rf.i686 is RepoForge package, and if he is the 
culprit, you have to take it on their mailing list.

To test, run "yum downgrade lame", log out or better yet reboot (to be
safe it is unloaded), and see if that helps.


-- 

Ljubomir Ljubojevic
(Love is in the Air)
PL Computers
Serbia, Europe

Google is the Mother, Google is the Father, and traceroute is your
trusty Spiderman...
StarOS, Mikrotik and CentOS/RHEL/Linux consultant

On Sun, 2012-02-12 at 11:07 -0500, Mark LaPierre wrote:
> Hey all.
> 
> This morning I found that my audio playback is randomly sprinkled with 
> sound skips and dropouts.  I went to /var/log/yum.log and found this:
> 
> Feb 09 20:18:22 Updated: lame-3.99.4-2.el6.rf.i686
> 
> I'm not saying that caused the problem but it's all I could find
that
> changed.
> 
> When I ls in /dev there is no dsp entry.
> That would explain why mplayer Can't open audio device /dev/dsp.
> I don't know why there is no /dev/dsp.
You want find one either.  It's called 'padsp'.
> I'm using pulesaudio
restart it?

Is it running as a user daemon or system daemon?  what is the system
load while trying to play a file?

What is the last mod time on '/etc/pulse/daemon.conf'?

lspci|grep audio
lsmod|grep snd

when did the padsp-bluetooth get installed?  What is the mplayer output
driver?  for totem i find it utterly useless.

Mark LaPierre wrote:
> Hey all.
>
> This morning I found that my audio playback is randomly sprinkled with
> sound skips and dropouts.  I went to /var/log/yum.log and found this:
>
> Feb 09 20:18:22 Updated: lame-3.99.4-2.el6.rf.i686
>
> I'm not saying that caused the problem but it's all I could find
that
> changed.
>
> When I ls in /dev there is no dsp entry.
> That would explain why mplayer Can't open audio device /dev/dsp.
> I don't know why there is no /dev/dsp.
> MPlayer 1.0rc4-4.4.6
seems you're mixing repos here, that's not the mplayer provided by 
repoforge AFAIK.
this could be part or all of your problem.