Bug#718825: linux-image-3.10-1-amd64: Sound freezes when using usb audio card

[Steve Cotton <steve@s.cotton.clara.co.uk>]

On Mon, Aug 05, 2013 at 11:30:26PM +0200, Sergheu Mihai wrote:
> Since a couple on months, I'm using an external usb sound card(Scarlett
> Focusrite 2i2) for some audio production.
> 
> I use it mainly with jackd, zynaddsubfx, fluidsynth.
> 
> Constantly I face some sound freezes when using the card and the kernel reports
> me the following:
> [89828.051969] cannot submit urb (err = -18)
> [89828.051974] cannot submit urb (err = -18)
> [89828.051982] cannot submit urb (err = -18)
> [89828.051988] cannot submit urb (err = -18)

Hi Sergheu,

In this context errno 18 (EXADEV) could mean that audio data is
arriving at the USB stack too late.  I'm wondering if it's simply
that the userland programs can't keep up.

Was it working correctly when you first bought it, and if so,
which is the last kernel version that it worked on?

Does it freeze when playing simple audio (.wav files for
example)?

Using the synth programs, are you just playing back prerecorded
sounds?  Are you using it as a live musical instrument (pressing
buttons and needing the sound to change immediately)?

What's the load / cpu usage on your laptop just before the sound
freezes?

Could you try turning off swap (to eliminate a cause of latency)?

>From the hardware, I'm guessing it's an old laptop.  Please could
you retest on a more powerful PC?

Regards,
Steve