fix(viewer): run PulseAudio so Qt 6 video plays with audio - #3001
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Debian's Qt 6 Multimedia is compiled with PulseAudio as its only audio backend (libQt6Multimedia.so.6 links libpulse and contains no ALSA code), so without a running PulseAudio server QMediaDevices enumerates zero audio outputs, QAudioOutput keeps a null device, and every video on a Qt 6 board (pi4-64, pi5, x86, arm64) plays silent. The pre-QtMultimedia mpv path talked ALSA directly and needed no sound server, which is why audio regressed with the migration. - ship pulseaudio (+ pulseaudio-utils for field debugging) in the Qt 6 viewer images - start a minimal per-container daemon as the viewer user from start_viewer.sh; the generated config loads one module-alsa-card per /proc/asound/cards entry with name=<alsa card id>, so the pulse sink names embed the ALSA card name and the existing CARD=<name> matching in VideoView::resolveAlsaDevice (HDMI-port auto-detection, hdmi/local audio_output setting) keeps working unchanged on top of pulse - module-udev-detect finds nothing in a container without udevd, which is why the stock default.pa is not used - update the arm64 audio log message: the 'default' device now resolves to the PulseAudio default sink, not ALSA's ~/.asoundrc Validated on a physical Pi 4 (pi4-64 image): vc4hdmi0 PCM reaches RUNNING with 48 kHz IEC958 samples flowing during video playback, and the AnthiasViewer stream attaches to alsa_output.vc4hdmi0.hdmi-stereo. Fixes #3000 Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <[email protected]>
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Pull request overview
Fixes silent audio on Qt 6 viewer images by ensuring a PulseAudio server is available inside the viewer container (required because Debian’s Qt 6 Multimedia build uses PulseAudio as its only audio backend).
Changes:
- Install
pulseaudio(+pulseaudio-utilsforpactldebugging) in Qt 6 viewer images. - Start a minimal per-container PulseAudio daemon as the
vieweruser with a generated config that loads ALSA cards from/proc/asound/cards. - Update arm64 viewer logging/comments to reflect that the “default” audio device resolves via PulseAudio on Qt 6 boards.
Reviewed changes
Copilot reviewed 2 out of 3 changed files in this pull request and generated no comments.
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| tools/image_builder/utils.py | Adds PulseAudio packages to Qt 6 viewer image dependencies. |
| src/anthias_viewer/media_player.py | Updates arm64 audio-device logging/comments to match PulseAudio-backed behavior. |
| bin/start_viewer.sh | Starts a minimal PulseAudio daemon (generated config, ALSA card modules) before launching the viewer. |
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This was referenced Jun 6, 2026
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- CalVer (YYYY.0M.MICRO); still June 2026, micro 1 -> 2 - Ships the Qt 6 video audio fix (#3001) — PulseAudio in the viewer container; videos were silent on pi4-64/pi5/x86/arm64 since the QtMultimedia migration - Adds the arm64/Qt6 pi3-64 board and the Rock Pi 4 fleet (#2985) - Page-load watchdog so a stalled fetch can't freeze the display (#3003), Sentry error tracking for the Django services (#3007) - Redis data persisted to the mounted volume so device identity survives recreation (#2983); unpinner also rolls OS + supervisor updates (#2984) - Streamed backup downloads (#3005), 12-hour AM/PM asset times (#3002), BuildKit frontend via mirror.gcr.io (#3008) Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <[email protected]>
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Hi, I think the issue is still not completely resolved, I installed anthias 7.02 via upgrade from 6.0 on Debian Trixie today, and the sound came on after the Docker setup completed. After the obligatory reboot sound (pulseaudio) failed to start - see attached file from today: See here for the last few days trying to get HDMI Audio working on Debian Trixie and BalenaOS |
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Issues Fixed
Fixes #3000
Description
Debian's Qt 6 Multimedia is compiled with PulseAudio as its only audio backend —
libQt6Multimedia.so.6linkslibpulseand contains no ALSA code. The viewer container runs no sound server, soQMediaDevicesenumerates zero audio outputs,QAudioOutputkeeps a null device, and every video on a Qt 6 board (pi4-64, pi5, x86, arm64) plays silent. The pre-#2905 mpv path talked ALSA directly and needed no sound server, which is why audio regressed with the QtMultimedia migration.pulseaudio(+pulseaudio-utilsfor field debugging viapactl) in the Qt 6 viewer images.start_viewer.shstarts a minimal per-container daemon as thevieweruser. The config is generated (the stockdefault.padetects cards viamodule-udev-detect, which finds nothing in a container without udevd): onemodule-alsa-cardper/proc/asound/cardsentry, loaded withname=<alsa card id>, so pulse sink names embed the ALSA card name (alsa_output.vc4hdmi0.hdmi-stereo). That's exactly theCARD=<name>discriminatorVideoView::resolveAlsaDevicematches against, so the existing HDMI-port auto-detection and the hdmi/localaudio_outputsetting keep working unchanged.GstFbdevMediaPlayerdrivesalsasinkdirectly and their images don't ship pulseaudio.Validated on a physical Pi 4 running the pi4-64 image built from this branch: the stats log
INITline reportsaudio_default=vc4-hdmi-0 Digital Stereo (HDMI)(previously empty), thevc4hdmi0PCM reachesRUNNINGwith 48 kHz IEC958 samples flowing during video playback, the AnthiasViewer stream attaches toalsa_output.vc4hdmi0.hdmi-stereo, andmodule-suspend-on-idlereleases the PCM between clips.Checklist
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