Problem with pipewire, possibly dbus, after rm PulseAudio

[vrghost]

Got a message from portage to remove pulseaudio as we are all moving to pipewire, and now I have no sound, I THINK is may be related to dbus, but at a bit of a loss.

The sound was working perfectly, and I have not rebuilt the kernel since, so all the right modules SHOULD be loaded (I may of course have missed something)
Following the removal of pulseaudio I don't seem to have any sound at all.

If I list my soundcards, I get something that looks correct

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aplay -L
null
    Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)
upmix
    Plugin for channel upmix (4,6,8)
vdownmix
    Plugin for channel downmix (stereo) with a simple spacialization
hdmi:CARD=NVidia,DEV=0
    HDA NVidia, LS49AG95
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=NVidia,DEV=1
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 1
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=NVidia,DEV=2
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 2
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=NVidia,DEV=3
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 3
    HDMI Audio Output
usbstream:CARD=NVidia
    HDA NVidia
    USB Stream Output
default:CARD=Generic
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC1220 Analog
    Default Audio Device
sysdefault:CARD=Generic
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC1220 Analog
    Default Audio Device
front:CARD=Generic,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC1220 Analog
    Front output / input
surround21:CARD=Generic,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC1220 Analog
    2.1 Surround output to Front and Subwoofer speakers
surround40:CARD=Generic,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC1220 Analog
    4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=Generic,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC1220 Analog
    4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=Generic,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC1220 Analog
    5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=Generic,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC1220 Analog
    5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71:CARD=Generic,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC1220 Analog
    7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
usbstream:CARD=Generic
    HD-Audio Generic
    USB Stream Output

And I can see the modules all loaded:

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lsmod | grep snd
snd_hda_codec_realtek   192512  1
snd_hda_codec_generic   102400  1 snd_hda_codec_realtek
snd_hda_scodec_component    20480  1 snd_hda_codec_realtek
snd_hda_codec_hdmi     81920  1
snd_hda_intel          53248  2
snd_intel_dspcfg       20480  1 snd_hda_intel
snd_hda_codec         184320  4 snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec_realtek
snd_hwdep              16384  1 snd_hda_codec
snd_hda_core          122880  5 snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_codec_realtek
snd_pcm               155648  4 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_core
snd_timer              49152  1 snd_pcm
snd                   131072  12 snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hwdep,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_timer,snd_pcm
soundcore              16384  1 snd

Even Alsa Mixer looks good, showing levels etc

However, I do not seem to be able to play any sound,

I seemed to have some issues with dbus, so unmerged and reemerge that, then figured out that I needed pipewire running, and as I use rc, I had to use
nohup gentoo-pipewire-launcher restart &

After that I got pw-cli to work

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pw-cli ls Node
	id 30, type PipeWire:Interface:Node/3
 		object.serial = "30"
 		factory.id = "11"
 		priority.driver = "200000"
 		node.name = "Dummy-Driver"
	id 31, type PipeWire:Interface:Node/3
 		object.serial = "31"
 		factory.id = "11"
 		priority.driver = "190000"
 		node.name = "Freewheel-Driver"
	id 45, type PipeWire:Interface:Node/3
 		object.serial = "45"
 		factory.id = "14"
 		client.id = "42"
 		node.description = "BLE MIDI 1"
 		node.name = "bluez_midi.server"
 		media.class = "Midi/Bridge"
	id 48, type PipeWire:Interface:Node/3
 		object.serial = "48"
 		object.path = "alsa:acp:NVidia:4:playback"
 		factory.id = "19"
 		client.id = "42"
 		device.id = "43"
 		priority.session = "696"
 		priority.driver = "696"
 		node.description = "AD106M High Definition Audio Controller Digital Stereo (HDMI)"
 		node.name = "alsa_output.pci-0000_01_00.1.hdmi-stereo"
 		node.nick = "LS49AG95"
 		media.class = "Audio/Sink"
	id 49, type PipeWire:Interface:Node/3
 		object.serial = "49"
 		object.path = "alsa:acp:Generic:4:playback"
 		factory.id = "19"
 		client.id = "42"
 		device.id = "44"
 		priority.session = "1009"
 		priority.driver = "1009"
 		node.description = "Family 17h/19h/1ah HD Audio Controller Analog Stereo"
 		node.name = "alsa_output.pci-0000_0c_00.6.analog-stereo"
 		node.nick = "ALC1220 Analog"
 		media.class = "Audio/Sink"
	id 50, type PipeWire:Interface:Node/3
 		object.serial = "50"
 		object.path = "alsa:acp:Generic:0:capture"
 		factory.id = "19"
 		client.id = "42"
 		device.id = "44"
 		priority.session = "2009"
 		priority.driver = "2009"
 		node.description = "Family 17h/19h/1ah HD Audio Controller Analog Stereo"
 		node.name = "alsa_input.pci-0000_0c_00.6.analog-stereo"
 		node.nick = "ALC1220 Analog"
 		media.class = "Audio/Source"

As well as pw-mon


but if I try to use aplay to play a sample, I get an "unable to open slave"

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aplay sample-15s.mp3
ALSA lib /var/tmp/portage/media-libs/alsa-lib-1.2.14/work/alsa-lib-1.2.14/src/pcm/pcm_dmix.c:1000:(snd_pcm_dmix_open) unable to open slave
aplay: main:850: audio open error: No such file or directory

[/code]


I get a similar issue with speaker-test

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speaker-test

speaker-test 1.2.14

Playback device is default
Stream parameters are 48000Hz, S16_LE, 1 channels
Using 16 octaves of pink noise
ALSA lib /var/tmp/portage/media-libs/alsa-lib-1.2.14/work/alsa-lib-1.2.14/src/pcm/pcm_dmix.c:1000:(snd_pcm_dmix_open) unable to open slave
Playback open error: -2,No such file or directory

Not really certain what I can check or were it may be falling down.


Any help/advice greatly appreciated.

[szatox]

Your default devices point to the real hardware, which is already locked by pipewire, this is why you're getting conflicts. It should point to pipewire instead.
Look for any residual ALSA config files.
.asoundrc and so on. Delete them from your home and from /etc.
The default configuration pipewire package installs should be enough to make things work for common use cases; you can tweak some things afterwards if you have some special needs. (you do need both, pipewire and wireplumber though - just in case)

[vrghost]

Hello Szatox

Thank you so very much for the quick answer, and really grateful for the help.

Now I understand the problem, the thing is,. I don't have any asoundrc file anywhere on my system, also checked the documentation for alsa
https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/ALSA#.7E.2F.asoundrc
The only files mentioned are
/etc/asound.conf - Global (system wide) configuration file.
~/.asoundrc - Local (per user) configuration file.

And I have neither, I do however have the global use flag alsa set, not certain if that would change it.

Also, how can you tell that I have the default hardware pointing to the real hardware (not doubting you, just wondering what line it is so I know were to look or how it should look)

Once again, thank you so very much

[vrghost]

Got there in the end

I added package.use
media-video/pipewire pipewire-alsa

And that seem to do the trick, no clue why it was rolled out with -pipewire-alsa, but now my use flags for pipewire are:
media-video/pipewire-1.4.9-r1::gentoo was built with the following:
USE="X bluetooth dbus elogind gstreamer pipewire-alsa readline sound-server ssl -doc -echo-cancel -extra -ffmpeg -fftw -flatpak -gsettings -ieee1394 -jack-client -jack-sdk -liblc3 -loudness -lv2 -man -modemmanager -roc (-selinux) (-system-service) -systemd -test -v4l -zeroconf" ABI_X86="32 (64) (-x32)"

And now it works nicely

[szatox]

First

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aplay sample-15s.mp3
ALSA lib /var/tmp/portage/media-libs/alsa-lib-1.2.14/work/alsa-lib-1.2.14/src/pcm/pcm_dmix.c:1000:(snd_pcm_dmix_open) unable to open slave 

Aplay and speaker-test both use ALSA protocol, so this is what I want to check first. Unable to open slave is a typical problem with multiple access. In your case apparently the slave is missing completely, which is weird, but you just removed one sound server to install another, there is a good chance you had some configs with bridges connecting ALSA and pulseaudio, so that's the most obvoius thing to look for.

Next, there was this bit in your aplay list

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default:CARD=Generic
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC1220 Analog
    Default Audio Device
sysdefault:CARD=Generic
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC1220 Analog
    Default Audio Device 

and my aplay shows this:

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jack
    JACK Audio Connection Kit
pipewire
    PipeWire Sound Server
sysdefault:CARD=PCH
    HDA Intel PCH, ALC257 Analog
    Default Audio Device

So, apparently I the sysdefault part is irrelevant, but my output is missing the device named "default" and has pipewire and jack (which also means pipewire in my case) while your system does have default device pointing to HD-Audio Generic, ALC1220 Analog. I don't know this audio device, but the name looks very much like any other hardware audio device, and _definitely_ not like a software filter which I expect to find on a system with a sound server.
That's another thing that points to misconfigured ALSA. Your ALSA-only applications are not supposed to talk to hardware directly. It would have been wrong in pure ALSA days and it is wrong now with sound servers. Admittedly, looking at it I've been thinking about multiple access, which was probably not the case, as the slave shouldn't have been reported "missing". Doesn't change the fact it looked wrong though.

Got there in the end

I added package.use
media-video/pipewire pipewire-alsa

Good to hear you got it working. I suppose making pipewire act as a virtual audio device is one way to handle it. In my earlier tests it turned out this flag is not necessary, and it only added one more "master" volume knob.
I wonder if it's because I have USE=jack-sdk set, which uses ALSA plugin akin to dmix. Something to remember for the next time I go breaking things.
Actually, could you please post your new aplay -L output for comparison? I'd expect USE="pipewire-alsa" to install a new piece of alsa config, I'm curious what it actually changed.

[vrghost]

Thank you so very much for the explanation and additional help.

As requested, here is my aplay -L output

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aplay -L
null
    Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)
default
    Default ALSA Output (currently PipeWire Media Server)
pipewire
    PipeWire Sound Server
upmix
    Plugin for channel upmix (4,6,8)
vdownmix
    Plugin for channel downmix (stereo) with a simple spacialization
hdmi:CARD=NVidia,DEV=0
    HDA NVidia, LS49AG95
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=NVidia,DEV=1
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 1
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=NVidia,DEV=2
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 2
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=NVidia,DEV=3
    HDA NVidia, HDMI 3
    HDMI Audio Output
usbstream:CARD=NVidia
    HDA NVidia
    USB Stream Output
sysdefault:CARD=Generic
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC1220 Analog
    Default Audio Device
front:CARD=Generic,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC1220 Analog
    Front output / input
surround21:CARD=Generic,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC1220 Analog
    2.1 Surround output to Front and Subwoofer speakers
surround40:CARD=Generic,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC1220 Analog
    4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=Generic,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC1220 Analog
    4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=Generic,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC1220 Analog
    5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=Generic,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC1220 Analog
    5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71:CARD=Generic,DEV=0
    HD-Audio Generic, ALC1220 Analog
    7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
usbstream:CARD=Generic
    HD-Audio Generic
    USB Stream Output

And I now seem to have two new entries in the top

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default
    Default ALSA Output (currently PipeWire Media Server)
pipewire
    PipeWire Sound Server

Which I think turned up after I reemerged pipewire with the pipewire-alsa use flag, I may have done something else in between but don't think so (you know how these things goes, a lot of trial and error, most of it does nothing visible


Once again, thank you so very much

[szatox]

Thanks for confirmation. Yes, those new default and pipewire entries look good.
And yes, I know how trial and error goes. If you want to make sure what happened, you can check for a new symlink in /etc/alsa/conf.d/ enabling your new configuration. Also, pressing F6 in alsamixer should show you pipewire device _in_addition_ to your actual audio hardware (I'd expect to find it there as long as pipewire server is running)

[Navar]

I don't recall where it's spelled out, but suggest please prefix [solved] to your title if your situation was resolved, for others to reference.