cannedtuna2d ago

systemctl status --user pipewire

https://lemmy.world/post/45170184

Show threadcorsicanguppy
Wow. I’ve just stepped out of the office for a rage break because pipewire shat the bed again. It’s amazing how sound seems to be a solved problem 5 or 10 years ago but now it’s just offal.
Apr 5 at 2:11amWeb
Show threadnroth2d ago
Yeah, it was working fine but then it got really hard to use pulse. Just when it was stable, we get a few good years before having to switch to a new unstable thing, since pulse lost support.
Show threadWhiskyTangoFoxtrot2d ago
I never understood why we didn’t just stick with ALSA. OSS was crap, certainly, but ALSA seemed to do the job.
Show threadThe_Decryptor2d ago
Depending on the output device it’s still using ALSA underneath (e.g. Bluetooth output instead is given to the BT stack), PipeWire is dealing with managing and routing the audio output rather than actually performing it.
Show threadCrypticCoffee1d ago
I used to have crackling issues with pulseaudio. It needed restarting constantly. Not issue since the switch to pipewire. So my experienced was the absolute opposite of yours.
Show threadcorsicanguppy1d ago

it got really hard to use pulse

Pulse was another tumour by Lennart. I have no regrets in its passing.

Show threadFauxLiving1d ago

That’s not a pipewire problem, that’s a systemctl problem.

Failed to connect to user scope bus via local transport: $DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS and $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR not defined

The error means systemctl --user can’t reach your user’s D-Bus session because the required environment variables aren’t set. This typically happens when you’ve switched users via su or sudo rather than logging in directly, because htose don’t initialize a full systemd/PAM session. It could also be that your session wasn’t properly initialized by systemd-logind or a number of other things. Try spawning a proper user session:

sudo machinectl shell your_username@

and try the systemctl command again.

Show threadcorsicanguppy1d ago

typically happens when you’ve switched users via su or sudo rather than logging in directly,

  • I wish typical scenarios were the only ones we had – it’d be a trivial solution.
  • This is a largely unmolested install because I don’t want to be debugging my desktop. If I had a point other than whingeing, here, that would be it: when the default, vanilla, least-tuned setup falls over on the regular, then it’s fundamentally a failure at its “you had one job” task.
    • Show threadFauxLiving12h ago

    If it’s consistently breaking then your distro is messing up something. Bad defaults, broken scripts, etc.

    The problem is that the environment variables are expected to be there and they are not there.

    So, if you’re not doing something odd, then your distro is pushing misconfigurations or some other piece of software is interfering with your environmental variables. Whatever the vanilla setup for your distro is, it is not setup correctly.

    I do agree that it’s frustrating, just aim the ire in the right direction… whoever configured your system’s defaults.