[SOLVED] Is alsa still required if I start using PulseAudio?

AugustePop · 2010-11-30 12:11:12

I am a bit confused. PulseAudio claims to be a daemon, but does not has to be listed in DAEMONS array in /etc/rc.conf and is run as a normal user. Should I remove alsa from DAEMONS array or leave it there?

EDIT: after a test run, the empirical answer is: alsa has to stay in rc.conf
EDIT: after test run, removing alsa from rc.conf is possible. However, I have to restore volume settings manually the first time boots without alsa deamon.

Last edited by AugustePop (2010-11-30 17:31:49)

litemotiv · 2010-11-30 12:22:36

There's only one way to find out Mark.

drcouzelis · 2010-11-30 13:39:22

AugustePop wrote:

I am a bit confused. PulseAudio claims to be a daemon, but does not has to be listed in DAEMONS array in /etc/rc.conf and is run as a normal user.

If I understand the Wikipedia entry correctly, PulseAudio uses ALSA drivers. So, first, you completely setup ALSA as if you were using it by itself, then second, you setup PulseAudio to use ALSA.

By reading the Arch wiki, it appears that, yes, PulseAudio is a daemon, but no, there isn't an "/etc/rc.d" version to put in the DAEMONS array. Instead, you either start it by hand or the WM / DE you use starts it automatically.

Should I remove alsa from DAEMONS array or leave it there?

Wait, I have ALSA in my DAEMONS array? ...Oh, yeah, all that does is save and restore volume settings, right?

AugustePop · 2010-11-30 13:50:40

Thank you for your enlightenment, drcouzelis. I was not aware that the alsa daemon only saves and restores volume settings. However, removing alsa from DAEMONS array results in a system without sound.

drcouzelis · 2010-11-30 14:02:13

Is it without sound? ...or is it just VEWY QWIET?

If you're interested in looking into it a bit more, you could try stopping the ALSA daemon with "/etc/rc.d/alsa stop" and then checking the volume with "alsamixer". Make sure it's not muted.

Unfortunately, I think that's about the extent of my "Linux audio" knowledge.

PulseAudio does look pretty interesting. I've kind of wanted to try out OSS and PulseAudio, but never really found the time or a reason to look into it more.

birdflesh · 2010-11-30 14:02:21

You probably need to unmute/level up something. I have sound without ever including alsa in rc.conf. I actually don't even have alsa-utils package installed. My volume settings are restored by kmix.

litemotiv · 2010-11-30 14:10:22

$ /usr/sbin/alsactl restore

AugustePop · 2010-11-30 14:30:16

Thank you, guys. I was wrong saying that alsa has to remain in rc.conf. All I have to do is to restore/re-set the volume settings manually the first time I boot the system without alsa in rc.conf. The sound was just muted. It's a shame that I thought the cross at the volume controls means error. ;-p

ngoonee · 2010-11-30 15:58:32

FYI, pulseaudio IS a daemon, but its meant to be run as a user daemon. The daemons in /etc/rc.d are system daemons.

Pierre · 2010-11-30 16:10:15

And last but not least: /etc/rc.d/alsa is no daemon. It just saves the current volume settings on shutdown and restores them on startup. And don't forget that PulseAudio just is another layer on top of alsa and does not replace it.

litemotiv · 2010-11-30 17:20:26

Moved to Multimedia.

AugustePop, if the issue is resolved for you, please mark it solved by prepending it to the title.

Arch Linux

#1 2010-11-30 12:11:12

[SOLVED] Is alsa still required if I start using PulseAudio?

#2 2010-11-30 12:22:36

Re: [SOLVED] Is alsa still required if I start using PulseAudio?

#3 2010-11-30 13:39:22

Re: [SOLVED] Is alsa still required if I start using PulseAudio?

#4 2010-11-30 13:50:40

Re: [SOLVED] Is alsa still required if I start using PulseAudio?

#5 2010-11-30 14:02:13

Re: [SOLVED] Is alsa still required if I start using PulseAudio?

#6 2010-11-30 14:02:21

Re: [SOLVED] Is alsa still required if I start using PulseAudio?

#7 2010-11-30 14:10:22

Re: [SOLVED] Is alsa still required if I start using PulseAudio?

#8 2010-11-30 14:30:16

Re: [SOLVED] Is alsa still required if I start using PulseAudio?

#9 2010-11-30 15:58:32

Re: [SOLVED] Is alsa still required if I start using PulseAudio?

#10 2010-11-30 16:10:15

Re: [SOLVED] Is alsa still required if I start using PulseAudio?

#11 2010-11-30 17:20:26

Re: [SOLVED] Is alsa still required if I start using PulseAudio?

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