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#1 2026-03-06 21:00:54
- adoa
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- Registered: 2012-02-08
- Posts: 33
[solved] "audio" group membership for pro-audio
I was meaning to experiment with audio production, so I installed the pro-audio meta pagacke, as well as the realtime-privileges. Added myself to the "realtime" group.
After reboot, I was no longer part of the "audio" group. And for some reason now my gnome-settings and pavucontrol refuse to list any audio devices.
Adding myself back to the "audio" group kind of "fixes" the audio again. Yet I am a bit confused. The wiki says I should not need to be a member of that group, so that hints at some misconfiguration on my system's side. This system has been running for a decade at this point, and I have to admit that I don't know all the little details that actually make it work, nor can I confidently say that I always performed all the manual changes when some updated packages suggested/recommended it.
I find it very hard to troubleshoot this audio issue now. Seems some udev rules are wrong/missing? But I cannot quite figure out how to make that work.
Can someone guide me towards some more detailed info about what the configuration for udev *should* be like? Also maybe something about polkit might be wrong. Wiki mentioned that
> $ loginctl show-session $XDG_SESSION_ID
should mention "Active=yes" which it does not. Should I be worried? Is the wiki out of date?
The lazy side in me screams "just add yourself to the audio group and ignore the other stuff" – considering that I'm the only one using this machine this might actually be a reasonable path.
More context: I'm using pipewire, pipewire-pulse, pipewire-jack under a GNOME.
Last edited by adoa (Today 10:18:40)
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#2 2026-03-06 21:52:17
- seth
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- From: Don't DM me only for attention
- Registered: 2012-09-03
- Posts: 73,680
Re: [solved] "audio" group membership for pro-audio
the pro-audio meta pagacke
The what?
https://archlinux.org/packages/?sort=&q=pro-audio
You need to be member of the audio group for rare circumstances of required direct /dev/snd access but not to play some mp3 w/ mpv or so.
should mention "Active=yes" which it does not. Should I be worried?
No, but look into it
loginctl list-sessions
loginctl session-statusHow do you start gnome?
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#3 2026-03-07 08:18:56
- adoa
- Member
- Registered: 2012-02-08
- Posts: 33
Re: [solved] "audio" group membership for pro-audio
Sorry, apparently I used the wrong phrase. It's a "package group":
https://archlinux.org/groups/x86_64/pro-audio/
I was peeking into this wiki page:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Professional_audio
The output you asked for:
$ loginctl list-sessions
SESSION UID USER SEAT LEADER CLASS TTY IDLE SINCE
3 1000 valneq seat0 2384 user tty2 no -
4 1000 valneq - 2682 manager - no -
2 sessions listed.
$ loginctl session-status
3 - valneq (1000)
Since: Sat 2026-03-07 08:54:31 CET; 18min ago
State: active
Leader: 2384 (gdm-session-wor)
Seat: seat0; vc2
TTY: tty2
Remote: no
Service: gdm-password
Type: wayland
Class: user
Idle: no
Unit: session-3.scope
├─2384 "gdm-session-worker [pam/gdm-password]"
├─2820 /usr/lib/gdm-wayland-session /usr/bin/gnome-session
└─2853 /usr/lib/gnome-session-init-worker gnome
Mär 07 08:54:31 umoja systemd[1]: Started Session 3 of User valneq.
Mär 07 08:54:32 umoja gnome-session-i[2853]: Starting GNOME session target: gnome-session-wayland@gnome.targetHow do I start gnome?
I want to say Grub2 → systemd → gdm → gnome
but that's probably not what you meant.
Another weird observation. Now I noticed that while logged in and not part of the "audio" group, I can get audio to work by restarting pipewire via "systemctl --user restart pipewire". Why is this necessary after a reboot? Seems there is truly something wonky about my system 
Last edited by adoa (2026-03-07 08:19:24)
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#4 2026-03-07 09:10:09
- seth
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- From: Don't DM me only for attention
- Registered: 2012-09-03
- Posts: 73,680
Re: [solved] "audio" group membership for pro-audio
Try
loginctl show-session 4systemd at some point introduced the manager class session which is now your actually active session
work by restarting pipewire via "systemctl --user restart pipewire"
systemctl --user status pipewire.s{ervice,ocket}The service is probably enabled and starts "too early™" where before you relied on the socket activation.
Seems there is truly something wonky about my system
https://ewontfix.com/15 - so old and still true 
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#5 2026-03-07 10:30:47
- adoa
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- Registered: 2012-02-08
- Posts: 33
Re: [solved] "audio" group membership for pro-audio
So it seems it's just the XDG_SESSION_ID variable that caused the confusion about the session. It seems to be empty. For whatever reason. But I guess it's fine.
$ loginctl
SESSION UID USER SEAT LEADER CLASS TTY IDLE SINCE
3 1000 valneq seat0 2384 user tty2 no -
4 1000 valneq - 2682 manager - no -
2 sessions listed.
$ loginctl show-session
EnableWallMessages=yes
NAutoVTs=6
KillUserProcesses=no
RebootToFirmwareSetup=no
RebootToBootLoaderMenu=18446744073709551615
IdleHint=no
IdleSinceHint=0
IdleSinceHintMonotonic=0
BlockInhibited=handle-power-key:handle-suspend-key:handle-hibernate-key
DelayInhibited=sleep
InhibitDelayMaxUSec=5s
UserStopDelayUSec=10s
SleepOperation=suspend-then-hibernate suspend hibernate
HandlePowerKey=poweroff
HandlePowerKeyLongPress=ignore
HandleRebootKey=reboot
HandleRebootKeyLongPress=poweroff
HandleSuspendKey=suspend
HandleSuspendKeyLongPress=hibernate
HandleHibernateKey=hibernate
HandleHibernateKeyLongPress=ignore
HandleLidSwitch=suspend
HandleLidSwitchDocked=ignore
HandleSecureAttentionKey=secure-attention-key
HoldoffTimeoutUSec=30s
IdleAction=ignore
IdleActionUSec=30min
PreparingForShutdown=no
PreparingForSleep=no
Docked=yes
LidClosed=no
OnExternalPower=yes
RemoveIPC=yes
RuntimeDirectorySize=6736351232
RuntimeDirectoryInodesMax=1644617
InhibitorsMax=8192
NCurrentInhibitors=9
SessionsMax=8192
NCurrentSessions=2
StopIdleSessionUSec=infinity
$ loginctl show-session 3
Id=3
User=1000
Name=valneq
Timestamp=Sat 2026-03-07 08:54:31 CET
TimestampMonotonic=22279816
VTNr=2
Seat=seat0
TTY=tty2
Remote=no
Service=gdm-password
Scope=session-3.scope
Leader=2384
LeaderPIDFDId=2385
Audit=3
Type=wayland
Class=user
Active=yes
State=active
IdleHint=no
IdleSinceHint=0
IdleSinceHintMonotonic=0
CanIdle=yes
CanLock=yes
LockedHint=no
$ loginctl show-session 4
Id=4
User=1000
Name=valneq
Timestamp=Sat 2026-03-07 08:54:31 CET
TimestampMonotonic=22334130
VTNr=0
Remote=no
Service=systemd-user
Leader=2682
LeaderPIDFDId=2683
Audit=4
Type=unspecified
Class=manager
Active=yes
State=active
IdleHint=no
IdleSinceHint=0
IdleSinceHintMonotonic=0
CanIdle=no
CanLock=no
LockedHint=no
$ loginctl show-session $XDG_SESSION_ID
EnableWallMessages=yes
NAutoVTs=6
KillUserProcesses=no
RebootToFirmwareSetup=no
RebootToBootLoaderMenu=18446744073709551615
IdleHint=no
IdleSinceHint=0
IdleSinceHintMonotonic=0
BlockInhibited=handle-power-key:handle-suspend-key:handle-hibernate-key
DelayInhibited=sleep
InhibitDelayMaxUSec=5s
UserStopDelayUSec=10s
SleepOperation=suspend-then-hibernate suspend hibernate
HandlePowerKey=poweroff
HandlePowerKeyLongPress=ignore
HandleRebootKey=reboot
HandleRebootKeyLongPress=poweroff
HandleSuspendKey=suspend
HandleSuspendKeyLongPress=hibernate
HandleHibernateKey=hibernate
HandleHibernateKeyLongPress=ignore
HandleLidSwitch=suspend
HandleLidSwitchDocked=ignore
HandleSecureAttentionKey=secure-attention-key
HoldoffTimeoutUSec=30s
IdleAction=ignore
IdleActionUSec=30min
PreparingForShutdown=no
PreparingForSleep=no
Docked=yes
LidClosed=no
OnExternalPower=yes
RemoveIPC=yes
RuntimeDirectorySize=6736351232
RuntimeDirectoryInodesMax=1644617
InhibitorsMax=8192
NCurrentInhibitors=9
SessionsMax=8192
NCurrentSessions=2
StopIdleSessionUSec=infinity
$ echo $XDG_SESSION_ID
$ My main concern is about the audio. I want to record microphone input and screen capture via OBS, Kdenlive for video editing, Ardour for audio editing. So far things have mostly been working fine. It's just that sometimes my microphone signals has small glitches. I believe the term is "xrun". I was hoping the realtime-privileges would help against that. Yet now it seems the audio group is causing even more confusion on my end.
Regarding the timing of the services:
[valneq@umoja ~]$ systemctl --user status pipewire.s{ervice,ocket}
● pipewire.service - PipeWire Multimedia Service
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/user/pipewire.service; disabled; preset: enabled)
Active: active (running) since Sat 2026-03-07 09:08:22 CET; 2h 36min ago
Invocation: b963212ecbc04ba696e5ce3b33d229bb
TriggeredBy: ● pipewire.socket
Main PID: 6087 (pipewire)
Tasks: 2 (limit: 77029)
Memory: 24.6M (peak: 26.9M)
CPU: 7.900s
CGroup: /user.slice/user-1000.slice/user@1000.service/session.slice/pipewire.service
└─6087 /usr/bin/pipewire
Mär 07 09:08:22 umoja systemd[2682]: Started PipeWire Multimedia Service.
● pipewire.socket - PipeWire Multimedia System Sockets
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/user/pipewire.socket; enabled; preset: enabled)
Active: active (running) since Sat 2026-03-07 08:54:31 CET; 2h 50min ago
Invocation: 54b14a7ad7764d13b975ab7e9c6553d1
Triggers: ● pipewire.service
Listen: /run/user/1000/pipewire-0 (Stream)
/run/user/1000/pipewire-0-manager (Stream)
Mär 07 08:54:31 umoja systemd[2682]: Listening on PipeWire Multimedia System Sockets.
[valneq@umoja ~]$ journalctl -b | grep -i udev
Mär 07 08:54:10 archlinux systemd[1]: Listening on udev Control Socket.
Mär 07 08:54:10 archlinux systemd[1]: Listening on udev Kernel Socket.
Mär 07 08:54:10 archlinux systemd[1]: Starting Coldplug All udev Devices...
Mär 07 08:54:10 archlinux systemd-udevd[261]: Using default interface naming scheme 'v259'.
Mär 07 08:54:10 archlinux systemd[1]: Finished Coldplug All udev Devices.
Mär 07 08:54:11 archlinux systemd[1]: systemd-udev-trigger.service: Deactivated successfully.
Mär 07 08:54:11 archlinux systemd[1]: Stopped Coldplug All udev Devices.
Mär 07 08:54:17 archlinux systemd[1]: systemd-udevd.service: Deactivated successfully.
Mär 07 08:54:17 archlinux systemd[1]: systemd-udevd.service: Consumed 6.990s CPU time over 6.959s wall clock time, 33.2M memory peak.
Mär 07 08:54:17 archlinux systemd[1]: systemd-udevd-control.socket: Deactivated successfully.
Mär 07 08:54:17 archlinux systemd[1]: Closed udev Control Socket.
Mär 07 08:54:17 archlinux systemd[1]: Starting Cleanup udev Database...
Mär 07 08:54:17 archlinux systemd[1]: initrd-udevadm-cleanup-db.service: Deactivated successfully.
Mär 07 08:54:17 archlinux systemd[1]: Finished Cleanup udev Database.
Mär 07 08:54:18 umoja systemd[1]: Listening on udev Control Socket.
Mär 07 08:54:18 umoja systemd[1]: Listening on udev Varlink Socket.
Mär 07 08:54:18 umoja systemd[1]: Starting Load udev Rules from Credentials...
Mär 07 08:54:18 umoja systemd[1]: Starting Coldplug All udev Devices...
Mär 07 08:54:18 umoja systemd[1]: Finished Load udev Rules from Credentials.
Mär 07 08:54:18 umoja systemd-udevd[598]: Using default interface naming scheme 'v259'.
Mär 07 08:54:18 umoja systemd[1]: Finished Coldplug All udev Devices.
Mär 07 08:54:18 umoja (udev-worker)[635]: cfg80211: Process '/usr/bin/set-wireless-regdom' failed with exit code 1.
[valneq@umoja ~]$ journalctl --user -b -u pipewire
Mär 07 08:54:35 umoja systemd[2682]: Started PipeWire Multimedia Service.
Mär 07 09:08:22 umoja systemd[2682]: Stopping PipeWire Multimedia Service...
Mär 07 09:08:22 umoja systemd[2682]: Stopped PipeWire Multimedia Service.
Mär 07 09:08:22 umoja systemd[2682]: Started PipeWire Multimedia Service.So I want to say udev is done before pipewire is starting up. You see pipewire starting up twice because I manually restarted it after boot.
Last edited by adoa (2026-03-07 10:48:12)
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#6 2026-03-07 11:08:37
- seth
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- From: Don't DM me only for attention
- Registered: 2012-09-03
- Posts: 73,680
Re: [solved] "audio" group membership for pro-audio
So pw is still socket activated
systemctl --user list-unitsI don't think this is in realtion to udev but when pw gets triggered in relation to the present session
Please post your complete system journal for the boot:
sudo journalctl -b | curl -F 'file=@-' 0x0.stOffline
#7 2026-03-07 11:46:21
- adoa
- Member
- Registered: 2012-02-08
- Posts: 33
Re: [solved] "audio" group membership for pro-audio
So pw is still socket activated
Is that not how it's supposed to be? It seems correct to me.
$ systemctl --user list-units
UNIT LOAD ACTIVE SUB DESCRIPTION >
sys-devices-pci0000:00-0000:00:01.2-0000:20:00.0-0000:21:00.0-0000:22:00.0-nvme-nvme0-nvme0n1-nvme0n1p1.device loaded active plugged Samsung SSD 970 PRO 512GB 1
sys-devices-pci0000:00-0000:00:01.2-0000:20:00.0-0000:21:00.0-0000:22:00.0-nvme-nvme0-nvme0n1-nvme0n1p2.device loaded active plugged Samsung SSD 970 PRO 512GB 2
sys-devices-pci0000:00-0000:00:01.2-0000:20:00.0-0000:21:00.0-0000:22:00.0-nvme-nvme0-nvme0n1.device loaded active plugged Samsung SSD 970 PRO 512GB
sys-devices-pci0000:00-0000:00:01.2-0000:20:00.0-0000:21:04.0-0000:26:00.0-ata1-host0-target0:0:0-0:0:0:0-block-sda-sda1.device loaded active plugged WDC_WD4002FYYZ-01B7CB1 Wiederherstellung
sys-devices-pci0000:00-0000:00:01.2-0000:20:00.0-0000:21:04.0-0000:26:00.0-ata1-host0-target0:0:0-0:0:0:0-block-sda-sda2.device loaded active plugged WDC_WD4002FYYZ-01B7CB1 EFI\x20system\x20partition
sys-devices-pci0000:00-0000:00:01.2-0000:20:00.0-0000:21:04.0-0000:26:00.0-ata1-host0-target0:0:0-0:0:0:0-block-sda-sda3.device loaded active plugged WDC_WD4002FYYZ-01B7CB1 Microsoft\x20reserved\x20partition
sys-devices-pci0000:00-0000:00:01.2-0000:20:00.0-0000:21:04.0-0000:26:00.0-ata1-host0-target0:0:0-0:0:0:0-block-sda-sda4.device loaded active plugged WDC_WD4002FYYZ-01B7CB1 Basic\x20data\x20partition
sys-devices-pci0000:00-0000:00:01.2-0000:20:00.0-0000:21:04.0-0000:26:00.0-ata1-host0-target0:0:0-0:0:0:0-block-sda-sda5.device loaded active plugged WDC_WD4002FYYZ-01B7CB1 5
sys-devices-pci0000:00-0000:00:01.2-0000:20:00.0-0000:21:04.0-0000:26:00.0-ata1-host0-target0:0:0-0:0:0:0-block-sda.device loaded active plugged WDC_WD4002FYYZ-01B7CB1
sys-devices-pci0000:00-0000:00:01.2-0000:20:00.0-0000:21:04.0-0000:26:00.0-ata2-host1-target1:0:0-1:0:0:0-block-sdb-sdb1.device loaded active plugged WDC_WD4002FYYZ-01B7CB1 1
sys-devices-pci0000:00-0000:00:01.2-0000:20:00.0-0000:21:04.0-0000:26:00.0-ata2-host1-target1:0:0-1:0:0:0-block-sdb-sdb2.device loaded active plugged WDC_WD4002FYYZ-01B7CB1 2
sys-devices-pci0000:00-0000:00:01.2-0000:20:00.0-0000:21:04.0-0000:26:00.0-ata2-host1-target1:0:0-1:0:0:0-block-sdb.device loaded active plugged WDC_WD4002FYYZ-01B7CB1
sys-devices-pci0000:00-0000:00:01.2-0000:20:00.0-0000:21:05.0-0000:27:00.0-net-enp39s0.device loaded active plugged RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (X570-A P>
sys-devices-pci0000:00-0000:00:01.2-0000:20:00.0-0000:21:07.0-0000:29:00.0-net-wlp41s0.device loaded active plugged Dual Band Wireless-AC 3168NGW [Stone Peak]
sys-devices-pci0000:00-0000:00:01.2-0000:20:00.0-0000:21:08.0-0000:2a:00.1-usb1-1\x2d2-1\x2d2:1.0-sound-card0-controlC0.device loaded active plugged UMC404HD_192k
sys-devices-pci0000:00-0000:00:01.2-0000:20:00.0-0000:21:08.0-0000:2a:00.1-usb1-1\x2d4-1\x2d4:1.0-bluetooth-hci0-hci0:256.device loaded active plugged /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:01.2/0000:20:00.0/0000:21:08.0/0000:2a:0>
sys-devices-pci0000:00-0000:00:01.2-0000:20:00.0-0000:21:08.0-0000:2a:00.1-usb1-1\x2d4-1\x2d4:1.0-bluetooth-hci0.device loaded active plugged /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:01.2/0000:20:00.0/0000:21:08.0/0000:2a:0>
sys-devices-pci0000:00-0000:00:01.2-0000:20:00.0-0000:21:0a.0-0000:2c:00.0-ata4-host3-target3:0:0-3:0:0:0-block-sdc-sdc1.device loaded active plugged WDC_WD161KRYZ-01AGBB0 Linux\x20LVM
sys-devices-pci0000:00-0000:00:01.2-0000:20:00.0-0000:21:0a.0-0000:2c:00.0-ata4-host3-target3:0:0-3:0:0:0-block-sdc.device loaded active plugged WDC_WD161KRYZ-01AGBB0
sys-devices-pci0000:00-0000:00:01.2-0000:20:00.0-0000:21:0a.0-0000:2c:00.0-ata5-host4-target4:0:0-4:0:0:0-block-sdd-sdd1.device loaded active plugged WDC_WD161KRYZ-01AGBB0 Linux\x20LVM
sys-devices-pci0000:00-0000:00:01.2-0000:20:00.0-0000:21:0a.0-0000:2c:00.0-ata5-host4-target4:0:0-4:0:0:0-block-sdd.device loaded active plugged WDC_WD161KRYZ-01AGBB0
sys-devices-pci0000:00-0000:00:03.1-0000:2d:00.0-0000:2e:00.0-0000:2f:00.1-sound-card1-controlC1.device loaded active plugged /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:03.1/0000:2d:00.0/0000:2e:00.0/0000:2f:0>
sys-devices-pci0000:00-0000:00:07.1-0000:30:00.3-usb5-5\x2d1-5\x2d1.2-5\x2d1.2.3-5\x2d1.2.3:1.2-sound-card3-controlC3.device loaded active plugged C922_Pro_Stream_Webcam
sys-devices-pci0000:00-0000:00:07.1-0000:30:00.3-usb5-5\x2d1-5\x2d1.2-5\x2d1.2.4-5\x2d1.2.4.1-5\x2d1.2.4.1:1.0-sound-card4-controlC4.device loaded active plugged HD_Webcam_C615
sys-devices-pci0000:00-0000:00:08.1-0000:31:00.3-sound-card2-controlC2.device loaded active plugged /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:08.1/0000:31:00.3/sound/card2/controlC2
sys-devices-platform-serial8250-serial8250:0-serial8250:0.1-tty-ttyS1.device loaded active plugged /sys/devices/platform/serial8250/serial8250:0/serial8250:0.1/tty/ttyS1
sys-devices-platform-serial8250-serial8250:0-serial8250:0.2-tty-ttyS2.device loaded active plugged /sys/devices/platform/serial8250/serial8250:0/serial8250:0.2/tty/ttyS2
sys-devices-platform-serial8250-serial8250:0-serial8250:0.3-tty-ttyS3.device loaded active plugged /sys/devices/platform/serial8250/serial8250:0/serial8250:0.3/tty/ttyS3
sys-devices-pnp0-00:03-00:03:0-00:03:0.0-tty-ttyS0.device loaded active plugged /sys/devices/pnp0/00:03/00:03:0/00:03:0.0/tty/ttyS0
sys-devices-virtual-block-dm\x2d0.device loaded active plugged /sys/devices/virtual/block/dm-0
sys-devices-virtual-misc-rfkill.device loaded active plugged /sys/devices/virtual/misc/rfkill
sys-module-configfs.device loaded active plugged /sys/module/configfs
sys-module-fuse.device loaded active plugged /sys/module/fuse
sys-subsystem-bluetooth-devices-hci0.device loaded active plugged /sys/subsystem/bluetooth/devices/hci0
sys-subsystem-bluetooth-devices-hci0:256.device loaded active plugged /sys/subsystem/bluetooth/devices/hci0:256
sys-subsystem-net-devices-enp39s0.device loaded active plugged RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (X570-A P>
sys-subsystem-net-devices-wlp41s0.device loaded active plugged Dual Band Wireless-AC 3168NGW [Stone Peak] >
-.mount loaded active mounted Root Mount
data.mount loaded active mounted /data
dev-hugepages.mount loaded active mounted /dev/hugepages
dev-mqueue.mount loaded active mounted /dev/mqueue
efi.mount loaded active mounted /efi
games.mount loaded active mounted /games
home-valneq-.cache.mount loaded active mounted /home/valneq/.cache
home-valneq-.config.mount loaded active mounted /home/valneq/.config
home-valneq-.factorio-mods.mount loaded active mounted /home/valneq/.factorio/mods
home-valneq-.local-share.mount loaded active mounted /home/valneq/.local/share
home.mount loaded active mounted /home
proc-sys-fs-binfmt_misc.mount loaded active mounted /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc
run-credentials-systemd\x2djournald.service.mount loaded active mounted /run/credentials/systemd-journald.service
run-user-1000-doc.mount loaded active mounted /run/user/1000/doc
run-user-1000-gvfs.mount loaded active mounted /run/user/1000/gvfs
run-user-1000.mount loaded active mounted /run/user/1000
sys-fs-fuse-connections.mount loaded active mounted /sys/fs/fuse/connections
sys-kernel-config.mount loaded active mounted /sys/kernel/config
sys-kernel-debug.mount loaded active mounted /sys/kernel/debug
sys-kernel-tracing.mount loaded active mounted /sys/kernel/tracing
tmp.mount loaded active mounted /tmp
xtra.mount loaded active mounted /xtra >
...skipping...
dbus.socket loaded active running D-Bus User Message Bus Socket
dirmngr.socket loaded active listening GnuPG network certificate management daemon
gcr-ssh-agent.socket loaded active running GCR ssh-agent wrapper
gnome-keyring-daemon.socket loaded active running GNOME Keyring daemon
gpg-agent-browser.socket loaded active running GnuPG cryptographic agent and passphrase cache (access for web browsers)
gpg-agent-extra.socket loaded active running GnuPG cryptographic agent and passphrase cache (restricted)
gpg-agent-ssh.socket loaded active running GnuPG cryptographic agent (ssh-agent emulation)
gpg-agent.socket loaded active running GnuPG cryptographic agent and passphrase cache
keyboxd.socket loaded active listening GnuPG public key management service
p11-kit-server.socket loaded active listening p11-kit server
pipewire-pulse.socket loaded active running PipeWire PulseAudio
pipewire.socket loaded active running PipeWire Multimedia System Sockets
speech-dispatcher.socket loaded active listening Speech Dispatcher Socket
systemd-ask-password.socket loaded active listening Query the User Interactively for a Password
systemd-importd.socket loaded active listening Disk Image Download Service Socket
systemd-machined.socket loaded active listening Virtual Machine and Container Registration Service Socket >
dev-sdb1.swap loaded active active /dev/sdb1 >
basic.target loaded active active Basic System
bluetooth.target loaded active active Bluetooth
default.target loaded active active Main User Target
gnome-session-basic-services.target loaded active active GNOME basic session services
gnome-session-initialized.target loaded active active GNOME Session is initialized
gnome-session-manager.target loaded active active GNOME Session Manager is ready
gnome-session-pre.target loaded active active Tasks to be run before GNOME Session starts
gnome-session-wayland.target loaded active active GNOME Wayland Session
gnome-session-wayland@gnome.target loaded active active GNOME Wayland Session (session: gnome)
gnome-session-x11-services-ready.target loaded active active GNOME session X11 services
gnome-session-x11-services.target loaded active active GNOME session X11 services
gnome-session.target loaded active active GNOME Session
gnome-session@gnome.target loaded active active GNOME Session (session: gnome)
graphical-session-pre.target loaded active active Session services which should run early before the graphical session is >
graphical-session.target loaded active active Current graphical user session
org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.A11ySettings.target loaded active active GNOME accessibility target
org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.Color.target loaded active active GNOME color management target
org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.Datetime.target loaded active active GNOME date & time target
org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.Housekeeping.target loaded active active GNOME maintenance of expirable data target
org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.Keyboard.target loaded active active GNOME keyboard configuration target
org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.MediaKeys.target loaded active active GNOME keyboard shortcuts target
org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.Power.target loaded active active GNOME power management target
org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.PrintNotifications.target loaded active active GNOME printer notifications target
org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.Rfkill.target loaded active active GNOME RFKill support target
org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.ScreensaverProxy.target loaded active active GNOME FreeDesktop screensaver target
org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.Sharing.target loaded active active GNOME file sharing target
org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.Smartcard.target loaded active active GNOME smartcard target
org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.Sound.target loaded active active GNOME sound sample caching target
org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.UsbProtection.target loaded active active GNOME USB protection target
org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.Wwan.target loaded active active GNOME WWan support target
org.gnome.Shell.target loaded active active GNOME Shell
paths.target loaded active active Paths
sockets.target loaded active active Sockets
sound.target loaded active active Sound Card
timers.target loaded active active Timers
Legend: LOAD → Reflects whether the unit definition was properly loaded.
ACTIVE → The high-level unit activation state, i.e. generalization of SUB.
SUB → The low-level unit activation state, values depend on unit type.
216 loaded units listed. Pass --all to see loaded but inactive units, too.
To show all installed unit files use 'systemctl list-unit-files'.Complete system journal for the boot: https://0x0.st/PjRu.txt
I am not sure what I'm looking for in the journal now. Seems like pipewire is starting up early enough to provide audio output during gdm login. Clearly, my user login is happening after that.
[edit]
After a new reboot, I tried to only restart wireplumber and it also fixes the audio now. So maybe wireplumber config / starting order is the issue.
Last edited by adoa (2026-03-07 12:43:59)
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#8 2026-03-07 16:10:05
- seth
- Member
- From: Don't DM me only for attention
- Registered: 2012-09-03
- Posts: 73,680
Re: [solved] "audio" group membership for pro-audio
Is that not how it's supposed to be? It seems correct to me.
It is, having the service enabled would just have been a simple explanation.
I had hoped that one of your new additions would ex- or implicitly trigger it, but there's no trace of such (in the journal)
The closes thing smelling like a hint of a problem is
Mär 07 08:54:35 umoja gnome-shell[2898]: Unable to connect to ibus: Verbindung ist gescheitert: Verbindungsaufbau abgelehntDid you have that in older journals before installing the pro-audio group (and breaking audio)?
Does the environment of pipewire/wireplumber differ before and after the restart?
tr '\0' '\n' < /proc/$(pidof pipewire)/environ
tr '\0' '\n' < /proc/$(pidof wireplumber)/environOffline
#9 2026-03-08 09:09:08
- adoa
- Member
- Registered: 2012-02-08
- Posts: 33
Re: [solved] "audio" group membership for pro-audio
So it seems I'm getting the connection refused on ibus erratically every now and then. Entirely independent of the pro-audio experiment a couple days ago. Never experience broken audio of this form in any of those instances.
$ sudo journalctl | grep "Unable to connect to ibus"
Aug 12 09:42:57 umoja gnome-shell[1618]: Unable to connect to ibus: Verbindung ist gescheitert: Verbindungsaufbau abgelehnt
Sep 21 17:46:39 umoja gnome-shell[1670]: Unable to connect to ibus: Verbindung ist gescheitert: Verbindungsaufbau abgelehnt
Nov 23 20:24:42 umoja gnome-shell[2715]: Unable to connect to ibus: Verbindung ist gescheitert: Verbindungsaufbau abgelehnt
Nov 24 09:33:49 umoja gnome-shell[871]: Unable to connect to ibus: Verbindung ist gescheitert: Datei oder Verzeichnis nicht gefunden
Nov 29 13:09:22 umoja gnome-shell[2870]: Unable to connect to ibus: Verbindung ist gescheitert: Verbindungsaufbau abgelehnt
Dez 03 12:55:24 umoja gnome-shell[2722]: Unable to connect to ibus: Verbindung ist gescheitert: Verbindungsaufbau abgelehnt
Dez 22 10:47:03 umoja gnome-shell[1008]: Unable to connect to ibus: Verbindung ist gescheitert: Datei oder Verzeichnis nicht gefunden
Jan 07 18:31:53 umoja gnome-shell[2933]: Unable to connect to ibus: Verbindung ist gescheitert: Verbindungsaufbau abgelehnt
Feb 13 08:27:09 umoja gnome-shell[2903]: Unable to connect to ibus: Verbindung ist gescheitert: Verbindungsaufbau abgelehnt
Mär 07 08:54:35 umoja gnome-shell[2898]: Unable to connect to ibus: Verbindung ist gescheitert: Verbindungsaufbau abgelehntPipewire's environment is the same before and after restarting wireplumber. Wireplumber's environment shows no useful difference:
$ diff wireplumber_env_before.txt wireplumber_env_after.txt
43,45c43,45
< INVOCATION_ID=c9cce0e137cc45a5b84e10fa00e01a7e
< JOURNAL_STREAM=9:61681
< SYSTEMD_EXEC_PID=31847
---
> INVOCATION_ID=c2180c842c214cf98ef00dba50424077
> JOURNAL_STREAM=9:215869
> SYSTEMD_EXEC_PID=96647Wireplumber's full environment looks like this:
$ tr '\0' '\n' < /proc/$(pidof wireplumber)/environ
HOME=/home/valneq
LANG=de_DE.UTF-8
LOGNAME=valneq
PATH=/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/var/lib/flatpak/exports/bin:/usr/lib/jvm/default/bin:/usr/bin/site_perl:/usr/bin/vendor_perl:/usr/bin/core_perl:/usr/lib/rustup/bin
SHELL=/bin/zsh
USER=valneq
XDG_DATA_DIRS=/home/valneq/.local/share/flatpak/exports/share:/var/lib/flatpak/exports/share:/usr/local/share/:/usr/share/
XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/user/1000
MOZ_ENABLE_WAYLAND=1
CLOJURE_HOME=/usr/share/clojure
CSSTRNGS=/usr/share/locale
DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS=unix:path=/run/user/1000/bus
DEBUGINFOD_URLS=https://debuginfod.archlinux.org
DESKTOP_SESSION=gnome
DISPLAY=:0
GDMSESSION=gnome
GDM_LANG=de_DE.UTF-8
GNOME_SETUP_DISPLAY=:1
HG=/usr/bin/hg
MAIL=/var/spool/mail/valneq
MOTD_SHOWN=pam
OLDPWD=/home/valneq
OPCODE6DIR=/usr/lib/csound/plugins64-6.0
PWD=/home/valneq
QT_IM_MODULE=ibus
QT_IM_MODULES=wayland;ibus
RAWWAVE_PATH=/usr/share/stk/rawwaves
SHLVL=0
SSH_AUTH_SOCK=/run/user/1000/gcr/ssh
USERNAME=valneq
WAYLAND_DISPLAY=wayland-0
XAUTHORITY=/run/user/1000/.mutter-Xwaylandauth.QANIL3
XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=GNOME
XDG_MENU_PREFIX=gnome-
XDG_SESSION_CLASS=user
XDG_SESSION_DESKTOP=gnome
XDG_SESSION_TYPE=wayland
XMODIFIERS=@im=ibus
_=/usr/bin/gnome-session
MANAGERPID=2708
MANAGERPIDFDID=2709
INVOCATION_ID=c9cce0e137cc45a5b84e10fa00e01a7e
JOURNAL_STREAM=9:61681
SYSTEMD_EXEC_PID=31847
MEMORY_PRESSURE_WATCH=/sys/fs/cgroup/user.slice/user-1000.slice/user@1000.service/session.slice/wireplumber.service/memory.pressure
MEMORY_PRESSURE_WRITE=c29tZSAyMDAwMDAgMjAwMDAwMAA=
GIO_USE_VFS=localThe mysterious bit is: I do have correct audio device detection in gdm while logging in. But device detection seems borked when I start my user session. Could it be a timing issue? After all, I do have multiple audio devices, and my USB audio interface might take some time for pipewire to set up for my user session, while wireplumber is launched before that device detection/enumeration is done.
Full list of audio devices:
$ pactl list sinks short
553 alsa_output.pci-0000_2f_00.1.hdmi-stereo-extra4 PipeWire s32le 2ch 48000Hz SUSPENDED
558 alsa_output.pci-0000_31_00.3.iec958-stereo PipeWire s32le 2ch 48000Hz SUSPENDED
571 alsa_output.usb-BEHRINGER_UMC404HD_192k-00.HiFi__Line2__sink PipeWire float32le 2ch 48000Hz SUSPENDED
573 alsa_output.usb-BEHRINGER_UMC404HD_192k-00.HiFi__Line1__sink PipeWire float32le 2ch 48000Hz SUSPENDED
$ pactl list sources short
553 alsa_output.pci-0000_2f_00.1.hdmi-stereo-extra4.monitor PipeWire s32le 2ch 48000Hz SUSPENDED
558 alsa_output.pci-0000_31_00.3.iec958-stereo.monitor PipeWire s32le 2ch 48000Hz SUSPENDED
559 alsa_input.pci-0000_31_00.3.analog-stereo PipeWire s32le 2ch 48000Hz SUSPENDED
560 alsa_input.usb-046d_HD_Webcam_C615_F4602A20-00.mono-fallback PipeWire s16le 1ch 48000Hz SUSPENDED
561 alsa_input.usb-046d_C922_Pro_Stream_Webcam_AE469CAF-02.analog-stereo PipeWire s16le 2ch 32000Hz SUSPENDED
571 alsa_output.usb-BEHRINGER_UMC404HD_192k-00.HiFi__Line2__sink.monitor PipeWire float32le 2ch 48000Hz SUSPENDED
573 alsa_output.usb-BEHRINGER_UMC404HD_192k-00.HiFi__Line1__sink.monitor PipeWire float32le 2ch 48000Hz SUSPENDED
574 alsa_input.usb-BEHRINGER_UMC404HD_192k-00.HiFi__Mic4__source PipeWire float32le 1ch 48000Hz SUSPENDED
576 alsa_input.usb-BEHRINGER_UMC404HD_192k-00.HiFi__Mic3__source PipeWire float32le 1ch 48000Hz SUSPENDED
578 alsa_input.usb-BEHRINGER_UMC404HD_192k-00.HiFi__Mic2__source PipeWire float32le 1ch 48000Hz SUSPENDED
580 alsa_input.usb-BEHRINGER_UMC404HD_192k-00.HiFi__Mic1__source PipeWire float32le 1ch 48000Hz SUSPENDED[edit]
Hold on a moment. The service pipewire.service is not enabled. But it starts due to pipewire-socket. Then why is my wireplumber enabled? And why is the preset for both pipewire and wireplumber "enabled"? If explicitly not having pipewire "enabled" is correct here?
systemctl --user status wireplumber
● wireplumber.service - Multimedia Service Session Manager
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/user/wireplumber.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
Active: active (running) since Sun 2026-03-08 10:22:43 CET; 1h 39min ago
Invocation: 04d8cc241b3c4568b4f0cdbebdb605bf
Main PID: 3118 (wireplumber)
Tasks: 5 (limit: 77029)
Memory: 55.8M (peak: 56.3M)
CPU: 4.576s
CGroup: /user.slice/user-1000.slice/user@1000.service/session.slice/wireplumber.service
└─3118 /usr/bin/wireplumber
Mär 08 10:22:43 umoja systemd[2589]: Started Multimedia Service Session Manager.
Mär 08 10:22:45 umoja wireplumber[3118]: wp-device: SPA handle 'api.libcamera.enum.manager' could not be loaded; is it installed?
Mär 08 10:22:45 umoja wireplumber[3118]: s-monitors-libcamera: PipeWire's libcamera SPA plugin is missing or broken. Some camera types may not be supported.Last edited by adoa (2026-03-08 11:06:46)
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#10 2026-03-08 15:57:14
- seth
- Member
- From: Don't DM me only for attention
- Registered: 2012-09-03
- Posts: 73,680
Re: [solved] "audio" group membership for pro-audio
https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/ … type=heads
https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/pipewire … type=heads and https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/pipewire … type=heads don't start before pipewire.service - this is probably not the cause.
After all, I do have multiple audio devices, and my USB audio interface might take some time for pipewire to set up for my user session, while wireplumber is launched before that device detection/enumeration is done.
Should be easy enough to figure by disconnecting the Behringer and see whether that has significant impact… 
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#11 2026-03-08 16:40:41
- adoa
- Member
- Registered: 2012-02-08
- Posts: 33
Re: [solved] "audio" group membership for pro-audio
As if to spite me, the last two reboots today actually had working audio from the start – no change in hardware. No manual restart of services required. What in the world is happening.
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#12 2026-03-08 20:11:29
- seth
- Member
- From: Don't DM me only for attention
- Registered: 2012-09-03
- Posts: 73,680
Re: [solved] "audio" group membership for pro-audio
Could it be a timing issue?
Non-deterministic behavior would support the race condition theory.
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#13 Today 10:18:25
- adoa
- Member
- Registered: 2012-02-08
- Posts: 33
Re: [solved] "audio" group membership for pro-audio
So it seems the issue is gone. I am not member of the "audio" group. And since it started working as reported in the previous post, I had audio in my user session *every single boot*. I don't know if any of my investigations triggered some kind of permanent change, but I did not touch any config files.
I guess I mark this issue as [solved].
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