Skip to content

Troubleshooting

vicrodh edited this page Mar 15, 2026 · 5 revisions

Troubleshooting

Audio Issues

No Sound / Audio Plays Through Wrong Device

Symptoms: Audio plays through laptop speakers instead of your DAC, or no sound at all.

Fix:

  1. Go to Settings > Audio
  2. Verify the correct Output Device is selected
  3. If using PipeWire, ensure your DAC is set as the default sink:
    # List available sinks
    pactl list sinks short
    
    # Set your DAC as default
    pactl set-default-sink <sink-name>
  4. Restart QBZ after changing the audio device

Audio is Resampled (DAC Shows Wrong Sample Rate)

Symptoms: Your DAC display shows 48000 Hz regardless of the track's actual sample rate.

Fix:

  • Switch to ALSA Direct backend for guaranteed bit-perfect output
  • If using PipeWire, enable Force Bit-Perfect in Settings > Audio
  • Verify with a known Hi-Res track (96 kHz or 192 kHz) — your DAC display should match

Crackling or Stuttering Audio

Possible causes:

  • Buffer too small — increase Stream Buffer in Settings > Audio
  • System under load — close resource-heavy applications
  • USB DAC power — try a powered USB hub or a different USB port

DAC Not Detected

  1. Verify the DAC is connected and powered on
  2. Check if the system sees it:
    # List ALSA devices
    aplay -l
    
    # List PipeWire devices
    pw-cli list-objects Node
  3. Try unplugging and reconnecting the DAC
  4. Restart QBZ

Graphics Issues

Black Screen, Flickering, or Rendering Glitches

Quick fix:

qbz --reset-graphics

If that doesn't help:

QBZ_HARDWARE_ACCEL=0 qbz

For NVIDIA + Wayland:

QBZ_FORCE_X11=1 qbz

For detailed information about all graphics settings, composition profiles, environment variables, and GPU-specific solutions, see the dedicated Composition page.

Application Issues

QBZ Won't Start / Crashes on Launch

  1. Try resetting graphics settings:

    qbz --reset-graphics
  2. Check logs for errors:

    # System journal
    journalctl --user -u qbz --since "5 minutes ago"
    
    # Or launch from terminal to see output
    qbz
  3. If using Flatpak:

    flatpak run com.blitzfc.qbz --reset-graphics

Stuck on a Broken View

If QBZ opens to a broken or blank view, it may be due to a corrupted session state:

# For development builds
npm run -s dev:reset-last-view

# For installed versions, the session database is at:
# ~/.local/share/qbz/users/<user-id>/session.db
# Delete or rename it to reset the session state

Login Issues

  • Verify your Qobuz credentials work on the Qobuz website
  • Check your internet connection
  • If you recently changed your Qobuz password, you may need to re-login in QBZ

Flatpak-Specific Issues

Audio Not Working in Flatpak

Ensure PipeWire permissions are granted:

# Check permissions
flatpak info --show-permissions com.blitzfc.qbz

# Reset permissions if needed
flatpak override --user --reset com.blitzfc.qbz

Can't Access Music Files in Flatpak

Flatpak sandboxes file access. Grant access to your music directories:

flatpak override --user --filesystem=/path/to/your/music com.blitzfc.qbz

Getting Help

If your issue isn't covered here:

  1. Check the GitHub Issues for existing reports
  2. Open a new issue with:
    • QBZ version (Settings > About)
    • Linux distribution and version
    • Audio backend and device
    • Steps to reproduce the issue
    • Any relevant log output

Clone this wiki locally