Member Avatar for selma_aktra

Hello!

I write a command line program with java on eclipse. I use this code to get a sound from the beep.wav file. But i can not hear anything from the eclipse.

try
		{
			File curdir = new File (".");
			File soundFile=new File(curdir.getCanonicalPath() + "\\beep.wav");
			Clip clip = AudioSystem.getClip();
			AudioInputStream inputStream = AudioSystem.getAudioInputStream(soundFile);
			clip.open(inputStream);
			clip.start();
			clip.start();
			clip.start();
		}
		catch(Exception e)
		{
			System.out.println("error: " + e.toString());
		}

When i use beep.mp3 it gives me file is not supported format exception. But with wav i don't get any error.

So why it does not play any sound?

Thank you!

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by selma_aktra

Dani AI

Generated

— short checklist and focused fixes based on the thread: your Windows code shows the right API usage, but Linux introduces two common failure modes: (1) the JVM/JavaSound can’t decode certain audio encodings (MP3 and some compressed WAV encodings aren’t supported by default), and (2) the OS sound stack or mixer/sink may be unavailable or muted. See Oracle’s Java Sound notes for format limits. (Also: was correct that MP3 isn’t supported out of the box.) Java Sound formats/troubleshooting.

Quick OS-level checks (do these first)

  • Confirm the OS can play the file outside Java: try paplay beep.wav (PulseAudio) or aplay beep.wav (ALSA). If those don’t produce sound, fix system audio first (volume, pavucontrol, ALSA mixer). paplay manpage · aplay.
  • Make sure no other daemon has the device open exclusively (Oracle’s TSG notes this can happen on Linux).

Java-side checks and small diagnostics

  • Enumerate available mixers and confirm a Clip is coming from a real output mixer (use AudioSystem.getMixerInfo()). AudioSystem API.
  • Print the file’s AudioFileFormat to confirm it’s PCM (Java likes 16-bit PCM WAV). If the WAV contains compressed data, Java may not be able to render it even though no exception was thrown earlier.
  • Avoid short fixed sleeps (your Thread.sleep(800)); Clip.start() is non-blocking. Wait for the clip to finish with a LineListener or by polling clip.isRunning() so the JVM doesn’t close the line before playback finishes. See the Java tutorial on using LineListener. Playing Back Audio / LineEvents.

If format is the problem

Tiebacks: ’s path advice is useful (confirm the file is where you think it is), and ’s MP3 note is correct — follow the OS checks and Java-side diagnostics above to narrow whether it’s a system mixer, file encoding, or JVM‑wait issue.

Recommended Answers

All 3 Replies

Member Avatar for turt2live

Instead of this:

File curdir = new File (".");
File soundFile=new File(curdir.getCanonicalPath() + "\\beep.wav");

try this:

File soundFile = new File(System.getProperty("user.dir") + "\\beep.wav");

As well make sure that "beep.wav" is spelled correctly, it is case sensitive including the extension. (as far as Java is concerned .WAV is different from .wav)

Edited by turt2live because: n/a
Member Avatar for stultuske

as for the exception, java doesn't support mp3 by default, you would need to get (or write :) ) packages that do that for you.

wav files don't give errors, because they are supported

Member Avatar for selma_aktra

I research it again.

try
		{
			File curdir = new File (".");
			File soundFile=new File(curdir.getCanonicalPath() + "//beep.wav");
			AudioInputStream stream = AudioSystem.getAudioInputStream(soundFile);      
			DataLine.Info info = new DataLine.Info(Clip.class, stream.getFormat());      
			Clip clip2 = (Clip) AudioSystem.getLine(info);         
			clip2.open(stream);
			clip2.start();
			Thread.sleep(800);
			clip2.close();
		}
		catch(Exception e)
		{
			System.out.println("Can not play the sound file. Error details:" + e.toString());
		}

Now this code works on Windows 7. But it does not work on Linux and it does not give me any error. I just can not hear anything on Linux.

What you suggest?

Thank you!

Edited by selma_aktra because: n/a
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