Linux - NewbieThis Linux forum is for members that are new to Linux.
Just starting out and have a question?
If it is not in the man pages or the how-to's this is the place!
Notices
Welcome to LinuxQuestions.org, a friendly and active Linux Community.
You are currently viewing LQ as a guest. By joining our community you will have the ability to post topics, receive our newsletter, use the advanced search, subscribe to threads and access many other special features. Registration is quick, simple and absolutely free. Join our community today!
Note that registered members see fewer ads, and ContentLink is completely disabled once you log in.
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us. If you need to reset your password, click here.
Having a problem logging in? Please visit this page to clear all LQ-related cookies.
Get a virtual cloud desktop with the Linux distro that you want in less than five minutes with Shells! With over 10 pre-installed distros to choose from, the worry-free installation life is here! Whether you are a digital nomad or just looking for flexibility, Shells can put your Linux machine on the device that you want to use.
Exclusive for LQ members, get up to 45% off per month. Click here for more info.
My computer has gotten very sluggish and every time I run the top command the process that is taking 10% of my cpu time is called pulse audio. WHat is that and how do I get rid of it?
it is the a sound server/mixer/layer. You can get rid of it by uninstalling the pulseaudio package. However to do so you would probably end up with a system lacking many features that you need/want.
Having said all this, 10% seems like a significant chunk of your cpu. What are you running when you see pulse audio using that much cpu?
One more thing, what distro and version are you running? ... I hope that "Ubuntu 8.04" showing in your side bar is just something you didn't get around to changing.
PulseAudio is controlling most of your audio system - like the volume of your speakers, individual volume settings for most applications and such.
To get rid of it, try
Killing pulseaudio was not enough for me back then as it kept summoning itself through alsa. There's one file in /usr/share/alsa that you have to modify to completely disable it. I can no longer tell unless I search through the net what file it was since I'm no longer running PulseAudio.
I did use the kill command but it just comes back in a few seconds. This all started when I got this new usb dac and was trying to get it to work. My old one worked fine but this one seems to be recognized but I get an error when ever I try to play anything. I did find out that the pulseaudio thing goes away if I unplug it, but still I think it if very odd that it just keeps popping up like that for no reason I can figure out.
Oh yeah and I am running Ubuntu 12.04 now, I'll update my profile.
Pulse Audio is one of those things that improves stuff by adding an extra layer of complexity on top of something that already worked just fine, although I have to say it's not as annoying as it used to be.
And I wonder what is it exactly that PulseAudio tries to improve. My first impression of it was that it would be able to add volume control to every running application but it doesn't seem to really work like that.
It tries to implement some kind of system like Windy OS 7 has - with a volume control for every program and device. It's a nice idea, but the implementation still needs some work done.
Pulse makes it possible that more than one programm can use the sound device. With ALSA as the hardware layer of the soundsystem only one program is allowed to use the hardware. Now pulse grabs the hardware and every other programm sends their sounds to pulse which it pushes it through to the hardware.
PulseAudio allows much more than Alsa can deliver:
- per application volume control
- on the fly changing of input/output devices (for example when plugging in an USB audio device)
- sending audio over network
- probably much more
For what it's worth, I'm using Slackware --Current with ALSA and without pulseaudio (I just doublechecked--no trace of it) and I can play two movies simultaneously, with separate audio streams.
For what it's worth, I'm using Slackware --Current with ALSA and without pulseaudio (I just doublechecked--no trace of it) and I can play two movies simultaneously, with separate audio streams.
The dmix plugin for Alsa makes this possible. I use PulseAudio on Slackware -current on all my (desktop) systems and have no problems at all with it.
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing
Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute
content, let us know.