Since upgrading my os to Leap, my sound works, but there is no volume control buttons in the “audio volume” pop up. When I manually navigate to the Pulse audio volume control panel it says “Establishing a connection with PulseAudio. Please wait…”. No connection happens. When I open the equalizer it fails to open a window. See the attached screenshot. Any ideas where to start? https://plus.google.com/u/0/111937612042835842195/posts/bSXP9NSjscJ?pid=6255431988531685090&oid=111937612042835842195
Is pulse audio enabled on your system? I don’t think the volume control sort of built in to the system tray will display any controls without it running although the kmix one with an identical looking icon that can place itself there should do.
Go to Yast/Hardware/Sound
Go to “other” and check pulse audio configuration.
That is correct.
We disabled kmix’s autostart because otherwise every fresh KDE installation would have two “identical” volume control icons.
But plasma5-pa (the new volume control widget) only works with PulseAudio.
If you don’t want to enable PulseAudio just run kmix manually and you should have a volume control. And enable “Auto-Start” in its settings.
Pulse Audio shows as “enabled” with a check as suggested above, still no volume control. The sound plays, put I cannot adjust the volume.
While in Yast, I noticed that I have 2 sound cards installed: 0- Intel and 1- Nvidia. I believe Nvidia is the one that is enabled. I have installed the drivers, but while in Yast if I click on Other > Volume, nothing shows for Nvidia. If I do the same for the Intel card it shows a set of volume controls. When I attempt a Sound test, the sound plays for Intel, but nothing for Nvidia. I selected Intel to make as primary sound card, but the problem persists.
Any other ideas?
Success!
So I ran Kmix, and at first it didn’t open. On a hunch I rebooted the machine and the Kmix sound icon is in the taskbar and it appears the system is using the Intel sound card. There is a volume control option now which is working. Thanks for the help.
If you want to get rid of the useless volume control widget, you can disable it in the “System Tray Settings”, or uninstall plasma5-pa.
Btw, you mentioned an equalizer in the first post.
Maybe that’s the reason why PulseAudio is not working. There are some older threads about problems with this…
Try to uninstall it, and remove ~/.config/pulse/ to be sure.
You read my mind with both of those suggestions. Here is the results:
Removed the equalizer and the /.config/pulse/ file > but the PulseAudio was still not functional. The useless volume control was easily removed by right clicking on it and navigating to the “System Tray Settings” as you mentioned.
I also double checked to see whether I need to set my primary sound card to Intel AND use Kmix, and I do. If I’m using the Nvidia sound card, the Kmix volume control cannot be activated.
Thanks again. Appreciate the community here and the quick advice.
NVIDIA is probably HDMI so uses HDMI outpu. Not the normal Audio output
The Kmix solution is only a partial fix. I can control the volume, but at max settings it is too quiet to hear most audio.
I would love to get PulseAudio up and running if anyone has any other ideas. I did attempt to run it with the Intel sound card, but encountered the same problem… no volume controls.
hi,
do you have installed
alsa-firmware
cheers
Just installed it, rebooted the computer, but the problem persists.
hi rgietzen,
observation
after yesterdays updates it was not possible to switch between sound cards
in “systemsettings5-Audio and Video” it only showed as “Audio Playback Device Preference for the Music Category”
“default”, even after 2 or 3 cold boots
- in yast the alsa-firmware package was installed
- in yast-sound the sound cards were initialized
- in yast-sound-other PulseAudio Configuration was “deselected”
cold booted
- in yast-sound-other PulseAudio Configuration was “selected”
- in yast-sound-other “Play Test Sound” ok for internal stereo card
cold booted
- in “systemsettings5-Audio and Video” both card were now shown
- and preferred card selected
- and preferred card applied to all other sections in “Apply Device List To …”
- in “systemsettings5-Audio and Video- Audio Hardware Setup- Sound Card and Sound Device” set to required devices
- and “Speaker Placement and Testing” used to verify Front Left and Front Right
there after HDMI or Stereo sound could be selected at will
perhaps install of alsa-firmware was just a red herring and above is a total over-kill, but it worked for me on a clean Leap install update
hth
How to navigate to “systemsettings5-Audio and Video”? Most of the changes you talk about I’ve been making through Yast > Sound > Other.
Also, I wonder if your problem is different than mine. If you didn’t already, check out the image I posted. Initially the audio was working, but I had no way to adjust the volume. Using the Intel card and kmix I have a volume adjustment, but its worse than the original scenario because it is too quiet.
hi,
“systemsettings5-Audio and Video” = “System Settings” then “Audio and Video” (also from the cmd prompt systemsettings5)
Most of the changes you talk about I’ve been making through Yast > Sound > Other.
Also, I wonder if your problem is different than mine. If you didn’t already, check out the image I posted. Initially the audio was working, but I had no way to adjust the volume. Using the Intel card and kmix I have a volume adjustment, but its worse than the original scenario because it is too quiet.
My system response was similar to yours. Initially sound adjustment was possible from within Firefox / VLC etc for the Stereo Card. The lack of volume control via kmix was only noticed after toggling sound from Stereo to HDMI.
Adjustments via “systemsettings5-Audio and Video” and kmix could only be done after correct setup via “Yast > Sound”.
Cheers
Okay, I found the "Phonon Audio and Video - KDE Control Module which allows for all the settings you mention. I have tried both the Intel and Nvidia sound cards on my computer and adjusted the configurations as you mention, but the max volume is still quieter than before upgrading my OS. Getting Kmix working has helped my get a volume control, but it is basically useless because I never need to make it quieter. 
I can live with it. Sometimes there is a quick fix for these type things and it was worth looking into. Thanks.
hi rgietzen,
some progress at least
in yast-sound-other-volumes…,-Master volume
do you have Master and PCM set to 100%? (ymmv)
under Other channels is Speaker and Headphone set to 100%?
is the volume acceptable when the Test button is pressed?
in System Settings - Audio Volume - Output Devices (tab)
are volumes also set to 100%?
cheers
After further testing, I believe the Leap 42.1 system was falsely blamed with the low volume. At the same time I upgraded, I’ve also moved the computer into a noisier room! Also most of the videos I’m testing with are bit quiet themselves. There are some audio playing at acceptable volume, including the “Test”. All the channels are set to 100%.
I declare this problem solved, once again. Thanks for the help troubleshooting.