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torquillI'll keep this short, for you non-linux geeks out there...
I've been having trouble with sound ever since I got this computer. Occasional tinnyness, the sound would vanish and require a reboot to start up, I had to fight to get sound with YouTube videos (it took more than one round of fighting, after some upgrades)... just constant hassle. It's one of the few routine functions I've had serious trouble with under Ubuntu lately.
I figured it was a hardware issue. Turns out that no, Ubuntu switched to PulseAudio with the first version of Ubuntu I installed on this machine (Gutsy Gibbon) and continued it in the present Intrepid install. The net is full of linux users bitching about PulseAudio. Its plugin for Firefox was probably what was causing some of the instability with my browser. So I finally got fed up today, and decided to take it out, root and branch.
I found a handy howto, followed the instructions to rip out PA and put in the old, standard, compatible dinosaur known as esd... and despite warnings that I would lose my login/logout sounds, I found that everything works. Youtube has sound, VLC has sound, I get login sounds, all without any struggle. I suspect this will get rid of my intermittent sound and FF hanging issues, too.
Hurray for OSen where you really can customize them, down to ripping out basic parts. It's great when it works. :D
I've been having trouble with sound ever since I got this computer. Occasional tinnyness, the sound would vanish and require a reboot to start up, I had to fight to get sound with YouTube videos (it took more than one round of fighting, after some upgrades)... just constant hassle. It's one of the few routine functions I've had serious trouble with under Ubuntu lately.
I figured it was a hardware issue. Turns out that no, Ubuntu switched to PulseAudio with the first version of Ubuntu I installed on this machine (Gutsy Gibbon) and continued it in the present Intrepid install. The net is full of linux users bitching about PulseAudio. Its plugin for Firefox was probably what was causing some of the instability with my browser. So I finally got fed up today, and decided to take it out, root and branch.
I found a handy howto, followed the instructions to rip out PA and put in the old, standard, compatible dinosaur known as esd... and despite warnings that I would lose my login/logout sounds, I found that everything works. Youtube has sound, VLC has sound, I get login sounds, all without any struggle. I suspect this will get rid of my intermittent sound and FF hanging issues, too.
Hurray for OSen where you really can customize them, down to ripping out basic parts. It's great when it works. :D
