The crash seems to happen once the device calls – (void)pocketsphinxDidStartListening; but it doesn’t seem to get any audio input.

Here is the output of _pocketsphinxController.verbosePocketSphinx = TRUE;


INFO: cmd_ln.c(706): Parsing command line:
\
-lm /var/mobile/Applications/3EBCB88B-8610-4F6B-ACD0-016FB0B8024A/Documents/OpenEarsDynamicGrammar.DMP \
-dict /var/mobile/Applications/3EBCB88B-8610-4F6B-ACD0-016FB0B8024A/Documents/OpenEarsDynamicGrammar.dic \
-hmm /var/mobile/Applications/3EBCB88B-8610-4F6B-ACD0-016FB0B8024A/test.app \
-lw 6.500000 \
-maxhmmpf 3000 \
-samprate 16000

INFO: acmod.c(250): Parsed model-specific feature parameters from /var/mobile/Applications/3EBCB88B-8610-4F6B-ACD0-016FB0B8024A/test.app/feat.params
INFO: feat.c(713): Initializing feature stream to type: '1s_c_d_dd', ceplen=13, CMN='current', VARNORM='no', AGC='none'
INFO: cmn.c(142): mean[0]= 12.00, mean[1..12]= 0.0
INFO: acmod.c(171): Using subvector specification 0-12/13-25/26-38
INFO: mdef.c(517): Reading model definition: /var/mobile/Applications/3EBCB88B-8610-4F6B-ACD0-016FB0B8024A/test.app/mdef
INFO: mdef.c(528): Found byte-order mark BMDF, assuming this is a binary mdef file
INFO: bin_mdef.c(336): Reading binary model definition: /var/mobile/Applications/3EBCB88B-8610-4F6B-ACD0-016FB0B8024A/test.app/mdef
INFO: bin_mdef.c(513): 50 CI-phone, 143047 CD-phone, 3 emitstate/phone, 150 CI-sen, 5150 Sen, 27135 Sen-Seq
INFO: tmat.c(205): Reading HMM transition probability matrices: /var/mobile/Applications/3EBCB88B-8610-4F6B-ACD0-016FB0B8024A/test.app/transition_matrices
INFO: acmod.c(125): Attempting to use SCHMM computation module
INFO: ms_gauden.c(198): Reading mixture gaussian parameter: /var/mobile/Applications/3EBCB88B-8610-4F6B-ACD0-016FB0B8024A/test.app/means
INFO: ms_gauden.c(292): 1 codebook, 3 feature, size:
INFO: ms_gauden.c(294): 256x13
INFO: ms_gauden.c(294): 256x13
INFO: ms_gauden.c(294): 256x13
INFO: ms_gauden.c(198): Reading mixture gaussian parameter: /var/mobile/Applications/3EBCB88B-8610-4F6B-ACD0-016FB0B8024A/test.app/variances
INFO: ms_gauden.c(292): 1 codebook, 3 feature, size:
INFO: ms_gauden.c(294): 256x13
INFO: ms_gauden.c(294): 256x13
INFO: ms_gauden.c(294): 256x13
INFO: ms_gauden.c(354): 0 variance values floored
INFO: s2_semi_mgau.c(995): Loading senones from dump file /var/mobile/Applications/3EBCB88B-8610-4F6B-ACD0-016FB0B8024A/test.app/sendump
INFO: s2_semi_mgau.c(1019): BEGIN FILE FORMAT DESCRIPTION
INFO: s2_semi_mgau.c(1114): Using memory-mapped I/O for senones
INFO: s2_semi_mgau.c(1391): Maximum top-N: 4 Top-N beams: 0 0 0
INFO: dict.c(317): Allocating 4127 * 20 bytes (80 KiB) for word entries
INFO: dict.c(332): Reading main dictionary: /var/mobile/Applications/3EBCB88B-8610-4F6B-ACD0-016FB0B8024A/Documents/OpenEarsDynamicGrammar.dic
INFO: dict.c(211): Allocated 0 KiB for strings, 0 KiB for phones
INFO: dict.c(335): 20 words read
INFO: dict.c(341): Reading filler dictionary: /var/mobile/Applications/3EBCB88B-8610-4F6B-ACD0-016FB0B8024A/test.app/noisedict
INFO: dict.c(211): Allocated 0 KiB for strings, 0 KiB for phones
INFO: dict.c(344): 11 words read
INFO: dict2pid.c(400): Building PID tables for dictionary
INFO: dict2pid.c(408): Allocating 50^3 * 2 bytes (244 KiB) for word-initial triphones
INFO: dict2pid.c(135): Allocated 30200 bytes (29 KiB) for word-final triphones
INFO: dict2pid.c(199): Allocated 30200 bytes (29 KiB) for single-phone word triphones
INFO: ngram_model_arpa.c(84): No \data\ mark in LM file
INFO: ngram_model_dmp.c(146): Will use memory-mapped I/O for LM file
INFO: ngram_model_dmp.c(201): ngrams 1=17, 2=28, 3=26
INFO: ngram_model_dmp.c(248): 17 = LM.unigrams(+trailer) read
INFO: ngram_model_dmp.c(298): 28 = LM.bigrams(+trailer) read
INFO: ngram_model_dmp.c(326): 26 = LM.trigrams read
INFO: ngram_model_dmp.c(353): 7 = LM.prob2 entries read
INFO: ngram_model_dmp.c(375): 7 = LM.bo_wt2 entries read
INFO: ngram_model_dmp.c(398): 3 = LM.prob3 entries read
INFO: ngram_model_dmp.c(428): 1 = LM.tseg_base entries read
INFO: ngram_model_dmp.c(486): 17 = ascii word strings read
INFO: ngram_search_fwdtree.c(99): 13 unique initial diphones
INFO: ngram_search_fwdtree.c(147): 0 root, 0 non-root channels, 12 single-phone words
INFO: ngram_search_fwdtree.c(186): Creating search tree
INFO: ngram_search_fwdtree.c(191): before: 0 root, 0 non-root channels, 12 single-phone words
INFO: ngram_search_fwdtree.c(326): after: max nonroot chan increased to 185
INFO: ngram_search_fwdtree.c(338): after: 13 root, 57 non-root channels, 11 single-phone words
INFO: ngram_search_fwdflat.c(167): fwdflat: min_ef_width = 4, max_sf_win = 25
makeFullPathname /var/mobile/Applications/3EBCB88B-8610-4F6B-ACD0-016FB0B8024A/Library/Application Support/vst_dns_cache.dat
2012-09-25 15:18:35.192 test[791:5b03] 15:18:35.192 shm_open failed: "AppleAURemoteIO.i.72497" (23) flags=0x2 errno=2
2012-09-25 15:18:35.197 test[791:5b03] 15:18:35.193 AURemoteIO::ChangeHardwareFormats: error 3
2012-09-25 15:18:35.199 test[791:5b03] 15:18:35.200 shm_open failed: "AppleAURemoteIO.i.72497" (23) flags=0x2 errno=2
2012-09-25 15:18:35.201 test[791:5b03] 15:18:35.201 AURemoteIO::ChangeHardwareFormats: error 3
2012-09-25 15:18:35.275 test[791:5b03] 15:18:35.275 shm_open failed: "AppleAURemoteIO.i.72497" (23) flags=0x2 errno=2
2012-09-25 15:18:35.278 test[791:5b03] 15:18:35.278 AURemoteIO::ChangeHardwareFormats: error 3
2012-09-25 15:18:35.883 test[791:907] Pocketsphinx calibration has started.
2012-09-25 15:18:38.126 test[791:907] Setting up the continuous recognition loop has failed for some reason, please turn on OPENEARSLOGGING in OpenEarsConfig.h to learn more.
2012-09-25 15:18:38.129 test[791:907] Pocketsphinx calibration is complete.
2012-09-25 15:18:38.130 test[791:907] Pocketsphinx is now listening.
2012-09-25 15:19:20.518 test[791:7103] [NMSP_ERROR] Session idle for too long timer fired, disconnecting.


The oddest part of this situation is that iOS5 never caused any issue like this, so I’m fairly sure it’s in the upgrade. I’ve installed the lasted OpenEars framework to be sure, but that hasn’t had much impact.

I’ve searched for the CAListenerProxy errors but now found anything particularly useful.

Is this a known issue? Any ideas would be appreciated please.

Open Ears logging:

2012-09-25 15:38:42.943 test[819:907] Starting OpenEars logging for OpenEars version {{{{1.2.2}}}} on device: iPhone running iOS version: 6.000000
2012-09-25 15:38:42.946 test[819:907] Normalized array contains the following entries:
(
...
)
2012-09-25 15:38:42.952 test[819:907] Starting dynamic language model generation
2012-09-25 15:38:42.958 test[819:907] Able to open /var/mobile/Applications/3EBCB88B-8610-4F6B-ACD0-016FB0B8024A/Documents/OpenEarsDynamicGrammar.corpus for reading
2012-09-25 15:38:42.960 test[819:907] Able to open /var/mobile/Applications/3EBCB88B-8610-4F6B-ACD0-016FB0B8024A/Documents/OpenEarsDynamicGrammar_pipe.txt for writing
2012-09-25 15:38:42.962 test[819:907] Starting text2wfreq_impl
2012-09-25 15:38:42.985 test[819:907] Done with text2wfreq_impl
2012-09-25 15:38:42.993 test[819:907] Able to open /var/mobile/Applications/3EBCB88B-8610-4F6B-ACD0-016FB0B8024A/Documents/OpenEarsDynamicGrammar_pipe.txt for reading.
2012-09-25 15:38:42.997 test[819:907] Able to open /var/mobile/Applications/3EBCB88B-8610-4F6B-ACD0-016FB0B8024A/Documents/OpenEarsDynamicGrammar.vocab for reading.
2012-09-25 15:38:43.002 test[819:907] Starting wfreq2vocab
2012-09-25 15:38:43.007 test[819:907] Done with wfreq2vocab
2012-09-25 15:38:43.012 test[819:907] Starting text2idngram
2012-09-25 15:38:43.034 test[819:907] Done with text2idngram
2012-09-25 15:38:43.039 test[819:907] Starting idngram2lm

2012-09-25 15:38:49.750 test[819:6607] Listening.
2012-09-25 15:38:49.751 test[819:907] Pocketsphinx is now listening.
2012-09-25 15:38:49.800 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:49.928 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:50.056 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:50.184 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:50.312 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:50.440 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:50.568 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:50.696 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:50.824 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:50.952 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:51.080 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:51.208 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:51.336 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:51.464 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:51.592 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:51.720 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:51.848 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:51.976 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:52.104 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:52.232 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:52.360 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:52.488 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:52.616 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:52.744 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:52.872 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:53.000 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:53.128 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:53.256 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:53.384 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:53.512 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:53.640 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:53.768 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:53.896 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:54.024 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:54.152 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:54.280 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:54.408 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:54.536 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:54.664 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:54.792 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:54.920 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:55.048 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:55.176 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:55.304 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:55.432 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:55.560 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:55.688 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:55.816 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:55.944 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:56.072 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:56.200 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:56.328 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:56.456 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:56.584 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:56.712 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:56.840 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:56.968 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:57.096 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:57.224 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:57.352 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:57.480 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:57.608 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
2012-09-25 15:38:57.736 test[819:8703] Audio Unit render error: kAudioUnitErr_CannotDoInCurrentContext
...


Early on in the app session your category is set (correctly) the first time and we’d normally expect it to remain that way for the rest of the app session unless it is overridden by a call to audiosession or AVAudioSession or the use of a media object like AVPlayer or MPMoviePlayerController:

2012-09-25 15:38:46.061 test[819:907] audioCategory is now on the correct setting of kAudioSessionCategory_PlayAndRecord.

Then some very normal stuff is done to bluetooth, default to speaker, etc, with no errors returned. At this point the audio session settings look very normal and if an attempt were made here to start the audio unit I would expect it to work.

Then the device has some kind of DNS library issue which might be unrelated:

2012-09-25 15:38:46.194 test[819:907] [NMSP_ERROR] check status Error: 696e6974 init -> line: 318

However, if this is an automatic function of the Nuance SDK it is a sign that its objects might be instantiated at this point.

PocketsphinxController continues starting up and gets as far as it can without any errors before it needs to start the audio unit, which is when things get weird:

2012-09-25 15:38:46.407 test[819:907] Audio route has changed for the following reason:
2012-09-25 15:38:46.408 test[819:907] There has been a change of category
2012-09-25 15:38:46.409 test[819:907] The previous audio route was SpeakerAndMicrophone
2012-09-25 15:38:46.535 test[819:907] This is not a case in which OpenEars performs a route change voluntarily. At the close of this function, the audio route is Speaker
2012-09-25 15:38:46.536 test[819:907] Audio route has changed for the following reason:
2012-09-25 15:38:46.541 test[819:907] There has been a change of category
2012-09-25 15:38:46.542 test[819:6607] Set audio route to Speaker
2012-09-25 15:38:46.542 test[819:907] The previous audio route was MicrophoneBuiltIn
2012-09-25 15:38:46.544 test[819:6607] Checking and resetting all audio session settings.
2012-09-25 15:38:46.545 test[819:907] This is not a case in which OpenEars performs a route change voluntarily. At the close of this function, the audio route is Speaker
2012-09-25 15:38:46.546 test[819:6607] audioCategory is incorrect, we will change it.
2012-09-25 15:38:46.782 test[819:6607] audioCategory is now on the correct setting of kAudioSessionCategory_PlayAndRecord.
2012-09-25 15:38:46.786 test[819:6607] bluetoothInput is incorrect, we will change it.
2012-09-25 15:38:46.791 test[819:5c03] 15:38:46.792 shm_open failed: “AppleAURemoteIO.i.724ba” (23) flags=0x2 errno=2
2012-09-25 15:38:46.795 test[819:5c03] 15:38:46.795 AURemoteIO::ChangeHardwareFormats: error 3
2012-09-25 15:38:46.796 test[819:5c03] 15:38:46.797 shm_open failed: “AppleAURemoteIO.i.724ba” (23) flags=0x2 errno=2
2012-09-25 15:38:46.797 test[819:5c03] 15:38:46.798 AURemoteIO::ChangeHardwareFormats: error 3
2012-09-25 15:38:46.805 test[819:6607] bluetooth input is now on the correct setting of 1.
2012-09-25 15:38:46.808 test[819:6607] categoryDefaultToSpeaker is incorrect, we will change it.
2012-09-25 15:38:46.808 test[819:907] Audio route has changed for the following reason:
2012-09-25 15:38:46.810 test[819:907] There has been a change of category
2012-09-25 15:38:46.811 test[819:907] The previous audio route was Speaker
2012-09-25 15:38:46.893 test[819:6607] CategoryDefaultToSpeaker is now on the correct setting of 1.
2012-09-25 15:38:46.895 test[819:6607] preferredBufferSize is correct, we will leave it as it is.
2012-09-25 15:38:46.897 test[819:6607] preferredSampleRateCheck is correct, we will leave it as it is.
2012-09-25 15:38:46.896 test[819:5c03] 15:38:46.896 shm_open failed: “AppleAURemoteIO.i.724ba” (23) flags=0x2 errno=2
2012-09-25 15:38:46.898 test[819:6607] Setting the variables for the device and starting it.
2012-09-25 15:38:46.900 test[819:6607] Looping through ringbuffer sections and pre-allocating them.
2012-09-25 15:38:46.895 test[819:907] This is not a case in which OpenEars performs a route change voluntarily. At the close of this function, the audio route is SpeakerAndMicrophone
2012-09-25 15:38:46.899 test[819:5c03] 15:38:46.899 AURemoteIO::ChangeHardwareFormats: error 3
2012-09-25 15:38:46.907 test[819:907] Audio route has changed for the following reason:
2012-09-25 15:38:46.908 test[819:907] There has been a change of category
2012-09-25 15:38:46.909 test[819:907] The previous audio route was ReceiverAndMicrophone
2012-09-25 15:38:47.497 test[819:6607] Started audio output unit.
2012-09-25 15:38:47.499 test[819:907] This is not a case in which OpenEars performs a route change voluntarily. At the close of this function, the audio route is SpeakerAndMicrophone

I count 4 category changes and 4 route changes resulting from it, all in approximately one second. That seems like something trying to override the OpenEars settings in an automatic way. You can see that at the moment that the audio unit begins, it isn’t set to a category which has a recording input, because the next thing that happens is that OpenEarsLogging announces that there was a route change to a route that contains a recording input (the last line above). The fact that the audio unit is trying to start at a time in which it seems like it has a mic input, then it disappears while the unit starts, is probably the origin of the crash.

Are you completely positive that there is nothing going on with your Nuance SDK at the time that PocketsphinxController has started? Because that would make a lot of sense as the source of objects which are listening for audio session changes and automatically reacting to them. Otherwise, do a case-insensitive search of your app for “audiosession” and see if there are any AudioSession or AVAudioSession calls made by the app. You might also want to look for AVPlayer, AVAudioRecorder and/or MPMovieController objects (or other objects that assert their own audio session settings) that are instantiated at that time. I will keep looking into it in the meantime so please let me know if you find a cause in your app.