[SOLVED] Pulse Audio / ALSA audio sharing.

qKUqm3wtY4 · 2013-01-04 04:09:07

SOLUTION AT POST # 4

My computer has integrated audio and HDMI. From my understanding, to be able to switch between these two types of audio hardware I require a sound server. If this is not correct, please let me know so that I can uninstall Pulse Audio. Assuming it is correct, I have numerous problems with my audio. When running multiple programs, often I have to open pavucontrol and move the volume slider around in order for the audio to play in a newly opened program. I have XFCE's volume control set to ALSA, and I am unable to change it to Pulse Audio for some reason. This is a problem because every time I mute or change the volume using XFCE's volume control, I then have to go into Pulse Audio later to change the audio back. If I run a game or VLC, and then open Firefox, I get no Flash audio. However, if I run Firefox first, I have no audio in VLC or in game. Usually I can fix this by opening pavucontrol and messing with the volume sliders. This is not ideal. Ultimately it seems the problem is that the program I am using are not sharing the audio hardware, so only one can play audio at a time.

What can I do to make my audio work as it should?

Here is my audio hardware

# lspci | grep -i audio
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 05)

Screenshot of the only sound card option I have in the XFCE Audio Mixer Plugin:
http://imgur.com/3TJWC

I searched the Wiki, but it is out of date. https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/PulseAudio#ALSA

. . . For the applications that do not support PulseAudio and support ALSA it is recommended to install the PulseAudio plugin for ALSA. This package also contains the necessary /etc/asound.conf for configuring ALSA to use PulseAudio.
To prevent applications from using ALSA's OSS emulation and bypassing Pulseaudio (thereby preventing other applications from playing sound), make sure the module snd_pcm_oss is not in the MODULES array in /etc/rc.conf. If it is currently loaded (lsmod|grep oss), disable it by executing: . . .

How can I do this using systemd instead of rc.conf?

Edit: Since there is a lack of response, I am completely changing the entire post in order to be clear and productive.

Last edited by qKUqm3wtY4 (2013-01-05 04:52:15)

jasonwryan · 2013-01-04 04:14:49

This is the second consecutive thread in which I have had to point you at the Forum Etiquette. Please read it.

Before you do so, remove Q4; we respect the people who create the free software that is packaged for Arch, we don't denigrate it.

qKUqm3wtY4 · 2013-01-04 19:05:36

Here is a screen shot that shows the pavucontrol panel and the XFCE audio mixer panel. I am running Steam, VLC, and YouTube video at the same time. You will notice that Firefox or Flash are not listed in pavucontrol, nor is Steam. This is a frequent occurrence. I can run these programs with audio one at a time, but I still have to mess with the volume sliders and mute buttons between XFCE audio mixer and pavucontrol every time.

http://imgur.com/USnTn

qKUqm3wtY4 · 2013-01-05 03:50:59

I found a solution here: http://forums.opensuse.org/english/get- … audio.html

You must create /etc/asound.conf and insert the following:

pcm.pulse {
    type pulse
}

ctl.pulse {
    type pulse
}

pcm.!default {
    type pulse
}

ctl.!default {
    type pulse
}

pcm.phononpulse {
  type plug
  slave.pcm {
    type pulse
  }
  hint {
    show on
    description "PulseAudio"
  }
}

lucke · 2013-01-05 04:05:53

Did you have pulseaudio-alsa installed? It provides /etc/asound.conf, as noted in the quoted wiki fragment.

qKUqm3wtY4 · 2013-01-05 04:44:53

lucke wrote:

Did you have pulseaudio-alsa installed? It provides /etc/asound.conf, as noted in the quoted wiki fragment.

Yes. I am not sure why I didn't have the configuration file.

# sudo pacman -Q pulseaudio-alsa
pulseaudio-alsa 2-1

brebs · 2013-01-05 07:01:30

Gentoo's alsa-plugins has a nice way of setting up the pulseaudio hooks. It effectively performs:

install -m 644 pulse-default.conf /usr/share/alsa/
install -m 644 51-pulseaudio-probe.conf /usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf.d/

Amanda S · 2014-03-24 09:47:49

lucke wrote:

Did you have pulseaudio-alsa installed? It provides /etc/asound.conf, as noted in the quoted wiki fragment.

Thanks.

Inxsible · 2014-03-26 18:20:22

Amarildo, Do not necrobump threads -- especially with empty posts/power posts like yours.

Closing...

Arch Linux

#1 2013-01-04 04:09:07

[SOLVED] Pulse Audio / ALSA audio sharing.

#2 2013-01-04 04:14:49

Re: [SOLVED] Pulse Audio / ALSA audio sharing.

#3 2013-01-04 19:05:36

Re: [SOLVED] Pulse Audio / ALSA audio sharing.

#4 2013-01-05 03:50:59

Re: [SOLVED] Pulse Audio / ALSA audio sharing.

#5 2013-01-05 04:05:53

Re: [SOLVED] Pulse Audio / ALSA audio sharing.

#6 2013-01-05 04:44:53

Re: [SOLVED] Pulse Audio / ALSA audio sharing.

#7 2013-01-05 07:01:30

Re: [SOLVED] Pulse Audio / ALSA audio sharing.

#8 2014-03-24 09:47:49

Re: [SOLVED] Pulse Audio / ALSA audio sharing.

#9 2014-03-26 18:20:22

Re: [SOLVED] Pulse Audio / ALSA audio sharing.

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