Problems with OS after upgrade
Hello,
This afternoon I have done an upgrade on my Trisquel 8 system, because some packages were not updated.
I shut down my computer before I finished working. Now I need to work on it but I am having some troubles:
- I lost the sound
- I am unable to open the "Sound" application from the Control Center (nothing is happening: no windows).
Is it possible to revert those upgrades which were done this afternoon? how may we do it?
Thank you for your kind support.
I was unable to open the "Sound" application from the Control Center because I had launched alsamixer in a terminal.
I am still unable to have sound on my computer, this is problematic to me :-/
Anyone is facing the same problem?
I do not know why but the problem is solved!
This is very strange indeed.
This problem occured and at the same time my computer was taking to much time to starting: to arrive to the desktop and to have my application launch bar ready to choose a application.
I am going to test if this problem (very low starting after login) also disappeared magically or not.
I have restarted my computer and I am confirming: the starting of my environment is very slow after my loggin.
Furthermore, I do not have any sound :-/
When I am trying to access to the "Sound" application from the Control Center I am getting the printscreen in attachment.
I am unable to launch my VLC programm (nothing is happening: no window is created).
Do you have any idea what is going on?
For information:
- when I am trying to shut down my computer I am getting the following screen
Any ideas? :-)
In a terminal, run "killall pulseaudio" and then run pulseaudio in a terminal. Then, try playing something in VLC, playing something in your browser, adjusting the sound applet in your panel, and opening and adjusting values in the volume menu. If any errors or warnings appear in the terminal from which you are running pulseaudio, paste them here.
Thank you mason for your feedback.
after running the killall puslseaudio and the pulseaudio in a terminal I got the following messages:
$ pulseaudio
E: [pulseaudio] pid.c: Daemon already running.
E: [pulseaudio] main.c: pa_pid_file_create() failed.
$
I am unable to launch VLC and when I am trying to access the "Sound" applet I am getting the same error (see printscreen above): "waiting for sound system to respond".
> E: [pulseaudio] pid.c: Daemon already running.
> E: [pulseaudio] main.c: pa_pid_file_create() failed.
This is the message I get if I try to run pulseaudio *without* killing it first. Are you sure that you ran 'killall' correctly. Paste this into a terminal exactly:
killall pulseaudio && pulseaudio
If the same thing happens, go to "Startup Applications" and see if pulseaudio is in there. If it is, deselect it, log out, log in again, and run pulseaudio from a terminal
Does this also work for Intel sound drivers (yes my laptop is dependent on this) with other free systems like Parabola, Devuan, PureOS, GuixSD, Uruk, Hyperbola etc? This was before successful that I've migrated to Parabola against nonfree ArchBang early summer 2017.
But also, adding your command "killall pulseaudio && pulseaudio" to startup apps does this work other than manually running this?
> This is the message I get if I try to run pulseaudio *without* killing it first. Are you sure that you ran 'killall' correctly.
I guess so. At least I have run the killing command first. But I have tried anyway one more time with this:
$ killall pulseaudio && pulseaudio
E: [pulseaudio] pid.c: Daemon already running.
E: [pulseaudio] main.c: pa_pid_file_create() failed.
$
> If the same thing happens, go to "Startup Applications" and see if pulseaudio is in there. If it is, deselect it, log out, log in again, and run pulseaudio from a terminal
In consequence I have deselected the 'PulseAudio Sound System' from the Startup Applications, I have shut down. I have started my computer again. Before running command, I verified that 'PulseAudio Sound System' was still deselected and I ran:
$ killall pulseaudio && pulseaudio
E: [pulseaudio] pid.c: Daemon already running.
E: [pulseaudio] main.c: pa_pid_file_create() failed.
$
For information: when I am now starting my computer it takes 3 minutes (more or less) to have a fluid desktop. This is happening since the last upgrade of Friday. This is strange I think. Can we get a log of what is running / done when I log in after starting the computer?
Try 'pulseaudio --kill' instead of 'killall pulseaudio'
I am getting the following result:
$ pulseaudio --kill && pulseaudio
E: [pulseaudio] pid.c: Daemon already running.
E: [pulseaudio] main.c: pa_pid_file_create() failed.
Do you think maybe the kill command is not working are expected?
I've tried to kill the process through the System Monitor interface, under 'Processes' tab, but the process was still alive.
I've then tried the following:
$ pidof pulseaudio
2094
$ kill 2094
$ sudo kill 2094
$ pidof pulseaudio
2094
$ kill -9 2094
$ pidof pulseaudio
2094
$ sudo kill -9 2094
$ pidof pulseaudio
2094
$ sudo kill -SIGKILL 2094
$ pidof pulseaudio
2094
$ killall -9 pulseaudio
$ pidof pulseaudio
2094
$ sudo killall -9 pulseaudio
$ pidof pulseaudio
2094
$
:-(
When I am trying to launch a video file with Totem, the application crashes! But then I am able to get **the audio back** ?!!??!
Then I am able to launch the video file but with VLC (as the Totem application is no more working since a few weeks now).
For information: I have posted the error here https://trisquel.info/en/forum/totem-funkitioniert-bei-mir-nicht (in German)
Does it help somehow to understand the origin of the bug?
> When I am trying to launch a video file with Totem, the application crashes!
> But then I am able to get **the audio back** ?!!??!
> Then I am able to launch the video file but with VLC
If Totem crashing fixes your audio, I guess you should add Totem to Startup Applications so that it crashes upon login. :)
What did you do after Totem crashed to get audio back? Did it just start working, or did you have to do something in sound settings? Are you able to kill and restart pulseaudio while your audio is working?
> What did you do after Totem crashed to get audio back?
Nothing... just starting VLC and checking that it works with VLC now.
> Did it just start working, or did you have to do something in sound settings?
It just started working.
> Are you able to kill and restart pulseaudio while your audio is working?
No. The command never ends... (I do not get back to the terminal)
$ pulseaudio --kill && pulseaudio
Hello everyone,
I am still facing this issue. Does anyone have an idea?
For information: when I am now starting my computer it takes 3 minutes (more or less) to have a fluid desktop. This is happening since the last upgrade of Friday. This is strange I think. Can we get a log of what is running / done once I log in after starting the computer?
Actually this is happening when I am clicking on the Start Menu with the list of programs. It takes a few minutes (+/- 3 minutes) to be able to navigate through the list of programs.
Have you try updating your kernel? Trisquel repository currently has "linux-image-4.13.0-45-generic". https://jxself.org/linux-libre/ has even newer kernels (4.14 and 4.17).
Actually I have the current version after an update:
$ uname -r
4.4.0-128-lowlatency
Is the "huge" difference between 4.4 and 4.13 / 4.14 normal?
I am a translator!
As far as your no sound issue goes try:
sudo apt purge pulseaudio
o/
you are probably joking, but i strongly advice against this, for one "purge" can remove too much and break the system, but also PulseAudio is required for sound on things like firefox, I don't know if Abrowser requires it but removing pulseaudio can cause even more trouble.
Thank you for this awareness! :-)
> Thank you for this awareness! :-)
happy_gnu is right that you probably want pulseaudio. However, it might be a worth a shot to temporarily remove it along with any config files that could be causing the problem, and then adding things back in one at a time.
Try removing pulseaudio with
$ sudo apt purge pulseaudio
Unlike 'apt remove', 'apt purge' gets rid of config files, so if there's something wrong with your configuration this will give us a clean slate.
Then reboot, and see if the slow startup issue is fixed. If it is, reinstall pulseaudo,
$ sudo apt install pulseaudio
and run it in a terminal.
$ pulseaudio
If the the terminal hangs instead of prompting you to enter a new command, that's good. It means that pulseaudio is running. Try playing something in vlc, playing something in abrowser, and adjusting volume settings. If anything goes wrong, see if an error message appears in the terminal.
You might be missing the volume applet in your panel or something like that, in which case it was likely removed as a reverse dependency of pulseaudio. That's fine for now. Just see if vlc/abrowser/etc work.
If everything seems okay, reboot again and see if you have sound (1) at the login screen and (2) after logging in. If you do not, add or reselect pulseaudio in Startup Applications and try again.
Once/if pulseaudio is starting on login and working normally, add back in any utilities that got removed when we removed pulseaudio by reinstalling the trisquel and trisquel-recommended metapackages
$ sudo apt install trisquel trisquel-recommended
Again please do not do this.
Purge removes too much, usually not only the package but things that depend on the package so it will break your system by getting rid of too much stuff.
You probably won't be able to boot into your Desktop Environment.
You can remove config files of pulseaudio manually, and just do a remove pulseaudio
Always be very careful with purge. It will break your system most of the time.
> Purge removes too much, usually not only the package but things that depend
> on the package so it will break your system by getting rid of too much
> stuff.
'apt remove' also removes things that depend on the package. According to the apt man page, the only difference between remove and purge is the removal of config files. Purge doesn't remove additional packages.
"Removing a package removes all packaged data, but leaves usually small (modified) user configuration files behind, in case the remove was an accident. Just issuing an
installation request for the accidentally removed package will restore its function as before in that case. On the other hand you can get rid of these leftovers by calling
purge even on already removed packages. Note that this does not affect any data or configuration stored in your home directory."
To test this, I ran 'sudo apt remove pulseaudio', looked at the packages that would have been removed, cancelled, and then ran 'sudo apt purge pulseaudio' and compared. It's the same packages, none of which are system breaking when removed. The only packages that were not metapackages or directly related to pulseaudio that were removed are indicator-sound and indicator-sound-gtk2, which were restored by reinstalling trisquel and trisquel-recommended.
> You probably won't be able to boot into your Desktop Environment.
This is a risk of purging (or reomving) packages recklessly, and you are right that one should be careful. However, in the case of pulseaudio I have done this before and tested it again just now. I purged pulseaudio, rebooted, logged in, and was able to reinstall pulseaudio, trisquel, and trisquel-recommended. After rebooting again, sound worked as it had before.
> You can remove config files of pulseaudio manually, and just do a remove
> pulseaudio
This is what purge does.
> Always be very careful with purge. It will break your system most of the
> time.
Again, maybe this is true with some packages, but in the case of pulseaudio I have just tried it myself and it was not a problem.
I am a translator!
>To test this, I ran 'sudo apt remove pulseaudio', looked at the packages that would have been removed, cancelled, and then ran 'sudo apt purge pulseaudio' and compared. It's the same packages, none of which are system breaking when removed.
yep..
I did not comment recently because the system has "magically" been OK.
I've recovered the sound and the latency has disappeared and I do not know why?
Later I've got the possibility to update the system and still no error came. It is fine now but I do not understand why the system came back with no problem if I did not install or update anything.
Does anyone may have an idea about this?
I am of course thinking about a possible breach / security / hacking issue on my system during some days, before everything comes back to normal.
Can anyone help on this?
Best.
I am a translator!
>you are probably joking, but i strongly advice against this, for one "purge" can remove too much and break the system
Absolutely not true. It will purge only pulseaudio.
>but also PulseAudio is required for sound on things like firefox, I don't know if Abrowser requires it but removing pulseaudio can cause even more trouble.
My browser is js-less, meaning it is always mute anyway. Try torrenting your media, it's much more satisfactory.
> My browser is js-less, meaning it is always mute anyway.
Files embedded with the html5 tag can be played back without JavaShit, if audio is working in the browser. pulseaudio also integrates nicely with the desktop environment. Without it rytege will probably lose the sound applet in their panel, and volume buttons might not work unless they are specifically mapped to amixer commands or something.
Removing pulseaudio will probably fix the immediate problem, but it would be preferable to get pulseaudio working after that.
I am a translator!
>lose the sound applet in their panel
They can install several different ones and try and see which one suits them better. I recommend 'volti'
>and volume buttons might not work unless they are specifically mapped to amixer commands or something.
This was not the case on my system. They can try and see.
Older versions of pulseaudio are very buggy from my experience. One is better removing it. You lose nothing after all.
rytege have you eliminated the possibility that a hardware problem is causing Trisquel to fail? Things like running a memory test, or checking the integrity of the drive that holds your OS partition, and the integrity of the file system of your OS partition?
Have you got an other OS dual booted on that PC? If so, which ones and are they working OK? If not, do you have 10GB or so of free space on your internal drive that you could use to install one for testing?
One could tinker for ever with Trisquel, and never find a solution, if the problem is actually dodgy RAM, or a dying hard drive etc ;)
> One could tinker for ever with Trisquel, and never find a solution, if the
> problem is actually dodgy RAM, or a dying hard drive etc ;)
Since the problem was introduced in a recent update, I think that the problem is likely in Trisquel Also, audio began working again when Totem crashed, so there is a state in which OP's system works; Trisquel just is not in that state on login.
Just for information: I commented here (https://trisquel.info/en/forum/problems-os-after-upgrade#comment-133612) that the problem disappeared without any modification on the system. Situation that I am finding weird...
> rytege have you eliminated the possibility that a hardware problem is causing Trisquel to fail?
No, actually I am also thinking about a hardware problem but I do not know how to verify it!
> Things like running a memory test, or checking the integrity of the drive that holds your OS partition, and the integrity of the file system of your OS partition?
How do I proceed to do a memory test? and a checking of a drive's integrity? may I check any hardware problem to do with my USB-Wifi stick?
PS: I've commented here that the problem disappeared!!?!! https://trisquel.info/en/forum/problems-os-after-upgrade#comment-133612
Advice For New Users On Not Breaking Their Debian System
Don't blindly remove software
Sometimes when you remove a package, the package manager needs to remove other packages too. This is because the additional packages depend on the package you're trying to remove.
https://wiki.debian.org/DontBreakDebian#Don.27t_blindly_remove_software