[LAU] Round 5: [was Re: Report: Pulse Audio vs Jack on Fedora 11]

[Patrick Shirkey]

For Round 5, I have updated pulseaudio to the latest dev version.

pulseaudio 0.9.16-test4-7-gaa74

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

- This time round I can successfully load the pulse 
module-jack-sink/source and play totem through pulseaudio+jack.

System load when playing totem goes up to around 20% which seems kind of 
high but nothing like it would need to lock things up.

However I after about 15 minutes the jack source and sinks disappeared 
and running "pulseaudio -k" returns with

E: main.c: Failed to kill daemon: No such process

This seems to be related to looking at the "Sound Preferences" dialog. 
As it has happened a couple of times now.

Restarting pulseaudio brings both sink and source back and I can resume 
playing with totem.

So it would appear that there are some stability issues with the 
pulseaudio jack modules, gnome-volume-control and or pulseaudio.

- Testing skype returns with "problem with audio playback" if the 
outputs are set to pulse so that is fairly annoying.

Running from the commandline I get this when I make a test call:

======================================

$ skype
ALSA lib control.c:874:(snd_ctl_open_conf) Cannot open shared library 
/usr/lib/alsa-lib/libasound_module_ctl_pulse.so
ALSA lib pcm.c:2171:(snd_pcm_open_conf) Cannot open shared library 
/usr/lib/alsa-lib/libasound_module_pcm_pulse.so
ALSA lib pcm.c:2171:(snd_pcm_open_conf) Cannot open shared library 
/usr/lib/alsa-lib/libasound_module_pcm_pulse.so
ALSA lib control.c:874:(snd_ctl_open_conf) Cannot open shared library 
/usr/lib/alsa-lib/libasound_module_ctl_pulse.so
ALSA lib pcm.c:2171:(snd_pcm_open_conf) Cannot open shared library 
/usr/lib/alsa-lib/libasound_module_pcm_pulse.so
ALSA lib pcm.c:2171:(snd_pcm_open_conf) Cannot open shared library 
/usr/lib/alsa-lib/libasound_module_pcm_pulse.so
ALSA lib control.c:874:(snd_ctl_open_conf) Cannot open shared library 
/usr/lib/alsa-lib/libasound_module_ctl_pulse.so
ALSA lib pcm.c:2171:(snd_pcm_open_conf) Cannot open shared library 
/usr/lib/alsa-lib/libasound_module_pcm_pulse.so

======================================


Seems to be library related as pulse is installed in /usr/lib64/ by 
default. Skype is looking for the 32 bit libs. Figure there must be a 
workaround for that one.

I  run "yum install alsa-plugins-pulseaudio.i586" then skype doesn't 
complain about problem with audio playback.

Instead I get these messages:

============
socket(): Address family not supported by protocol
ALSA lib pulse.c:272:(pulse_connect) PulseAudio: Unable to connect: 
Connection refused
============

So I remove alsa-plugins-pulseaudio.i586

Now I try linking the /usr/lib64 module library to the /usr/lib folder

     ln -s  /usr/lib64/alsa-lib/libasound_module_pcm_pulse.so 
/usr/lib/alsa-lib/

This doesn't work either. I see the same "Cannot open shared library..." 
messages in the terminal.

So it looks like we need a workable solution for running skype with 
pulseaudio on a 64 bit platform.

===================================

* Skype
You can just visit Skype's site and click on the Fedora 7 package. 
Select to open it with 'Package Installer (Default) and you are done.

Alternatively you can install the Skype repository. Open a terminal and 
type:

su -c 'gedit /etc/yum.repos.d/skype.repo'

In that file copy the following lines:

[skype]
name=Skype Repository
baseurl=http://download.skype.com/linux/repos/fedora/updates/i586/
enabled=1
gpgkey=http://www.skype.com/products/skype/linux/rpm-public-key.asc
gpgcheck=0

Now you can easily install/update skype by typing:

su -c 'yum install skype'
su -c 'yum update skype'

===================================

Also tried "usermod -a -G pulse user"  where "user" is the name of the 
user who needs to use skype.

Still no luck.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++





Winner: Jack and Pulse Audio. Pulse still a little unstable but mostly 
working nicely with jack.

Looser. Skype. If I want to use Skype I have to turn off  jack. However 
if I get a usb phone then my problem is solved as I could set it as the 
Skype device and use my onboard device for jack+pulse audio.



Conclusion.

Pulse Audio and Jack will work together if running pulseaudio v 0.9.16 
or greater.


Just remember to

1: pulseaudio -k
2: start jack
3: puseaudio -D -nF ~/jackd.pa

Or add the above commands to the qjackctl config panel.




Patrick Shirkey
Boost Hardware Ltd