Score:2

High Fidelity Playback stopped working on Airpods

nz flag

I have recently installed Ubuntu so I'm sorry if I made any obvious mistake! I installed 22.04 yesterday and my Bluetooth headsets (AirPods) worked fine.

I saw that 22.10 was available so I installed it. After one hour of use, they stopped working. By that I mean, High Fidelity Playback works for half a second when paired then doesn't output any sound. However, Hands-Free mode still plays sound (just really badly).

I've completely reinstalled Ubuntu with 23.04, but they wouldn't work at all. I haven't been able to get them working on 23.04. I've tried repairing them on Ubuntu, also reset the AirPods themselves, and they work fine everywhere - just not on an Ubuntu version higher than 22.04.

Update: I have tried Ubuntu 23.10 and it works now! It completely fixed the issue.

Nmath avatar
ng flag
Ubuntu 22.10 and Ubuntu 23.04 are interim releases. Interim releases are considered to be experimental and are only supported for 9 months after release. Ubuntu 22.04 LTS is a stable long term support release that has five years of support. For most people, LTS releases are a better choice and will offer better support and stability unless you have very new hardware. If your hardware works on the LTS and not interim releases, then I suggest using the LTS release. Ubuntu 22.04 will be supported for much much longer than the other two.
waltinator avatar
it flag
Your Question contains no information that would help us help you. Please read https://askubuntu.com/help/how-to-ask and https://askubuntu.com/help/formatting
Aramnoj avatar
nz flag
Thought so too. I really liked 22.10/23.04's new features though. Seems like I have to downgrade :( @Nmath Thank you for your comment
guiverc avatar
cn flag
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS was a LTS release thus had kernel stack choices; you didn't provide any clues as to what stack you were using (ie. original 5.15 kernel which is the GA or most *stable* option), or 5.19 HWE for newer *drivers*); 22.10 uses the 5.19 kernel & 23.04 uses the 6.2 kernel (22.04 will get that on 22.04.3 if using HWE). I consider non-LTS releases as equally *stable* unlike how I read @Nmath's comment, however yes things are tried, those items may not always be ideal & get *dropped* for next release... Extra care is made on LTS releases (*less chance given its supported for longer*)
Aramnoj avatar
nz flag
I don't know what stack I was using on 22.04 since everything was working, I didn't investigate anything. This issue showed up on 22.10 but I didn't bother to check anything because the update process started failing and it was shooting internal errors on 22.10, then the audio stopped working, so I was sure I did something wrong and just installed the latest version of Ubuntu. However the audio issue is still present @guiverc
guiverc avatar
cn flag
FYI: I don't think you did anything wrong, if your 22.04 install was a Desktop install you'll likely have been using the HWE kernel stack (Ubuntu 22.04 LTS Desktop ISOs default to HWE, Ubuntu 22.04 LTS Server default to GA kernel stack). A command `uname -r` will tell you what kernel you're using where only the two first numbers matter (6.2 is mine from `6.2.0-21-generic`) which is what I was talking about regard kernel stack; 22.04 being LTS had more than a single option (22.10 & 23.04 only one stack not counting OEM I'm ignoring too for LTS).. ie. more options exist for LTS; less risk...
guiverc avatar
cn flag
I can't help with bluetooth, sorry have no experience with it.. so you'll have to wait for others. What are commonly called *drivers* are usually kernel modules; thus changing kernel stack (*which changes of course kernel modules aka drivers*) can improve things.. LTS has its advantages which maybe was covered by @Nmath's *stable* comment; to me both are *stable* just more risk in the non-LTS does exist. Wait for others to help with your bluetooth issue. FYI: You can re-install a Desktop system non-destructively if you wish to return to 22.04 (re-use partitions without format)
Aramnoj avatar
nz flag
Ah, alright. Thank you so much! I will return to LTS since this is working there. I am curious if there is any place where I can report this if this is an actual issue? Since it does not work straight out of the box on 23.04 and neither with any more updates. I think it actually might be an update to something that caused this as I remember on 22.10 doing a kernel/linux base update that killed the audio after a restart @guiverc
guiverc avatar
cn flag
Refer https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs to reporting bugs, ie. you use `ubuntu-bug linux` to report bugs on the linux kernel (ie. `linux` is the package you file against). When you download an ISO there is a manifest file (https://releases.ubuntu.com/23.04/ubuntu-23.04-desktop-amd64.manifest for 23.04 Desktop) which shows the packages enclosed on the ISO though as by selecting some options at install not all maybe installed. Please report the issue; & provide as much detail as you can.. Don't worry about making mistakes, attempts are valued! Thanks for helping make Ubuntu better
guiverc avatar
cn flag
This is just FYI.. but if it changes after an update (*it may only become evident after next logout/login or even reboot often, reboot if kernel related*) you can view `/var/log/apt/history.log` to see what changed.. which allows you to provide additional details on what likely caused it etc.. That is detail useful in helping you to resolve issues too (ie. *if you know what the issue is, you can look for alternatives as they are usually many in the open source world*). Knowing when is of course useful in reading log file & what changes..
Score:1
br flag

I've had a similar issue with my JBL TUNE 230 Earbuds.

They worked perfect in Ubuntu 22.4. After upgrading to Ubuntu 23.4 the audio connection became unstable.

I've observed the following issues after the upgrade:

  • Default audio profile/sound-setting is 'headset'. There is no option to select the high-definition profile anymore.
  • The earbuds disconnect every 2-5 minutes. It most cases one of the 2 disconnects first, and about a minute later the other one disconnects. Once disconnected, it switches on the laptop speakers. About 30 sec later, the headset reconnects.

I managed to solve this by purging and reinstalling the Alsa and Pulse Bluetooth config files.

You can do this by following reinstall command:

sudo apt-get purge bluez-alsa-utils pulseaudio-module-bluetooth ;
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