Playback fails every other time a track tries to play
Author: biappiCreated Sep 5, 2026Updated Sep 8, 2026
Describe the bug In my setup I see that the first track I play works flawlessly. Then I try to play another track and I got no audio, but full control reporting, the next track I try to play then works flawlessly again, and so on.
I've seen this behaviour with different backends and frontends, Iris, MPD clients, YouTube and local files, so I think it points to an issue in Mopidy itself.
How to reproduce Queue a track, notice it plays and the frontends report correct information like play status and elapsed time, Queue another track, notice that there's no sound, but the frontends still report play status and elapsed time as the track would be playing, Repeat.
Expected behaviour Tracks should play every time.
Environment
- Operating system: both Debian Trixie and Debian Bookworm
- Running Mopidy in the terminal
- Your config (output of
sudo mopidyctl config)
[core]
cache_dir = $XDG_CACHE_DIR/mopidy
config_dir = $XDG_CONFIG_DIR/mopidy
data_dir = $XDG_DATA_DIR/mopidy
max_tracklist_length = 10000
restore_state = false
[logging]
verbosity = 2
format = %(levelname)-8s %(asctime)s [%(process)d:%(threadName)s] %(name)s -- %(message)s
color = true
config_file =
[audio]
mixer = software
mixer_volume =
output = alsasink
buffer_time =
[proxy]
scheme =
hostname =
port =
username =
password =
[file]
enabled = true
media_dirs =
/home/willy/z/Manticore/MusicLibrary2
excluded_file_extensions =
.directory
.html
.jpeg
.jpg
.log
.nfo
.pdf
.png
.txt
.zip
show_dotfiles = false
follow_symlinks = false
metadata_timeout = 1000
[http]
enabled = true
hostname = 0.0.0.0
port = 6680
zeroconf = Mopidy HTTP server on $hostname
allowed_origins =
csrf_protection = false
default_app = mopidy
[iris]
enabled = true
country = NZ
locale = en_NZ
verify_certificates = true
snapcast_enabled = true
snapcast_host = localhost
snapcast_port = 1780
snapcast_ssl = false
snapcast_stream = Default
spotify_authorization_url = https://jamesbarnsley.co.nz/iris/auth_spotify.php
lastfm_authorization_url = https://jamesbarnsley.co.nz/iris/auth_lastfm.php
genius_authorization_url = https://jamesbarnsley.co.nz/iris/auth_genius.php
data_dir = $XDG_DATA_DIR/iris
[local]
enabled = false ; Extension stopped due to config errors
max_search_results = 100
media_dir = ; Unexpanded '$...' in path '$xdg_music_dir'
scan_timeout = 1000
scan_flush_threshold = 100
scan_follow_symlinks = false
included_file_extensions =
excluded_file_extensions =
.cue
.directory
.html
.jpeg
.jpg
.log
.nfo
.pdf
.png
.txt
.zip
directories =
Albums local:directory?type=album
Artists local:directory?type=artist
Composers local:directory?type=artist&role=composer
Genres local:directory?type=genre
Performers local:directory?type=artist&role=performer
Release Years local:directory?type=date&format=%25Y
Tracks local:directory?type=track
Last Week's Updates local:directory?max-age=604800
Last Month's Updates local:directory?max-age=2592000
timeout = 10
use_artist_sortname = false
album_art_files =
*.jpg
*.jpeg
*.png
[m3u]
enabled = false ; Extension stopped due to config errors
base_dir = ; Unexpanded '$...' in path '$xdg_music_dir'
default_encoding = latin-1
default_extension = .m3u8
playlists_dir =
[mpd]
enabled = true
hostname = 0.0.0.0
port = 6600
password =
max_connections = 20
connection_timeout = 60
zeroconf = Mopidy MPD server on $hostname
command_blacklist =
listall
listallinfo
default_playlist_scheme = m3u
[softwaremixer]
enabled = true
[stream]
enabled = true
protocols =
http
https
mms
rtmp
rtmps
rtsp
metadata_blacklist =
timeout = 5000
[youtube]
enabled = true
allow_cache = true
youtube_api_key =
search_results = 15
playlist_max_videos = 20
api_enabled = false
channel_id =
musicapi_enabled = false
musicapi_browser_authentication_file =
musicapi_cookiefile =
autoplay_enabled = false
strict_autoplay = false
max_autoplay_length = 600
max_degrees_of_separation = 3
youtube_dl_package = youtube_dl- Software versions (output of
sudo mopidyctl deps)
Executable: /home/willy/.local/bin/mopidy
Platform: Linux-6.12.107+deb13-amd64-x86_64-with-glibc2.41
Python: CPython 3.13.5 from /usr/lib/python3.13
mopidy: 4.0.2 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
cyclopts: 4.24.0 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
attrs: 26.1.0 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
docstring-parser: 0.18.0 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
rich-rst: 2.1.0 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
rich: 15.0.0 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
markdown-it-py: 4.2.0 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
mdurl: 0.1.2 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
pygments: 2.21.0 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
tomli: 2.0.1 from /usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/setuptools/_vendor
typing-extensions: 4.16.0 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
httpx: 0.28.1 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
anyio: 4.15.0 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
exceptiongroup: not found
idna: 3.19 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
typing_extensions: 4.16.0 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
certifi: 2026.7.22 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
httpcore: 1.0.9 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
h11: 0.16.0 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
platformdirs: 4.3.7 from /usr/lib/python3/dist-packages
pydantic: 2.13.5 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
annotated-types: 0.8.0 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
pydantic-core: 2.46.5 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
typing-inspection: 0.4.4 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
pygobject: 3.58.0 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
pycairo: 1.29.1 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
pykka: 4.4.2 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
rich: 15.0.0 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
tornado: 6.5.8 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
mopidy-iris: 3.70.0 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
mopidy: 4.0.2 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
pykka: 4.4.2 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
setuptools: 78.1.1 from /usr/lib/python3/dist-packages
packaging: 25.0 from /usr/lib/python3/dist-packages
mopidy-local: 4.0.1 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
mopidy: 4.0.2 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
pykka: 4.4.2 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
uritools: 6.1.3 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
mopidy-mpd: 4.0.1 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
mopidy: 4.0.2 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
pygobject: 3.58.0 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
pykka: 4.4.2 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
mopidy-youtube: 4.0.2 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
beautifulsoup4: 4.15.0 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
soupsieve: 2.9.2 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
cachetools: 7.1.8 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
mopidy: 4.0.2 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
pykka: 4.4.2 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
requests: 2.34.2 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
charset_normalizer: 3.5.1 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
urllib3: 2.7.0 from /home/willy/.local/pipx/venvs/mopidy/lib/python3.13/site-packages
setuptools: 78.1.1 from /usr/lib/python3/dist-packages
GStreamer: 1.26.2.0
Available elements:
uridecodebin: 1.26.2
souphttpsrc: 1.26.2
alsasink: 1.26.2
osssink: 1.26.2
oss4sink: 1.26.2
pulsesink: 1.26.2
id3demux: 1.26.2
id3v2mux: 1.26.2
lamemp3enc: 1.26.2
mpegaudioparse: 1.26.2
mpg123audiodec: 1.26.2
vorbisdec: 1.26.2
vorbisenc: 1.26.2
vorbisparse: 1.26.2
oggdemux: 1.26.2
oggmux: 1.26.2
oggparse: 1.26.2
flacdec: 1.26.2
flacparse: 1.26.2
shout2send: 1.26.2
Missing elements:
spotifyaudiosrc
flump3dec
mad- Any specific hardware: this is a VirtualBox vm.
Additional context
Here are the mopidy.audio._gst logs.
Starting up
12:20:44 INFO INFO 2026-09-05 12:20:44,950 [55254:GstAudio-1] mopidy.audio._gst -- Audio output set to "alsasink" Playing first track
12:20:59 DEBUG DEBUG 2026-09-05 12:20:59,991 [55254:GstAudio-1] mopidy.audio._gst -- Flags: 2
12:21:00 DEBUG DEBUG 2026-09-05 12:21:00,014 [55254:GstAudio-1] mopidy.audio._gst -- Running source-setup callback
DEBUG DEBUG 2026-09-05 12:21:00,155 [55254:MainThread] mopidy.audio._gst -- Audio event: stream_changed(uri='file:///home/willy/z/Manticore/MusicLibrary2/Alarm%20Will%20Sound/Acoustica_%20Alarm%20Will%20Sound%20Performs%20Aphex%20Twin/10%20Cliffs.mp3')
DEBUG DEBUG 2026-09-05 12:21:00,159 [55254:Dummy-2] mopidy.audio._gst -- Audio event: position_changed(position=0)
DEBUG DEBUG 2026-09-05 12:21:00,189 [55254:MainThread] mopidy.audio._gst -- Audio event: tags_changed(tags=['title', 'artist', 'album', 'datetime', 'track-number', 'container-format', 'composer', 'track-count', 'encoded-by', 'private-id3v2-frame',
'copyright', 'image', 'extended-comment', 'genre'])
DEBUG DEBUG 2026-09-05 12:21:00,200 [55254:MainThread] mopidy.audio._gst -- Audio event: tags_changed(tags=['has-crc', 'channel-mode', 'audio-codec'])
DEBUG DEBUG 2026-09-05 12:21:00,239 [55254:MainThread] mopidy.audio._gst -- Audio event: state_changed(old_state=stopped, new_state=playing, target_state=None)
DEBUG DEBUG 2026-09-05 12:21:00,252 [55254:MainThread] mopidy.audio._gst -- Audio event: tags_changed(tags=['minimum-bitrate', 'maximum-bitrate', 'bitrate'])
DEBUG DEBUG 2026-09-05 12:21:00,257 [55254:MainThread] mopidy.audio._gst -- Audio event: tags_changed(tags=['minimum-bitrate']) Playing second track
12:21:07 DEBUG DEBUG 2026-09-05 12:21:07,639 [55254:GstAudio-1] mopidy.audio._gst -- Flags: 2
DEBUG DEBUG 2026-09-05 12:21:07,670 [55254:GstAudio-1] mopidy.audio._gst -- Running source-setup callback
DEBUG DEBUG 2026-09-05 12:21:07,724 [55254:GstAudio-1] mopidy.audio._gst -- Position query failed
DEBUG DEBUG 2026-09-05 12:21:07,770 [55254:Dummy-3] mopidy.audio._gst -- Audio event: position_changed(position=0)
DEBUG DEBUG 2026-09-05 12:21:07,781 [55254:MainThread] mopidy.audio._gst -- Audio event:
stream_changed(uri='file:///home/willy/z/Manticore/MusicLibrary2/Alarm%20Will%20Sound/Acoustica_%20Alarm%20Will%20Sound%20Performs%20Aphex%20Twin/06%20Gwely%20Mernans.mp3')
DEBUG DEBUG 2026-09-05 12:21:07,797 [55254:MainThread] mopidy.audio._gst -- Audio event: tags_changed(tags=['title', 'artist', 'album', 'datetime', 'comment', 'track-number', 'genre', 'container-format', 'composer', 'track-count', 'encoded-by',
'private-id3v2-frame', 'copyright', 'extended-comment', 'image'])
DEBUG DEBUG 2026-09-05 12:21:07,799 [55254:MainThread] mopidy.audio._gst -- Audio event: tags_changed(tags=['has-crc', 'channel-mode', 'audio-codec'])
DEBUG DEBUG 2026-09-05 12:21:07,834 [55254:MainThread] mopidy.audio._gst -- Audio event: state_changed(old_state=playing, new_state=playing, target_state=None)
DEBUG DEBUG 2026-09-05 12:21:07,849 [55254:MainThread] mopidy.audio._gst -- Audio event: tags_changed(tags=['minimum-bitrate', 'maximum-bitrate', 'bitrate']) note that the second time around there is a mopidy.audio._gst -- Position query failed, this is the only difference I did find
`
Source: mopidy/mopidy