PulseAudio - Revision history

Yol: switch from deprecated KODI_AE_SINK to --audio-backend

2025-01-04T19:47:45Z

switch from deprecated KODI_AE_SINK to --audio-backend

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:47, 4 January 2025
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	Yes, you can - start Kodi from terminal with:		Yes, you can - start Kodi from terminal with:
	<pre>pasuspender -- ~~env KODI_AE_SINK~~=~~ALSA kodi~~</pre>		<pre>pasuspender -- kodi --audio-backend=alsa</pre>

	'''pasuspender''' is a tool that can be used to tell a local PulseAudio sound server to temporarily suspend access to the audio devices, to allow other applications access them directly. pasuspender will suspend access to the audio devices, fork a child process, and when the child process terminates, resume access again.		'''pasuspender''' is a tool that can be used to tell a local PulseAudio sound server to temporarily suspend access to the audio devices, to allow other applications access them directly. pasuspender will suspend access to the audio devices, fork a child process, and when the child process terminates, resume access again.

Fritsch: Update AE_SINK to KODI_AE_SINK, we have v20 out of the door.

2023-02-11T19:25:53Z

Update AE_SINK to KODI_AE_SINK, we have v20 out of the door.

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:25, 11 February 2023
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	Yes, you can - start Kodi from terminal with:		Yes, you can - start Kodi from terminal with:
	<pre>pasuspender -- env ~~AE_SINK~~=ALSA kodi</pre> ~~(starting with v18 this option was renamed to '''KODI_AE_SINK=ALSA''')~~		<pre>pasuspender -- env KODI_AE_SINK=ALSA kodi</pre>

	'''pasuspender''' is a tool that can be used to tell a local PulseAudio sound server to temporarily suspend access to the audio devices, to allow other applications access them directly. pasuspender will suspend access to the audio devices, fork a child process, and when the child process terminates, resume access again.		'''pasuspender''' is a tool that can be used to tell a local PulseAudio sound server to temporarily suspend access to the audio devices, to allow other applications access them directly. pasuspender will suspend access to the audio devices, fork a child process, and when the child process terminates, resume access again.

Karellen at 06:01, 23 July 2020

2020-07-23T06:01:11Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:01, 23 July 2020
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	{{mininav\|[[Audio~~]]\|[[Linux audio~~]]}}		{{mininav\|[[Audio]]}}
	<section begin="intro" />This page goes into detail on using PulseAudio on Linux systems. PulseAudio is used when Kodi is installed in a desktop-environment rather than a dedicated/direct boot setup. PulseAudio allows normal video & audio playback in XBMC while at the same time allowing the user to get audio in their browser or other applications. It also allows Kodi playback of video or audio to be paused in order to run a game, Skype or similar. Kodi is set to only use PulseAudio if you have installed it and running.<section end="intro" />		<section begin="intro" />This page goes into detail on using PulseAudio on Linux systems. PulseAudio is used when Kodi is installed in a desktop-environment rather than a dedicated/direct boot setup. PulseAudio allows normal video & audio playback in XBMC while at the same time allowing the user to get audio in their browser or other applications. It also allows Kodi playback of video or audio to be paused in order to run a game, Skype or similar. Kodi is set to only use PulseAudio if you have installed it and running.<section end="intro" />

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	Issue: Changing kodi's volume will change overall system volume, especially on song change this is an irritating behaviour. The effect you hear is not done by kodi, but by a systemwide pulseaudio (mis)configuration. Some distributions sadly still ship pulseaudio with '''flat-volumes = yes''' as the default, which produces this behaviour. In fact it will cause the hardware volume (or master volume) to go up and down for every pulseaudio stream that changes its own volume. As this effect is unexpected behaviour for users, distributions started to ship pulseaudio with '''flat-volumes = no''' by default (as time of writing this is Ubuntu, Arch-Linux and others). In order to change that setting, depending on your distribution edit ''/etc/pulse/daemon.conf'' and set '''flat-volumes = no'''. After a PA server restart, the volume handling is more intuitive. If you are at it, please inform your distribution about those issues, so that they can ship a more user-friendly default with next release. At the time of writing, affected distributions: Debian.		Issue: Changing kodi's volume will change overall system volume, especially on song change this is an irritating behaviour. The effect you hear is not done by kodi, but by a systemwide pulseaudio (mis)configuration. Some distributions sadly still ship pulseaudio with '''flat-volumes = yes''' as the default, which produces this behaviour. In fact it will cause the hardware volume (or master volume) to go up and down for every pulseaudio stream that changes its own volume. As this effect is unexpected behaviour for users, distributions started to ship pulseaudio with '''flat-volumes = no''' by default (as time of writing this is Ubuntu, Arch-Linux and others). In order to change that setting, depending on your distribution edit ''/etc/pulse/daemon.conf'' and set '''flat-volumes = no'''. After a PA server restart, the volume handling is more intuitive. If you are at it, please inform your distribution about those issues, so that they can ship a more user-friendly default with next release. At the time of writing, affected distributions: Debian.

	~~== HOW-TO ==~~

	~~====[[PulseAudio/HOW-TO: Disable PulseAudio and use ALSA (without removing PulseAudio) for Ubuntu\|HOW-TO: Disable PulseAudio and use ALSA (without removing PulseAudio) for Ubuntu]]====~~

	~~== References ==~~
	~~{{forum link2\|[[forum:183436\|Linux - Pulseaudio Sink]] Discussion and further information.}}<br />~~

	~~[[Category:How-to]]~~
	[[Category:Audio]]		[[Category:Audio]]

Fritsch: /* Audiophile Pulse User */

2019-10-01T13:00:14Z

Audiophile Pulse User

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:00, 1 October 2019
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	default-sample-rate = 44100		default-sample-rate = 44100
	alternate-sample-rate = 48000		alternate-sample-rate = 48000
	~~'''~~avoid-resampling = true~~''' ; new with pulseaudio 11~~		;new with pulseaudio 11
			avoid-resampling = true
	resample-method = speex-float-5		resample-method = speex-float-5
	</pre>		</pre>

Fritsch: /* Audiophile Pulse User */

2019-10-01T12:59:50Z

Audiophile Pulse User

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:59, 1 October 2019
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	== Audiophile Pulse User ==		== Audiophile Pulse User ==
	Pulseaudio resamples everything that does not match the underlaying sink, so if you are an audiophile user, you perhaps want to hear your 96 / 192 khz and 24 bit recordings as exact as possible. Therefore you need to tell pulseaudio to use a better resampler in general and second ~~change the default sample rate to 96 or 192 khz~~. ~~Pulseaudio does not resample audio~~, ~~that is already in the correct~~ samplerate. Furthermore you need to take care, that your sink has a wide enough output format.		Pulseaudio resamples everything that does not match the underlaying sink, so if you are an audiophile user, you perhaps want to hear your 96 / 192 khz and 24 bit recordings as exact as possible. Therefore you need to tell pulseaudio to use a better resampler in general and second avoid resampling. Starting with version 11 of pulseaudio, it can reopen sinks with their native samplerate. Furthermore you need to take care, that your sink has a wide enough output format. To properly resample samperates that are not available with your sound card, e.g. 176000 or other exotic rates, we set pulseaudio to a default of 44100 khz, which is the default for every standard mp3. As alternate sample-rate we suggest 48000. That means that all non available samplerates are resampled with an exact integer division of src_rate / dst_rate.

	To do this configuration systemwide (96 khz in that example), change /etc/pulse/daemon.conf to include (please replace already existing lines and also remove the commenting):		To do this configuration systemwide (96 khz in that example), change /etc/pulse/daemon.conf to include (please replace already existing lines and also remove the commenting):

	<pre>		<pre>
	default-sample-format = ~~s32le~~		default-sample-format = s24le
	default-sample-rate = ~~96000~~		default-sample-rate = 44100
			alternate-sample-rate = 48000
			'''avoid-resampling = true''' ; new with pulseaudio 11
	resample-method = speex-float-5		resample-method = speex-float-5
	</pre>		</pre>

	Some remark: This will actively make '''passthrough non working''', as we need s16le format for adding ac3 / dts / etc. ~~float~~ to the sink.		Some remark: This will actively make '''passthrough non working''', as we need s16le format for adding ac3 / dts / etc. to the sink.

	The last setting will increase the resample quality from pulse and therefore the CPU load quite a lot. Again: Resampling is only done, when the sink output does not match the data you throw onto it. But as most normal mp3s are in 44.1 khz, you need to take great care when upsampling them. The overwriting of the resample-method is for this use case.		The last setting will increase the resample quality from pulse and therefore the CPU load quite a lot. Again: Resampling is only done, when the sink output does not match the data you throw onto it. But as most normal mp3s are in 44.1 khz, you need to take great care when upsampling them. The overwriting of the resample-method is for this use case.

Fritsch: /* FAQ */

2018-06-10T10:50:31Z

FAQ

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:50, 10 June 2018
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	Yes, you can - start Kodi from terminal with:		Yes, you can - start Kodi from terminal with:
	<pre>pasuspender -- env AE_SINK=ALSA kodi</pre> (starting with v18 this option was renamed to '''KODI_AE_SINK=ALSA'''		<pre>pasuspender -- env AE_SINK=ALSA kodi</pre> (starting with v18 this option was renamed to '''KODI_AE_SINK=ALSA''')

	'''pasuspender''' is a tool that can be used to tell a local PulseAudio sound server to temporarily suspend access to the audio devices, to allow other applications access them directly. pasuspender will suspend access to the audio devices, fork a child process, and when the child process terminates, resume access again.		'''pasuspender''' is a tool that can be used to tell a local PulseAudio sound server to temporarily suspend access to the audio devices, to allow other applications access them directly. pasuspender will suspend access to the audio devices, fork a child process, and when the child process terminates, resume access again.

Fritsch: AE_SINK to KODI_AE_SINK for v18

2018-06-10T10:50:15Z

AE_SINK to KODI_AE_SINK for v18

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:50, 10 June 2018
Line 342:		Line 342:

	Yes, you can - start Kodi from terminal with:		Yes, you can - start Kodi from terminal with:
	<pre>pasuspender -- env AE_SINK=ALSA kodi</pre>		<pre>pasuspender -- env AE_SINK=ALSA kodi</pre> (starting with v18 this option was renamed to '''KODI_AE_SINK=ALSA'''

	'''pasuspender''' is a tool that can be used to tell a local PulseAudio sound server to temporarily suspend access to the audio devices, to allow other applications access them directly. pasuspender will suspend access to the audio devices, fork a child process, and when the child process terminates, resume access again.		'''pasuspender''' is a tool that can be used to tell a local PulseAudio sound server to temporarily suspend access to the audio devices, to allow other applications access them directly. pasuspender will suspend access to the audio devices, fork a child process, and when the child process terminates, resume access again.

Fritsch: /* Known issues */

2018-05-21T08:17:54Z

Known issues

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:17, 21 May 2018
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	''load-module module-udev-detect tsched=0''		''load-module module-udev-detect tsched=0''

	Audio devices are disappearing with pulseaudio 8.0 (Ubuntu 16.04) especially while running kodi and while using ''Adjust Refreshrate to match video''. This is an issue with the module-switch-on-port-available module and will be fixed with pulseaudio 9.0, the fix sadly won't probably make it into Ubuntu 16.04. As a workaround please disable that feature by editing /etc/pulse/default.pa and commenting or removing ''load-module module-switch-on-port-available'' and reboot the system.		Audio devices are disappearing with pulseaudio 8.0 (Ubuntu 16.04, even later version are affected) especially while running kodi and while using ''Adjust Refreshrate to match video''. This is an issue with the module-switch-on-port-available module and will be fixed with pulseaudio 9.0, the fix sadly won't probably make it into Ubuntu 16.04. As a workaround please disable that feature by editing /etc/pulse/default.pa and commenting or removing ''load-module module-switch-on-port-available'' and reboot the system.

	''' Kodi v16 '''		''' Kodi v16 '''

DarrenHill: Typo fix

2018-04-25T20:45:35Z

Typo fix

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:45, 25 April 2018
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	! AVR HDMI<br />Decode HD Audio ('''5''')		! AVR HDMI<br />Decode HD Audio ('''5''')
	\|-		\|-
	! colspan="9"\|'''~~PusleAudio~~ Mode'''		! colspan="9"\|'''PulseAudio Mode'''
	\|-		\|-
	\|		\|

Fritsch: Debian

2018-01-04T10:47:08Z

Debian

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:47, 4 January 2018
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	''' Volume issues '''		''' Volume issues '''

	Issue: Changing kodi's volume will change overall system volume, especially on song change this is an irritating behaviour. The effect you hear is not done by kodi, but by a systemwide pulseaudio (mis)configuration. Some distributions sadly still ship pulseaudio with '''flat-volumes = yes''' as the default, which produces this behaviour. In fact it will cause the hardware volume (or master volume) to go up and down for every pulseaudio stream that changes its own volume. As this effect is unexpected behaviour for users, distributions started to ship pulseaudio with '''flat-volumes = no''' by default (as time of writing this is Ubuntu, Arch-Linux and others). In order to change that setting, depending on your distribution edit ''/etc/pulse/daemon.conf'' and set '''flat-volumes = no'''. After a PA server restart, the volume handling is more intuitive. If you are at it, please inform your distribution about those issues, so that they can ship a more user-friendly default with next release.		Issue: Changing kodi's volume will change overall system volume, especially on song change this is an irritating behaviour. The effect you hear is not done by kodi, but by a systemwide pulseaudio (mis)configuration. Some distributions sadly still ship pulseaudio with '''flat-volumes = yes''' as the default, which produces this behaviour. In fact it will cause the hardware volume (or master volume) to go up and down for every pulseaudio stream that changes its own volume. As this effect is unexpected behaviour for users, distributions started to ship pulseaudio with '''flat-volumes = no''' by default (as time of writing this is Ubuntu, Arch-Linux and others). In order to change that setting, depending on your distribution edit ''/etc/pulse/daemon.conf'' and set '''flat-volumes = no'''. After a PA server restart, the volume handling is more intuitive. If you are at it, please inform your distribution about those issues, so that they can ship a more user-friendly default with next release. At the time of writing, affected distributions: Debian.

	== HOW-TO ==		== HOW-TO ==