Is there a fix coming for how Teams handles audio in Linux?

Andrew 56 Reputation points
2020-12-08T19:17:47.053+00:00

Every 3rd or 4th time that I use Teams, my audio settings end up totally screwed up. The most annoying one is that the list of available output devices drops the listing for the aux output, and sound is piped out the aux jack and the internal speakers at the same time. I can follow the steps in the following troubleshooting article to reset everything and get the options back to configure things how I would like them, however I have to use the steps in #1B which requires a full reboot. That is insanely annoying when you have multiple tmux sessions and countless tabs open. Aside from this problem I usually go a month or more without needing to restart my machine.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SoundTroubleshootingProcedure

I reset everything and rebooted last night. After a single Teams meeting today, the ability to change my microphone amplifier setting is already lost. At least it isn't outputting on both devices yet and the current mic setting is OK.

I am currently stuck at 16.04 for a little while longer due to dependencies surrounding software that I use at work.

I am on a Dell Precision 7510 with the following chipset if the hardware is related. I am not currently using any external USB attached microphones or webcams:
Audio device: Intel Corporation 100 Series/C230 Series Chipset Family HD Audio Controller (rev 31)

Insanely annoying.

Skype for Business Linux
Skype for Business Linux
Skype for Business: A Microsoft communications service that provides communications capabilities across presence, instant messaging, audio/video calling, and an online meeting experience that includes audio, video, and web conferencing.Linux: A family of open-source Unix-like operating systems.
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  1. Robert Hancock 46 Reputation points
    2021-02-23T16:25:38.327+00:00

    Teams definitely needs a way to make it STOP trying to select the input and output devices it is using and just always use the system defaults, because the way it manages audio device selection is completely broken. It doesn't notice Bluetooth devices that are connected after the app is started, and if you do manage to select a Bluetooth headset, it ends up using it for both input and output, even if you don't want this and explicitly selected another input device. It's ridiculous, no other app behaves in this way. I'm basically forced to use Teams through Chrome instead to avoid this problem.

    8 people found this answer helpful.
  2. simon coleman 36 Reputation points
    2021-04-16T15:50:16.087+00:00

    Ubuntu 20.04,latest kernel & updates
    Teams 1.4.7556

    A Teams restart is required virtually every call/meeting received or sent.
    On restart it is always working.
    This is a terrible defect for an A/V communication product.

    I never have this problem with Zoom (on the same machine). And no, I do not run the two simultaneously as a rule (and the behaviour is no different post-reboot and whether or not I have signed into zoom or not - it is not auto-started)

    4 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  3. nico.deranter 6 Reputation points
    2021-04-08T07:39:03.85+00:00

    Same here with Ubuntu 20.04 and Teams 1.4.00.7556. Even after changing the audio device settings within Teams it still force audio in and out to my bluetooth device when I start a meeting. This is the only Linux app I've ever used that behaves like this.

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  4. Markus 6 Reputation points
    2021-05-04T11:45:52.157+00:00

    Hi!

    1+ on this.
    Host: Linux ThinkPad-T15-Gen-1 5.9.0-050900-generic #202010112230 SMP x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
    Ubtuntu 20.04

    Teams:
    teams/stable,now 1.4.00.7556 amd64 [installed]

    Also tried:
    t1-teams/focal,focal 4.17 all
    teams-insiders/stable 1.4.00.7556 amd64

    All has baiscally the same issue.
    When I connect/disconnect/reconnect a sound device (speaker and/or microphone) teams does not understand what happens and needs to be restarted to be able to work with the current devices.
    Linux picks up the current state without any issues, and so does other applications, both local and in web browser.

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  5. JimmyYang-MSFT 48,551 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor
    2020-12-09T08:04:09.21+00:00

    Hi @Andrew ,

    Thanks for your feedback!

    To clarify this issue, I have some questions need you to answer:

    1. Does anyone else have the same issue in your organization?
    2. To exclude the hardware issue, have you tried to use another applications to see if the audio is normal in it?

    If it is normal in another applications, I believe this issue is more related to Teams client version. In this case, we recommend you try to clean your client cache file and restart it to see if this issue can be fixed. You can run the command:

    rm -r〜/ .config / Microsoft / Microsoft \ Teams

    If the response is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and upvote it.

    Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.