No sound from 'play'

Originally Posted by Shadow_7 The syntax of sox (and therefor play) has changed a lot over the years. What is the exact command being attempted? And what is the deets on the file being attempted? $ avprobe /home/luc/sounds/Abrir.wav or ffprobe depending on your system.

luc[17490-0]> avprobe  /home/luc/sounds/Abrir.wav 
ffprobe version 2.6.8 Copyright (c) 2007-2016 the FFmpeg developers
  built with gcc 4.9.2 (Debian 4.9.2-10)
  configuration: --prefix=/usr --extra-cflags='-g -O2 -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security ' --extra-ldflags='-Wl,-z,relro' --cc='ccache cc' --enable-shared --enable-libmp3lame --enable-gpl --enable-nonfree --enable-libvorbis --enable-pthreads --enable-libfaac --enable-libxvid --enable-postproc --enable-x11grab --enable-libgsm --enable-libtheora --enable-libopencore-amrnb --enable-libopencore-amrwb --enable-libx264 --enable-libspeex --enable-nonfree --disable-stripping --enable-libvpx --enable-libschroedinger --disable-encoder=libschroedinger --enable-version3 --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-librtmp --enable-avfilter --enable-libfreetype --enable-libvo-aacenc --disable-decoder=amrnb --enable-libvo-amrwbenc --enable-libaacplus --libdir=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu --disable-vda --enable-libbluray --enable-libcdio --enable-gnutls --enable-frei0r --enable-openssl --enable-libass --enable-libopus --enable-fontconfig --enable-libpulse --disable-mips32r2 --disable-mipsdspr1 --disable-mipsdspr2 --enable-libvidstab --enable-libzvbi --enable-avresample --disable-htmlpages --disable-podpages --enable-libutvideo --enable-libfdk-aac --enable-libx265 --enable-libiec61883 --enable-vaapi --enable-libdc1394 --disable-altivec --shlibdir=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu
  libavutil      54. 20.100 / 54. 31.100
  libavcodec     56. 26.100 / 56. 60.100
  libavformat    56. 25.101 / 56. 40.101
  libavdevice    56.  4.100 / 56.  4.100
  libavfilter     5. 11.102 /  5. 40.101
  libavresample   2.  1.  0 /  2.  1.  0
  libswscale      3.  1.101 /  3.  1.101
  libswresample   1.  1.100 /  1.  2.101
  libpostproc    53.  3.100 / 53.  3.100
Input #0, wav, from '/home/luc/sounds/Abrir.wav':
  Metadata:
    copyright       : 1995-1998 Microsoft Corporation
  Duration: 00:00:00.20, bitrate: 433 kb/s
    Stream #0:0: Audio: pcm_s16le ([1][0][0][0] / 0x0001), 22050 Hz, 1 channels, s16, 352 kb/s

ffprobe gives the exact same output.

This is tough. I appreciate your attention and effort.

Originally Posted by ondoho so 'play' cannot play any file, as stated previously. my bad. anyhow, have you tried giving it a precise definition of the format you are feeding it, instead of relying on its auto-detection? does sox use its own audio decoding libraries, or does it rely on others? is your system (debian jessie i presume) up-to-date, is sox from the standard repositories, did you reboot after system upgrade?

I can only answer the last question. I didn't upgrade and I didn't reboot when the problem happened. That notification script plays often (whenever I select and copy text, for example). It was working fine. Then I suspended to RAM then I resumed from suspended mode, and 'play' wasn't working anymore.

$ play -c 1 -r 22050 -b 16 -e signed --endian little /home/luc/sounds/Abrir.wav

Does that play the file?

$ AUDIODEV=hw:1,0 play /home/luc/sounds/Abrir.wav

How about this one?

$ AUDIODEV=pulse play -c 1 -r 22050 -b 16 -e signed --endian little /home/luc/sounds/Abrir.wav

How about this one?

None of those work.

I don't have pulseaudio, btw. I uninstalled it a long time ago.

Do they pretend to work? Or do they crash outright?

If pretend, check that the file has audible content. And that the levels on your soundcard are not muted. Don't rule out that pulse can assert itself if you've installed some new stuff. Some stuff is configured for pulse by default. Like java with /etc/java-7-openjdk/sound.properties, in debian jessie it defaults to pulse (4 lines), but the commented out alsa (4 lines) are right next to the pulse ones.

Originally Posted by Shadow_7 Do they pretend to work? Or do they crash outright? If pretend, check that the file has audible content. And that the levels on your soundcard are not muted. Don't rule out that pulse can assert itself if you've installed some new stuff. Some stuff is configured for pulse by default. Like java with /etc/java-7-openjdk/sound.properties, in debian jessie it defaults to pulse (4 lines), but the commented out alsa (4 lines) are right next to the pulse ones.

They pretend to work. There is just no sound. The file is audible in other ways, such as Audacious.
Like I said before, I can play that file in other programs, so nothing is muted.

I just ran into something new. Another script, used less often, played a sound. That one doesn't use 'play' it uses a Tcl script with the Snack extension/module, allegedly with no external dependencies. That script plays the mac-alarm.wav file, but it can play other sounds if I want it to. Then things get even more confusing:

Tcl script plays "mac-alarm.wav"
Tcl script doesn't play "Abrir.wav"
sox/play plays "mac-alarm.wav"!
sox/play doesn't play "Abrir.wav" (but it used to!)
Audacious plays both files, but it doesn't solve my problem because it isn't a command line app and won't run in background, i.e. without bringing up a GUI.

Then I had an idea: why not use mplayer? Well...

luc[17516-0]> mplayer /home/luc/sounds/Abrir.wav
Failed to read /etc/mplayer/mplayer.conf.local: No such file or directory
Warning unknown option include at line 177
MPlayer 1.3.0-4.9.2 (C) 2000-2016 MPlayer Team
Can't open joystick device /dev/input/js0: No such file or directory
Can't init input joystick
mplayer: could not connect to socket
mplayer: No such file or directory
Failed to open LIRC support. You will not be able to use your remote control.

Playing /home/luc/sounds/Abrir.wav.
libavformat version 57.25.100 (internal)
Audio only file format detected.
Load subtitles in /home/luc/sounds/
==========================================================================
Opening audio decoder: [pcm] Uncompressed PCM audio decoder
AUDIO: 22050 Hz, 1 ch, s16le, 352.8 kbit/100.00% (ratio: 44100->44100)
Selected audio codec: [pcm] afm: pcm (Uncompressed PCM)
==========================================================================
AO: [alsa] 44100Hz 1ch s16le (2 bytes per sample)
Video: no video
Starting playback...
A:   0.0 (00.0) of 0.2 (00.1) ??,?%

Exiting... (End of file)

Despite all the output, no sound comes out of it. For some reason, I also have mplayer2 installed. Let's see:

luc[17517-0]> mplayer2 /home/luc/sounds/Abrir.wav
MPlayer2 UNKNOWN (C) 2000-2012 MPlayer Team
Cannot open file '/home/luc/.mplayer2/input.conf': No such file or directory
Failed to open /home/luc/.mplayer2/input.conf.
Cannot open file '/etc/mplayer2/input.conf': No such file or directory
Failed to open /etc/mplayer2/input.conf.

Playing /home/luc/sounds/Abrir.wav.
Detected file format: WAV / WAVE (Waveform Audio) (libavformat)
[lavf] stream 0: audio (pcm_s16le), -aid 0
Clip info:
 copyright: 1995-1998 Microsoft Corporation
Load subtitles in /home/luc/sounds/
Selected audio codec: Uncompressed PCM [pcm]
AUDIO: 22050 Hz, 1 ch, s16le, 352.8 kbit/100.00% (ratio: 44100->44100)
AO: [pulse] Init failed: Connection refused
AO: [alsa] 44100Hz 1ch s16le (2 bytes per sample)
[AO_ALSA] Unable to find simple control 'Master',0.
Video: no video
Starting playback...
A:   0.2 (00.1) of 0.2 (00.1) ??,?%

Exiting... (End of file)

That one works! Let's update the table:

Tcl script plays "mac-alarm.wav"
Tcl script doesn't play "Abrir.wav"
sox/play plays "mac-alarm.wav"!
sox/play doesn't play "Abrir.wav" (but it used to!)
mplayer plays neither
mplayer2 plays both

That's good enough. I can replace sox/play with mplayer2 in my script because mplayer2 can play all fil... Wait, no, not all files. There is still one.

There is one sound that my script also uses, it's called "tick2.wav"
sox/play, the Tcl script and both mplayer and mplayer2 can't play it. sox/play used to play it before I suspended to RAM a couple of days ago! How can that happen?????!!!!!

There shouldn't be anything wrong with "tick2.wav" because Audacious can play it and sox/play could play it until a couple of days ago.

What the hell is going on??!! :-(

Do you have backup copies of those sound files? Perhaps open them in audacity and save them out again and see if re-save plays.

or save them in a different format.

I tried saving the file with another program, and it didn't work. That shouldn't make any difference, since other programs can play it and I must reiterate that sox/play was working fine until I suspended to RAM. Nothing else was changed.

I'll have to give up on this issue, as I posted about it on the official sox mailing list 4 days ago and haven't heard a peep from them yet. Maybe it's some bug that nobody wants to talk about or maybe nobody has a clue of what could have happened and nobody is interested in finding out.

So much for open source software on an open source OS. :-(

I will format and reinstall everything (as if it were Windows) around July, when I might have some free time.

Thank you all for the attention.

Something changed, corruption or otherwise. A reinstall is probably warranted since you technically don't know what changed. The process of this thread has been to determine what changed. Using strace on sox (play) to see what all is "opened" and reinstall all the parts to insure good copies would be one way to see if the program changed. There could be bit rot on storage devices so you're a victim of the data lottery, not anything else that failed per say. It could also be configurations, which a fresh install of everything would fix (in theory), but leave you in the dark about what went wrong. Not that you care, until it happens again. And again, or otherwise doesn't get fixed by a new install.

What could have been corrupted?

There is nothing wrong with the file. Other programs can play it.

I uninstalled and reinstalled sox. In fact, it can play other files, just not certain ones that it used to.

This is VERY mysterious.

Apologies if I missed this, am trying to read on my phonen but have you tried paplay?

Originally Posted by lucmove What could have been corrupted?

When I play a file with the same deets and use strace...

$ strace play temp.wav 2>&1 | grep -i open | tee temp.txt

open("/etc/ld.so.cache", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libsox.so.2", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libm.so.6", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgomp.so.1", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpthread.so.0", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libltdl.so.7", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpng12.so.0", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libz.so.1", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libmagic.so.1", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgsm.so.1", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libdl.so.2", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
openat(AT_FDCWD, "/sys/devices/system/cpu", O_RDONLY|O_NONBLOCK|O_DIRECTORY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/sox", O_RDONLY|O_NONBLOCK|O_DIRECTORY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/sox/libsox_fmt_alsa.la", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/sox/libsox_fmt_alsa.so", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/etc/ld.so.cache", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libasound.so.2", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/librt.so.1", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/sox/libsox_fmt_amr_nb.la", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/sox/libsox_fmt_amr_nb.so", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/etc/ld.so.cache", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libopencore-amrnb.so.0", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/sox/libsox_fmt_amr_wb.la", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/sox/libsox_fmt_amr_wb.so", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/etc/ld.so.cache", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libopencore-amrwb.so.0", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/sox/libsox_fmt_caf.la", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/sox/libsox_fmt_caf.so", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/etc/ld.so.cache", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libsndfile.so.1", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libFLAC.so.8", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libvorbisenc.so.2", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libogg.so.0", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libvorbis.so.0", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/sox/libsox_fmt_fap.la", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/sox/libsox_fmt_fap.so", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/sox/libsox_fmt_flac.la", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/sox/libsox_fmt_flac.so", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/etc/ld.so.cache", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libvorbisfile.so.3", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/sox/libsox_fmt_gsm.la", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/sox/libsox_fmt_gsm.so", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/sox/libsox_fmt_lpc10.la", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/sox/libsox_fmt_lpc10.so", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/sox/libsox_fmt_mat4.la", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/sox/libsox_fmt_mat4.so", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/sox/libsox_fmt_mat5.la", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/sox/libsox_fmt_mat5.so", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/sox/libsox_fmt_paf.la", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/sox/libsox_fmt_paf.so", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/sox/libsox_fmt_pvf.la", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/sox/libsox_fmt_pvf.so", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/sox/libsox_fmt_sd2.la", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/sox/libsox_fmt_sd2.so", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/sox/libsox_fmt_sndfile.la", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/sox/libsox_fmt_sndfile.so", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/sox/libsox_fmt_vorbis.la", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/sox/libsox_fmt_vorbis.so", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/sox/libsox_fmt_w64.la", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/sox/libsox_fmt_w64.so", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/sox/libsox_fmt_wavpack.la", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/sox/libsox_fmt_wavpack.so", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/etc/ld.so.cache", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libwavpack.so.1", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/sox/libsox_fmt_xi.la", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/sox/libsox_fmt_xi.so", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3
open("temp.wav", O_RDONLY)              = 3
open("/usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf", O_RDONLY) = 4
openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf.d/", O_RDONLY|O_NONBLOCK|O_DIRECTORY|O_CLOEXEC) = 4
open("/usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf.d//50-pulseaudio.conf", O_RDONLY) = 4
open("/usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf.d//equal.conf", O_RDONLY) = 4
open("/usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf.d//pulse.conf", O_RDONLY) = 4
open("/home/user1/.asoundrc", O_RDONLY) = 4
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/alsa-lib/libasound_module_conf_pulse.so", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 4
open("/etc/ld.so.cache", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 4
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpulse.so.0", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 4
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pulseaudio/tls/x86_64/libjson-c.so.2", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pulseaudio/tls/libjson-c.so.2", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pulseaudio/x86_64/libjson-c.so.2", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pulseaudio/libjson-c.so.2", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libjson-c.so.2", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 4
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pulseaudio/libpulsecommon-5.0.so", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 4
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pulseaudio/libdbus-1.so.3", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libdbus-1.so.3", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 4
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pulseaudio/libcap.so.2", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libcap.so.2", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 4
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pulseaudio/libX11-xcb.so.1", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libX11-xcb.so.1", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 4
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pulseaudio/libX11.so.6", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libX11.so.6", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 4
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pulseaudio/libxcb.so.1", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libxcb.so.1", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 4
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pulseaudio/libICE.so.6", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libICE.so.6", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 4
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pulseaudio/libSM.so.6", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libSM.so.6", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 4
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pulseaudio/libXtst.so.6", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libXtst.so.6", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 4
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pulseaudio/libsystemd.so.0", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libsystemd.so.0", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 4
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pulseaudio/libwrap.so.0", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libwrap.so.0", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 4
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pulseaudio/libasyncns.so.0", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libasyncns.so.0", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 4
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pulseaudio/libattr.so.1", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libattr.so.1", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 4
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pulseaudio/libXau.so.6", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libXau.so.6", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 4
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pulseaudio/libXdmcp.so.6", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libXdmcp.so.6", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 4
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pulseaudio/libuuid.so.1", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libuuid.so.1", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 4
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pulseaudio/libXext.so.6", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libXext.so.6", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 4
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pulseaudio/libXi.so.6", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libXi.so.6", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 4
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pulseaudio/liblzma.so.5", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/liblzma.so.5", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 4
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pulseaudio/libgcrypt.so.20", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgcrypt.so.20", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 4
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pulseaudio/libresolv.so.2", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libresolv.so.2", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 4
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pulseaudio/libnsl.so.1", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libnsl.so.1", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 4
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pulseaudio/libgpg-error.so.0", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgpg-error.so.0", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 4
open("/home/user/.pulse/client.conf", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/home/user/.config/pulse/client.conf", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 6
open("/home/user/.config/pulse/cookie", O_RDONLY|O_NOCTTY|O_CLOEXEC) = 7
open("/home/user/.Xauthority", O_RDONLY) = 7
openat(AT_FDCWD, "/dev/shm/", O_RDONLY|O_NONBLOCK|O_DIRECTORY|O_CLOEXEC) = 6
open("/dev/shm/pulse-shm-11111111", O_RDONLY|O_NOFOLLOW|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied)
open("/dev/shm/pulse-shm-1111111111", O_RDONLY|O_NOFOLLOW|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied)
open("/dev/urandom", O_RDONLY|O_NOCTTY|O_CLOEXEC) = 6
open("/dev/shm/pulse-shm-1111111111", O_RDWR|O_CREAT|O_EXCL|O_NOFOLLOW|O_CLOEXEC, 0700) = 6
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/gconv/gconv-modules.cache", O_RDONLY) = 6
open("/usr/share/alsa/pulse-alsa.conf", O_RDONLY) = 6
open("/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/alsa-lib/libasound_module_pcm_pulse.so", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 4
open("/home/user/.pulse/client.conf", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/home/user/.config/pulse/client.conf", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 8
open("/home/user/.config/pulse/cookie", O_RDONLY|O_NOCTTY|O_CLOEXEC) = 9
open("/home/user/.Xauthority", O_RDONLY) = 9
openat(AT_FDCWD, "/dev/shm/", O_RDONLY|O_NONBLOCK|O_DIRECTORY|O_CLOEXEC) = 8
open("/dev/shm/pulse-shm-11111111", O_RDONLY|O_NOFOLLOW|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied)
open("/dev/shm/pulse-shm-1111111111", O_RDONLY|O_NOFOLLOW|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied)
open("/dev/urandom", O_RDONLY|O_NOCTTY|O_CLOEXEC) = 8
open("/dev/shm/pulse-shm-1111111111", O_RDWR|O_CREAT|O_EXCL|O_NOFOLLOW|O_CLOEXEC, 0700) = 8

So any one of those files or packages that provide them could have been corrupted or changed. To include but not limited to:

libasound2-plugins: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/alsa-lib/libasound_module_pcm_pulse.so
libgpg-error0: /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgpg-error.so.0
libc6: /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libnsl.so.1
libc6: /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libresolv.so.2
libgcrypt20: /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgcrypt.so.20
liblzma5: /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/liblzma.so.5
libxi6: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libXi.so.6
libxext6: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libXext.so.6
...and on and on...

$ apt-file find libXext.so.6

to identify such "packages" in debian.


It could also be a change in permissions.

$ cat temp.txt | grep -i denied

Or various other system issues which might show in dmesg or /var/log/syslog.

I posted what I did for a reason... I found that a script I had for my SDR stopped working with "play" after an upgrade but substituting "paplay" with a few changes it worked fine.

I don't have pulseaudio installed. I have deliberately removed it on every fresh install for years.