Arch Linux

raphaelabb

Member

From: France

Registered: 2021-02-03

Posts: 35

[Solved] Firefox and pulseaudio

Hello,

While reading the Wiki, I noticed that the Firefox article states that Firefox needs pulseaudio installed for audio playback.

Here's the part in question in the "Multimedia playback" section:
"Firefox uses PulseAudio for audio playback and capture. For sound to work, you need to install the pulseaudio package."

I use Firefox but don't have pulseaudio installed on my system and audio through Firefox works just fine, I have libpulse installed though.
I have mentioned it in the Discussion tab on the article but didn't go further than that. I am not competent enough to change the Wiki, that's why I'm posting here.

I know pulseaudio is not necessary for Firefox audio playback, is it that it just needs libpulse?

Last edited by raphaelabb (2021-03-27 19:43:04)

Head_on_a_Stick

Member

From: Belsize Park

Registered: 2014-02-20

Posts: 8,248

Website

Re: [Solved] Firefox and pulseaudio

The package is compiled with --enable-alsa: https://github.com/archlinux/svntogit-p … GBUILD#L86

But I am also not competent enough to be sure that this means Pulseaudio (or apulse) is not needed. I use GNOME (and hence PA, or Pipewire) and I'm not stripping it out just to check.

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porcelain1

Member

Registered: 2020-01-18

Posts: 97

Re: [Solved] Firefox and pulseaudio

Hey

I believe libpulse [1] and PulseAudio [2] are different things. Without PulseAudio installed (an optional dependency of Firefox), YouTube and Google Meet will have audio for some reason, but if you try to play a Web game or participate on a videoconference on 8x8, there won't be audio. Don't ask me why tho haha.

[1] https://archlinux.org/packages/extra/x86_64/libpulse/
[2] https://archlinux.org/packages/extra/x86_64/pulseaudio/

Edit: so sound on games are working without PulseAudio? That's nice. I couldn't test 8x8 tho

Last edited by porcelain1 (2021-03-26 02:57:34)

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lahwaacz

Wiki Admin

From: Czech Republic

Registered: 2012-05-29

Posts: 762

Re: [Solved] Firefox and pulseaudio

I have mentioned it in the Discussion tab on the article but didn't go further than that. I am not competent enough to change the Wiki, that's why I'm posting here.

I don't get this argument. How does posting the same question in a different place help you with editing the wiki?

For the record, link to the original discussion: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ta … Pulseaudio

Flemur

Member

Registered: 2012-05-24

Posts: 72

Re: [Solved] Firefox and pulseaudio

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/firefox
"The factual accuracy of this article or section is disputed.
Reason: firefox depends on libpulse, not pulseaudio (Discuss in Talk:Firefox#Firefox and Pulseaudio)"

That's good to know; at one point I was starting FF with "apulse firefox" to get audio.

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archimboldo

Member

Registered: 2016-03-07

Posts: 232

Re: [Solved] Firefox and pulseaudio

The package is compiled with --enable-alsa: https://github.com/archlinux/svntogit-p … GBUILD#L86

Isn't that clear enough?

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progandy

Member

Registered: 2012-05-17

Posts: 5,251

Re: [Solved] Firefox and pulseaudio

The package is compiled with --enable-alsa: https://github.com/archlinux/svntogit-p … GBUILD#L86

Isn't that clear enough?

Since mozilla does not actively maintain the alsa code path, it may break from time to time, especially during sandbox changes.

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raphaelabb

Member

From: France

Registered: 2021-02-03

Posts: 35

Re: [Solved] Firefox and pulseaudio

I have mentioned it in the Discussion tab on the article but didn't go further than that. I am not competent enough to change the Wiki, that's why I'm posting here.

I don't get this argument. How does posting the same question in a different place help you with editing the wiki?

For the record, link to the original discussion: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ta … Pulseaudio

Because a thread in the forum will get more views and therefore technical info on the subject than the wiki discussion.

raphaelabb

Member

From: France

Registered: 2021-02-03

Posts: 35

Re: [Solved] Firefox and pulseaudio

The package is compiled with --enable-alsa: https://github.com/archlinux/svntogit-p … GBUILD#L86

Isn't that clear enough?

Yes it is.