[SOLVED] flite produces no output sound (pulseaudio issue)

[waferhead]

Trying to use flite to speak waypoints etc rom GPS software, current Mageia packaged version is installed, but the only "output" heard is the click from it opening the sound device.

$flite -t "Hello World"
(produced a click)
Tried it as root w/same results.
[root@localhost test]# flite -v -t "hellow world"
times faster than real-time: 13.901390
(1.251000 seconds of speech synthesized in 0.089991)

Tried it from a VT, essentilly same results, you have to set the --display or it borks
#flite -t "hello world" --display :0
(no click, but no error from the Pulseaudio server or ALSA not being able to connect)

This version has the ALSA patches applied, what am I missing?
(will file bug if it's not malpractice on my part, which is likely)

Also tried cranking up the mono volume etc using the alsa guis to no effect.

[doktor5000]

Best report that one as a bug: https://wiki.mageia.org/en/How_to_report_a_bug_properly
Also you shouldn't run sound applications as root.

[waferhead]

Did some due diligence, flite works fine, it's the typical pulseaudio junk.
Works peachy with Pulseaudio disabled, like ~everything else.

I'll take a shot an see if pulseaudio has some mystery setting that will allow it to work before filing a bug against it.

[waferhead]

After setting up all the ALSA channel volumes with pulseaudio disabled, I went in, re-enabled pulseaudio, "forgot" all the now missing ALSA devices, , reset everything to defaults, and it seems to be working now.

I think the issue may be that the autodetected devices may not be the exact same devices ALSA exports, but it's hard to reproduce at this point.

Still a potential bug in the autoconfiguration (fresh install, hadn't played with the settings) but I think it just comes down to pulseaudio not working 100% properly, never has in many years of trying. (it is a lot better)

I also have a single volume slider and no mic volume control with pulseaudio, so i'm trying to recall exactly why it's considered a feature? (PCM/mic gain//volume/3D/bass boost all gone)

Any further audio issues and I'll consider pulseaudio itself a bug and kill it, per usual.

[doktor5000]

There's a much more practical way to completely disable pulseaudio temporarily, you can use pasuspender to prefix any command you want to run without PA,
or maybe even run a shell without PA touching the hardware via pasuspender bash.

But you can always try to battle against windmills, if you prefer that.
Here PA is working fine out of the box, no problems with it and it has been like that for many years ...

[waferhead]

Enabling pulseaudio also causes a ~10 second period of X11 gui uselessness on startup.
(This on several generations of desktop and laptop hardware, AMD and Intel based)

It has gotten to the point where disabling it is the very first "custom configuration" task after a fresh install.

I have no use for perpetually buggy useless garbage with no upside, so it stays disabled.

Everything works better with PulseAudio OFF, absolutely nothing requires it, so I question why it even EXISTS, much less as the default configuration...

Unfortunately it cannot be removed entirely or it would be gone.
(~Like Explorer on Windows, it's enmeshed deeply in everything just so it can exist)

At least you can entirely remove grub2 by the roots.

[doktor5000]

Enabling pulseaudio also causes a ~10 second period of X11 gui uselessness on startup.
(This on several generations of desktop and laptop hardware, AMD and Intel based)

It has gotten to the point where disabling it is the very first "custom configuration" task after a fresh install.

I have no use for perpetually buggy useless garbage with no upside, so it stays disabled.

Everything works better with PulseAudio OFF, absolutely nothing requires it, so I question why it even EXISTS, much less as the default configuration...

Well, if it doesn't work for you and hence you don't like it , this does not mean it does not work for anyone else,
or that everybody else hates it and wants to remove it. You should distinguish a bit more there, instead of just
bragging and flaming about ...

[waferhead]

Have you actually tried turning it off and seen no difference?
Seen anything NOT work?

Bragging?

Fair enough, I'll rephrase it as a direct question, as I assure you (looking at all the PA issues folks have had for...ever) I Am Absolutely Not Alone.

What is the point of PulseAudio, who/what DOES it work on/for, and why, exactly, is it the default configuration in Mageia?
What ACTUAL (not theoretical) features does it provide?

(I'm not asking this for my own benefit, I want to see Mageia boot to a usable desktop & work better/faster for everyone. If this is the wrong forum for this sort of discussion say so)

You can hit the website and see it's many wonderful (theoretical) benefits, but I have yet to see a machine configuration where it actually HELPED... anything.
...Or seen a single instance where turning it OFF did not solve multiple issues and improve sound/system performance.
...Or a single bit of software that really required PA.

I guess I'm getting cynical in my old age... and unforgiving of buggy software of dubious benefit.

I understand the "we are going somewhere with this" side of projects, but PA doesnt seem to be a feature for MANY people, or any of the AMD and intel desktops or laptops (over several generations of hardware) I have tested on, using the most common Linux distributions.

Software that does not work properly for a large % of people/machines should not be a default configuration selection.

fi

[oj]

I agree pulse is buggy and often the root of problems, but I find it immensely useful. One example is any microphones or speakers plugged in via USB, a lot of my hardware just won't work without pulseaudio.

[waferhead]

Thank you for the realistic response with an actual example of it helping something, OJ.
(although I'm curious HOW it helps, perhaps it acts as a better transparent mixer for buggy ALSA devices that might otherwise block each other)

The only "USB audio" devices I own is are ATSC/analog TV tuners, generally the audio side loads and works on plugin/kernel module loading as an ALSA device, with or without PA.
(audio source and volume controls pop up automagically on the KDE mixer sans PA, with PA, not so much)

I'm still curious exactly what true % of folks actually can leave PA on, but I guess as long as the option to turn it off is there, it doesn't really matter.

I still think 'off" should be PAs default option.

[waferhead]

Here a blog post on Techrepublic that (after a long rant) contains some possibly useful settings tweaks to PulseAudio.
http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/openso ... &ttag=e550

I still am of the opinion that "off" generally works far better as a default setting for PA, but for the few that actually need some particular feature of PA to do (something), it may be of use.

I also noticed that after upgrading to a much faster SSD/HDD hybrid (Momentus XT 750) I didn't even notice PA was on after doing a fresh install... The huge delays/glitches on my X200 were at least no longer noticable, all the same hardware otherwise.

(PA back off on principle until I find some actual need)

There may be some hardware contention issues?