[Bug 37102] New: Audio lags 5-10 sec even over gigabit network

[bugzilla-daemon at freedesktop.org]

https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=37102

           Summary: Audio lags 5-10 sec even over gigabit network
           Product: Spice
           Version: unspecified
          Platform: All
        OS/Version: Linux (All)
            Status: NEW
          Severity: major
          Priority: medium
         Component: client
        AssignedTo: spice-bugs at lists.freedesktop.org
        ReportedBy: gvenkat at attglobal.net


Host and client OS (identical installations of OS but different hardware):
OpenSuse 11.4 
Host with KVM 0.14

Guest OS: Windows XP SP3 and Windows 7 with latest stable qxl driver compiled
from source

spice-client-0.8.1
spice-server-0.8.1

Works fine with spice client on the host.

But on both 32-bit and 64-bit client machines on the same network, playing a
video will consistently result in the following symptoms.

There is a very brief 0.5 sec blip in the audio when the video is started (so
the initial audio is received) and then silence for 10-15 seconds and the audio
starts with that delay. The video is playing smoothly. When the audio starts,
it continues to play with the time offset (nothing is lost) and continues to
play for the same offset even after the video is stopped. Seems like it is
getting buffered somewhere. Network bandwidth isn't a problem. Videos play
smoothly. Just the audio. This problem doesn't exist when the client is run on
the host itself. Using bridged ethernet port on the host with virtio network
drivers (happens without those drivers as well).

I have been using the HTML5 and Flash player demo at

http://sublimevideo.net/demo

as a test page for audio/video.

To see that this is not a problem related to video, I noticed the same problem
with Skype calls. The Skype ringing audio starts 5-10 seconds after you see the
call invite on the screen and continues for the same time after the call is
answered. All audio is delayed after that point by the same amount.

In each case there is a audio blip of the first fraction of a second. 

This happens even in the login music of Windows XP. A blip followed by a pause
and the the rest of the music after a delay.

Have tested with this two completely different client hardware one 32-bit and
another 64-bit but with the same identical OS distro and software versions.

Not sure what part I should be focusing on to investigate this. Server side
delay? Client side delay? Alsa/Pulseaudio problems at the client? Problem with
the Spice client (when on a remote client)?

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