exoplayer 2.11.* version throws Renderer error in android 5.0/5.1(Lollipop) devices

Question

I am using exoplayer for streaming my audio file from firebase storage to my android app. exoplayer works great in android versions which is >= 6.0. But in Android 5.0/5.1(Lollipop) devices, exoplayer throws me a Renderer error.

Here's the Error i got:

E/AudioTrack: AudioFlinger could not create track, status: -12
E/AudioTrack-JNI: Error -12 initializing AudioTrack
E/android.media.AudioTrack: Error code -20 when initializing AudioTrack.
E/ExoPlayerImplInternal: Renderer error: index=1, type=audio, format=Format(null, null, null, audio/mpeg, null, -1, null, [-1, -1, -1.0], [2, 32000]), rendererSupport=YES
      com.google.android.exoplayer2.ExoPlaybackException: com.google.android.exoplayer2.audio.AudioSink$InitializationException: AudioTrack init failed: 0, Config(32000, 12, 32000)
        at com.google.android.exoplayer2.BaseRenderer.createRendererException(BaseRenderer.java:359)
        at com.google.android.exoplayer2.audio.MediaCodecAudioRenderer.processOutputBuffer(MediaCodecAudioRenderer.java:831)
        at com.google.android.exoplayer2.mediacodec.MediaCodecRenderer.drainOutputBuffer(MediaCodecRenderer.java:1590)
        at com.google.android.exoplayer2.mediacodec.MediaCodecRenderer.render(MediaCodecRenderer.java:721)
        at com.google.android.exoplayer2.ExoPlayerImplInternal.doSomeWork(ExoPlayerImplInternal.java:599)
        at com.google.android.exoplayer2.ExoPlayerImplInternal.handleMessage(ExoPlayerImplInternal.java:329)
        at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:98)
        at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:135)
        at android.os.HandlerThread.run(HandlerThread.java:61)
     Caused by: com.google.android.exoplayer2.audio.AudioSink$InitializationException: AudioTrack init failed: 0, Config(32000, 12, 32000)
        at com.google.android.exoplayer2.audio.DefaultAudioSink$Configuration.buildAudioTrack(DefaultAudioSink.java:1428)
        at com.google.android.exoplayer2.audio.DefaultAudioSink.initialize(DefaultAudioSink.java:527)
        at com.google.android.exoplayer2.audio.DefaultAudioSink.handleBuffer(DefaultAudioSink.java:608)
        at com.google.android.exoplayer2.audio.MediaCodecAudioRenderer.processOutputBuffer(MediaCodecAudioRenderer.java:824)
        at com.google.android.exoplayer2.mediacodec.MediaCodecRenderer.drainOutputBuffer(MediaCodecRenderer.java:1590) 
        at com.google.android.exoplayer2.mediacodec.MediaCodecRenderer.render(MediaCodecRenderer.java:721) 
        at com.google.android.exoplayer2.ExoPlayerImplInternal.doSomeWork(ExoPlayerImplInternal.java:599) 
        at com.google.android.exoplayer2.ExoPlayerImplInternal.handleMessage(ExoPlayerImplInternal.java:329) 
        at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:98) 
        at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:135) 
        at android.os.HandlerThread.run(HandlerThread.java:61) 
I/System.out: Player Error::com.google.android.exoplayer2.ExoPlaybackException: com.google.android.exoplayer2.audio.AudioSink$InitializationException: AudioTrack init failed: 0, Config(32000, 12, 32000)
E/Render TAG: TYPE_RENDERER: AudioTrack init failed: 0, Config(32000, 12, 32000)

Here's my Code for streaming audio:

//Setting Up Exoplayer
private void SetupPlayer(){
// Create a data source factory.
dataSourceFactory =
        new DefaultHttpDataSourceFactory(Util.getUserAgent(this
                , getApplicationInfo().loadLabel(getPackageManager()).toString()));
loadControl = new DefaultLoadControl.Builder()
        .setBufferDurationsMs(MIN_BUFFER_DURATION, MAX_BUFFER_DURATION, MIN_PLAYBACK_START_BUFFER, MIN_PLAYBACK_RESUME_BUFFER).createDefaultLoadControl();

@DefaultRenderersFactory.ExtensionRendererMode int extensionRendererMode = DefaultRenderersFactory.EXTENSION_RENDERER_MODE_PREFER;

renderersFactory = new DefaultRenderersFactory(this) .setExtensionRendererMode(extensionRendererMode);

// Create a progressive media source pointing to a stream uri.
        mediaSource = new ProgressiveMediaSource.Factory(dataSourceFactory)
        .createMediaSource(Uri.parse(audio_url));
// Create a player instance.
simpleExoPlayer =  new SimpleExoPlayer.Builder(this,renderersFactory).setLoadControl(loadControl).build();
// Prepare the player with the media source.
simpleExoPlayer.prepare(mediaSource, true, true);
}

I searched Stack Overflow but unable to find any answers. The version of exoplayer i am using was 2.11.8. I don't know how to fix this error. Please help me with some solutions to fix this error in Android 5.0 devices.

Answer 1

I've got the exact same issue recently with API <23 and ExoPlayer 2.13.2 and while digging in found this note on ExoPlayer developers web-site:

Android’s official emulator (...) supports ExoPlayer provided the system image has an API level of at least 23. System images with earlier API levels do not support ExoPlayer.

Unfortunately, I don't have an API-21-powered device. Still I will leave this note for future generations.