Arch Linux

Thar

Member

Registered: 2007-08-28

Posts: 20

KDE + PulseAudio = no sound, apps hanging

I am now convinced that PulseAudio is the worst piece of crap that has ever plagued Linux desktop. Unfortunately I have to keep it if I want to use GNOME from time to time. I also have to keep PulseAudio up and running, because of a known bug in libcannberra that makes Google Chrome hang on typing in omnibar if PulseAudio isn't running... But I digress.

After three days of fighting, using Arch and FreeDesktop wiki's, I thought it works. My soundcard was finally recognized, sound was there and my only problem was the absence of mixing. Not willing anymore to look if it's ALSA or PulseAudio that needs more fixing, I decided to do it next day. But then, after booting up, I experienced following issues:

- no sound whatsoever
- there's a big latency problem with whole Plasma desktop
- various apps keep hanging, ex. KDE System Settings when trying to go into Multimedia options; Google Chrome when doing anything after launch

What "solves" the latter two is:

$ rm -rf ~/.pulse/
$ killall -9 pulseaudio
$ pulseaudio --start

I also had to comment out module-alsa-sink in /etc/pulse/default.pa since it has been giving me startup errors.

Of course, still no sound at all. Can anyone tell me if it's even possible to bring this utter crap to work? My config files:

/etc/pulse/default.pa

#!/usr/bin/pulseaudio -nF
#
# This file is part of PulseAudio.
#
# PulseAudio is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
# under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
# the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
# (at your option) any later version.
#
# PulseAudio is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
# WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
# General Public License for more details.
#
# You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
# along with PulseAudio; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
# Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA.

# This startup script is used only if PulseAudio is started per-user
# (i.e. not in system mode)

.nofail

### Load something into the sample cache
#load-sample-lazy x11-bell /usr/share/sounds/gtk-events/activate.wav
#load-sample-lazy pulse-hotplug /usr/share/sounds/startup3.wav
#load-sample-lazy pulse-coldplug /usr/share/sounds/startup3.wav
#load-sample-lazy pulse-access /usr/share/sounds/generic.wav

.fail

### Automatically restore the volume of streams and devices
load-module module-device-restore
load-module module-stream-restore
load-module module-card-restore

### Automatically augment property information from .desktop files
### stored in /usr/share/application
load-module module-augment-properties

### Load audio drivers statically
### (it's probably better to not load these drivers manually, but instead
### use module-udev-detect -- see below -- for doing this automatically)
#load-module module-alsa-sink
load-module module-alsa-source device=hw:0,0
#load-module module-oss device="/dev/dsp" sink_name=output source_name=input
#load-module module-oss-mmap device="/dev/dsp" sink_name=output source_name=input
#load-module module-null-sink
#load-module module-pipe-sink

### Automatically load driver modules depending on the hardware available
.ifexists module-udev-detect.so
load-module module-udev-detect
.else
### Use the static hardware detection module (for systems that lack udev/hal support)
load-module module-detect
.endif

### Automatically connect sink and source if JACK server is present
.ifexists module-jackdbus-detect.so
.nofail
load-module module-jackdbus-detect
.fail
.endif

### Automatically load driver modules for Bluetooth hardware
#.ifexists module-bluetooth-discover.so
#load-module module-bluetooth-discover
#.endif

### Load several protocols
.ifexists module-esound-protocol-unix.so
load-module module-esound-protocol-unix
.endif
load-module module-native-protocol-unix

### Network access (may be configured with paprefs, so leave this commented
### here if you plan to use paprefs)
#load-module module-esound-protocol-tcp
#load-module module-native-protocol-tcp
#load-module module-zeroconf-publish

### Load the RTP receiver module (also configured via paprefs, see above)
#load-module module-rtp-recv

### Load the RTP sender module (also configured via paprefs, see above)
#load-module module-null-sink sink_name=rtp format=s16be channels=2 rate=44100 sink_properties="device.description='RTP Multicast Sink'"
#load-module module-rtp-send source=rtp.monitor

### Load additional modules from GConf settings. This can be configured with the paprefs tool.
### Please keep in mind that the modules configured by paprefs might conflict with manually
### loaded modules.
.ifexists module-gconf.so
.nofail
load-module module-gconf
.fail
.endif

### Additional modules for better interaction with KDE4
load-module module-device-manager

### Automatically restore the default sink/source when changed by the user
### during runtime
### NOTE: This should be loaded as early as possible so that subsequent modules
### that look up the default sink/source get the right value
load-module module-default-device-restore

### Automatically move streams to the default sink if the sink they are
### connected to dies, similar for sources
load-module module-rescue-streams

### Make sure we always have a sink around, even if it is a null sink.
load-module module-always-sink

### Honour intended role device property
load-module module-intended-roles

### Automatically suspend sinks/sources that become idle for too long
load-module module-suspend-on-idle

### If autoexit on idle is enabled we want to make sure we only quit
### when no local session needs us anymore.
.ifexists module-console-kit.so
.nofail
load-module module-console-kit
.fail
.endif

### Enable positioned event sounds
load-module module-position-event-sounds

### Cork music streams when a phone stream is active
#load-module module-cork-music-on-phone

### Modules to allow autoloading of filters (such as echo cancellation)
### on demand. module-filter-heuristics tries to determine what filters
### make sense, and module-filter-apply does the heavy-lifting of
### loading modules and rerouting streams.
load-module module-filter-heuristics
load-module module-filter-apply

### Load DBus protocol
.ifexists module-dbus-protocol.so
load-module module-dbus-protocol
.endif

# X11 modules should not be started from default.pa so that one daemon
# can be shared by multiple sessions.

### Load X11 bell module
#load-module module-x11-bell sample=bell-windowing-system

### Register ourselves in the X11 session manager
#load-module module-x11-xsmp

### Publish connection data in the X11 root window
#.ifexists module-x11-publish.so
#.nofail
#load-module module-x11-publish
#.fail
#.endif

### Make some devices default
#set-default-sink output
#set-default-source input

/etc/asound.conf

pcm.pulse {
    type pulse
}

ctl.pulse {
    type pulse
}

pcm.!default {
    type pulse
    # If defaults.namehint.showall is set to off in alsa.conf, then this is
    # necessary to make this pcm show up in the list returned by
    # snd_device_name_hint or aplay -L
    hint.description "Default Audio Device"
}

ctl.!default {
    type pulse
}

Packages with their respective versions:
linux 3.4.4-2
pulseaudio 2.0-2
pulseaudio-alsa 2-1
kdebase-plasma 4.8.4-1
phonon 1:4.6.0-2

LordChaos73

Member

From: .nl

Registered: 2008-11-11

Posts: 183

Re: KDE + PulseAudio = no sound, apps hanging

I also had issues with pulseaudio, lagging the desktop login and logoff for example. I fixed it by commenting these three lines in /etc/pulse/default.pa, but now I realize I may have disabled pulseaudio alltogether:

#.ifexists module-udev-detect.so
#load-module module-udev-detect
#.else

LordChaos73

Member

From: .nl

Registered: 2008-11-11

Posts: 183

Re: KDE + PulseAudio = no sound, apps hanging

What also seems to work for me is to leave to these lines active (as is the default):

### Automatically load driver modules depending on the hardware available
.ifexists module-udev-detect.so
load-module module-udev-detect
.else

and remove the comment on this one as well:

load-module module-alsa-source device=hw:1,0

Apparently, you have these settings already so it may not be useful to you.

hepha

Member

Registered: 2012-07-20

Posts: 13

Re: KDE + PulseAudio = no sound, apps hanging

/etc/pulse/default.pa

#!/usr/bin/pulseaudio -nF
#
# This file is part of PulseAudio.
#
# PulseAudio is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
# under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
# the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
# (at your option) any later version.
#
# PulseAudio is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
# WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
# General Public License for more details.
#
# You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
# along with PulseAudio; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
# Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA.

# This startup script is used only if PulseAudio is started per-user
# (i.e. not in system mode)

.nofail

### Load something into the sample cache
#load-sample-lazy x11-bell /usr/share/sounds/gtk-events/activate.wav
#load-sample-lazy pulse-hotplug /usr/share/sounds/startup3.wav
#load-sample-lazy pulse-coldplug /usr/share/sounds/startup3.wav
#load-sample-lazy pulse-access /usr/share/sounds/generic.wav

.fail

### Automatically restore the volume of streams and devices
load-module module-device-restore
load-module module-stream-restore
load-module module-card-restore

### Automatically augment property information from .desktop files
### stored in /usr/share/application
load-module module-augment-properties

### Load audio drivers statically
### (it's probably better to not load these drivers manually, but instead
### use module-udev-detect -- see below -- for doing this automatically)
#load-module module-alsa-sink
#load-module module-alsa-source device=hw:1,0
#load-module module-oss device="/dev/dsp" sink_name=output source_name=input
#load-module module-oss-mmap device="/dev/dsp" sink_name=output source_name=input
#load-module module-null-sink
#load-module module-pipe-sink

### Automatically load driver modules depending on the hardware available
.ifexists module-udev-detect.so
load-module module-udev-detect tsched=0
.else
### Use the static hardware detection module (for systems that lack udev/hal support)
load-module module-detect
.endif

### Automatically connect sink and source if JACK server is present
.ifexists module-jackdbus-detect.so
.nofail
load-module module-jackdbus-detect
.fail
.endif

### Automatically load driver modules for Bluetooth hardware
.ifexists module-bluetooth-discover.so
load-module module-bluetooth-discover
.endif

### Load several protocols
.ifexists module-esound-protocol-unix.so
load-module module-esound-protocol-unix
.endif
load-module module-native-protocol-unix

### Network access (may be configured with paprefs, so leave this commented
### here if you plan to use paprefs)
#load-module module-esound-protocol-tcp
#load-module module-native-protocol-tcp
#load-module module-zeroconf-publish

### Load the RTP receiver module (also configured via paprefs, see above)
#load-module module-rtp-recv

### Load the RTP sender module (also configured via paprefs, see above)
#load-module module-null-sink sink_name=rtp format=s16be channels=2 rate=44100 sink_properties="device.description='RTP Multicast Sink'"
#load-module module-rtp-send source=rtp.monitor

### Load additional modules from GConf settings. This can be configured with the paprefs tool.
### Please keep in mind that the modules configured by paprefs might conflict with manually
### loaded modules.
.ifexists module-gconf.so
.nofail
load-module module-gconf
.fail
.endif

### Automatically restore the default sink/source when changed by the user
### during runtime
### NOTE: This should be loaded as early as possible so that subsequent modules
### that look up the default sink/source get the right value
load-module module-default-device-restore

### Automatically move streams to the default sink if the sink they are
### connected to dies, similar for sources
load-module module-rescue-streams

### Make sure we always have a sink around, even if it is a null sink.
load-module module-always-sink

### Honour intended role device property
load-module module-intended-roles

### Automatically suspend sinks/sources that become idle for too long
load-module module-suspend-on-idle

### If autoexit on idle is enabled we want to make sure we only quit
### when no local session needs us anymore.
.ifexists module-console-kit.so
.nofail
load-module module-console-kit
.fail
.endif
.ifexists module-systemd-login.so
load-module module-systemd-login
.endif

### Enable positioned event sounds
load-module module-position-event-sounds

### Cork music/video streams when a phone stream is active
load-module module-role-cork

### Modules to allow autoloading of filters (such as echo cancellation)
### on demand. module-filter-heuristics tries to determine what filters
### make sense, and module-filter-apply does the heavy-lifting of
### loading modules and rerouting streams.
load-module module-filter-heuristics
load-module module-filter-apply

### Load DBus protocol
.ifexists module-dbus-protocol.so
load-module module-dbus-protocol
.endif

# X11 modules should not be started from default.pa so that one daemon

# can be shared by multiple sessions.

### Load X11 bell module
#load-module module-x11-bell sample=bell-windowing-system

### Register ourselves in the X11 session manager
#load-module module-x11-xsmp

### Publish connection data in the X11 root window
#.ifexists module-x11-publish.so
#.nofail
#load-module module-x11-publish
#.fail
#.endif

load-module module-switch-on-port-available

### Make some devices default
#set-default-sink output
#set-default-source input
load-module module-device-manager

backup and del /etc/asound.conf ~/.asoundrc

install or reinstall pulseaudio-alsa

reboot