why do non player applications sometimes block sound devices?

gerich · 11-07-2008, 10:15 AM

I've got following trouble in Ubuntu (on both 8.04 and 8.10):
Sometimes amarok app or any other player claims that sound device is in use and refuses to play. By typing %lsof -- /dev/snd/pcmC0D0p ; or something like that I found that the device is used with applications like OpenOffice of Kpdf etc.

Is there any decision to unblock the device not by killing applications using it.

thanks.

budword · 11-07-2008, 12:27 PM

Usually, apps that use oss can block the sound card, because oss can have only one sound source. If you install alsa-oss, it'll let more than one app use the sound hardware at a time, so this won't be a problem.

Let us know if this worked for you....

David