HOWTO: PulseAudio Fixes & System-Wide Equalizer Support

[cyonax]

Thanks for this excellent guide. I followed the steps and found that sound is working! However, volume is very very low - almost inaudible - even when all volume controls is on max in alsamixer, PA, and the application (e.g. rythmbox). What have i missed?

Anyone have any suggestions to what might be wrong?

Thanks!

[Matteran]

The main thing that attracted me to this guide was the equalizer, the output for my laptop speakers by default is pretty terrible, so I wanted to get rid of some of the lowend that the speakers are trying to recreate.

I followed everything for intrepid (that's the version I'm on), but I haven't been able to find the equalizer anywhere in the system.

Is there a GUI for the EQ? Or is it through terminal?

I'm sure there's somewhere in the 100 or so pages in this thread, but I'm sure someone could answer it fairly easily.

Thanks

[louisvil]

Hi! I use Ubuntu 8.10 i386 since last week. I'm pretty new in Linux. I tried it a few years ago, and I back this time.

I have a problem hearing sound in Firefox.

__________________________________________________
louis@Louis:~$ aplay -l
**** Liste des PLAYBACK périphériques ****
carte 0: I82801DBICH4 [Intel 82801DB-ICH4], périphérique 0 : Intel ICH [Intel 82801DB-ICH4]
Sous-périphériques: 0/1
Sous-périphérique: #0: subdevice #0
carte 0: I82801DBICH4 [Intel 82801DB-ICH4], périphérique 4 : Intel ICH - IEC958 [Intel 82801DB-ICH4 - IEC958]
Sous-périphériques: 1/1
Sous-périphérique: #0: subdevice #0

__________________________________________________

louis@Louis:~$ sudo pulseaudio -vv
[sudo] password for louis:
I: core-util.c: Successfully gained nice level -11.
W: ltdl-bind-now.c: Failed to find original dlopen loader.
W: main.c: This program is not intended to be run as root (unless --system is specified).
I: main.c: This is PulseAudio 0.9.10
I: main.c: Page size is 4096 bytes
I: main.c: Fresh high-resolution timers available! Bon appetit!
D: cli-command.c: Checking for existance of '/usr/lib/pulse-0.9/modules/module-hal-detect.so': success
I: module-hal-detect.c: Trying capability alsa
D: module-hal-detect.c: Not loaded device /org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/computer_alsa_timer
D: module-hal-detect.c: Not loaded device /org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/computer_alsa_sequencer
D: module-hal-detect.c: Not loaded device /org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/pci_8086_24c5_sound_card_0_alsa_playback_4
D: module-hal-detect.c: Not loaded device /org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/pci_8086_24c5_sound_card_0_alsa_capture_3
D: module-hal-detect.c: Not loaded device /org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/pci_8086_24c5_sound_card_0_alsa_capture_2
D: module-hal-detect.c: Not loaded device /org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/pci_8086_24c5_sound_card_0_alsa_capture_1
D: module-hal-detect.c: Loading module-alsa-sink with arguments 'device_id=0 sink_name=alsa_output.pci_8086_24c5_sound_card_0_a lsa_playback_0'
D: alsa-util.c: Trying front:0...
W: alsa-util.c: Device front:0 doesn't support 44100 Hz, changed to 48000 Hz.
I: module-alsa-sink.c: Successfully opened device front:0.
I: module-alsa-sink.c: Successfully enabled mmap() mode.
ALSA lib control.c:909snd_ctl_open_noupdate) Invalid CTL front:0
I: alsa-util.c: Unable to attach to mixer front:0: Aucun fichier ou dossier de ce type
I: alsa-util.c: Successfully attached to mixer 'hw:0'
I: alsa-util.c: Using mixer control "Master".
I: sink.c: Created sink 0 "alsa_output.pci_8086_24c5_sound_card_0_alsa_playb ack_0" with sample spec "s16le 2ch 48000Hz"
I: source.c: Created source 0 "alsa_output.pci_8086_24c5_sound_card_0_alsa_playb ack_0.monitor" with sample spec "s16le 2ch 48000Hz"
I: module-alsa-sink.c: Using 8 fragments of size 1760 bytes.
I: alsa-util.c: All 2 channels can be mapped to mixer channels. Using hardware volume control.
D: module-alsa-sink.c: Thread starting up
D: rtpoll.c: Acquired POSIX realtime signal SIGRTMIN+29
I: module-alsa-sink.c: Starting playback.
I: module.c: Loaded "module-alsa-sink" (index: #0; argument: "device_id=0 sink_name=alsa_output.pci_8086_24c5_sound_card_0_a lsa_playback_0").
D: module-hal-detect.c: Loading module-alsa-source with arguments 'device_id=0 source_name=alsa_input.pci_8086_24c5_sound_card_0_ alsa_capture_0'
D: alsa-util.c: Trying front:0...
W: alsa-util.c: Device front:0 doesn't support 44100 Hz, changed to 48000 Hz.
I: module-alsa-source.c: Successfully opened device front:0.
I: module-alsa-source.c: Successfully enabled mmap() mode.
ALSA lib control.c:909snd_ctl_open_noupdate) Invalid CTL front:0
I: alsa-util.c: Unable to attach to mixer front:0: Aucun fichier ou dossier de ce type
I: alsa-util.c: Successfully attached to mixer 'hw:0'
I: alsa-util.c: Using mixer control "Capture".
I: source.c: Created source 1 "alsa_input.pci_8086_24c5_sound_card_0_alsa_captur e_0" with sample spec "s16le 2ch 48000Hz"
I: module-alsa-source.c: Using 8 fragments of size 1760 bytes.
I: alsa-util.c: All 2 channels can be mapped to mixer channels. Using hardware volume control.
D: module-alsa-source.c: Thread starting up
D: rtpoll.c: Acquired POSIX realtime signal SIGRTMIN+28
I: module.c: Loaded "module-alsa-source" (index: #1; argument: "device_id=0 source_name=alsa_input.pci_8086_24c5_sound_card_0_ alsa_capture_0").
D: module-hal-detect.c: Not loaded device /org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/pci_8086_24c5_sound_card_0_alsa_control__1
I: module-hal-detect.c: Loaded 2 modules.
I: module.c: Loaded "module-hal-detect" (index: #2; argument: "").
D: cli-command.c: Checking for existance of '/usr/lib/pulse-0.9/modules/module-esound-protocol-unix.so': success
I: module.c: Loaded "module-esound-protocol-unix" (index: #3; argument: "").
I: protocol-native.c: loading cookie from disk.
I: module.c: Loaded "module-native-protocol-unix" (index: #4; argument: "").
D: cli-command.c: Checking for existance of '/usr/lib/pulse-0.9/modules/module-gconf.so': success
I: module.c: Loaded "module-gconf" (index: #5; argument: "").
I: module.c: Loaded "module-volume-restore" (index: #6; argument: "").
D: module-default-device-restore.c: Restored default sink 'alsa_output.pci_8086_24c5_sound_card_0_alsa_playb ack_0'.
D: module-default-device-restore.c: No previous default source setting, ignoring.
I: module.c: Loaded "module-default-device-restore" (index: #7; argument: "").
I: module.c: Loaded "module-rescue-streams" (index: #8; argument: "").
D: module-suspend-on-idle.c: Sink alsa_output.pci_8086_24c5_sound_card_0_alsa_playba ck_0 becomes idle.
D: module-suspend-on-idle.c: Source alsa_output.pci_8086_24c5_sound_card_0_alsa_playba ck_0.monitor becomes idle.
D: module-suspend-on-idle.c: Source alsa_input.pci_8086_24c5_sound_card_0_alsa_capture _0 becomes idle.
I: module.c: Loaded "module-suspend-on-idle" (index: #9; argument: "").
D: cli-command.c: Checking for existance of '/usr/lib/pulse-0.9/modules/module-x11-publish.so': success
D: module-x11-publish.c: using already loaded auth cookie.
I: module.c: Loaded "module-x11-publish" (index: #10; argument: "").
I: main.c: Daemon startup complete.
D: module-hal-detect.c: dbus: interface=org.freedesktop.DBus, path=/org/freedesktop/DBus, member=NameAcquired
I: module-suspend-on-idle.c: Source alsa_input.pci_8086_24c5_sound_card_0_alsa_capture _0 idle for too long, suspending ...
I: module-alsa-source.c: Device suspended...
I: module-suspend-on-idle.c: Source alsa_output.pci_8086_24c5_sound_card_0_alsa_playba ck_0.monitor idle for too long, suspending ...
I: module-suspend-on-idle.c: Sink alsa_output.pci_8086_24c5_sound_card_0_alsa_playba ck_0 idle for too long, suspending ...
I: module-alsa-sink.c: Device suspended...
D: module-hal-detect.c: dbus: interface=org.freedesktop.Hal.Device, path=/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/computer_power_supply_battery_BAT1, member=PropertyModified
D: module-hal-detect.c: dbus: interface=org.freedesktop.Hal.Device, path=/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/computer_power_supply_battery_BAT1, member=PropertyModified


And it kinda hang there, repeating the last lines...


_______________________

And, C- The application does not play audio and does list an entry in the Playback tab; (Firefox)

Any help?

Louis

[cipher99]

Before the HOWTO I had sound from Rhythmbox, but none from Flashplayer. After HOWTO lost Rhythmbox sound as well.

System/Prefs/Sounds playbacks: Test: (all results same before and after HOWTO)
Logitech Speaker USB Audio (ALSA) "audiotestsrc wave=sine freq=512 ! audioconvert ! audioresample ! gconfaudiosink: Could not open audio device for playback."
Logitech Speaker USB Audio (OSS) test sound but no flash sound
HDA nVidea alc885 Digital (ALSA) no test sound, no flash sound

file attached

[satx]

Many thanks from a grateful user. I had installed the new Skype on 8.04 and as usual audio in Firefox, etc., ceased operating, although the Skype audio via USB was working fine using a Microsoft Lifechat LX-3000 headset.

Likewise, in my VMWARE XP partition, audio in Firefox would work after closing Skype in Ubuntu. Most mysterious until reading your excellent post.

Followed it exactly- absolutely no issues, and now Skype and all videos in Firefox play beautifully. I can even operate both simultaneously!

Many thanks again.

[lavinog]

Anyone know how to get espeak to use pulseaudio without using padsp?
I finally have text-to-speech available in ut2004, but i have use an annoying hack to get it started:
ut2004 is setup to use pulseaudio (it shows up in the playback tab in volume control)
the TTS in UT2004 outputs text to a FIFO named ~/speech
prior to starting I have a while loop:

while true;do padsp espeak <~/speech;done

Now if I start UT2004, espeak wont output anything until I exit ut2004, in which case it will output everything that was said during the game.
If I echo a really long sentence to ~/speech then start UT2004, as long as espeak is still reading while UT loads, everything works perfectly.

I might try festival soon to see if it has the same issue.

[wizard1974uk]

I'm running Ubuntu 8.10

How do I know which is the PCM channel on my Audigy LS soundcard?

Everything is playing ok on my system, however whenever I play a video through Firefox 3.0.4 the sound crackles and pops.

I've gone through the relevant steps in the guide.

[AstroLlama]

Sweeeet, I just solved my own problem. I was quite confused when the steps in this guide didn't work, but now i have it all straightened out. I don't know if it is because of an update that I ran today, or because right after the update I happened to uncheck the 'external amplifier' switch in the volume control (right click on sound icon-> switches.)

skype even works when i set the sound devices to "pulse"

everything is dandy now.

[brian_j_murrell]

I'm using the current Intrepid packages (0.9.10-2ubuntu9.1) and cannot get this thing to stop stuttering. I have used all kinds of values for default-fragments and default-fragment-size-msec and nothing seems to help.

FWIW, I have the following sound card:

04:09.0 Multimedia audio controller: Creative Labs SB Live! EMU10k1 (rev 07)

Can somebody offer any help/ideas before I just give up and pull the plug on this whole pulseaudio thing altogether and just go back to using good old reliable ALSA directly?

[NeroWolf]

I read through your guide, and got stuck on the PulseAudio server configuration at the end of part A. Here's the output from my terminal after the "connection refused" error.

nero@motherwolf:~$ pulseaudio & pavucontrol
[1] 19852
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 pcm.c:2196:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM equalized
E: alsa-util.c: Error opening PCM device equalized: No such file or directory
E: module.c: Failed to load  module "module-alsa-sink" (argument: "device=equalized"): initialization failed.
E: main.c: Module load failed.
E: main.c: Failed to initialize daemon.
[1]+  Exit 1                  pulseaudio

Help?

-- Nero