AudioRecord: start() status -38

Question

I have the following problem: I use SpeechRecognizer to identify a few words. I use the

public void onResults

method to destroy the SpeechRecognizer.

Right after the destruction I initialize an AudioRecord and start recording from the mic. This leads to the following error in my logcat:

12-09 00:44:01.976: E/AudioRecord(21185): start() status -38

No exception is thrown in my code. The AudioRecord just does not start properly. I am assuming that the SpeechRecognizer does not release the microphone quickly enough, because if I add a Thread.sleep(200) in front of the initialization of the AudioRecord, I do not experience this issue.

This solution is very bad for obvious reasons. Thus, I have the following question:

How do I check whether the AudioRecord is initialized properly? (I do not get an exception in my code.)

_audioRecord.getState() == AudioRecord.STATE_UNINITIALIZED

is false as well.

Or how do I check whether SpeechRecognizer released the microphone properly?

Thanks a lot!

How about checking if `getRecordingState()` equals `RECORDSTATE_RECORDING` ? — Michael, Dec 09 '13 at 12:50

score 9 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 09 '15 at 20:35

9

You need to make sure you issue audioRecord.stop(); and audioRecord.release(); in your onPause() or similar methods. If you don't, the next time you run the app, you won't get access to the device, and you'll get start() status -38

answered Mar 09 '15 at 20:35

troy.unrau

1,142
2
12
26

score 1 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:22

1

I was having a similar problem to this AudioRecord start() error status -38 what i eventually did was loop over the possible configurations of the audio recorder like the answerer said in this question AudioRecord object not initializing I like this method since it doesn't matter what device you run it on it will eventually find a configuration that it likes.

edited May 23 '17 at 12:22

Community

1
1

answered Feb 06 '15 at 01:08

mkrinblk

896
9
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Hi, my for loop always chooses 16000 as a samplerate, but AudioRecord initializes properly only the first time. What can it be? – Josh Aug 27 '17 at 18:49

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 14 '18 at 08:05

I checked recording state by using audioRecord.getRecordingState() as Michael commented. Normally after audioRecord.startRecording();, recordingState becomes RECORDSTATE_RECORDING. If state is not RECORDSTATE_RECORDING, I will close app.

audioRecord.startRecording();
int recordingState = audioRecord.getRecordingState();
Log.i(VoiceRecorder.class.getSimpleName(), "RecordingState() after startRecording() = " + String.valueOf(recordingState));
if (recordingState != AudioRecord.RECORDSTATE_RECORDING) {
    Log.i(VoiceRecorder.class.getSimpleName(), "AudioRecord error has occured. Reopen app.");
    System.exit(0);
}

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Aug 30 '19 at 05:26

0

I had a different app that was probably running the background and didn't release the recording device. You also need to make sure all other apps are closed (using the switch between apps > CLEAR ALL).

answered Aug 30 '19 at 05:26

D.Ginzbourg

490
7
22

AudioRecord: start() status -38

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