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Pulseaudio volume control is set randomly when a new process starts

Graphical Environments, Managers, Multimedia & Desktop questions.
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kerryhall
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Pulseaudio volume control is set randomly when a new process starts

#1 Post by kerryhall »

I want all processes that use pulseaudio to simply have their volume set to 100%.

When I open a new instance of mpv or a new tab in firefox that uses audio, the default is 0% maybe 50% of the time, 153% maybe 25% of the time, and 100% the other 25% of the time.

It seems to be random.

How do I tell pulseaudio that I want new processes to start at 100% and I don't want some random process changing that?

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FreewheelinFrank
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Re: Pulseaudio volume control is set randomly when a new process starts

#2 Post by FreewheelinFrank »

Investigate whether you have

Code: Select all

flat-volumes = yes
in

Code: Select all

/etc/pulse/daemon.conf
~/.pulse/daemon.conf
~/.config/pulse/daemon.conf
As described here:

https://superuser.com/questions/594154/ ... e-on-linux

You should also investigate which "random process"is changing settings.

Code: Select all

$ pacmd list-sink-inputs
This link describes how to create a log of the above command so you can catch any processes that use pulseaudio however briefly.

https://superuser.com/questions/47146/h ... d-in-linux

kerryhall
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Re: Pulseaudio volume control is set randomly when a new process starts

#3 Post by kerryhall »

Thank you! I see

Code: Select all

; flat-volumes = yes
in

Code: Select all

/etc/pulse/daemon.conf
It looks like # is for comments in that file, not sure what the leading semicolon is for.

Another symptom of the problem I've noticed is I'll have my bluetooth headset connected, listening to audio on youtube. I'll pause, then unpause, and the output device has switched to my computer speakers, *and* the volume drops to 0%.

I'll try setting up logging so I can catch whatever process is messing with the volume level and output device.

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FreewheelinFrank
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Re: Pulseaudio volume control is set randomly when a new process starts

#4 Post by FreewheelinFrank »

File says
## Configuration file for the PulseAudio daemon. See pulse-daemon.conf(5) for
## more information. Default values are commented out. Use either ; or # for
## commenting.

Code: Select all

man pulse-daemon.conf
says
The configuration file is a simple collection of variable declarations.
If the configuration file parser encounters either ; or # it ignores
the rest of the line until its end.
Which means

Code: Select all

flat-volumes = yes
is the default for you. Not sure why as it is

Code: Select all

flat-volumes = no
on my computer, which I suppose means there is some unknown factor changing the default.
Defaults to yes upstream, but to no within Arch
says the Arch Wiki

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/PulseAudio

So it may depend on where you got PulseAudio from.

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