Configuring Sound on Linux/Pulse Audio/Troubleshooting

This document entails issues you might encounter with PulseAudio. Verbose error capturing Wanto to figure out what PulseAudio is doing? Try the following. $ pulseaudio -v --log-target=stderr Errors and solutions Wrong Sample Freq Symptom If you have the sample frequence set wrong you might encounter an error like this when you startup PulseAudio $ pulseaudio W: alsa-util.c: Device HDMI doesn't support 44800 Hz, changed to 48000 Hz. Solution Explicitly set the rate for the PulseAudio module in /etc/pulse/default.pa. load-module module-alsa-sink device=HDMI rate=48000 Sound Stops Working Symptom You suddenly have no sound afer you wake up your computer or when you plug headphones, but alsamixer show that sound is enabled and volume can be hight. Solution Check pacmd command if your sound is not mute: $ pacmd Welcome to PulseAudio! Use "help" for usage information. >>> list-sinks 2 sink(s) available. index: 0 name: <alsa_output.pci-0000_01_05.1.hdmi-stereo> driver: <module-alsa-card.c> flags: HARDWARE DECIBEL_VOLUME LATENCY DYNAMIC_LATENCY state: SUSPENDED suspend cause: IDLE priority: 9050 volume: 0: 100% 1: 100% 0: 0,00 dB 1: 0,00 dB balance 0,00 base volume: 100% 0,00 dB volume steps: 65537 muted: no ... * index: 1 name: <alsa_output.pci-0000_00_14.2.analog-stereo> driver: <module-alsa-card.c> flags: HARDWARE HW_MUTE_CTRL HW_VOLUME_CTRL DECIBEL_VOLUME LATENCY DYNAMIC_LATENCY state: RUNNING suspend cause: priority: 9959 volume: 0: 100% 1: 100% 0: 0,00 dB 1: 0,00 dB balance 0,00 base volume: 63% -12,00 dB volume steps: 65537 muted: yes Second sink is mute so we need to unmute it >>> set-sink-mute 1 false Additionaly restarting pulseaudio may be needed $ sudo /etc/init.d/pulseaudio restart NOTE: If you play video using flash in Browser (like YouTube) you can enable sound but when you exit from pacmd the sound stop and when you try to enter pacmd again to show that pulseaudio is not running in the session, in this case refreshing the page with the video solve the issue.