"Chipmunk audio" on Logitech USB webcams

"Chipmunk audio" on Logitech USB webcams

[Tristan Miller]

Greetings.

Many models of Logitech USB webcams malfunction under Linux by producing
audio that sounds distorted, garbled, or high-pitched. For most users,
the problem happens randomly, and can usually be worked around by
restarting the audio application or by unplugging the webcam and then
plugging it back in again.

The problem is described in a kernel.org bug at
<https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=44281>. Despite eight
years' worth of comments and duplicate bugs indicating that that the
problem is still occurring, this report has remained closed as
"resolved" since 2013. It's unclear whether any of the right developers
have even seen these comments; certainly none of them have ever
responded, even just to reopen the bug. A comment on one of the
duplicate bugs <https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=203763#c1>
suggests that this may be because the bug was misfiled in the
v4l-dvb/webcam product, whereas it should instead have been posted to
this mailing list.

I'd appreciate it if one of the USB for Linux developers could take a
quick look at the bug report to confirm whether it's been filed in the
right place.  If not, please let us know (either here or in Bugzilla)
where the bug should be reported instead, and if it is indeed here on
linux-usb, let us know if any further diagnostic information is
required.

Regards,
Tristan

-- 
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
                  Tristan Miller
Free Software developer, ferret herder, logologist
             https://logological.org/
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Re: "Chipmunk audio" on Logitech USB webcams

[Greg KH]

On Sun, Jul 11, 2021 at 10:25:03AM +0200, Tristan Miller wrote:
> Greetings.
> 
> Many models of Logitech USB webcams malfunction under Linux by producing
> audio that sounds distorted, garbled, or high-pitched. For most users,
> the problem happens randomly, and can usually be worked around by
> restarting the audio application or by unplugging the webcam and then
> plugging it back in again.
> 
> The problem is described in a kernel.org bug at
> <https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=44281>. Despite eight
> years' worth of comments and duplicate bugs indicating that that the
> problem is still occurring, this report has remained closed as
> "resolved" since 2013. It's unclear whether any of the right developers
> have even seen these comments; certainly none of them have ever
> responded, even just to reopen the bug. A comment on one of the
> duplicate bugs <https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=203763#c1>
> suggests that this may be because the bug was misfiled in the
> v4l-dvb/webcam product, whereas it should instead have been posted to
> this mailing list.
> 
> I'd appreciate it if one of the USB for Linux developers could take a
> quick look at the bug report to confirm whether it's been filed in the
> right place.  If not, please let us know (either here or in Bugzilla)
> where the bug should be reported instead, and if it is indeed here on
> linux-usb, let us know if any further diagnostic information is
> required.

Please report the information directly here, to this list, and to the
sound developers at alsa-devel@alsa-project.org and we can all work to
resolve this.

First off it would be great to test if this happens in 5.13, does it?
And how can you reproduce it and with what specific device?

thanks,

greg k-h

Re: "Chipmunk audio" on Logitech USB webcams

[Hans Petter Selasky]

On 7/11/21 12:38 PM, Greg KH wrote:
> On Sun, Jul 11, 2021 at 10:25:03AM +0200, Tristan Miller wrote:
>> Greetings.
>>
>> Many models of Logitech USB webcams malfunction under Linux by producing
>> audio that sounds distorted, garbled, or high-pitched. For most users,
>> the problem happens randomly, and can usually be worked around by
>> restarting the audio application or by unplugging the webcam and then
>> plugging it back in again.
>>
>> The problem is described in a kernel.org bug at
>> <https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=44281>. Despite eight
>> years' worth of comments and duplicate bugs indicating that that the
>> problem is still occurring, this report has remained closed as
>> "resolved" since 2013. It's unclear whether any of the right developers
>> have even seen these comments; certainly none of them have ever
>> responded, even just to reopen the bug. A comment on one of the
>> duplicate bugs <https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=203763#c1>
>> suggests that this may be because the bug was misfiled in the
>> v4l-dvb/webcam product, whereas it should instead have been posted to
>> this mailing list.
>>
>> I'd appreciate it if one of the USB for Linux developers could take a
>> quick look at the bug report to confirm whether it's been filed in the
>> right place.  If not, please let us know (either here or in Bugzilla)
>> where the bug should be reported instead, and if it is indeed here on
>> linux-usb, let us know if any further diagnostic information is
>> required.
> 
> Please report the information directly here, to this list, and to the
> sound developers at alsa-devel@alsa-project.org and we can all work to
> resolve this.
> 
> First off it would be great to test if this happens in 5.13, does it?
> And how can you reproduce it and with what specific device?
> 

Hi,

I just recently bought a very expensive USB 3.0 Logitech BRIO 4K USB 
webcam. These webcams provide a standard USB audio compliant interface, 
and thanks for that! I've noticed that when doing a looptest, I.E. 
playing the recorded audio back through a set a of headphones, then 
after some 30 minutes, the audio starts corrupting. This does not happen 
on MacOSX. I've dumped the audio data using both Ellisys USB2.0 and 
usbdump on FreeBSD, and verified that it is not a host software problem. 
The data stream from the device really carries the bad audio. Now just 
recently someone reported to me a problem with a "Scarlett Solo 3rd" 
under FreeBSD with XHCI, and I started looking into the code and found 
some bugs* regarding the start frame for isochronous packets. After that 
was fixed it seems to work fine again, but I don't know for how long.

I suspect these Logitech devices have received very little so-called 
negative testing. I was in contact with Logitech support, but the people 
there know basically nothing, and it ended they offered me a warranty 
refund - how funny!

So yes, there are some software problems in these devices the vendor is 
not willing to acknowledge, and they can suddenly trigger.

I know that FreeBSD is not Linux, but I thought that sharing my 
experiences here might help moving forward with this issue!

--HPS

*)

https://cgit.freebsd.org/src/commit/?id=d038463bd269031fa8f13c0951b223bcae02bbca

https://cgit.freebsd.org/src/commit/?id=8fc2a3c41791b205a107dc2bec16ac7514a57958

--HPS

Re: "Chipmunk audio" on Logitech USB webcams

[Tristan Miller]

Greetings.

On Sun, 11 Jul 2021 12:38:12 +0200, Greg KH
<gregkh@linuxfoundation.org> wrote:
> On Sun, Jul 11, 2021 at 10:25:03AM +0200, Tristan Miller wrote:
> > Many models of Logitech USB webcams malfunction under Linux by
> > producing audio that sounds distorted, garbled, or high-pitched.
> > For most users, the problem happens randomly, and can usually be
> > worked around by restarting the audio application or by unplugging
> > the webcam and then plugging it back in again.
> 
> Please report the information directly here, to this list, and to the
> sound developers at alsa-devel@alsa-project.org and we can all work to
> resolve this.

The problem as I'm currently experiencing it is as follows:

I have a Logitech C270 USB webcam running on openSUSE Tumbleweed for
x86_64 with the 5.13.0 kernel.  Sometimes audio recorded by the
camera's built-in microphone sounds artificially high-pitched and
garbled.  I've experienced this with lots of different applications,
including arecord, Skype, and various browser-based videoconferencing
software running in Firefox or Chromium.  The problem occurs rarely
(maybe once every 30 times I use the webcam microphone) and seemingly
at random; restarting the audio application or unplugging the webcam
and plugging it back in again usually works around the issue.  So
unfortunately I can't reliably reproduce the problem.  I haven't
noticed any errors in the system logs but then again am not sure exactly
what to look for and where. I've been experiencing this problem at
least as far back as kernel 4.13.12.

Some further details (more available on request):

# uname -a
Linux butterfield.nothingisreal.com 5.13.0-1-default #1 SMP Fri Jul 2 05:54:32 UTC 2021 (aa40472) x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

# lsusb -s 001:004 -v |head -17
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 046d:0825 Logitech, Inc. Webcam C270
Device Descriptor:
  bLength                18
  bDescriptorType         1
  bcdUSB               2.00
  bDeviceClass          239 Miscellaneous Device
  bDeviceSubClass         2 
  bDeviceProtocol         1 Interface Association
  bMaxPacketSize0        64
  idVendor           0x046d Logitech, Inc.
  idProduct          0x0825 Webcam C270
  bcdDevice            0.10
  iManufacturer           0 
  iProduct                0 
  iSerial                 2 6457F4D0
  bNumConfigurations

Previous reports which apparently cover the same problem:

https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=35922
https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=44281
https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=105081
https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=203763
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/459445
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/843431
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/884210
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1018020
https://bugzilla.suse.com/show_bug.cgi?id=736093
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=729269
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=742010
https://bugs.archlinux.org/task/26528
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=121607
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=236056
https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=237677

Regards,
Tristan

-- 
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
                  Tristan Miller
Free Software developer, ferret herder, logologist
             https://logological.org/
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Re: "Chipmunk audio" on Logitech USB webcams

[Alan Stern]

On Sun, Jul 11, 2021 at 02:15:46PM +0200, Tristan Miller wrote:
> Greetings.
> 
> On Sun, 11 Jul 2021 12:38:12 +0200, Greg KH
> <gregkh@linuxfoundation.org> wrote:
> > On Sun, Jul 11, 2021 at 10:25:03AM +0200, Tristan Miller wrote:
> > > Many models of Logitech USB webcams malfunction under Linux by
> > > producing audio that sounds distorted, garbled, or high-pitched.
> > > For most users, the problem happens randomly, and can usually be
> > > worked around by restarting the audio application or by unplugging
> > > the webcam and then plugging it back in again.
> > 
> > Please report the information directly here, to this list, and to the
> > sound developers at alsa-devel@alsa-project.org and we can all work to
> > resolve this.
> 
> The problem as I'm currently experiencing it is as follows:
> 
> I have a Logitech C270 USB webcam running on openSUSE Tumbleweed for
> x86_64 with the 5.13.0 kernel.  Sometimes audio recorded by the
> camera's built-in microphone sounds artificially high-pitched and
> garbled.  I've experienced this with lots of different applications,
> including arecord, Skype, and various browser-based videoconferencing
> software running in Firefox or Chromium.  The problem occurs rarely
> (maybe once every 30 times I use the webcam microphone) and seemingly
> at random; restarting the audio application or unplugging the webcam
> and plugging it back in again usually works around the issue.  So
> unfortunately I can't reliably reproduce the problem.  I haven't
> noticed any errors in the system logs but then again am not sure exactly
> what to look for and where. I've been experiencing this problem at
> least as far back as kernel 4.13.12.
> 
> Some further details (more available on request):
> 
> # uname -a
> Linux butterfield.nothingisreal.com 5.13.0-1-default #1 SMP Fri Jul 2 05:54:32 UTC 2021 (aa40472) x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
> 
> # lsusb -s 001:004 -v |head -17
> Bus 001 Device 004: ID 046d:0825 Logitech, Inc. Webcam C270
> Device Descriptor:
>   bLength                18
>   bDescriptorType         1
>   bcdUSB               2.00
>   bDeviceClass          239 Miscellaneous Device
>   bDeviceSubClass         2 
>   bDeviceProtocol         1 Interface Association
>   bMaxPacketSize0        64
>   idVendor           0x046d Logitech, Inc.
>   idProduct          0x0825 Webcam C270
>   bcdDevice            0.10
>   iManufacturer           0 
>   iProduct                0 
>   iSerial                 2 6457F4D0
>   bNumConfigurations
> 
> Previous reports which apparently cover the same problem:

Some additional details about these bug reports:

> https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=35922

This is a completely different bug, which was fixed back in 2011.

> https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=44281

This report mentions three separate bugs, the first of which was 
fixed in 2012.  The bug discussed here is the third one in the 
report.

> https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=105081

This is a repeat of the second bug in #44281.

> https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=203763

This is the same as the bug discussed here.

> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/459445

This is the same as the second bug in #44281.

> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/843431

At first glance this seems to be the same as the bug discussed here, 
but this one was fixed in 2011.

> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/884210

This is the same as the second bug in #44281.

> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1018020

This seems to be a combination of the first and second bugs in 
#44281.

The rest of these appear to be mixtures of the bugs mentioned above.

> https://bugzilla.suse.com/show_bug.cgi?id=736093
> https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=729269
> https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=742010
> https://bugs.archlinux.org/task/26528
> https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=121607
> https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=236056
> https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=237677

Alan Stern

Re: "Chipmunk audio" on Logitech USB webcams

[Alan Stern]

On Sun, Jul 11, 2021 at 02:15:46PM +0200, Tristan Miller wrote:
> Greetings.
> 
> On Sun, 11 Jul 2021 12:38:12 +0200, Greg KH
> <gregkh@linuxfoundation.org> wrote:
> > On Sun, Jul 11, 2021 at 10:25:03AM +0200, Tristan Miller wrote:
> > > Many models of Logitech USB webcams malfunction under Linux by
> > > producing audio that sounds distorted, garbled, or high-pitched.
> > > For most users, the problem happens randomly, and can usually be
> > > worked around by restarting the audio application or by unplugging
> > > the webcam and then plugging it back in again.
> > 
> > Please report the information directly here, to this list, and to the
> > sound developers at alsa-devel@alsa-project.org and we can all work to
> > resolve this.
> 
> The problem as I'm currently experiencing it is as follows:
> 
> I have a Logitech C270 USB webcam running on openSUSE Tumbleweed for
> x86_64 with the 5.13.0 kernel.  Sometimes audio recorded by the
> camera's built-in microphone sounds artificially high-pitched and
> garbled.  I've experienced this with lots of different applications,
> including arecord, Skype, and various browser-based videoconferencing
> software running in Firefox or Chromium.  The problem occurs rarely
> (maybe once every 30 times I use the webcam microphone) and seemingly
> at random; restarting the audio application or unplugging the webcam
> and plugging it back in again usually works around the issue.  So
> unfortunately I can't reliably reproduce the problem.  I haven't
> noticed any errors in the system logs but then again am not sure exactly
> what to look for and where. I've been experiencing this problem at
> least as far back as kernel 4.13.12.
> 
> Some further details (more available on request):
> 
> # uname -a
> Linux butterfield.nothingisreal.com 5.13.0-1-default #1 SMP Fri Jul 2 05:54:32 UTC 2021 (aa40472) x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
> 
> # lsusb -s 001:004 -v |head -17
> Bus 001 Device 004: ID 046d:0825 Logitech, Inc. Webcam C270
> Device Descriptor:
>   bLength                18
>   bDescriptorType         1
>   bcdUSB               2.00
>   bDeviceClass          239 Miscellaneous Device
>   bDeviceSubClass         2 
>   bDeviceProtocol         1 Interface Association
>   bMaxPacketSize0        64
>   idVendor           0x046d Logitech, Inc.
>   idProduct          0x0825 Webcam C270
>   bcdDevice            0.10
>   iManufacturer           0 
>   iProduct                0 
>   iSerial                 2 6457F4D0
>   bNumConfigurations
> 
> Previous reports which apparently cover the same problem:

Some additional details about these bug reports:

> https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=35922

This is a completely different bug, which was fixed back in 2011.

> https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=44281

This report mentions three separate bugs, the first of which was 
fixed in 2012.  The bug discussed here is the third one in the 
report.

> https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=105081

This is a repeat of the second bug in #44281.

> https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=203763

This is the same as the bug discussed here.

> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/459445

This is the same as the second bug in #44281.

> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/843431

At first glance this seems to be the same as the bug discussed here, 
but this one was fixed in 2011.

> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/884210

This is the same as the second bug in #44281.

> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1018020

This seems to be a combination of the first and second bugs in 
#44281.

The rest of these appear to be mixtures of the bugs mentioned above.

> https://bugzilla.suse.com/show_bug.cgi?id=736093
> https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=729269
> https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=742010
> https://bugs.archlinux.org/task/26528
> https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=121607
> https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=236056
> https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=237677

Alan Stern