HOWTO: PulseAudio Fixes & System-Wide Equalizer Support

[Flecko]

I just got done fixing my wife's Intrepid laptop following this guide (she wasn't getting any sound in flash apps) and would like to say thank-you. Her computer was completely up to date and still had the problems caused by pulse.

I would also like to say that this underlines the totally abysmal state of sound in Ubuntu. While pulse may be the silver bullet to a select few set of problems, it makes more peoples lives hell than its worth. Its a sad state...and my Desktop running Jaunty isn't any prettier. A dual core 2.8ghz computer that has sound stuttering while scrolling webpages...what is this, 1994?

I hope to got that the Ubuntu devs realize what they're doing to the overall sterling reputation of their distro and clean up their act!

I love Ubuntu...lets keep it that way!

[TheMacFactor]

I just got done fixing my wife's Intrepid laptop following this guide (she wasn't getting any sound in flash apps) and would like to say thank-you. Her computer was completely up to date and still had the problems caused by pulse.

I would also like to say that this underlines the totally abysmal state of sound in Ubuntu. While pulse may be the silver bullet to a select few set of problems, it makes more peoples lives hell than its worth. Its a sad state...and my Desktop running Jaunty isn't any prettier. A dual core 2.8ghz computer that has sound stuttering while scrolling webpages...what is this, 1994?

I hope to got that the Ubuntu devs realize what they're doing to the overall sterling reputation of their distro and clean up their act!

I love Ubuntu...lets keep it that way!

+1, my man, +1!!!

[am15]

I cannot get PulseAudio to run. I just upgraded to Ubuntu 8.10 and the sound is all over the place. I even uninstalled alsa drivers and reinstalled clean latest alsa drivers. The sound works for a while then starts giving me error:

audiotestsrc wave=sine freq=512 ! audioconvert ! audioresample ! gconfaudiosink: Failed to connect: Connection refused



This is what I get from the following:

~$ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 0: STAC92xx Analog [STAC92xx Analog]
Subdevices: 0/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 3: INTEL HDMI [INTEL HDMI]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

$ pkill pulseaudio; sleep 2; pulseaudio -vv
I: main.c: PolicyKit refuses acquire-high-priority privilige.
I: main.c: Called SUID root and real-time/high-priority scheduling was requested in the configuration. However, we lack the necessary priviliges:
I: main.c: We are not in group 'pulse-rt' and PolicyKit refuse to grant us priviliges. Dropping SUID again.
I: main.c: For enabling real-time scheduling please acquire the appropriate PolicyKit priviliges, or become a member of 'pulse-rt', or increase the RLIMIT_NICE/RLIMIT_RTPRIO resource limits for this user.
I: main.c: Note that real-time/high-priority scheduling is NOT normally required. If you experience crackling or other sound anomalies, consider one or more of the above solutions.
I: main.c: High-priority scheduling enabled in configuration but now allowed by policy. Disabling forcibly.
W: ltdl-bind-now.c: Failed to find original dlopen loader.
E: pid.c: Daemon already running.
E: main.c: pa_pid_file_create() failed.


Your help would be much appreciated.

Update:
After reboot the sound came back and seems to be working for audio playback for now. However, it is not detecting my usb webcam's mic. What can I do to fix this?

[viaciofano]

i am still the same i feel frustrated i am not able to use skype since upgrading. each time i upgrade there are more issues. i feel the only way is to go back. when i firts bought the linux all worked untill i started to upgrade. now no use of skype
Vinny

[bzkd]

Hi All !

OK! My Intrepid Ibex has now sound equalized !
But the volume is lower, very lower, than before the equalized effect.

So, what can I do to try to get a louder volume like when I start my Acer laptop under Windows (under which sound is perfectly nice and loud) ?

Any help ?

[my config: Acer Aspire 9920G Laptop 4GB RAM - 20in. screen laptop with 1 subwoofer, 5 HP, Intel audio integrated with Dolby Digital - Ubuntu 8.10 Fresh install]

[joelwhrs]

My sound controls arent working on a laptop. If i go to another account it works fine but in my account it doesnt change the master voume, it just changes the capture volume in recording.

[nisarg]

I am having some issues with my laptop's sound too. I am not a Ubuntu/Linux expert myself, so can't really diagnose it to a good depth. Help will be appreciated.
I tried installing 'pulseaudio' and see this when I enter
$pulseaudio

W: ltdl-bind-now.c: Failed to find original dlopen loader.
W: main.c: setrlimit(RLIMIT_NICE, (31, 31)) failed: Operation not permitted
W: main.c: setrlimit(RLIMIT_RTPRIO, (9, 9)) failed: Operation not permitted
ALSA lib conf.c:3952snd_config_expand) Unknown parameters 0
ALSA lib pcm.c:2196snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM surround71:0
E: alsa-util.c: Error opening PCM device hw:0: Device or resource busy
E: module.c: Failed to load module "module-alsa-sink" (argument: "device_id=0 sink_name=alsa_output.pci_8086_24c5_sound_card_0_a lsa_playback_0"): initialization failed.
ALSA lib control.c:909snd_ctl_open_noupdate) Invalid CTL front:0
E: socket-server.c: bind(): Address already in use
E: module.c: Failed to load module "module-esound-protocol-unix" (argument: ""): initialization failed.
E: main.c: Module load failed.
E: main.c: Failed to initialize daemon.

Thanks.

[squirmish]

Ever since I upgraded from Hardy to Intrepid I would lose the ability to play any audio after a certain period. Tried closing everything down but the only apparent fix was a reboot. Until I found this guide and figured out pulseaudio was my problem, not my solution. killall -p pulseaudio and all is well. Interestingly when I try to restart pulseaudio I get "Error opening PCM device hw:0: Device or resource busy" even though other apps can use the sound card. Thanks for the guide.

[estrong07]

GREAT help, worked like a charm!! Just installed Ubuntu 8.10 on a second HDD, had no sound in Firefox, etc.... fixed me right up. You Rock!

Thank You

[bzkd]

Hi All !

OK! My Intrepid Ibex has now sound equalized !
But the volume is lower, very lower, than before the equalized effect.

So, what can I do to try to get a louder volume like when I start my Acer laptop under Windows (under which sound is perfectly nice and loud) ?

Any help ?

[my config: Acer Aspire 9920G Laptop 4GB RAM - 20in. screen laptop with 1 subwoofer, 5 HP, Intel audio integrated with Dolby Digital - Ubuntu 8.10 Fresh install]

How can one tune LADSPA in order to get a louder volume from the speaker ? (That should something like tuning it to get the sound equalized, shouldn't it)