How to reset pulseaudio to default install state [Solved]

[gstalnaker]

A simple question (no need to ask why I need to do this - a long, multiday story I wrote about in the MXLinux General Help forum section not knowing this KDE specific section existed; I'd delete that forum post but cannot see how to):

I have a broken, partly configurable PulseAudio. Some PulseAudio configuration options are grayed out, PulseAudio Equalizer no longer effective, and Sound no longer appears in the KDE System Settings. I have sound at present (listening as I type), but it's not where it was last Tuesday.

How can I get PulseAudio back to its default (after install) state?

I have:

- Uninstalled/Reinstalled PulseAudio- ineffective
- Purged completely/Reinstalled PulseAudio- ineffective
- Installed PipeWire/Purged PipeWire - ineffective (though this did the most to get me a working PulseAudio).

Code: Select all

[CODE]System:    Kernel: 6.1.0-10-amd64 [6.1.38-2] x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0 
           parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.1.0-10-amd64 root=UUID=<filter> ro nomodeset 
           splash 
           Desktop: KDE Plasma 5.27.5 wm: kwin_x11 vt: 7 dm: SDDM 
           Distro: MX-23.1_KDE_x64 Libretto July 31  2023 base: Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm) 
Machine:   Type: Desktop System: LENOVO product: 90NA007DUS v: IdeaCentre 5 14IMB05 
           serial: <filter> Chassis: type: 3 serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: LENOVO model: 370A v: SDK0J40697 WIN 3305326136605 serial: <filter> UEFI: LENOVO 
           v: O4HKT2AA date: 10/29/2020 
Battery:   Device-1: hidpp_battery_0 model: Logitech M510 serial: <filter> 
           charge: 55% (should be ignored) rechargeable: yes status: Discharging 
CPU:       Info: 8-Core model: Intel Core i7-10700 bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Comet Lake 
           family: 6 model-id: A5 (165) stepping: 5 microcode: F8 cache: L2: 16 MiB 
           flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 92796 
           Speed: 4600 MHz min/max: 800/4800 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 4600 2: 4600 3: 4601 
           4: 4600 5: 4600 6: 4600 7: 2900 8: 4609 9: 4606 10: 4601 11: 4600 12: 4600 13: 4599 
           14: 4600 15: 4600 16: 4600 
           Vulnerabilities: Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX disabled 
           Type: l1tf status: Not affected 
           Type: mds status: Not affected 
           Type: meltdown status: Not affected 
           Type: mmio_stale_data mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable 
           Type: retbleed mitigation: Enhanced IBRS 
           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: Enhanced IBRS, IBPB: conditional, RSB filling, PBRSB-eIBRS: SW sequence 
           Type: srbds mitigation: Microcode 
           Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected 
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel CometLake-S GT2 [UHD Graphics 630] vendor: Lenovo driver: N/A 
           alternate: i915 bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:9bc5 class-ID: 0380 
           Device-2: NVIDIA GP108 [GeForce GT 1030] vendor: PNY driver: nvidia v: 525.125.06 
           bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:1d01 class-ID: 0300 
           Device-3: Logitech C922 Pro Stream Webcam type: USB driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo 
           bus-ID: 1-8:11 chip-ID: 046d:085c class-ID: 0102 serial: <filter> 
           Device-4: Realtek RTL2838 DVB-T type: USB driver: N/A bus-ID: 1-9:9 chip-ID: 0bda:2838 
           class-ID: 0000 serial: <filter> 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.21.1.7 compositor: kwin_x11 driver: loaded: nvidia 
           display-ID: :0 screens: 1 
           Screen-1: 0 s-res: 2560x1440 s-dpi: 122 s-size: 533x302mm (21.0x11.9") 
           s-diag: 613mm (24.1") 
           Monitor-1: HDMI-0 res: 2560x1440 hz: 60 dpi: 123 size: 527x296mm (20.7x11.7") 
           diag: 604mm (23.8") 
           OpenGL: renderer: NVIDIA GeForce GT 1030/PCIe/SSE2 v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 525.125.06 
           direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel Comet Lake PCH-V cAVS vendor: Lenovo driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel 
           alternate: snd_sof_pci_intel_cnl bus-ID: 00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:a3f0 class-ID: 0403 
           Device-2: NVIDIA GP108 High Definition Audio vendor: PNY driver: snd_hda_intel 
           v: kernel bus-ID: 01:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:0fb8 class-ID: 0403 
           Device-3: Logitech C922 Pro Stream Webcam type: USB driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo 
           bus-ID: 1-8:11 chip-ID: 046d:085c class-ID: 0102 serial: <filter> 
           Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k6.1.0-10-amd64 running: yes 
           Sound Server-2: JACK v: 1.9.21 running: no 
           Sound Server-3: PulseAudio v: 16.1 running: yes 
Network:   Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet vendor: Lenovo 
           driver: r8169 v: kernel port: 4000 bus-ID: 03:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200 
           IF: eth0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
           Device-2: Realtek RTL8822CE 802.11ac PCIe Wireless Network Adapter vendor: Lenovo 
           driver: rtw_8822ce v: N/A modules: rtw88_8822ce,wl port: 3000 bus-ID: 04:00.0 
           chip-ID: 10ec:c822 class-ID: 0280 
           IF: wlan0 state: down mac: <filter> 
Bluetooth: Device-1: Realtek Bluetooth Radio type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8 bus-ID: 1-2:3 
           chip-ID: 0bda:c123 class-ID: e001 serial: <filter> 
           Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 1 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 3.0 lmp-v: 5.1 
           sub-v: d2e3 hci-v: 5.1 rev: cc6 
           Info: acl-mtu: 1021:6 sco-mtu: 255:12 link-policy: rswitch hold sniff park 
           link-mode: peripheral accept service-classes: object transfer 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 31.39 TiB used: 12.04 TiB (38.4%) 
           SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required. 
           ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Micron model: MTFDHBA512QFD size: 476.94 GiB 
           block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 type: SSD 
           serial: <filter> rev: 0013P6LN temp: 46.9 C scheme: GPT 
           ID-2: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 850 EVO 500GB size: 465.76 GiB 
           block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: SSD serial: <filter> 
           rev: 2B6Q scheme: GPT 
           ID-3: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 type: USB vendor: Seagate model: Expansion HDD 
           size: 12.73 TiB block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B type: N/A serial: <filter> 
           rev: 1801 scheme: GPT 
           ID-4: /dev/sdc maj-min: 8:32 type: USB vendor: Seagate model: Backup+ Hub BK 
           size: 7.28 TiB block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B type: N/A serial: <filter> 
           rev: D785 scheme: GPT 
           ID-5: /dev/sdd maj-min: 8:48 type: USB vendor: Toshiba model: MQ01UBD100 
           size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B type: HDD rpm: 5400 
           serial: <filter> scheme: MBR 
           ID-6: /dev/sde maj-min: 8:64 type: USB vendor: Western Digital model: WD15 EARX-00PASB0 
           size: 1.36 TiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B type: N/A serial: <filter> 
           rev: 0520 scheme: GPT 
           ID-7: /dev/sdf maj-min: 8:80 type: USB vendor: Western Digital model: WD10 EZEX-08M2NA0 
           size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B type: N/A serial: <filter> 
           rev: 0520 scheme: GPT 
           ID-8: /dev/sdg maj-min: 8:96 type: USB vendor: Seagate model: ST310005 24AS 
           size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B type: N/A serial: <filter> 
           rev: 0520 scheme: MBR 
           ID-9: /dev/sdh maj-min: 8:112 type: USB vendor: Western Digital model: WD My Book 1140 
           size: 1.82 TiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B type: N/A serial: <filter> 
           rev: 1019 scheme: MBR 
           ID-10: /dev/sdi maj-min: 8:128 type: USB vendor: Western Digital model: WD10EADS-11M2B2 
           size: 930.86 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B type: N/A serial: <filter> 
           rev: 1012 scheme: GPT 
           ID-11: /dev/sdj maj-min: 8:144 type: USB vendor: Western Digital 
           model: WD40NDZW-11BHVS1 size: 3.64 TiB block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B 
           type: HDD rpm: 4800 serial: <filter> rev: 2007 scheme: GPT 
Partition: ID-1: / raw-size: 465.76 GiB size: 457.38 GiB (98.20%) used: 169.89 GiB (37.1%) 
           fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1 
           ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 260 MiB size: 256 MiB (98.46%) used: 41.1 MiB (16.1%) 
           fs: vfat dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1 
Swap:      Kernel: swappiness: 15 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default) 
           ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 4 GiB used: 962.8 MiB (23.5%) priority: -2 
           file: /swap/swap 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 66.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: nvidia temp: 43 C 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Repos:     Packages: 4756 note: see --pkg apt: 4732 lib: 2309 flatpak: 24 
           No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list 
           1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ bookworm-updates main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list 
           1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ bookworm main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
           2: deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security/ bookworm-security main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
           3: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ bookworm-backports non-free-firmware non-free contrib main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/dropbox.list 
           1: deb [arch=i386,amd64 signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/dropbox.asc] http://linux.dropbox.com/debian/ bookworm main
           No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/gezakovacs-ubuntu-ppa-lunar.list 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list 
           1: deb [arch=amd64] https://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/insync.list 
           1: deb http://apt.insync.io/debian/ bullseye contrib non-free
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/microsoft.list 
           1: deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/microsoft.gpg] https://packages.microsoft.com/repos/microsoft-debian-bullseye-prod/ bullseye main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list 
           1: deb http://mirrors.rit.edu/mxlinux/mx-packages/mx/repo/ bookworm main non-free
           2: deb http://mirrors.rit.edu/mxlinux/mx-packages/mx/repo/ bookworm ahs
           No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/rock-core-ubuntu-qt4-lunar.list 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/sublime-text.list 
           1: deb https://download.sublimetext.com/ apt/stable/
           No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/thorium.list 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vscode.list 
           1: deb [arch=amd64,arm64,armhf signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/packages.microsoft.gpg] https://packages.microsoft.com/repos/code/ stable main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/winehq-bookworm.sources 
           1: deb [arch=amd64 i386] https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/debian bookworm main
Info:      Processes: 479 Uptime: 1d 23h 38m wakeups: 62 Memory: 15.41 GiB used: 10.23 GiB (66.4%) 
           Init: SysVinit v: 3.06 runlevel: 5 default: 5 tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 12.2.0 
           alt: 12 Client: shell wrapper v: 5.2.15-release inxi: 3.3.06 
Boot Mode: UEFI

[/code]

[dolphin_oracle]

by default, mx 23 ships with pipewire. starting that up under sysvinit requires some additional config, which is set by the pipewire-setup-mx package. Installing that should bring in all depends necessary for the applications to start.

**you might need to manually remove pulseaudio after pipewire install. I don't remember if that happens automatically or not, but they do conflict with each other if both try to run ***

[gstalnaker]

That's interesting. I can confirm that up until I installed it as part of my trouble-shooting (to get working sound again) PipeWire was not installed on this MX-23 system. I can confirm as well that installing PipeWire does remove PulseAudio (it installs a shim so that apps that need PA have a path to PW) and a subsequent removal of PipeWire restores PulseAudio (I did my step 3 above hoping for exactly this behavior, except the restored PulseAudio, while better than the PA before the PW install, was not complete, apparently (as my comments above detail). I'll install it again and run explicitly that pipewire-setup-mx package and see what happens. Thanks!

[dolphin_oracle]

installing pulseeffects will remove pipewire and install pulseaudio.

***but it won't remove everything. you would also need to remove pipewire-pulse and wireplumber manually***.

[gstalnaker]

Hmm. Installed pipewire and associated packages. Runs pipewire and pipewire-pulse. But no change in KDE System Settings, still no Sound entry as there was last Tuesday. Following your suggestion, I installed pulseeffects, and paprefs, which as you say removed pipewire (I manually removed the remaining pipewire packages).

Now the pulse systray app Configure Local Sound Server is no longer grayed out, but Manager and Equalizer still are. Checking to confirm and see that the PS Equalizer is installed. I also see, however, that there is a 'mx-system-sounds' package that is not installed. I do not see any package that seems to explicitly connect KDE settings and sound, so how a Sound "module" shows up in KDE System Settings is not easily determined. Whatever 'mx-system-sounds' is supposed to do, I cannot see anything added to the MX menu or, still, any Sound item in the KDE System Settings when I install it. I think (?) that the KDE System Settings Sound 'module' was, if I remember rightly, contained the same thing I see when I run Volume Control from the pasystray application.

The good news, is that with your suggested pulseeffects install, I've got everything back except the KDE System Settings Sound 'module'!! Equalizer runs and is "seen" by PA and loaded as an output sink (it was not yesterday). Unless you have other ideas, I'm going to call this a win and mark it SOLVED.

[gstalnaker]

Found it! Like a doofus I didn't think to go to KDE's forum. Just did that and a user posted about loosing his System Settings. Turns out that there's a 'plasma-pa' package that is KDE's System Settings module! It's name and description (Plasma 5 Volume controller) don't really obviously indicate that this is the ENTIRE KDE Audio module, for sinks, inputs, outputs, etc.

So, finally, I'm back to where I was last Tuesday. Whew! Thanks again for your help. You got me to 98%.

[dolphin_oracle]

ah nice! I forgot about that one