Pipewire not allowing me to change audio devices

[MrT]

In the default GNOME environment the sound control does not list another device despite there being one detected.

cat /proc/asound/cards
0 [Audio ]: USB-Audio - USB Audio
Generic USB Audio at usb-0000:11:00.0-6, high speed
2 [HDMI ]: HDA-Intel - HDA ATI HDMI
HDA ATI HDMI at 0x80120000 irq 140
3 [Generic ]: HDA-Intel - HD-Audio Generic
HD-Audio Generic at 0xfc080000 irq 141

I want to use #3.

People say use pactl or pavucontrol buut....

# pactl list
Connection failure: Connection refused
pa_context_connect() failed: Connection refused

# alsamixer
cannot open mixer: Host is down
# alsamixer -c0 --view=All

Screenshot from 2024-03-20 21-08-12.png (20.16 KiB) Viewed 613 times

Of course selecting #3 does nothing... it also lets me select spdif which is what I want to use.

I am considering just trying pulseaudio, but I wanted to try pulsewire since it is the default now...

Pipewire and pipewire-pulse are installed. I really don't know anything about the Linux audio stuff.

[FreewheelinFrank]

Pipewire and PulseAudio don't seem to play well together. If you want to use Pipewire, try uninstalling or masking PulseAudio.

viewtopic.php?t=157688

[MrT]

Pulseaudio isn't installed. If you try to do that it will uninstall pipewire.

Edit:
More info if it helps

# apt list |grep -i pipewire

WARNING: apt does not have a stable CLI interface. Use with caution in scripts.

gstreamer1.0-pipewire/stable,now 0.3.65-3+deb12u1 amd64 [installed,automatic]
libkpipewire-dev/stable 5.27.5-3 amd64
libkpipewire5/stable 5.27.5-3 amd64
libkpipewiredmabuf5/stable 5.27.5-3 amd64
libkpipewirerecord5/stable 5.27.5-3 amd64
libpipewire-0.3-0/stable,now 0.3.65-3+deb12u1 amd64 [installed,automatic]
libpipewire-0.3-common/stable,now 0.3.65-3+deb12u1 all [installed,automatic]
libpipewire-0.3-dev/stable 0.3.65-3+deb12u1 amd64
libpipewire-0.3-modules-x11/stable 0.3.65-3+deb12u1 amd64
libpipewire-0.3-modules/stable,now 0.3.65-3+deb12u1 amd64 [installed,automatic]
pipewire-alsa/stable,now 0.3.65-3+deb12u1 amd64 [installed]
pipewire-audio-client-libraries/stable 0.3.65-3+deb12u1 all
pipewire-audio/stable,now 0.3.65-3+deb12u1 all [installed]
pipewire-bin/stable,now 0.3.65-3+deb12u1 amd64 [installed,automatic]
pipewire-doc/stable 0.3.65-3+deb12u1 all
pipewire-jack/stable 0.3.65-3+deb12u1 amd64
pipewire-libcamera/stable 0.3.65-3+deb12u1 amd64
pipewire-media-session-alsa/stable 0.4.2-3 all
pipewire-media-session-jack/stable 0.4.2-3 all
pipewire-media-session-pulseaudio/stable 0.4.2-3 all
pipewire-media-session/stable 0.4.2-3 amd64
pipewire-pulse/stable,now 0.3.65-3+deb12u1 amd64 [installed]
pipewire-tests/stable 0.3.65-3+deb12u1 amd64
pipewire-v4l2/stable 0.3.65-3+deb12u1 amd64
pipewire/stable,now 0.3.65-3+deb12u1 amd64 [installed]
qml-module-org-kde-pipewire/stable 5.27.5-3 amd64
vlc-plugin-pipewire/stable 3-2 amd64

# apt list |grep -i pulse

WARNING: apt does not have a stable CLI interface. Use with caution in scripts.

apulse/stable 0.1.13-2 amd64
cairo-dock-impulse-plug-in/stable 3.4.1+git20201022.a0d3415c-1+b1 amd64
golang-github-mesilliac-pulse-simple-dev/stable 0.0~git20170506.75ac54e-2 all
gstreamer1.0-adapter-pulseeffects/stable 4.8.7-1 amd64
gstreamer1.0-autogain-pulseeffects/stable 4.8.7-1 amd64
gstreamer1.0-convolver-pulseeffects/stable 4.8.7-1 amd64
gstreamer1.0-crystalizer-pulseeffects/stable 4.8.7-1 amd64
gstreamer1.0-pulseaudio/stable,stable-security 1.22.0-5+deb12u1 amd64
libcanberra-pulse/stable,now 0.30-10 amd64 [installed,automatic]
libkf5pulseaudioqt-dev/stable 1.3-2+b1 amd64
libkf5pulseaudioqt-doc/stable 1.3-2 all
libkf5pulseaudioqt2-doc/stable 1.3-2 all
libkf5pulseaudioqt3/stable 1.3-2+b1 amd64
libpulse-dev/stable 16.1+dfsg1-2+b1 amd64
libpulse-java/stable 2.4.7-2 all
libpulse-jni/stable 2.4.7-2 amd64
libpulse-mainloop-glib0/stable,now 16.1+dfsg1-2+b1 amd64 [installed,automatic]
libpulse-ocaml-dev/stable 0.1.5-1 amd64
libpulse-ocaml/stable 0.1.5-1 amd64
libpulse0/stable,now 16.1+dfsg1-2+b1 amd64 [installed,automatic]
libpulsedsp/stable,now 16.1+dfsg1-2+b1 amd64 [installed,automatic]
librust-libpulse-sys-dev/stable 1.20.1-1 amd64
libsox-fmt-pulse/stable 14.4.2+git20190427-3.5 amd64
mkchromecast-pulseaudio/stable 0.3.9~git20200902+db2964a-2 all
osspd-pulseaudio/stable 1.3.2-13.1 amd64
pipewire-media-session-pulseaudio/stable 0.4.2-3 all
pipewire-pulse/stable,now 0.3.65-3+deb12u1 amd64 [installed]
projectm-pulseaudio/stable 3.1.12-3 amd64
pulseaudio-equalizer/stable 16.1+dfsg1-2+b1 amd64
pulseaudio-module-bluetooth/stable 16.1+dfsg1-2+b1 amd64
pulseaudio-module-gsettings/stable 16.1+dfsg1-2+b1 amd64
pulseaudio-module-jack/stable 16.1+dfsg1-2+b1 amd64
pulseaudio-module-lirc/stable 16.1+dfsg1-2+b1 amd64
pulseaudio-module-raop/stable 16.1+dfsg1-2+b1 amd64
pulseaudio-module-zeroconf/stable 16.1+dfsg1-2+b1 amd64
pulseaudio-utils/stable,now 16.1+dfsg1-2+b1 amd64 [installed,automatic]
pulseaudio/stable 16.1+dfsg1-2+b1 amd64
pulseeffects/stable 4.8.7-1 amd64
pulsemixer/stable 1.5.1-1.1 all
pulseview/stable 0.4.2-3+b1 amd64
python3-pulsectl/stable 22.3.2-2 all
snd-gtk-pulse/stable 23.1-1 all
snd-gui-pulse/stable 23.1-1 amd64
squeezelite-pulseaudio/stable 1.9.9-1414+git20221121.dbe69eb-1 amd64
xfce4-pulseaudio-plugin/stable 0.4.5-1 amd64


Pulseaudio-utils I only installed to see if I could use various cli mixers to switch. Was having the problem beforehand.

[MrT]

So apparently I really don't understand the audio stack in linux. Because pactl and pavucontrol etc work if I run as a normal user and not root.

In pavucontrol now at least I see another device and also the main gnome sound controls.

However, I still can't get audio out of it even though the mixer shows activity on that device.

I am going to pass it through to a VM and see if I get the same issues or not, as it might be a problem with my cable or my receiver.

[CwF]

pactl and pavucontrol etc work if I run as a normal user and not root.

normal behavior

[FreewheelinFrank]

Could we have output of the following please? (You may need to install package inxi).

Code: Select all

$ inxi -Farz 

[MrT]

Btw. I booted into Windows and it works there, so not my receiver or cable.

Code: Select all

inxi -Farz
System:
  Kernel: 6.1.0-18-amd64 arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-6.1.0-18-amd64
    root=/dev/mapper/kokoro--vg-root ro quiet amd_iommu=force_enable
    hugepagesz=1G hugepages=128 default_hugepagesz=1G
    systemd.unified_cgroup_hierarchy=1
  Desktop: GNOME v: 43.9 tk: GTK v: 3.24.38 wm: gnome-shell dm: GDM3 v: 43.0
    Distro: Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm)
Machine:
  Type: Desktop System: ASUS product: N/A v: N/A serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: ASUSTeK model: ROG STRIX X670E-E GAMING WIFI v: Rev 1.xx
    serial: <superuser required> UEFI: American Megatrends v: 1709
    date: 09/28/2023
Battery:
  Device-1: hid-1b:19:52:96:2c:b4-battery model: BT Keyboard serial: N/A
    charge: N/A status: discharging
CPU:
  Info: model: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Zen 4 gen: 5
    level: v4 note: check built: 2022+ process: TSMC n5 (5nm) family: 0x19 (25)
    model-id: 0x61 (97) stepping: 2 microcode: 0xA601206
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 16 tpc: 2 threads: 32 smt: enabled cache:
    L1: 1024 KiB desc: d-16x32 KiB; i-16x32 KiB L2: 16 MiB desc: 16x1024 KiB
    L3: 128 MiB desc: 1x32 MiB, 1x96 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 3450 high: 4200 min/max: 3000/5759 boost: enabled
    scaling: driver: acpi-cpufreq governor: schedutil cores: 1: 3000 2: 3000
    3: 3000 4: 3000 5: 4200 6: 3000 7: 4200 8: 4200 9: 4200 10: 4200 11: 3000
    12: 4200 13: 3000 14: 3000 15: 3000 16: 3000 17: 4200 18: 3000 19: 4200
    20: 4200 21: 4200 22: 3000 23: 4200 24: 3000 25: 3000 26: 3000 27: 3000
    28: 3000 29: 3000 30: 3000 31: 4200 32: 3000 bogomips: 268793
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: itlb_multihit status: Not affected
  Type: l1tf status: Not affected
  Type: mds status: Not affected
  Type: meltdown status: Not affected
  Type: mmio_stale_data status: Not affected
  Type: retbleed status: Not affected
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow mitigation: safe RET
  Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via
    prctl
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer
    sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines, IBPB: conditional, IBRS_FW,
    STIBP: always-on, RSB filling, PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected
  Type: srbds status: Not affected
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA AD102 [GeForce RTX 4090] vendor: Micro-Star MSI
    driver: vfio-pci v: N/A alternate: nouveau non-free: 530.xx+
    status: current (as of 2023-03) arch: Lovelace code: AD1xx
    process: TSMC n4 (5nm) built: 2022-23+ pcie: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s
    lanes: 16 bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:2684 class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: AMD Navi 24 [Radeon RX 6400/6500 XT/6500M]
    vendor: Tul / PowerColor driver: amdgpu v: kernel arch: RDNA-2 code: Navi-2x
    process: TSMC n7 (7nm) built: 2020-22 pcie: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s
    lanes: 16 ports: active: DP-1 empty: HDMI-A-1 bus-ID: 06:00.0
    chip-ID: 1002:743f class-ID: 0300
  Device-3: AMD Raphael vendor: ASUSTeK driver: amdgpu v: kernel
    arch: RDNA-2 code: Navi-2x process: TSMC n7 (7nm) built: 2020-22 pcie:
    gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16 ports: active: none empty: DP-2,HDMI-A-2
    bus-ID: 13:00.0 chip-ID: 1002:164e class-ID: 0300 temp: 41.0 C
  Display: wayland server: X.org v: 1.21.1.7 with: Xwayland v: 22.1.9
    compositor: gnome-shell driver: X: loaded: amdgpu,nouveau,radeon
    unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa alternate: nv gpu: amdgpu display-ID: 0
  Monitor-1: DP-1 model: Gigabyte AORUS FV43U serial: <filter> built: 2021
    res: 3840x2160 dpi: 140 gamma: 1.2 size: 697x392mm (27.44x15.43")
    diag: 800mm (31.5") ratio: 16:9 modes: max: 3840x2160 min: 640x480
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 Mesa 22.3.6 renderer: AMD Radeon RX 6400 (navi24 LLVM
    15.0.6 DRM 3.49 6.1.0-18-amd64) direct-render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: NVIDIA AD102 High Definition Audio vendor: Micro-Star MSI
    driver: vfio-pci bus-ID: 3-6:3 alternate: snd_hda_intel chip-ID: 0b05:1a52
    pcie: class-ID: 0300 gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 01:00.1
    chip-ID: 10de:22ba class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: AMD Navi 21/23 HDMI/DP Audio driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
    pcie: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 06:00.1 chip-ID: 1002:ab28
    class-ID: 0403
  Device-3: AMD Rembrandt Radeon High Definition Audio vendor: ASUSTeK
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16
    bus-ID: 13:00.1 chip-ID: 1002:1640 class-ID: 0403
  Device-4: ASUSTek USB Audio type: USB
    driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid
  API: ALSA v: k6.1.0-18-amd64 status: kernel-api tools: alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 0.3.65 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse
    status: active 2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin
    tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX210/AX211/AX411 160MHz driver: iwlwifi v: kernel
    pcie: gen: 2 speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 0a:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:2725
    class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlp10s0 state: down mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Intel Ethernet I225-V vendor: ASUSTeK driver: igc v: kernel
    pcie: gen: 2 speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: N/A bus-ID: 0b:00.0
    chip-ID: 8086:15f3 class-ID: 0200
  IF: eno1 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Intel AX210 Bluetooth type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8 bus-ID: 1-9:5
    chip-ID: 8087:0032 class-ID: e001
  Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 1 state: up address: <filter>
  Info: acl-mtu: 1021:4 sco-mtu: 96:6 link-policy: rswitch sniff
    link-mode: peripheral accept service-classes: rendering, capturing
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 10.94 TiB used: 16.04 GiB (0.1%)
  SMART Message: Required tool smartctl not installed. Check --recommends
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 990 PRO 4TB
    size: 3.64 TiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 63.2 Gb/s
    lanes: 4 type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 4B2QJXD7 temp: 37.9 C scheme: GPT
  ID-2: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 870 EVO 4TB
    size: 3.64 TiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
    type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 3B6Q scheme: GPT
  ID-3: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 870 EVO 4TB
    size: 3.64 TiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
    type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 3B6Q scheme: GPT
  ID-4: /dev/sdc maj-min: 8:32 type: USB vendor: PNY model: USB 3.2.1 FD
    size: 28.91 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B type: N/A
    serial: <filter> rev: PMAP scheme: MBR
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 92.18 GiB size: 90.17 GiB (97.82%) used: 15.95 GiB (17.7%)
    fs: ext4 dev: /dev/dm-0 maj-min: 254:0 mapped: kokoro--vg-root
  ID-2: /boot raw-size: 488 MiB size: 455.1 MiB (93.26%)
    used: 88.1 MiB (19.3%) fs: ext2 dev: /dev/sda2 maj-min: 8:2
  ID-3: /boot/efi raw-size: 512 MiB size: 511 MiB (99.80%)
    used: 5.8 MiB (1.1%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 60 (default) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 976 MiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2
    dev: /dev/dm-1 maj-min: 254:1 mapped: kokoro--vg-swap_1
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 44.0 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
  GPU: device: amdgpu temp: 48.0 C mem: 46.0 C fan: 0 watts: 2.00
    device: amdgpu temp: 41.0 C
Repos:
  Packages: 1794 pm: dpkg pkgs: 1789 libs: 1041
    tools: apt,apt-get,gnome-software,synaptic pm: flatpak pkgs: 5
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list
    1: deb http://mirrors.ocf.berkeley.edu/debian/ bookworm main non-free-firmware
    2: deb-src http://mirrors.ocf.berkeley.edu/debian/ bookworm main non-free-firmware
    3: deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security bookworm-security main non-free-firmware
    4: deb-src http://security.debian.org/debian-security bookworm-security main non-free-firmware
    5: deb http://mirrors.ocf.berkeley.edu/debian/ bookworm-updates main non-free-firmware
    6: deb-src http://mirrors.ocf.berkeley.edu/debian/ bookworm-updates main non-free-firmware
Info:
  Processes: 558 Uptime: 3m wakeups: 2 Memory: 187.92 GiB
  used: 130.82 GiB (69.6%) Init: systemd v: 252 target: graphical (5)
  default: graphical tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 12.2.0 alt: 12
  Shell: Bash v: 5.2.15 running-in: gnome-terminal inxi: 3.3.26

[MrT]

Correction: It's the USB Audio that I am using and it's what works over that port in Windows. Not the HDA-Intel - HD-Audio Generic. That is one of the AMD GPUs and not what I wish to be using. (Super confusing.. Intel sound on AMD card...)

The USB audio is also now what shows up as active in both GNOME and Pavucontrol. I can see the dB bar going up and down when sound in both GNOME and pavucontrol. There's just no sound.

It seems my receiver detects the digital signal (PCM?) from the optical spdif connection as well, but nothing but silence. Very odd.

Sorry for the earlier confusion regarding the devices. It's confusing with so much in the system. Doubly confusing that it's a "USB" audio controller that is the onboard one.

Let me also add that I will likely just be passing this through as either a PCI device or USB device to a guest VM anyway. I was going to originally do it with pipewire-jack but not much point now that I understand what is going on.

Code: Select all

Group 15:	[1022:43f5]     03:0c.0  PCI bridge                               Device 43f5
		[1022:43f7] [R] 11:00.0  USB controller                           Device 43f7
USB:		[0b05:19af]		 Bus 003 Device 004                       ASUSTek Computer, Inc. AURA LED Controller 
USB:		[0b05:1a52]		 Bus 003 Device 003                       ASUSTek Computer, Inc. USB Audio 
USB:		[05e3:0610]		 Bus 003 Device 002                       Genesys Logic, Inc. Hub 
USB:		[1d6b:0002]		 Bus 003 Device 001                       Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub 
USB:		[05e3:0625]		 Bus 004 Device 002                       Genesys Logic, Inc. USB3.2 Hub 
USB:		[1d6b:0003]		 Bus 004 Device 001                       Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub 

If you would like me to though. I can continue to try to figure this out if it might help someone else.

Thanks.

[sunrat]

Have you made sure the volumes are up and channels unmuted for that device in alsamixer?

[MrT]

They seem to be at least.

[FreewheelinFrank]

Pulseaudio isn't installed. If you try to do that it will uninstall pipewire.

My bad. Apologies. I should have checked first if it was installed. It used to be that you could install both without objection and this often caused sound issues.

So apparently I really don't understand the audio stack in linux. Because pactl and pavucontrol etc work if I run as a normal user and not root.

Normal, as CwF said. Sound is a user process. This also explains why sound tools like pactl and alsamixer were not working, which you have obviously figured out now.

Btw. I booted into Windows and it works there, so not my receiver or cable.

Is Windows Fast Boot turned off? It can leave devices non-functional in Linux.

It seems this USB mixer can get "stuck" or "locked up", so the following might be worth a try. (I would suggest holding the power button down for 30 seconds rather than just clicking it.) The process means that the chip has no power and does not retain any settings that migth prevent it working with a different OS.

1. turn of your computer and unplug the power supply or switch off the power supply if there is a switch on it.
2. click the power button several times.
3. turn on your computer
4. If your headphone doesn't work, unplug from the USB-c adapter and plug it. Your headphone should work.

https://rog-forum.asus.com/t5/amd-500-4 ... d-p/878908

[MrT]

It's actually not USB-c, but it's just a sound device on the USB bus with regular sound outputs (and a USB-c connection).

I will try this though and see if it helps when I get back home later.

I guess it makes sense for various reasons for them to make the onboard sound off of one of the USB busses instead of a separate PCI device. There's an unbelievable amount of USB ports on modern mobos, but almost no PCI slots anymore.