Java audio fails to play wav file in Linux

Question

I am having trouble using Java audio on Linux. This is OpenJDK 8 on Ubuntu 14.04. The following sample fails with the .wav file from this link:

import java.net.URL;
import javax.sound.sampled.*;

public class PlaySound {

    public void play() throws Exception
    {
        // List all mixers and default mixer
        System.out.println("All mixers:");
        for (Mixer.Info m : AudioSystem.getMixerInfo())
        {
            System.out.println("    " + m);
        }

        System.out.println("Default mixer: " + AudioSystem.getMixer(null).getMixerInfo());

        URL url = getClass().getResource("drop.wav");
        Clip clip;

        AudioInputStream audioInputStream = AudioSystem.getAudioInputStream(url);
        clip = AudioSystem.getClip();
        System.out.println("Clip format: " + clip.getFormat());
        clip.open(audioInputStream);

        clip.start();
        do { Thread.sleep(100); } while (clip.isRunning());
    }

    public static void main(String [] args) throws Exception {
        (new PlaySound()).play();
    }
}

This is the result:

All mixers:
    PulseAudio Mixer, version 0.02
    default [default], version 4.4.0-31-generic
    Intel [plughw:0,0], version 4.4.0-31-generic
    Intel [plughw:0,2], version 4.4.0-31-generic
    NVidia [plughw:1,3], version 4.4.0-31-generic
    NVidia [plughw:1,7], version 4.4.0-31-generic
    NVidia [plughw:1,8], version 4.4.0-31-generic
    NVidia [plughw:1,9], version 4.4.0-31-generic
    Port Intel [hw:0], version 4.4.0-31-generic
    Port NVidia [hw:1], version 4.4.0-31-generic
Default mixer: default [default], version 4.4.0-31-generic
Clip format: PCM_SIGNED unknown sample rate, 16 bit, stereo, 4 bytes/frame, big-endian
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Invalid format
    at org.classpath.icedtea.pulseaudio.PulseAudioDataLine.createStream(PulseAudioDataLine.java:142)
    at org.classpath.icedtea.pulseaudio.PulseAudioDataLine.open(PulseAudioDataLine.java:99)
    at org.classpath.icedtea.pulseaudio.PulseAudioDataLine.open(PulseAudioDataLine.java:283)
    at org.classpath.icedtea.pulseaudio.PulseAudioClip.open(PulseAudioClip.java:402)
    at org.classpath.icedtea.pulseaudio.PulseAudioClip.open(PulseAudioClip.java:453)
    at PlaySound.play(PlaySound.java:22)
    at PlaySound.main(PlaySound.java:29)

Apparently the problem is that the PulseAudio mixer is being selected, and for some reason it cannot play the .wav file.

If I replace the AudioSystem.getClip() call with AudioSystem.getClip(null), which selects the default mixer, then it works.

How can I make sure that a compatible mixer is selected ?

Update: Following the suggestion from @Dave to loop through the available mixers until I find one that has a "compatible" format, I see the following:

Target format (from AudioInputStream.getFormat()) is:

PCM_SIGNED 44100.0 Hz, 16 bit, stereo, 4 bytes/frame, little-endian

I loop through all mixers, source lines for each mixer, and supported formats for each source line, and get the following match:

Mixer: PulseAudio Mixer, version 0.02
Source line: interface SourceDataLine supporting 42 audio formats, and buffers of 0 to 1000000 bytes
Format matches: PCM_SIGNED unknown sample rate, 16 bit, stereo, 4 bytes/frame, little-endian

I do get a match (using format.matches()) yet I still get the "Invalid format" exception. Perhaps because the format that matched says "Unknown sample rate" and then when I try to open the clip, it finds that it does not actually support 44100 Hz ?

Do you need the `Clip` interface, or would `SourceDataLine` work? I realize your example here is probably just a minimal reproduction of the problem, so do you need to seek or loop? — Dave, Sep 20 '17 at 14:10

Dave · Answer 1 · 2017-09-20T14:45:57.837

If you are able to use SourceDataLine in your use case instead of Clip, then you should be able to do something like this:

    URL url = getClass().getResource("drop.wav");
    SourceDataLine sourceLine;

    AudioInputStream audioInputStream = AudioSystem.getAudioInputStream(url);
    sourceLine = AudioSystem.getSourceDataLine(audioInputStream.getFormat());
    System.out.println("Source format: " + sourceLine.getFormat());
    sourceLine.open(audioInputStream);

    sourceLine.start();
    do { Thread.sleep(100); } while (sourceLine.isRunning());

(Note this is as yet untested on my side.)

You only need Clip if you plan on seeking or looping.

If you do need the ability to seek or loop, one (ugly) method would be calling AudioSystem.getClip(null) first to ensure you are selecting the default Mixer. The semantics of AudioSystem.getClip() are (as you have noticed) not particularly reliable. Wrap all attempts at calling Clip.open in a try/catch. If opening a clip does not work with the default mixer, then loop through available Mixer.Info objects excluding the default and call getClip(mixerInfo) with each until one works.

Another method would be to loop through Mixer.Info objects returned by AudioSystem.getMixerInfo(). Call AudioSystem.getMixer(mixerInfo) for each to get the Mixer instance. Loop through the Line.Info objects returned by Mixer.getSourceLineInfo(). For each of these, if it is an instance of DataLine.Info, cast it and call DataLine.Info.getFormats() to get the supported AudioFormat objects. Compare these against what AudioInputStream.getFormat() returns (using matches) until you find a compatible one.

Neither of these are particularly elegant. The first is a bad use of exceptions. The second is just a bit convoluted, although it seems more correct.

Unfortunately I need to use `Clip`. Re. your suggestions: First workaround is not practical as the place where the clip is created (`getClip`) is not related to the place where I need to call `Clip.open`. Second seemed promising but even if I **do** get a match, I still get an exception later. See the update to my question. Looks like the match is not enough to guarantee compatibility. Any other ideas? — Grodriguez, Sep 20 '17 at 16:12
It's likely that `getClip` does something similar to the second suggestion behind the scenes. I will have to think about it, but I don't know of a better way off hand. — Dave, Sep 20 '17 at 23:53
I tried to do a bit of searching and came across [this SO answer](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/45847635/java-audio-clip-cannot-be-closed-when-using-linux-pulseaudio?rq=1) that suggests PulseAudio Java bindings are no longer supported. I don't know enough to confirm or deny that, but perhaps you can configure the Java runtime to avoid PulseAudio. — Dave, Sep 21 '17 at 12:14
OK, looks like there is a bug in PulseAudio (see my answer). I am upvoting your answer and awarding you the bounty, as you actually got me on the right track. However I am marking my own answer as "accepted" since it describes the complete story and thus it is more likely to help others who may have the same problem in the future. — Grodriguez, Sep 22 '17 at 10:53
Está muy generoso. I'm glad I helped you to find a convincing answer even if I wasn't able to provide the real solution. Thanks for sharing the bug report with the workarounds. That's good to know. — Dave, Sep 22 '17 at 13:37

egorlitvinenko · Answer 2 · 2017-09-20T18:30:54.200

I'm also on Ubuntu 14.04, but have different mixer, it works fine. I think you could specify concrete parameters, which are needed for your line:

import javax.sound.sampled.*;
import java.net.URL;

public class PlaySound {

    public void play() throws Exception {
        // List all mixers and default mixer
        System.out.println("All mixers:");
        for (Mixer.Info m : AudioSystem.getMixerInfo()) {
            System.out.println("    " + m);
        }

        System.out.println("Default mixer: " + AudioSystem.getMixer(null).getMixerInfo());

        URL url = getClass().getResource("drop.wav");
        Clip clip;

        AudioInputStream audioInputStream = AudioSystem.getAudioInputStream(url);
//        clip = AudioSystem.getClip();
        try {
            AudioFormat format = new AudioFormat(AudioFormat.Encoding.PCM_SIGNED,
                    44100,
                    16, 2, 4,
                    AudioSystem.NOT_SPECIFIED, true);
            DataLine.Info info = new DataLine.Info(Clip.class, format);
            clip = (Clip) AudioSystem.getLine(info);
        } catch (LineUnavailableException e) {
            System.out.println("matching line is not available due to resource restrictions");
            return;
        } catch (SecurityException ee) {
            System.out.println("if a matching line is not available due to security restrictions");
            return;
        } catch (IllegalArgumentException eee) {
            System.out.println("if the system does not support at least one line matching the specified Line.Info object " +
                    "through any installed mixer");
            return;
        }
        System.out.println("Clip format: " + clip.getFormat());
        clip.open(audioInputStream);

        clip.start();
        do {
            Thread.sleep(100);
        } while (clip.isRunning());
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        (new PlaySound()).play();
    }
}

How can I make sure that a compatible mixer is selected ?

Another cases - use default by default, or catch exception and use default on failover.

Thank you and +1. Looks like this is only half of the story -- the other half is actually a bug in PulseAudio :-/ — Grodriguez, Sep 22 '17 at 10:54

Grodriguez · Accepted Answer · 2017-09-22T11:06:54.527

Looks like there are two separate issues involved here.

First, relying on AudioSystem.getClip() is not a good idea as basically there's no guarantee that the clip will be able to handle the specific format of the wav file. Instead, one of the following approaches should be used:

As suggested by @Dave: Loop through the available mixers and query if the target format is supported:

URL url = getClass().getResource("drop.wav");
AudioInputStream audioInputStream = AudioSystem.getAudioInputStream(url);
AudioFormat format = audioInputStream.getFormat();
DataLine.Info lineInfo = new DataLine.Info(Clip.class, format);

Mixer.Info selectedMixer = null;

for (Mixer.Info mixerInfo : AudioSystem.getMixerInfo()) {
    Mixer mixer = AudioSystem.getMixer(mixerInfo);
    if (mixer.isLineSupported(lineInfo)) {
        selectedMixer = mixerInfo;
        break;
    }
}

if (selectedMixer != null) {
    Clip clip = AudioSystem.getClip(selectedMixer); 
    [...]
}

Or, as suggested by @egorlitvinenko, use AudioSystem.getLine(DataLine.Info) to get a line with the desired capabilities.

Both of the above approaches "should" work.

On top of that, there is an additional problem with PulseAudio, which is that there is a bug which may result in an "invalid format" exception even though the PulseAudio mixer can actually handle the format. This is described in the following bug reports (the second one contains workarounds):

Java audio fails to play wav file in Linux

3 Answers3

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