Talk:FAQ - Error while opening sound device

Peter 24Oct11: I have moved the discussion thread from the main page to its associated talk page here.

Peter 16-17Oct11: I have put this draft response to one of the pending FAQs in the manual. It keeps cropping up on the forum and the information on it in the Wiki is in different places and is somewhat hard to find (it took me a fair bit od research in the Wiki). Also there is currently nowhere in the Wiki that I would want to point a user at (the main information is in the section on overdubbing, but that is by far not the only cause of this error). So I thought I would take a stab at piecing together the best bits of advice from the Wiki and edting/reformatting to make this draft page. You can see the original Wiki research material on the talk page of this page. To some extent I am "flying blind" here as I have never had this error nor can I provoke it on either of my two XP systems. So I would appreciate any editorial input from other manual editors who have actual experience of this.

Gale 17Oct11: Thanks, Peter. I agree this is probably wanted. I already have text that I use myself when answering this on feedback@, but I just haven't had time to make it a formal FAQ or consider if this is the best approach. I would want to approve the content of this FAQ myself before it gets published, so if this page goes dead, drop me a line to make sure we make a decision on it.

The main thing that currently seems to be missing here is I think the reason for at least half the reports i.e. no actual recording devices (empty Device Toolbar) on Vista and 7. By default, Vista/7 will only have mic enabled as recording device and if the mic is not enabled either (or seen by the OS as "not connected") then this error will occur. So they have to go to Sound and enable devices just like if they want stereo mix. The error can likewise also occur if they have the sound device disabled (bad drivers could initialise it like that) or no sound device at all e.g. upgrade from XP > Win 7 on the same machine but don't install the sound device.

Another problem with this FAQ is that there are so many possible causes that without a prior assumption as to OS it simply becomes unreadable or out of all proportion to length of other FAQs. One thing I was wondering if it would be better to just summarise here and link to a Wiki page for the heavy content (maybe having images thereon).

Also given the potential complexity of this, I feel some users will need so much handholding one step at a time on Forum that going in to great detail here could simply be superfluous. We need some content but it's very hard to get the level of detail correct.


 * Peter 17Oct11: Indeed Gale, the length of this FAQ response has been worrying me too. I agree that it probably needs a page of its own, linked to from a brief response to the FAQ in the manual. The question remains: should such a page be in the manual or in the Wiki?  The Wiki as it current is far from satisfactory - as you can see from my research on the talk page the mian entry in the Wiki is under "Overdubbed recording drifts out-of-sync, or produces error or poor quality"on the "Troubleshooting Recordings" page.  Not only is this not really a suitable place to send most folk who have this probe, but the information on that section of the page is poorly structured (I had to reformat the layout and order in which the material was presented for this page - hence the revised formatting here).  If we opted for the Wiki than I suppose we could addd an entry to the "Troubleshooting Recordings" page, it seems the logical place.  I have a minor preference for creating a Manual page - I know the Wiki is now edititable only by a closed group, but we still have less control over the Wiki content than we do over the manual.
 * Peter 17Oct11: "I would want to approve the content of this FAQ myself before it gets published"  Of course Gale, that's a given.
 * Peter 17Oct11: "I already have text that I use myself when answering this on feedback@" Gale can you please place a copy of that text onto the talk page of this page with my other research.
 * Gale: 19Oct11: You mean the Overdubbed recording drifts out-of-sync, or produces error or poor quality question is poorly structured? It's a hard one, because it has a lot of ground to cover; there are almost as many reasons overdub recordings can be unsatisfactory as "error opening" can occur. Please make some suggestions if you have any. My current idea is for a Wiki page "Error and Warning Messages", even though probably the majority of people seeing "error opening sound device" will experience recording rather than playback failure. It would indeed be a bit odd to have a detailed, separate "error opening" section in "Troubleshooting Recordings" as well as mention it in "Overdubbed...". OTOH many people who are overdubbing will only see the error when overdubbing, not when it is off. So I would be reluctant to remove "error opening" from "Overdubbed...". ATM I tend to prefer Wiki as I think the most significant reasons of all for the problem are Vista/7, and the current best place to send those users is http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Mixer_Toolbar_Issues#vistacp. I'm fine with people adding quick, obvious FAQs without my approval, given how long it would take me to do it - it's only the complex ones like this where I would like to keep an eye on it.  Have added my text to the talk page.
 * Peter 19Oct11: I mean that although the Overdubbed recording drifts out-of-sync, or produces error or poor quality is probably structured ok for what it is trying to achieve (as stated in its title) - it is very poorly structured for answering the question "Why do I get "Error Opening Sound Device ...", which is why I restructured the information into the layout on this draft page. I would not want to point someone who asked the "Error Opening Sound Device..." to the Overdub problems page in The Wiki.  (Aside: I'm hoping that the draft Tutorial that Koz is currently working on for overdub recordings may address some of the overdub issues much better.)
 * Peter 19Oct11: I am not really in favour of a new Wiki page for "Error and Warning Messages". There are a lot of these and it seems like making a very big rod for our own backs, though we could restrict orselves to the tricky killer bugs like EWOSD. I would be reasonably happy with the the information staying on the Wiki, but my current preference would be to add the "Error Opening Sound Device" to the Troubleshooting Recordings Wiki page.  If we are going to be having a new page for "Error and Warning Messages",then surely it would belong better in the manual as we would be documenting the error reporting features of an Audacity release and how to deal with those errors?
 * Peter 19Oct11: "Have added my text to the talk page." Thanks for that Gale, I can work on melding your stuff with the draft content I already have on this page.  One of the advantages of keeping this in the manual would be that we only have to deal with the latest Beta - we don't have to document advice for 1.3.9 or 1.2 so we could prune some of the text from your canned response.  When we get the EWOSD error on the forum, our first reaction is to tell them to upgrade to the latest Beta anyway, so pointing them to a page/section on EWOSD relevant to that latest Beta (technically the latest Alpha, I know) in the manual would be appropriate.
 * Peter 20Oct11: I have incorporated your canned responses into the draft response on this page, melding it with the previous material. I have re-structed and re-ordered it and put in some structured headings - but you should still be able to recognize your material and see tha 95% of it is now contained on this page.  The section that still needs a little work is the Windows 7 & Vista section.  Material is repeated in there from what I copied in earlier from the Wiki and that which you provided.  I can't work out which expresses it best.  Plus I don't follow what you mean when you say "Make sure you use the right-click menu and put a checkmark ..." use the right click menu where precisely?  Since this dialog editornote is now growing very long should I now transfer it to the talk page?
 * Peter 21Oct11: I've done some more work on the W7/Vista section today - it still needs a bit more tidying up. I plan to test this against a W7 machine on Sunday.
 * Peter 23Oct11: Tested the W7/Vista section aginst a 7 laptop today and accordingly made several edits - nearly ready to go.

Notes gleaned from searches of the existing documentation
I plan to use these as the basis of the original draft.

From the "Linux Issues" page in the Wiki
even when no other device is using the soundcard, and your permissions are correct, it simply means there's a problem with your Audacity settings. You may have a sample rate selected that your soundcard does not support. You can alter this by changing the Project Rate at the bottom left of the Audacity window. If you receive the "check the input device settings" message, try setting the "recording channels" in the Audio I/O tab of Preferences to mono or stereo, and if you are recording something playing on the computer, turn off "software playthrough".

From the Release Notes 1.3.13
From the Release Notes 1.3.13 (and at least as far back as 1.3.7) in the Wiki: (Mac OS X) Very occasionally, users may find that recording causes "error opening sound device", or that after running Audacity, other media players don't produce any sound, or crash: to resolve this, set up your sound device in Apple Audio MIDI Setup to work in stereo, 16-bit, with a sample rate of 44100 Hz or 48000 Hz, and set the sample format and rate identically in Audacity. More help at: http://audacityteam.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=5064

Gale's canned e-mail response
Your issue is almost certainly a configuration problem, not a bug. But if you do write here to report what you think might be a bug, please always state:


 * what operating system you are using (for example, Windows XP or Mac OS X 10.5.1)


 * exactly what three-digit version number of Audacity you are using (Help > About Audacity, or Audacity > About Audacity on a Mac computer)

The usual causes and solutions of this input error are below. Please read the parts relevant to yourself.

Check at Edit > Preferences: Audio I/O tab (or Devices tab in Audacity Beta) that the playback and recording devices are correctly and explicitly selected. Don't select "Microsoft Sound Mapper" or "Primary Sound Driver" if you are on Windows. Note: on a Mac computer, Preferences are in the "Audacity" menu.

If you are recording something playing on the computer, try turning off both the "Play other tracks while recording" and "Software Playthrough (play new track while recording it)" options in the Audio I/O tab of Preferences (Recording Preferences in Audacity Beta). Software Playthrough should never be enabled when recording sounds playing on the computer.

Try changing the Project Rate at bottom left of the Audacity window: 44100 Hz or 48000 Hz should work in almost any playback or recording situation.

If you are using Audacity 1.3.9 and have Device Toolbar enabled, make sure that the Host (for example, Windows MME) is the same for both playback and recording devices. This is fixed in 1.3.10 and later; please consider upgrading to the current Beta: http://web.audacityteam.org/download/

If problems persist, exit Audacity and go to the system mixer to list and/or enable the correct recording device. For Windows, look at the appropriate instructions here: http://wiki.audacityteam.org/index.php?title=Mixer_Toolbar_Issues#cp

If you are trying to record streaming audio, look carefully at the green panel in that link that says "HELP WITH RECORDING COMPUTER PLAYBACK OR STREAMING AUDIO".

Then scroll down on that page to see the Windows 7/Vista and XP system mixers.

If you are on Windows Vista or 7, please use Audacity Beta: http://web.audacityteam.org/download/beta_windows

Then make sure you use the right-click menu and put a checkmark in "Show Disabled Devices" and "Show Disconnected Devices". Then right-click over each device you may want to record with and choose "Enable" if this is visible. For the device you want to record with now, you can optionally right-click again over it and "Set as Default Device". For a physical microphone, it's recommended to also set it as "Default Communication Device". Then right-click again over the required device and hit Properties. On the "Advanced" tab, make sure the "Default format" matches both with the Project Rate you chose in Audacity, and with the number of "recording channels" in the Devices tab of Audacity Preferences. Or again on the "Advanced" tab, check both "Exclusive Mode" boxes, ensure you choose an Audacity project rate that your device supports, then in the Audacity "Devices" Preferences, choose "Windows DirectSound" as "Host". See more information at: http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Windows_7_OS#sample_rates

If you are on Mac OS X, click Mac hard disk > Applications > Utilities > Audio MIDI Setup. On the "Audio Devices" tab, make sure the "Default Input" is set to the device you want to record with. In the "Format" boxes, match the sample rate in Hz with the Project Rate you chose in Audacity. Match the number of channels you are recording with that shown in the Audacity Preferences.

For all operating systems, if you are recording with an external USB/Firewire interface or a high-end PCI card, you must similarly match the recording sample rate and number of channels in all places (the Audacity Project Rate, the system mixer and any software or hardware control panel the sound device may have).

Always make sure your sound device has the latest drivers specific to your particular computer model and operating system, as supplied by the device or motherboard manufacturer. See: http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Updating_Sound_Device_Drivers

If you need any help with the above, please register and ask on the Forum, posting your question to the correct board for your operating system and version of Audacity: http://forum.audacityteam.org/

From the Wiki Page Troubleshooting Recordings
See this section of the article in the Wiki, part of it applies to this FAQ: http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Troubleshooting_Recordings#Overdubbed_recording_drifts_out-of-sync.2C_or_produces_error_or_poor_quality

Overdubbed recording drifts out-of-sync, or produces error or poor quality
If you are overdubbing a recording while playing previous tracks, conflicts between the sample rate of the tracks being played and recorded are possible. There may be "error opening sound device" when starting the overdubbed recording, or the newly recorded track may gradually become more and more out-of-synchronization with the beat of the existing tracks, or may be of poor quality. To fix this, try the following:


 * Use the same device for playback and recording (not a USB device for recording and the computer sound device for playback or vice versa)
 * Set the project rate bottom left of the Audacity screen to 44100 Hz (or if your soundcard only uses a particular rate such as 48000 Hz, set the project rate to that). Look at in Audacity Beta to see the rates the device claims to support.
 * If you are on Windows Vista or Windows 7, set the Audacity project rate to the same rate as the Default Format for your sound device. To view the "Default Format", go to the system mixer, select the Playback" and "Recording" tabs in turn, right-click over a device entry > Properties, and look in the "Advanced" tab. If the playback and recording format rates are different, make them the same. Also make sure the number of recording channels set in the Audacity Preferences matches with that specified in Default Format. If problems persist, try playing the audio in an application other than Audacity. Try using Audacity Beta if you are not already doing so, choosing Windows DirectSound as the "host" at, and on the "Advanced" tab of "Sound" as above, ensuring both boxes for Exclusive Mode are checked.
 * Make sure the rate of the pre-existing tracks (as stated above the mute/solo buttons) is the same as the project rate. Select each track and click ( in Audacity Beta) to resample the track to the project rate.
 * Ensure your computer sound device has up-to-date drivers specifically intended for your particular computer model and operating system, as provided by the motherboard or sound device manufacturer. Driver problems can cause speed and other recording issues.
 * If you are recording with a USB or Firewire interface, sample rates and number of recording channels must be the same everywhere. Match the Audacity project rate and the number of recording channels set in the Audacity preferences with those specified:
 * in the Windows Control Panel or Apple Audio MIDI Setup
 * in any software control panel the device has
 * on any hardware control the device has