Sound doesn't play on boot unless I mute and unmute

Issues & Assistance
1 
> garuda-inxi
System:
  Kernel: 6.10.10-zen1-1-zen arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 14.2.1
    clocksource: tsc avail: acpi_pm
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-linux-zen
    root=UUID=9e7c9f79-a9ba-4ffa-8992-fe2bfe82a343 rw rootflags=subvol=@
    quiet loglevel=3 intel_iommu=on vfio-pci.ids=10de:28a1 ibt=off
  Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 6.1.5 tk: Qt v: N/A info: frameworks v: 6.5.0
    wm: kwin_wayland vt: 1 dm: SDDM Distro: Garuda base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: ASUSTeK product: ASUS Vivobook Pro 15 N6506MU_N6506MU
    v: 1.0 serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: ASUSTeK model: N6506MU v: 1.0 serial: <superuser required>
    uuid: <superuser required> UEFI: American Megatrends LLC. v: N6506MU.308
    date: 08/06/2024
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 76.3 Wh (100.0%) condition: 76.3/75.0 Wh (101.8%)
    volts: 17.6 min: 15.9 model: S560647 type: Unknown serial: <filter>
    status: full cycles: 2
CPU:
  Info: model: Intel Core Ultra 9 185H bits: 64 type: MST AMCP
    arch: Meteor Lake level: v3 note: check built: 2023+ process: Intel 4 (7nm)
    family: 6 model-id: 0xAA (170) stepping: 4 microcode: 0x1F
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 16 mt: 6 tpc: 2 st: 10 threads: 22 smt: enabled
    cache: 24 MiB note: check
  Speed (MHz): avg: 1747 high: 4422 min/max: 400/4800:5100:3800:2500
    scaling: driver: intel_pstate governor: powersave cores: 1: 2000 2: 1654
    3: 4062 4: 4422 5: 1789 6: 1532 7: 3254 8: 1324 9: 1948 10: 400 11: 4219
    12: 400 13: 3755 14: 1001 15: 1507 16: 2788 17: 400 18: 400 19: 400
    20: 400 21: 400 22: 400 bogomips: 135168
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
  Vulnerabilities: <filter>
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel Meteor Lake-P [Intel Arc Graphics] vendor: ASUSTeK
    driver: i915 v: kernel alternate: xe arch: Gen-13 process: Intel 4 (7nm+)
    built: 2023+ ports: active: DP-2,eDP-2 empty: DP-1,DP-3,DP-4
    bus-ID: 0000:00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:7d55 class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: NVIDIA AD107M [GeForce RTX 4050 Max-Q / Mobile] vendor: ASUSTeK
    driver: nvidia v: 560.35.03 alternate: nouveau,nvidia_drm non-free: 550.xx+
    status: current (as of 2024-06) arch: Lovelace code: AD1xx
    process: TSMC n4 (5nm) built: 2022+ ports: active: none
    empty: HDMI-A-1,eDP-1 bus-ID: 0000:01:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:28a1
    class-ID: 0300
  Device-3: Shinetech ASUS 5M WebCam driver: hid-sensor-hub,usbhid,uvcvideo
    type: USB rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 3-9:3
    chip-ID: 3277:0058 class-ID: fe01 serial: <filter>
  Display: wayland server: X.org v: 1.21.1.13 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.2
    compositor: kwin_wayland driver: X: loaded: modesetting,nouveau,nvidia
    alternate: fbdev,intel,nv,vesa dri: iris gpu: i915,nvidia
    d-rect: 3840x2160 display-ID: 0
  Monitor-1: DP-2 pos: primary,top-left res: 1920x1080 size: N/A modes: N/A
  Monitor-2: eDP-2 pos: bottom-r res: 1920x1080 size: N/A modes: N/A
  API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: intel iris drv: nvidia platforms: device: 0
    drv: nvidia device: 2 drv: iris device: 3 drv: swrast surfaceless:
    drv: nvidia wayland: drv: iris x11: drv: iris inactive: gbm,device-1
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: intel mesa v: 24.2.2-arch1.1
    glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: Mesa Intel Arc Graphics (MTL)
    device-ID: 8086:7d55 memory: 11.15 GiB unified: yes display-ID: :1.0
  API: Vulkan v: 1.3.295 layers: 4 device: 0 type: integrated-gpu name: Intel
    Arc Graphics (MTL) driver: mesa intel v: 24.2.2-arch1.1
    device-ID: 8086:7d55 surfaces: xcb,xlib,wayland device: 1
    type: discrete-gpu name: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU driver: nvidia
    v: 560.35.03 device-ID: 10de:28a1 surfaces: xcb,xlib,wayland device: 2
    type: cpu name: llvmpipe (LLVM 18.1.8 256 bits) driver: mesa llvmpipe
    v: 24.2.2-arch1.1 (LLVM 18.1.8) device-ID: 10005:0000
    surfaces: xcb,xlib,wayland
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Meteor Lake-P HD Audio vendor: ASUSTeK
    driver: sof-audio-pci-intel-mtl
    alternate: snd_hda_intel,snd_sof_pci_intel_mtl bus-ID: 0000:00:1f.3
    chip-ID: 8086:7e28 class-ID: 0401
  API: ALSA v: k6.10.10-zen1-1-zen status: kernel-api tools: N/A
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.2.3 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse
    status: active 2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin
    4: pw-jack type: plugin tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Meteor Lake PCH CNVi WiFi driver: iwlwifi v: kernel
    bus-ID: 0000:00:14.3 chip-ID: 8086:7e40 class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlo1 state: up mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
    vendor: ASUSTeK driver: r8169 v: kernel port: 3000 bus-ID: 0000:2d:00.0
    chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp45s0 state: down mac: <filter>
  IF-ID-1: vmnet1 state: unknown speed: N/A duplex: N/A mac: <filter>
  IF-ID-2: vmnet8 state: unknown speed: N/A duplex: N/A mac: <filter>
  Info: services: NetworkManager, smbd, systemd-timesyncd, wpa_supplicant
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Intel AX211 Bluetooth driver: btusb v: 0.8 type: USB rev: 2.0
    speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 3-10:4 chip-ID: 8087:0033
    class-ID: e001
  Report: btmgmt ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 5.3
    lmp-v: 12 status: discoverable: no pairing: no class-ID: 6c010c
RAID:
  Hardware-1: Intel Volume Management Device NVMe RAID Controller Intel
    driver: vmd v: 0.6 port: N/A bus-ID: 0000:00:0e.0 chip-ID: 8086:7d0b rev:
    class-ID: 0104
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 953.87 GiB used: 98.82 GiB (10.4%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Western Digital model: WD PC
    SN560 SDDPNQE-1T00-1102 size: 953.87 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B
    logical: 512 B speed: 63.2 Gb/s lanes: 4 tech: SSD serial: <filter>
    fw-rev: 74118000 temp: 58.9 C scheme: GPT
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 500 GiB size: 500 GiB (100.00%) used: 98.81 GiB (19.8%)
    fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 300 MiB size: 299.4 MiB (99.80%)
    used: 12.7 MiB (4.2%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1
  ID-3: /home raw-size: 500 GiB size: 500 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 98.81 GiB (19.8%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
  ID-4: /var/log raw-size: 500 GiB size: 500 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 98.81 GiB (19.8%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
  ID-5: /var/tmp raw-size: 500 GiB size: 500 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 98.81 GiB (19.8%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 133 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default) zswap: no
  ID-1: swap-1 type: zram size: 22.84 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: 100
    comp: zstd avail: lzo,lzo-rle,lz4,lz4hc,842 max-streams: 22 dev: /dev/zram0
Sensors:
  Src: /sys System Temperatures: cpu: 60.0 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A
Info:
  Memory: total: 24 GiB note: est. available: 22.84 GiB
    used: 10.17 GiB (44.5%)
  Processes: 479 Power: uptime: 7m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: s2idle
    avail: deep wakeups: 0 hibernate: platform avail: shutdown, reboot,
    suspend, test_resume image: 9.09 GiB services: org_kde_powerdevil,
    power-profiles-daemon, thermald, upowerd Init: systemd v: 256
    default: graphical tool: systemctl
  Packages: 1592 pm: pacman pkgs: 1582 libs: 416 tools: octopi,paru,yay
    pm: flatpak pkgs: 10 Compilers: gcc: 14.2.1 Shell: garuda-inxi default: Bash
    v: 5.2.32 running-in: yakuake inxi: 3.3.35
Garuda (2.6.26-1):
  System install date:     2024-08-31
  Last full system update: 2024-09-16
  Is partially upgraded:   No
  Relevant software:       snapper NetworkManager dracut nvidia-dkms
  Windows dual boot:       Probably (Run as root to verify)
  Failed units:            vmware.service

Hi,

I have a strange issue whereby sounds won’t play on my system unless I mute and then either unmute or change volume.

Sounds work mostly okay otherwise. I did also run into the occasional issue whereby sounds gets terribly distorted when listening to YT videos using Firefox, but that might be unrelated.

I did find this issue report which says the issue is fixed. However, the last post from 2 years ago is from an Arch user saying they still experienced the issue.

I also run Ublue Aurora on a separate partition and sounds seem to work fine there.

Do you have any advice on how to fix this sound issue?

Thanks very much!

2

Try the mainline Linux kernel with :
sudo pacman -S linux linux-headers
And reboot.

I had a similar issue on zen. See if this makes any improvements.

1 Like
3

Thanks for the suggestion!
Unfortunately, the issue persists. I installed the mainline kernel and switched to it from the Garuda Boot Options. Still no sound until I mute and unmute.

4

Strange, take a snapshot before proceeding:

Run:
sudo pacman -S pulseaudio pulseaudio-alsa pulseaudio-jack pulseaudio-bluetooth pulseaudio-equalizer

And reboot. See if this makes any improvements.

5

I tried, but the command failed:

> sudo pacman -S pulseaudio pulseaudio-alsa pulseaudio-jack pulseaudio-bluetooth pulseaudio-equalizer
resolving dependencies...
looking for conflicting packages...
:: pulseaudio-17.0-3 and pipewire-pulse-1:1.2.4-1 are in conflict. Remove pipewire-pulse? [y/N] y
:: pulseaudio-equalizer-17.0-3 and pipewire-support-1-16 are in conflict. Remove pipewire-support? [y/N] y
error: failed to prepare transaction (could not satisfy dependencies)
:: removing pipewire-pulse breaks dependency 'pipewire-pulse' required by pulse-native-provider

I’ve also tried going into Garuda Assistant → System Components and tried unchecking PipeWire support and checking PulseAudio support. I end up with the same error.

6

Oki , might wanna run:
sudo pacman -R pulse-native-provider && sudo pacman -S pulseaudio pulseaudio-alsa pulseaudio-jack pulseaudio-bluetooth pulseaudio-equalizer

Instead.

7

I gave it a try. The command worked, but sound broke after restarting. I could hear the login sound (much louder than my laptop’s volume was set to) but after that I couldn’t play any sounds. Oddly enough, I couldn’t even play YouTube videos anymore - they got stuck loading.

I went into Garuda Assistant, and since both PulseAudio and PipeWire became unchecked in System Components, I went ahead and checked PulseAudio again, applied and restarted. Same result.

I reverted to the snapshot I’d created before running the pacman commands (thanks for the recommendation), and sounds/videos started working again. But I still have to mute and unmute to hear anything.

8

Okay so seems I left a bit to read out while giving you the commands,
Try:
sudo pacman -R pulse-native-provider && sudo pacman -S pulseaudio pulseaudio-alsa pulseaudio-jack pulseaudio-bluetooth pulseaudio-equalizer

then:

sudo systemctl enable pulseaudio.socket && sudo systemctl enable pulseaudio.service

Then see if reboot helps.

NOTE: The user also mentions reverting these changes afterwards as a fix for them, which likely is the restore of a snapshot before these changes.

Also I believe that it was most probably the failure of a PipeWire service to start at boot causing this issue, which got resolved upon the manual enabling of PulseAudio services the restoration of the snapshot to PipeWire . Idk but I suspect that reinstalling the PipeWire packages could also have solved this if it was a service related issue,etc.

9

The second set of commands fails. The services aren’t found. If I try to run them one by one, I get these two errors:

> sudo systemctl enable pulseaudio.socket
Failed to enable unit: Unit pulseaudio.socket does not exist

> sudo systemctl enable pulseaudio.service
Failed to enable unit: Unit pulseaudio.service does not exist

I also tried sudo systemctl enable pulseaudio, but that yields the same error as above.

I found this thread on the Manjaro forums, which mentions PulseAudio being a user service, so I tried to run the commands without sudo and with the --user argument. That enabled the services, but still no sounds.

As an aside, I’ve noticed something interesting. Without switching to PulseAudio, if I connect my Bluetooth earbuds and restart my laptop, sounds correctly play from them when I boot up and try to play some sound like a YouTube video. So, the issue with having to mute and unmute audio before I can hear anything seems to only happen when using my laptop’s built-in speakers.

10

Install :

sudo pacman -S --needed sof-firmware alsa-firmware
also check that pipewire-audio is installed and reboot.

If that doesn’t work:

Might wanna try running these commands one by one before unmute/mute at boot and capture the logs for info:

/usr/bin/pipewire
/usr/bin/pipewire-pulse
/usr/bin/wireplumber

11

The strangest thing happened.

After trying the last change you suggested (the one from 3 days ago) and reverting the changes, sounds started working on boot.

Not really sure what fixed things. It might be one of the system updates I ran since then, even though I don’t remember seeing any sound-related packages being updated.

Either way, this is fixed now. Not sure how, but it’s fixed.

Thanks for all your help in offering possible solutions. I learned a bit more about sound packages while trying to fix this :slight_smile:

1 Like
12

Still I would recommend running sudo pacman -S --needed sof-firmware alsa-firmware to avoid running into similar issues and slimming down the chances of their occurence. Happy for you !

Also I believe that it was most probably the failure of a PipeWire service to start at boot causing this issue, which got resolved upon the manual enabling of PulseAudio services the restoration of the snapshot to PipeWire . Idk but I suspect that reinstalling the PipeWire packages could also have solved this if it was a service related issue,etc.

Just as a advice but rather install applications/software cautiously as some apps tend to mess up your config. Be safe and enjoy Garuda Linux !

1 Like
13

Just FYI, you might want to resolve the above failure if you wish to use a virtual machine.

14

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