[pulseaudio-discuss] mono stream from evolution or totem not playing

[Brian J. Murrell]

I've got an interesting problem.  I have a file which "file" reports as 
being:

/home/brian/tmp/msg0001.wav:    RIFF (little-endian) data, WAVE audio, GSM 6.10, mono 8000 Hz

sox reports the file as being:

Sample Size    : 16-bit (2 bytes)
Sample Encoding: GSM
Channels       : 1
Sample Rate    : 8000
Duration       : 00:18.44 = 147520 samples ~ 1383 CDDA sectors
Endian Type    : little
Reverse Nibbles: no
Reverse Bits   : no

The file came as an audio attachment in evolution, which evolution 
understands and gives me an option to play directly.  When I do, 
pulseaudio gets the connection, the volume control shows the stream 
playing but I hear nothing.

Here's what pulseaudio -vvvv says about that:

I: client.c: Created 82 "Native client (UNIX socket client)"
I: protocol-native.c: Got credentials: uid=1001 gid=1001 success=1
I: protocol-native.c: Enabled SHM for new connection
I: client.c: Client 82 changed name from "Native client (UNIX socket client)" to "evolution"
I: client.c: Created 83 "Native client (UNIX socket client)"
I: protocol-native.c: Got credentials: uid=1001 gid=1001 success=1
I: protocol-native.c: Enabled SHM for new connection
I: client.c: Client 83 changed name from "Native client (UNIX socket client)" to "evolution"
I: module-volume-restore.c: Restoring sink for <pulsecore/protocol-native.c$evolution>
I: module-volume-restore.c: Restoring volume for <pulsecore/protocol-native.c$evolution>
D: module-suspend-on-idle.c: Sink alsa_output.pci_10de_26c_sound_card_0_alsa_playback_0 becomes busy.
D: resampler.c: Channel matrix:
D: resampler.c:        I00 
D: resampler.c:     +------
D: resampler.c: O00 | 1.000
D: resampler.c: O01 | 1.000
I: resampler.c: Using resampler 'speex-float-1'
I: resampler.c: Using float32le as working format.
I: resampler.c: Choosing speex quality setting 1.
I: sink-input.c: Created input 32 "Playback Stream" on alsa_output.pci_10de_26c_sound_card_0_alsa_playback_0 with sample spec s16le 1ch 8000Hz and channel map mono
D: memblockq.c: memblockq requested: maxlength=6400, tlength=3200, base=2, prebuf=3040, minreq=160
D: memblockq.c: memblockq sanitized: maxlength=6400, tlength=3200, base=2, prebuf=3040, minreq=160
I: sink-input.c: Freeing output 32 "Playback Stream"
I: client.c: Freed 82 "evolution"
I: protocol-native.c: connection died.
I: client.c: Freed 83 "evolution"
I: protocol-native.c: connection died.

If I save the attachment to a file and play it with totem, again, 
nothing.  Here's pulseaudio -vvvv's output:

D: module-suspend-on-idle.c: Sink alsa_output.pci_10de_26c_sound_card_0_alsa_playback_0 becomes idle.
D: module-suspend-on-idle.c: Sink alsa_output.pci_10de_26c_sound_card_0_alsa_playback_0 becomes idle.
I: sink-input.c: Freeing output 34 "Playback Stream"
I: client.c: Freed 86 "Totem Movie Player"
I: protocol-native.c: connection died.
I: client.c: Freed 87 "Totem Movie Player"
I: protocol-native.c: connection died.
I: client.c: Created 88 "Native client (UNIX socket client)"
I: protocol-native.c: Got credentials: uid=1001 gid=1001 success=1
I: protocol-native.c: Enabled SHM for new connection
I: client.c: Client 88 changed name from "Native client (UNIX socket client)" to "Totem Movie Player"
I: client.c: Created 89 "Native client (UNIX socket client)"
I: protocol-native.c: Got credentials: uid=1001 gid=1001 success=1
I: protocol-native.c: Enabled SHM for new connection
I: client.c: Client 89 changed name from "Native client (UNIX socket client)" to "Totem Movie Player"
I: module-volume-restore.c: Restoring sink for <pulsecore/protocol-native.c$Totem Movie Player>
I: module-volume-restore.c: Restoring volume for <pulsecore/protocol-native.c$Totem Movie Player>
D: module-suspend-on-idle.c: Sink alsa_output.pci_10de_26c_sound_card_0_alsa_playback_0 becomes busy.
D: resampler.c: Channel matrix:
D: resampler.c:        I00 
D: resampler.c:     +------
D: resampler.c: O00 | 1.000
D: resampler.c: O01 | 1.000
I: resampler.c: Using resampler 'speex-float-1'
I: resampler.c: Using float32le as working format.
I: resampler.c: Choosing speex quality setting 1.
I: sink-input.c: Created input 35 "Playback Stream" on alsa_output.pci_10de_26c_sound_card_0_alsa_playback_0 with sample spec s16le 1ch 8000Hz and channel map mono
D: memblockq.c: memblockq requested: maxlength=6400, tlength=3200, base=2, prebuf=3040, minreq=160
D: memblockq.c: memblockq sanitized: maxlength=6400, tlength=3200, base=2, prebuf=3040, minreq=160
D: module-rtp-recv.c: Checking for dead streams ...
D: module-suspend-on-idle.c: Sink alsa_output.pci_10de_26c_sound_card_0_alsa_playback_0 becomes idle.
D: module-suspend-on-idle.c: Sink alsa_output.pci_10de_26c_sound_card_0_alsa_playback_0 becomes idle.
I: sink-input.c: Freeing output 35 "Playback Stream"
I: client.c: Freed 88 "Totem Movie Player"
I: protocol-native.c: connection died.
I: client.c: Freed 89 "Totem Movie Player"
I: protocol-native.c: connection died.

If I play that same saved attachment with paplay, it plays it just fine.  
Here's pulseaudio -vvvv's output from that:

I: client.c: Created 92 "Native client (UNIX socket client)"
I: protocol-native.c: Got credentials: uid=1001 gid=1001 success=1
I: protocol-native.c: Enabled SHM for new connection
I: client.c: Client 92 changed name from "Native client (UNIX socket client)" to "paplay"
I: module-volume-restore.c: Restoring sink for <pulsecore/protocol-native.c$paplay>
I: module-volume-restore.c: Restoring volume for <pulsecore/protocol-native.c$paplay>
I: module-alsa-sink.c: Trying resume...
I: module-alsa-sink.c: Resumed successfully...
D: module-suspend-on-idle.c: Sink alsa_output.pci_1102_2_sound_card_0_alsa_playback_0 becomes idle.
D: module-suspend-on-idle.c: Sink alsa_output.pci_1102_2_sound_card_0_alsa_playback_0 becomes busy.
D: resampler.c: Channel matrix:
D: resampler.c:        I00 
D: resampler.c:     +------
D: resampler.c: O00 | 1.000
D: resampler.c: O01 | 1.000
I: resampler.c: Using resampler 'speex-float-1'
I: resampler.c: Using float32le as working format.
I: resampler.c: Choosing speex quality setting 1.
I: sink-input.c: Created input 37 "/home/brian/tmp/msg0001.wav" on alsa_output.pci_1102_2_sound_card_0_alsa_playback_0 with sample spec float32le 1ch 8000Hz and channel map mono
D: memblockq.c: memblockq requested: maxlength=24000, tlength=16000, base=4, prebuf=15680, minreq=320
D: memblockq.c: memblockq sanitized: maxlength=24000, tlength=16000, base=4, prebuf=15680, minreq=320
I: module-alsa-sink.c: Starting playback.
D: memblock.c: Memory block too large for pool: 18352 > 16376
D: module-rtp-recv.c: Checking for dead streams ...
D: module-suspend-on-idle.c: Sink alsa_output.pci_1102_2_sound_card_0_alsa_playback_0 becomes idle.
D: module-suspend-on-idle.c: Sink alsa_output.pci_1102_2_sound_card_0_alsa_playback_0 becomes idle.
I: sink-input.c: Freeing output 37 "/home/brian/tmp/msg0001.wav"
I: client.c: Freed 92 "paplay"
I: protocol-native.c: connection died.
I: module-suspend-on-idle.c: Sink alsa_output.pci_1102_2_sound_card_0_alsa_playback_0 idle for too long, suspending ...
I: module-alsa-sink.c: Device suspended...

Any ideas why?

b.