I installed Pulseaudio, now what?

[terrapin231]

Hi
Is there a straightforward way to switch from Alsa to Pulseaudio in latest tahrpup? I'd like to find out if it helps to solve my low max volume with Alsa. Distros I've run on the same laptop which use Pulseaudio don't give this problem

I downloaded and installed pulseaudio but have no idea what to do next. BTW, check dependencies throws a missing systemd sysv-rc and I don't know how to rectify this. I'd appreciate some guidance on all the above. Thanks.

[watchdog]

What pulseaudio package did you install? In meantime try to open with geany /etc/pulse/default.pa (maybe in other dir: search default.pa by pfind) and change "device" in the following two lines:

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load-module module-alsa-sink device=dmix
load-module module-alsa-source device=dsnoop

Then open a terminal before using audio and type:

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pulseaudio --start

To stop pulseaudio:

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pulseaudio --kill

Pulseaudio is not intended as standard way to play sound in puppy: if you need pulseaudio you can try to put in /root/Startup the following script:

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#!/bin/sh
pulseaudio --start

Give it execute permissions and reboot.

[mikeb]

make sure everything is turned up in alsamixer even the not obvious controls.

Seems sound in linux has got quieter over the years....I always have to max everything out now. Combine with non normalised dvd audio and its shite.

Pulse audio might have software volume control but then most players do too..that can give more than 100% volume.

mike

[terrapin231]

Thanks for your help.I installed pulseaudio_4.0 in puppy package manager.
All alsa mixer controls are set to max. From various relevant forum threads it seems that a workaround was possible in Alsa via asound.conf by adding softvol device and increasing volume but don't think this now an option given asound.conf doesn't exist and all I can find is: asound.state. Even if possible, it appears this may have led to distortion problems anyway.

@watchdog: thanks, I'll give your commands suggestions a try and report back.

Cheers, good people!

[terrapin231]

@watchdog,

Hi, I'm getting:

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 pulseaudio --start
W: [pulseaudio] main.c: This program is not intended to be run as root (unless --system is specified).

Also, and this may be related to above, I hope you'll forgive my (almost) complete lack of knowledge but how do I give execute permissions?

[watchdog]

I suggest to use a pulseudio package from OscarTalks rep:

http://smokey01.com/OscarTalks/

They are statically built and have been tested working in several puppies. You can give a try to my original compilation:

http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... 879#789631

Make sure to change default.pa after installing the preferred pulseaudio package.

The message:

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pulseaudio --start
W: [pulseaudio] main.c: This program is not intended to be run as root (unless --system is specified).

is only a warning: do not care about it.

[terrapin231]

@watchdog

installed pulseaudio-2.0.w53orig.pet did

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pulseaudio --start

and got

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E: [pulseaudio] main.c: Daemon startup failed.

in addition to *

so uninstalled and tried: http://smokey01.com/OscarTalks/pulseaud ... 486-w5.pet Would this be the correct one? Noticed it is only 882.k in size

Changed code in file etc/pulse/default.pa to dmix and dsnoop and saved

after

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pulseaudio --start

got the ignorable *

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 W: [pulseaudio] main.c: This program is not intended to be run as root (unless --system is specified).

Played some audio, audio works but same volume levels as with alsa. I tried pulseaudio --check to see status of daemon and got no report or error, so assume daemon running?

Is there a way to manually increase volume levels beyond comp. alsa max in 2.1 version of pulseaudio?

[watchdog]

The standard pulseaudio mixer is pavucontrol but it has not been compiled in puppy: this is what I know. You can adjust levels in pulseaudio in puppy from alsamixer but I don't think it is the problem. Backup your savefile and try to install pavucontrol by PPM and use it with the OscarTalks' pulseaudio. This is the last chance to get a higher sound.

[terrapin231]

@watchdog

Thanks, I'll give that a try and feedback later. BTW deaDbeeF player has pulseaudio plug-in and changing to that works, so I'll assume pulseaudio is active.

[watchdog]

I have tested pavucontrol in tahr with skype and OscarTalks' pulseaudio: it works and you can raise the sound to 150%.

[terrapin231]

@watchdog
Yes, can confirm pavucontrol works and certainly indicates that 150% is possible. Would you happen to know why pavucontrol doesn't register the stream from Firefox flash (e.g. Youtube) This is really my main gripe as, most available audio players have some means of increasing volume independently (and beyond alsa max value).

Is there a way to get Firefox and other browsers to channel through pulseaudio?

Sorry if this turns out to be a nutty question? I'm low on knowledge of how all these things integrate and how it all works "under the bonnet"

[mikeb]

.asoundrc files do not exist by default and can be used to route sound as you want...I used for bluetooth headphones for example... if you have info that suggest using that method then creating the file in /root is the way.

For flash is would probably mean routing all sound output through whatever volume changing method you have,

mike

[terrapin231]

@mikeb

Thanks, I will try to find some info on how to route flash/browser audio but can anyone suggest the necessary code/file setup which would route all audio through pavucontrol?

Edit:: I should add that Retrovol still controls the output of all audio (via Master) including the audio from Firefox it's just that the latter doesn't get routed through pavucontrol, so volume is still limited. That's how it seems anyway.

[terrapin231]

Okay, I found: http://confoundedtech.blogspot.co.uk/20 ... linux.html
and configured /etc/pulse/asound.conf as follows:

defaults.pcm.card 0
defaults.pcm.device 0
pcm.pulse { type pulse }
ctl.pulse { type pulse }
pcm.!default { type pulse }
ctl.!default { type pulse }

Firefox flash now routing through pavucontrol via alsa plug-in container
Thanks again everyone.

[mikeb]

ah good ...all seems drastic action to get decent volume don't you think....

I reckon this should be turned into a 'HOW TO'

mike

ps forum not notifying today it seems....

[terrapin231]

mikeb:

ah good ...all seems drastic action to get decent volume don't you think...

Yep, I agree. Given that alsa remains the default framework for sound in puppy and given that many people have low vol issues with alsa, it would appear that a pavucontrol clone for alsa would be the best option, short of a wholescale switch to pulse. As mentioned elsewhere, I haven't yet noticed any appreciable 'distortion' creeping into my sounds at 150% in pavucontrol but I've noticed I have to be careful when using individual player controls (e.g via EQ) in addition to this, or instead of, things go bad very quickly

mikeb:

I reckon this should be turned into a 'HOW TO'

Perhaps if a few people could use this thread to test things out for their setups and report back here it might be worth a 'HOW TO' but I'm not sure I'd feel confident to tidy it up enough to be watertight - for a 'HOW TO'. (Any volunteers ? Please)

I still think it would be best (and easier??) for someone to produce an pavucontrol clone for alsa. I guess there's a reason why something similar can't be incorporated into puppy with alsa (?)

[mikeb]

Not sure if you saw this...
http://alien.slackbook.org/blog/adding- ... nd-levels/
I get the feeling an alsa only method is possible...after all such as VLC can do this.

mike

[watchdog]

Read:

https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=139869

It did not work on my hardware. But with some changes I get it working. My /root/.asoundrc:

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pcm.louder {
    type plug
    slave.pcm "hw:0"
	ttable.0.0 4.0
	ttable.1.1 4.0
}
pcm.!default "louder"

You can change according to your hardware "4.0" to a value >=1.0 which fit for you. Begin for example with "2.0" to avoid damages. Tested with mhwavedit and deadbeaf.

[mikeb]

yes seems there is not one method that suits all.

Your config works great for deadbeef but vlc did not work... I changed to

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pcm.louder {
    type plug
    slave.pcm "plughw:0"
   ttable.0.0 4.0
   ttable.1.1 4.0
}
pcm.!default "louder"

and both were happy. 4 times is quite a boost ..easy to distort so as suggested perhaps try a conservative 2.
I had to use plughw for simple recorder on the same machine....I don't think it can handle 44100 without resampling which is probably a factor.

mike

[terrapin231]

Yes, had come across those two pages along the way but couldn't get either to work. The "softvol" plugin solution doesn't play ball for me, producing no preamp slider in alsamixer on my setup. Following some of the reply feedback at http://alien.slackbook.org/blog/adding- ... nd-levels/ I tried deleting asound.state and renewed with "alsaconf" and as I have Intel pantherpoint HDMI audio combined this with the alternative code suggested by feedback from "d" on that page. It doesn't work for me. There could be a multitude of reasons for this of course, not least that I don't really know what I'm doing : )) and may well have missed doing something obvious/important

@watchdog:
I tried your mod and for some odd reason it worked perfectly well for browser flash audio but I couldn't get DeadBeeF or Smplayer to produce sound. The alsa output plugin just wouldn't work - which is bizarre! Probably down to something I didn't do or change following creation of root/.asoundrc

At the moment, pulseaudio mod is still the only solution for me.