Arch Linux

julesm

Member

Registered: 2014-07-29

Posts: 70

Pulseaudio daemon already running error message

I've recently noticed that I'm getting a journal error about the pulseaudio daemon already running and I'm not sure how this is. I read the wiki and made sure that I have none of these files:

/etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc.d/pulseaudio
/etc/xdg/autostart/pulseaudio.desktop
/etc/xdg/autostart/pulseaudio-kde.desktop

I've made sure as well that there's not a pulseaudio file in:

~/.config/autostart/

I'm running XFCE and there's nothing in my xinitrc file either.

Pulseaudio works fine, but something is starting it not only once but twice...

I've got two questions.  First, what's starting it the first time?  Second, having made sure that there are no autostart files, what could be trying to start it again?  Are there other locations for autostart files that I should be looking in?

Cheers,
Jules

karol

Archivist

Registered: 2009-05-06

Posts: 25,440

Re: Pulseaudio daemon already running error message

What's the output of 'systemctl status pulseaudio'?
Are you running [testing]? /etc/xdg/autostart/pulseaudio.desktop etc. should be present otherwise.

Have you seen https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Pu … dy_running ?

Last edited by karol (2015-02-08 00:20:09)

julesm

Member

Registered: 2014-07-29

Posts: 70

Re: Pulseaudio daemon already running error message

Thanks for the reply. 'systemctl status pulseaudio' gives me:

 pulseaudio.service
 Loaded: not-found (Reason: No such file or directory)
 Active: inactive (dead)

No, I'm not running [testing].  I deleted '/etc/xdg/autostart/pulseaudio.desktop' etc one by one to identify which one was starting pulseaudio.

I saw the wiki https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Pu … dy_running which is why I deleted the desktop files...

Any ideas as somehow it is managing to start?

Thanks again.

Cheers,
Jules

julesm

Member

Registered: 2014-07-29

Posts: 70

Re: Pulseaudio daemon already running error message

I noticed that if I go into 'Session and Startup', untick xfce4-volumed and reboot, I don't have the journal error message. I then replaced xfce4-volumed with xfce4-volumed-pulse as per https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/xfce#Xfce4-volumed to see if that made a difference and it doesn't. If xfce4-volumed-pulse is enabled to autostart, then I get the pulseaudio daemon already running error...

julesm

Member

Registered: 2014-07-29

Posts: 70

Re: Pulseaudio daemon already running error message

Just did an update on another arch/xfce system that didn't have the pulseaudio "daemon already running" error message. And following the update and a reboot, that system now has the error message as well.

So it would seem that one of the following is now trying to start pulseaudio when it didn't in the past:

[2015-02-08 11:14] [ALPM] transaction started
[2015-02-08 11:14] [ALPM] upgraded libpciaccess (0.13.2-2 -> 0.13.3-1)
[2015-02-08 11:14] [ALPM] upgraded mesa (10.4.3-1 -> 10.4.4-1)
[2015-02-08 11:14] [ALPM] upgraded mesa-libgl (10.4.3-1 -> 10.4.4-1)
[2015-02-08 11:14] [ALPM] upgraded flashplugin (11.2.202.440-1 -> 11.2.202.442-1)
[2015-02-08 11:14] [ALPM] upgraded parted (3.2-1 -> 3.2-2)
[2015-02-08 11:14] [ALPM] upgraded gparted (0.21.0-1 -> 0.21.0-2)
[2015-02-08 11:14] [ALPM] upgraded udisks2 (2.1.3-1 -> 2.1.4-1)
[2015-02-08 11:14] [ALPM] upgraded kdelibs (4.14.4-1 -> 4.14.5-1)
[2015-02-08 11:14] [ALPM] upgraded lib32-mesa (10.4.3-1 -> 10.4.4-1)
[2015-02-08 11:14] [ALPM] upgraded lib32-mesa-libgl (10.4.3-1 -> 10.4.4-1)
[2015-02-08 11:14] [ALPM] warning: /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist installed as /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist.pacnew
[2015-02-08 11:14] [ALPM] upgraded pacman-mirrorlist (20150105-1 -> 20150205-1)
[2015-02-08 11:14] [ALPM] upgraded postgresql-libs (9.4.0-1 -> 9.4.1-1)
[2015-02-08 11:14] [ALPM] transaction completed

It's probably safe to eliminate some of the candidates off the bat but I have included the full list for completeness.  Just wondering if anyone else has noticed this error suddenly appearing in their journal?

Cheers,
Jules

jedijimi

Member

From: Hartford Wi

Registered: 2013-12-10

Posts: 93

Re: Pulseaudio daemon already running error message

I also have this problem. I've been trying to dissect it, on and off for a few weeks. You deleted the '/etc/xdg/autostart/pulseaudio.desktop' file? Here is mine so you can copy it back. I think you misread the wiki on the deletion of them files.

From wiki:

Make sure to use only one method of autostarting applications. pulseaudio includes these files:

    /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc.d/pulseaudio
    /etc/xdg/autostart/pulseaudio.desktop
    /etc/xdg/autostart/pulseaudio-kde.desktop

Here is the '/etc/xdg/autostart/pulseaudio.desktop'

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Name=PulseAudio Sound System
Name[as]=PulseAudio শব্দ ব্যৱস্থা
Name[bn_IN]=PulseAudio শব্দ ব্যবস্থা
Name[ca]=Sistema de so PulseAudio
Name[cs]=Zvukový systém PulseAudio
Name[de]=PulseAudio Sound System
Name[de_CH]=PulseAudio Sound System
Name[es]=Sistema de Sonido PulseAudio
Name[fi]=PulseAudio-äänijärjestelmä
Name[fr]=Système de son PulseAudio
Name[gu]=PulseAudio સાઉન્ડ સિસ્ટમ
Name[he]=מערכת הקול PulseAudio
Name[hi]=पल्सऑडियो ध्वनि तंत्र
Name[hu]=PulseAudio hangrendszer
Name[id]=Sistem Suara PulseAudio
Name[it]=Sistema sonoro PulseAudio
Name[ja]=PulseAudio サウンドシステム
Name[kn]=PulseAudio ಧ್ವನಿ ವ್ಯವಸ್ಥೆ
Name[ml]=PulseAudio സൌണ്ട് സിസ്റ്റം
Name[mr]=PulseAudio आवाज प्रणाली
Name[nl]=PulseAudio geluidssysteem
Name[or]=PulseAudio ଧ୍ୱନି ତନ୍ତ୍ର
Name[pa]=ਪਲਸਆਡੀਓ ਸਾਊਂਡ ਸਿਸਟਮ
Name[pl]=System dźwięku PulseAudio
Name[pt]=Sistema de Som PulseAudio
Name[pt_BR]=Sistema de som PulseAudio
Name[ru]=Звуковая система PulseAudio
Name[sr]=PulseAudio звучни систем
Name[sr@latin]=PulseAudio zvučni sistem
Name[ta]=பள்ஸ் ஆடியோ ஒலி கணினி
Name[te]=PulseAudio శబ్దపు సిస్టమ్
Name[uk]=Звукова система PulseAudio
Name[zh_CN]=PulseAudio 声音系统
Name[zh_TW]=PulseAudio 音效系統
Comment=Start the PulseAudio Sound System
Comment[as]=PulseAudio শব্দ ব্যৱস্থা আৰম্ভ কৰা হ'ব
Comment[bn_IN]=PulseAudio শব্দ ব্যবস্থা আরম্ভ করা হবে
Comment[ca]=Inicialitza el sistema de so PulseAudio
Comment[cs]=Spustit zvukový systém PulseAudio
Comment[de]=Das PulseAudio Sound System starten
Comment[de_CH]=Das PulseAudio Sound System starten
Comment[es]=Iniciar el Sistema de Sonido PulseAudio
Comment[fi]=Käynnistä PulseAudio-äänijärjestelmä
Comment[fr]=Démarrer le système de son PulseAudio
Comment[gu]=PulseAudio સાઉન્ડ સિસ્ટમને શરૂ કરો
Comment[he]=התחל את מערכת הקול PulseAudio
Comment[hi]=पल्सऑडियो ध्वनि तंत्र प्रारंभ करें
Comment[hu]=A PulseAudio hangrendszer elindítása
Comment[id]=Memulai Sistem Suara PulseAudio
Comment[it]=Avvia il sistema sonoro PulseAudio
Comment[ja]=PulseAudio サウンドシステムを開始
Comment[kn]=PulseAudio ಧ್ವನಿ ವ್ಯವಸ್ಥೆಯನ್ನು ಆರಂಭಿಸಿ
Comment[ml]=PulseAudio സൌണ്ട് സിസ്റ്റം ആരംഭിക്കുക
Comment[mr]=PulseAudio आवाज प्रणाली सुरू करा
Comment[nl]=Start het PulseAudio geluidssysteem
Comment[or]=PulseAudio ଧ୍ୱନି ତନ୍ତ୍ରକୁ ଆରମ୍ଭ କରନ୍ତୁ
Comment[pa]=ਪਲਸਆਡੀਓ ਸਾਊਂਡ ਸਿਸਟਮ ਚਲਾਓ
Comment[pl]=Uruchomienie systemu dźwięku PulseAudio
Comment[pt]=Inciar o Sistema de Som PulseAudio
Comment[pt_BR]=Iniciar o sistema de som PulseAudio
Comment[ru]=Запуск звуковой системы PulseAudio
Comment[sr]=Покрени PulseAudio звучни систем
Comment[sr@latin]=Pokreni PulseAudio zvučni sistem
Comment[ta]=பள்ஸ் ஆடியோ ஒலி கணினியை துவக்கவும
Comment[te]=PulseAudio శబ్దపు సిస్టమ్ను ప్రారంభించుము
Comment[uk]=Запустити звукову систему PulseAudio
Comment[zh_CN]=启动 PulseAudio 声音系统
Comment[zh_TW]=啟動 PulseAudio 音效系統
Exec=start-pulseaudio-x11
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Categories=
GenericName=
X-GNOME-Autostart-Phase=Initialization

---

Crude matter we are not, Luminous beings we are

julesm

Member

Registered: 2014-07-29

Posts: 70

Re: Pulseaudio daemon already running error message

Thanks for that clarification. I've restored '/etc/xdg/autostart/pulseaudio.desktop'.  So, there's only one 'pulseaudio' in 'etc/xdg/autostart' and there are no other 'pulseaudio' files - not in '/etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc.d/' or in '~/.config/autostart.  But now I'm getting the error message twice:

pulseaudio[827]: Daemon already running.
pulseaudio[829]: [pulseaudio] pid.c: Daemon already running.

jedijimi

Member

From: Hartford Wi

Registered: 2013-12-10

Posts: 93

Re: Pulseaudio daemon already running error message

You 'unticked' all pulseaudio in your 'session-startup'? Also how are you using journalctl command.  'journalctl -b'? I ask this cause I made the mistake on just using 'journalctl', which gave me output dating back to Nov.

---

Crude matter we are not, Luminous beings we are

julesm

Member

Registered: 2014-07-29

Posts: 70

Re: Pulseaudio daemon already running error message

Thanks - the second "already running" error was because I had pulseaudio ticked in the 'session-startup'.  So unticking resolved one of the messages.  But I still get one "already running" message.  Here's how I'm running journalctl which gives me date/time so I know it's from the latest reboot:

sudo journalctl -p 0..3 -xn

jedijimi

Member

From: Hartford Wi

Registered: 2013-12-10

Posts: 93

Re: Pulseaudio daemon already running error message

Maybe this command might help

systemd-cgls

---

Crude matter we are not, Luminous beings we are

julesm

Member

Registered: 2014-07-29

Posts: 70

Re: Pulseaudio daemon already running error message

Thanks for that.  I see three references to pulse in the output:

697 xfce4-volumed-pulse
710 /usr/bin/pulseaudio --start --log-target=syslog
762 /usr/lib/pulse/gconf-helper

If I untick xfce4-volumed-pulse in 'Session and Startup', the error seems to go away.  Somewhere something got updated and I'm sure that the powers that be will sort it out when the time is right...  The good news is that everything still works as it should in the meantime.