Revision as of 02:53, 21 May 2019

Overview

This article describes how to run applications which depend on pulseaudio on systems which only have alsa installed. This is done using apulse which is pulse emulator for alsa.

Install apulse

Install apulse from the AUR using a your preferred package manager or the command:

pamac build apulse

It is built from source so it may take some time to install. Once it is done, create a basic config file using the command:

cp /usr/share/apulse/asoundrc.sample ~/.asoundrc

Using apulse

Using apulse is a simple typing apulse <program> in a terminal. For example:

apulse /usr/lib/firefox/firefox

If all is working, you should now have sound in Firefox without needing pulseaudio

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-=Who's this page for=
+=Overview=
-This page is for those of us that for whatever reason prefer not to have PulseAudio on our systems - or - have to remove PA & use the underlying kernel's native ALSA sound to be able to get working sound on our systems.
+This article describes how to run applications which depend on pulseaudio on systems which only have alsa installed.  This is done using '''apulse''' which is pulse emulator for alsa.
-<br clear="all"/>
-==Some applications are being created to use PulseAudio only==
-Due to this PA only situation (which I expect to only get worse), it can be a real pain when we want to use such an application on our ALSA only systems.
-Many of us may have found this out since Firefox version 52.+. has gone PulseAudio only with apparently no chance of that changing in the future.
+=Install apulse=
-<br clear="all"/>
-==Fortunately there is a way around this problem that is pleasingly simple==
-Install '''apulse''' from the AUR. Apulse has only 2 dependencies - '''alsa-lib''' & '''glib2''' , & is also only 141KB in size.
+Install '''apulse''' from the [[Arch_User_Repository|AUR]] using a your preferred package manager or the command:
+ pamac build apulse
-When installed via the terminal you will see the following:
+It is built from source so it may take some time to install.  Once it is done, create a basic config file using the command:
+ cp /usr/share/apulse/asoundrc.sample ~/.asoundrc
- For using PulseAudio emulation (ex. in skype):
+=Using apulse=
-. create a proper .asoundrc
-   $ cp /usr/share/apulse/asoundrc.sample ~/.asoundrc
-. run apulse <program-name> [parameters]
-   $ apulse skype
-So once you have used the command in no '''1.''' above ''(you don't have to edit anything, just do the copy)'' you can test apulse by entering a command that will call your PulseAudio only application, & test its sound as seen in '''2.''' above using skype as an example.
-I did the following, as I have manually installed Firefox(ESR) on my system. So, due to my running Openbox, I entered the following in OBMenu, to add a call for Firefox to the Openbox menu that would call Firefox & use apulse to emulate PulseAudio sound & therefore give me sound in Firefox:
+Using apulse is a simple typing '''apulse <program>''' in a terminal.  For example:
+ apulse /usr/lib/firefox/firefox
- apulse /opt/firefox/firefox-bin
+If all is working, you should now have sound in Firefox without needing pulseaudio
-Then I loaded the Steam web page & had it play one of the game videos. When I did this I had sound, & I was/am VERY happy about that, as I am one of those who would personally rather not have PulseAudio installed on my machines.
-Enjoy!
+=See also=
-<br clear="all"/>
+* [https://github.com/i-rinat/apulse The official apulse site]
-=Support=
+* [https://forum.manjaro.org/t/how-to-run-pulseaudio-only-apps-on-an-alsa-only-system/34235 Forum Page]
-Following is a link to this page's forum counterpart where you
-can post any related feedback: [https://forum.manjaro.org/t/how-to-run-pulseaudio-only-apps-on-an-alsa-only-system/34235]
-<br clear="all"/>
 [[Category:Contents Page]]