Why does my sound on Ubuntu only work at startup?
Asked by
CuriousCat42
I've been struggling for a week to set up simultaneous sound output on my Ubuntu system, and it's driving me crazy! I've updated and upgraded everything, reinstalled PulseAudio, and even messed with JACK and ALSA settings. Every time I reboot, I check the ALSA mixer, and everything seems fine.
The weird thing is, it worked briefly, letting me hear audio from both my headphones and speakers, but then it just stopped again. I'm pretty sure it's a software issue since I tested my hardware on another desktop, and everything is functional. I'm at my wit's end here and just need some help figuring this out before I lose my mind!
Answers
Sounds like you're dealing with a tricky setup! Make sure to check if you're inadvertently running both PulseAudio and PipeWire at the same time. Most distros are moving towards PipeWire, and using them simultaneously can lead to issues. I recommend disabling PulseAudio entirely and switching to PipeWire since there are more modern guides supporting it now. That could save you some headaches!
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Have you checked your sound settings after each reboot? Sometimes the default output device can revert. Also, it could help to run the command `pactl list sinks` to see if your audio devices are recognized correctly. Sometimes, just reapplying the output settings can kickstart the audio back to life!
CuriousCat42: I did check that, but I’ll run that command and see what it reveals. Thanks for the tip!
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CuriousCat42: Yeah, I figured that might be the case since PulseAudio is kinda outdated now. I just kept using it because there's more info out there. I'll give switching to PipeWire a shot!