[Bug]: Frigate Audio Detection Breaks When Disabling, then Re-enabling Camera

[jeffmckee]

Checklist

• I have updated to the latest available Frigate version.
• I have cleared the cache of my browser.
• I have tried a different browser to see if it is related to my browser.
• I have tried reproducing the issue in incognito mode to rule out problems with any third party extensions or plugins I have installed.
• I have asked the AI at https://docs.frigate.video about my issue.

Describe the problem you are having

Following up on this reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/frigate_nvr/comments/1r83d9s/audio_debug_stopped_working/, Frigate periodically stops being able to perform audio detection. There is no data shown in the Debug Audio view when this occurs (both 0s), nor does MQTT get updated. Restarting Frigate resolves this issue until the camera is disabled and enabled again, which I believe is the root cause.

Steps to reproduce

1. Periodically, I notice that audio detections are not working, e.g. my cameras do not detect baby crying when prior to 0.17 they detected crying with 100% accuracy.
2. In an attempt to debug, went to camera debug audio view and noticed that RMS and DBFS both showed 0 despite their being noise. Also noted that MQTT showed 0.
3. Upon restarting frigate, camera debug audio view once again shows appropriate values and detection succeeds again.
4. If I disable and re-enable the camera, once again audio detection debug shows 0s and MQTT is not updated any longer (until restart).

Version

0.17.0-f0d69f7

In which browser(s) are you experiencing the issue with?

No response

Frigate config file

audio:
  enabled: true
  min_volume: 300
  listen:
    - bark
    - scream
    - yell
    - fire_alarm
    - crying
    - beep
    - car_alarm
    - siren
    - alarm
    - alarm_clock
    - buzzer
    - smoke_detector
    - civil_defense_siren
    - ping
    - ding

  scrypted_camera:
    ffmpeg:
      inputs:
        - path: rtsp://[]
          input_args: preset-rtsp-restream
          roles:
            - detect
            - audio
            - record
      output_args:
        record: preset-record-generic-audio-aac
    detect:
      width: 960
      height: 540
      fps: 5
    objects:
      track:
        - person
    record:
      enabled: true
      alerts:
        retain:
          days: 14
      detections:
        retain:
          days: 14
      continuous:
        days: 0
      motion:
        days: 2
  reolink_camera:
    ffmpeg:
      inputs:
        - path: rtsp://[h264]
          input_args: preset-rtsp-restream
          roles:
            - detect
        - path: rtsp://[h264]
          input_args: preset-rtsp-restream
          roles:
            - record
            - audio
      output_args:
        record: preset-record-generic-audio-aac
    detect:
      width: 640
      height: 360
      fps: 5
    objects:
      track:
        - person
    motion:
      mask: 0.285,0.021,0.283,0.1,0.702,0.091,0.702,0.019

docker-compose file or Docker CLI command

Home Assistant Add-On

Relevant Frigate log output

No Frigate logs show any errors related to cameras at issue.

Relevant go2rtc log output

No go2rtc logs show any errors related to cameras at issue.

Operating system

Home Assistant OS

Install method

Home Assistant Add-on

Network connection

Wired

Camera make and model

Multiple camera brands, although all RTSP streams

Screenshots of the Frigate UI's System metrics pages

Upon first Frigate restart:

Upon disable and re-enable immediately after restart (and refreshing page):

Any other information that may be helpful

No response

[inkeep-ai-assistant[bot]]

This appears to be a legitimate bug where audio detection stops working after disabling and re-enabling a camera via the UI or MQTT. Based on your description, the audio ffmpeg process is not being properly restarted when the camera is re-enabled.

A few things to note about the expected behavior:

Cameras can be temporarily disabled through the Frigate UI and through MQTT. When disabled, Frigate's ffmpeg processes are terminated — recording stops, object detection is paused, and the Live dashboard displays a blank image with a disabled message. (1)

The ffmpeg process for capturing audio will be a separate connection to the camera along with the other roles assigned to the camera. (2)

You can monitor the audio stream status via MQTT at frigate/<camera_name>/status/audio which publishes online, offline, or disabled depending on the stream health. (3)

Workarounds to try:

1. Check if the audio stream status shows correctly via MQTT after re-enabling the camera
2. Ensure your stream with the audio role has audio included and is accessible (2)
3. Consider using go2rtc restream for the audio role as recommended in the docs (2)

Since this behavior is reproducible (disable → re-enable → audio breaks until restart), this does appear to be a bug where the audio ffmpeg process isn't being properly respawned when the camera is re-enabled. The fact that RMS and dBFS both show 0.0 after re-enabling confirms the audio stream isn't being processed at all.

This is worth reporting as a bug on the Frigate GitHub repository if you haven't already, as the camera enable/disable functionality should properly restart all associated ffmpeg processes including audio.

📚 Sources:

1. Live View
2. Audio Detectors
3. MQTT

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Have another question? Just tag @inkeep.

[hawkeye217]

Thanks, this is fixed in #22495 and will be a part of Frigate 0.17.1.