[SOLVED]Pulseaudio/gnome strange startup errors

disastrophe · 2010-12-30 20:06:47

Hi, I am using gnome 2.32, kernel26-lqx 2.6.36.2-2, alsa 1.0.23 and pulseaudio-alsa 1-2.
I just installed pulseaudio this morning and I am getting a lot of weird messages in my /var/log/errors.log:

Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c: snd_pcm_avail_delay() returned strange values: delay 0 is less than avail 24.
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c: Most likely this is a bug in the ALSA driver 'snd_hda_intel'. Please report this issue to the ALSA developers.
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c: snd_pcm_dump():
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c: Soft volume PCM
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c: Control: PCM Playback Volume
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c: min_dB: -51
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c: max_dB: 0
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c: resolution: 256
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c: Its setup is:
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c:   stream       : CAPTURE
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c:   access       : MMAP_INTERLEAVED
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c:   format       : S16_LE
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c:   subformat    : STD
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c:   channels     : 2
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c:   rate         : 44100
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c:   exact rate   : 44100 (44100/1)
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c:   msbits       : 16
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c:   buffer_size  : 16384
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c:   period_size  : 8192
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c:   period_time  : 185759
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c:   tstamp_mode  : ENABLE
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c:   period_step  : 1
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c:   avail_min    : 15502
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c:   period_event : 0
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c:   start_threshold  : -1
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c:   stop_threshold   : 1073741824
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c:   silence_threshold: 0
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c:   silence_size : 0
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c:   boundary     : 1073741824
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c: Slave: Hardware PCM card 0 'HDA Intel' device 0 subdevice 0
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c: Its setup is:
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c:   stream       : CAPTURE
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c:   access       : MMAP_INTERLEAVED
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c:   format       : S16_LE
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c:   subformat    : STD
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c:   channels     : 2
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c:   rate         : 44100
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c:   exact rate   : 44100 (44100/1)
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c:   msbits       : 16
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c:   buffer_size  : 16384
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c:   period_size  : 8192
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c:   period_time  : 185759
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c:   tstamp_mode  : ENABLE
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c:   period_step  : 1
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c:   avail_min    : 15502
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c:   period_event : 0
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c:   start_threshold  : -1
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c:   stop_threshold   : 1073741824
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c:   silence_threshold: 0
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c:   silence_size : 0
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c:   boundary     : 1073741824
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c:   appl_ptr     : 15520
Dec 30 10:28:34 localhost pulseaudio[5009]: alsa-util.c:   hw_ptr       : 15520
Dec 30 10:28:36 localhost pulseaudio[5067]: pid.c: Daemon already running.

My /etc/asound.conf:

pcm.pulse {
    type pulse
}
ctl.pulse {
    type pulse
}
pcm.!default {
    type pulse
}
ctl.!default {
    type pulse
}

I also added the appropriate gstreamer values to gconf:

gconftool-2 -t string --set /system/gstreamer/0.10/default/audiosink pulsesink
gconftool-2 -t string --set /system/gstreamer/0.10/default/audiosrc pulsesrc
gconftool-2 -t string --set /system/gstreamer/0.10/default/musicaudiosink pulsesink

So I think I have all the "i"s dotted and "t"s crossed.
Anyway, aside from the log errors, pulseaudio is not appearing among the plugins in the gstreamer-properties applet.
My installed packages are:

local/gnome-media-pulse 2.32.0-2 (pulseaudio-gnome)
    GNOME Media Tools with PulseAudio support
local/gnome-settings-daemon-pulse 2.32.1-2 (pulseaudio-gnome)
    The GNOME Settings daemon with PulseAudio support
local/libcanberra-pulse 0.26-3 (pulseaudio-gnome)
    PulseAudio plugin for libcanberra
local/paprefs 0.9.9-6
    A simple GTK-based configuration dialog for PulseAudio
local/pavucontrol 0.9.10-4
    A simple GTK based volume control tool for the PulseAudio sound server
local/pulseaudio 0.9.22-2
    A featureful, general-purpose sound server
local/pulseaudio-alsa 1-2 (pulseaudio-gnome)
    ALSA Configuration for PulseAudio
local/pulseaudio-mixer-applet 0.2.2-6
    GNOME panel applet to control PulseAudio devices and streams

I noticed after a bit of searching that these exact error message seem fairly commonplace across a few different distros. But everything I've found so far are bug reports without resolution. Many have suggested it is related to kernel 2.6.36(?) Does anyone here have any ideas about any fixes or how to clean this up?
Thanks

Last edited by disastrophe (2010-12-31 22:30:55)

disastrophe · 2010-12-31 07:38:50

disastrophe wrote:

I also added the appropriate gstreamer values to gconf:

gconftool-2 -t string --set /system/gstreamer/0.10/default/audiosink pulsesink
gconftool-2 -t string --set /system/gstreamer/0.10/default/audiosrc pulsesrc
gconftool-2 -t string --set /system/gstreamer/0.10/default/musicaudiosink pulsesink

So I think I have all the "i"s dotted and "t"s crossed.
Anyway, aside from the log errors, the pulseaudio plugin is not appearing in the Multimedia Systems Selector applet.
My installed packages are:

local/gnome-media-pulse 2.32.0-2 (pulseaudio-gnome)
    GNOME Media Tools with PulseAudio support
local/gnome-settings-daemon-pulse 2.32.1-2 (pulseaudio-gnome)
    The GNOME Settings daemon with PulseAudio support
local/libcanberra-pulse 0.26-3 (pulseaudio-gnome)
    PulseAudio plugin for libcanberra
local/paprefs 0.9.9-6
    A simple GTK-based configuration dialog for PulseAudio
local/pavucontrol 0.9.10-4
    A simple GTK based volume control tool for the PulseAudio sound server
local/pulseaudio 0.9.22-2
    A featureful, general-purpose sound server
local/pulseaudio-alsa 1-2 (pulseaudio-gnome)
    ALSA Configuration for PulseAudio
local/pulseaudio-mixer-applet 0.2.2-6
    GNOME panel applet to control PulseAudio devices and streams

Apparently there is more going on here with Pulseaudio than just the error messages at startup. As I mentioned above, pulseaudio is not appearing in the gstreamer-properties (Multimedia Systems Selector).
If I attempt to start gstreamer-properties from the CLI it returns:

[anton@xarax ~]$ gstreamer-properties
gstreamer-properties-Message: Skipping unavailable plugin 'artsdsink'
gstreamer-properties-Message: Skipping unavailable plugin 'pulsesink'
gstreamer-properties-Message: Skipping unavailable plugin 'sunaudiosink'
gstreamer-properties-Message: Skipping unavailable plugin 'glimagesink'
gstreamer-properties-Message: Skipping unavailable plugin 'v4lmjpegsrc'
gstreamer-properties-Message: Skipping unavailable plugin 'qcamsrc'
gstreamer-properties-Message: Skipping unavailable plugin 'esdmon'
gstreamer-properties-Message: Skipping unavailable plugin 'sunaudiosrc'
gstreamer-properties-Message: Skipping unavailable plugin 'pulsesrc'

Furthermore, from the wiki:

Integration
gstreamer-pulse should easily get you pulseaudio support for all applications using gstreamer audio at once:
pacman -S gstreamer0.10-pulse

However there seems to be a missing package:

[anton@xarax ~]$ pacman -Ss gstreamer0.10-plugins
extra/gstreamer0.10-bad 0.10.20-1 (gstreamer0.10-plugins) [installed]
    GStreamer Multimedia Framework Bad Plugin libraries (gst-plugins-bad)
extra/gstreamer0.10-bad-plugins 0.10.20-1 (gstreamer0.10-plugins) [installed]
    GStreamer Multimedia Framework Bad Plugins (gst-plugins-bad)
extra/gstreamer0.10-base-plugins 0.10.31-1 (gstreamer0.10-plugins) [installed]
    GStreamer Multimedia Framework Base Plugins (gst-plugins-base)
extra/gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg 0.10.11-1 (gstreamer0.10-plugins) [installed]
    Gstreamer FFMpeg Plugin
extra/gstreamer0.10-good-plugins 0.10.26-1 (gstreamer0.10-plugins) [installed]
    GStreamer Multimedia Framework Good Plugins (gst-plugins-good)
extra/gstreamer0.10-ugly-plugins 0.10.16-1 (gstreamer0.10-plugins) [installed]
    GStreamer Multimedia Framework Ugly Plugins (gst-plugins-ugly)

And

[anton@xarax ~]$ sudo pacman -S gstreamer0.10-pulse
Password: 
error: 'gstreamer0.10-pulse': could not find or read package

Which would explain pulseaudio not showing up in gstreamer-properties.
I'm starting to get kind of confused now. Was gstreamer0.10-pulse depreciated? And if so was its functionality replaced by another package? And if so, what package and why isn't it working? Help!! I think I opened up a big ole can o' worms in installing pulseaudio.

ngoonee · 2010-12-31 08:05:44

The wiki is outdated, that package no longer exists. Is your system fully updated? pulseaudio works here with no problem, your first error message seems to be related to an alsa-driver bug exposed by pulseaudio.

What happens when running pulseaudio from the terminal? Also what does pavucontrol show?

disastrophe · 2010-12-31 08:28:53

ngoonee wrote:

The wiki is outdated, that package no longer exists. Is your system fully updated? pulseaudio works here with no problem, your first error message seems to be related to an alsa-driver bug exposed by pulseaudio.
What happens when running pulseaudio from the terminal? Also what does pavucontrol show?

Thanks for the reply!
I suspected the wiki was out of date. I am fully updated. Stopping and starting pulseaudio produces no terminal output at all. pavcontrol opens the std sound dialog and shows internal audio analog stereo with the analog output connector with no message in the terminal. I am getting audio from somewhere.
I should also note that the daemon is running. However, gstreamer-properties from the CLI is showing pulsesink and pulsesrc as unavailable (as noted above) and gstreamer-properties is not showing pulseaudio in plugins.
Thanks again.

Last edited by disastrophe (2010-12-31 08:57:17)

ngoonee · 2010-12-31 09:25:50

Pulseaudio is working, then. Run it with pulseaudio -vvvvv (5 'v's) to see what its trying to do.

And your package versions seem identical to mine, and mine works just fine.

disastrophe · 2010-12-31 22:18:34

Thanks for the replies. A couple of issues still disturb me such as it apparently not integrating with gstreamer properly and it filling up my error logs on every boot. Anyway, I just removed it for now and everything seems happy again. I'll check on PA again in a couple of weeks and see if any of the rough edges are smoothed out of it or alsa or whatever. Most of the posts at kernel trap regarding the same error messages suggest it's an issue with the 2.6.36 kernel. I don't profess to know myself but I'm kinda OCD about error messages, it's just the idea of it if nothing else.
Anyway, thanks again! Happy new year!

Last edited by disastrophe (2010-12-31 22:21:12)

treysis · 2011-02-04 15:48:31

Hey, i think i got absolutely the same problem.

But one strange thing i observed:
when running gnome-properties as root vom CLI i am very well able to select pulseaudio from the dropdown-menu. If i then start totem as root, it uses pulseaudio and not pulseaudio-alsa.

@ngoonee:
are you sure pulseaudio works for you? if you run pavucontrol (as normal user), and use totem to playback some file, what does pavucontrol show as audio-source? does it show the title from totem or does it say something with alsa? in the latter case it would be using the alsa-pulseaudio-plugin for alsa-backwards compatibility and not really pulseaudio itself!

hope to find a solution soon...

ngoonee · 2011-02-04 17:26:39

treysis wrote:

Hey, i think i got absolutely the same problem.
But one strange thing i observed:
when running gnome-properties as root vom CLI i am very well able to select pulseaudio from the dropdown-menu. If i then start totem as root, it uses pulseaudio and not pulseaudio-alsa.
@ngoonee:
are you sure pulseaudio works for you? if you run pavucontrol (as normal user), and use totem to playback some file, what does pavucontrol show as audio-source? does it show the title from totem or does it say something with alsa? in the latter case it would be using the alsa-pulseaudio-plugin for alsa-backwards compatibility and not really pulseaudio itself!
hope to find a solution soon...

Why hijack a thread? You have a totally different problem.

And yes, I've been using pulseaudio with no problems for more than a year now. You have not done your homework, please go and search for answers, try them out, and them come asking if there's something you don't understand.

First hint: don't run gnome-properties as root.

treysis · 2011-02-04 22:00:11

No, i don't think I have a different problem. But maybe I missed to describe my observations.

My error.log contains the same lines as disastrophe's. What he tried to do with his gconftool-2-commands is just the console-way for changing what can be graphically done using gnome-properties. And as you can read above, gstreamer-properties mourns about the missing pulsesink-plugin. Same probleme here for me.

So what I found out aditionally was that if I start gstreamer-properties with superuser-privileges, it is now able to "find" pulsesink. But as these settings are then stored for root, I thought I should also be starting totem as root to see if it now works to pass totem's ouput directly to pulseaudio instead of going the way and passing it to the pulseaudio-alsa-plugin. And ALL cases allow me to playback sound, I just want to have it go directly to the pulseaudio-soundserver which seems to be working as root but not as normal user.

So finally I assume it has to do something with access right...But from this point on I have no idea where to look further. That's why I came here...

EDIT: Here's a screenshot

Last edited by treysis (2011-02-04 22:20:45)

ngoonee · 2011-02-05 01:35:17

Your .asoundrc is different for root than pulse, perhaps. Or your user/root are added to pulse-rt or similar groups when they really shouldn't be anymore. Go check the Perfect Setup section of the pulseaudio wiki.

treysis · 2011-02-05 17:44:10

I don't have a ~/.asoundrc. Just the /etc/asound.conf to have the same configuration for every user. As the pulse-rt, pulse-access and pulse groups are deprecated in current pulseaudio, they haven't been created on my system.
I already checked the perfect setup section of the wiki. Also tried removing the user from the audio-group as suggested.

Now what other thing I tried was installing mplayer and looking what it does. Mplayer has no problem choosing pulse as audio-ouput and this works fine.

So the problem must be related to gnome respectively gstreamer. I also tried removing gnome-media and gnome-settings-daemon and adding gnome-media-pulse and gnome-settings-daemon-pulse instead which made no difference.

Any more ideas?

EDIT: !!!SOLVED!!!
Today a new gstreamer-version including updates to all gstreamer-packages appeared on the repository which has fixed the problem of not being able to select pulseaudio as normal user. Now everything works fine and as it should!
@ngoonee: Thanks for trying to solve this with me!

PS: no need to use the gnome-media-pulse and gnome-settings-daemon-pulse. The standard ones work too.

Last edited by treysis (2011-02-05 18:20:53)

Arch Linux

#1 2010-12-30 20:06:47

[SOLVED]Pulseaudio/gnome strange startup errors

#2 2010-12-31 07:38:50

Re: [SOLVED]Pulseaudio/gnome strange startup errors

#3 2010-12-31 08:05:44

Re: [SOLVED]Pulseaudio/gnome strange startup errors

#4 2010-12-31 08:28:53

Re: [SOLVED]Pulseaudio/gnome strange startup errors

#5 2010-12-31 09:25:50

Re: [SOLVED]Pulseaudio/gnome strange startup errors

#6 2010-12-31 22:18:34

Re: [SOLVED]Pulseaudio/gnome strange startup errors

#7 2011-02-04 15:48:31

Re: [SOLVED]Pulseaudio/gnome strange startup errors

#8 2011-02-04 17:26:39

Re: [SOLVED]Pulseaudio/gnome strange startup errors

#9 2011-02-04 22:00:11

Re: [SOLVED]Pulseaudio/gnome strange startup errors

#10 2011-02-05 01:35:17

Re: [SOLVED]Pulseaudio/gnome strange startup errors

#11 2011-02-05 17:44:10

Re: [SOLVED]Pulseaudio/gnome strange startup errors

Board footer