Linux reference in the wild

TBF I haven't had a sound issue after Linux mint switched to pipewire.

I haven't had a sound issue since I unplugged the speakers
- I installed Mint on an old laptop and had sound issues with external speakers. Spent 30 mins trouble shooting until I realized there was something with the port that if you fully pushed in the aux cable, it went in too much and the contacts don’t fully meet. There was a sweet spot where the cord is plugged in correctly but not pushed in too much.
- Say, that's some smart thinking.
I did but that was mostly my own doing.
- Linux, in an nutshell.
  A lot of Linux issues are actually just messing around then finding out
I want to like pipewire but configuration is a hell scape of configuration files that bare no resemblance to any I've dealt with before, and doesn't recognise my audio interface probably so I have to just fully stop all pw services and use jack for Ardour.
- You have to configure it???
For me it's like:
PulseAudio - Bluetooth Audio doesn't work
PipeWire - Audio sometimes work, sometimes not. Reboot and figure it out.
Sadly, I have sound issues since the switch to pipewire is complete. There is less stuttering, yes, but sometimes I experience complete silence. Only if I change the volume a bit, it is back again.
I suspect random switches to the dummy output but I could not find the source of the problem, yet.

Certified Pulseaudio moment

Fuck around with pipewire and pulseaudio and find out

Well, don't use both at the same time... Seriously though pipewire/pipewire-pulse have fixed all of the already pretty infrequent audio problems I've had
Lession learned the hard way. :/

This might be a dumb question, but why are so many people saying they have sound issues? Did I just get lucky with the pc's I have run Linux on and never have sound problems?

In the beginning there was oss, and then there was alsa. In the alsa days it was easy to get any given thing to work, but sometimes it was hard to make two separate things work at the same time.
Pulseaudio fixed this, but it took a long time, distros didn't start adopting it until 2008 or so, and back then it wasn't all that solid.
The meme makes no sense now that we have pipewire, but it'd have been fair between 1998 and 2009, depending on your configuration and usage case.
- to be fair it does still make sense with lower-level distros like arch. usually it is as simple as installing pipewire + wireplumber or whatever, but that sometimes doesn't work out of the box and there are also other ways to do audio
It got a lot better in the last 5-10 years
But having functional audio in all applications was quite an archivement before that
my front audio ports don't work and i have no idea if it's a hardware or software issue so i just don't bother with them
edit: fixed it by changing front port audio mode from HD audio to ac97 in bios settings
- Congrats on fixing your audio.
- I had that exact problem and fixed it by changing the audio mode from hd audio to ac97 in the bios settings. Apparently linux doesnt like realteks hd audio
I think it's just old tribal knowledge that people have turned into a meme at this point, just like people thinking all versions of Linux are so arcane and obtuse, you need to be a master programmer or hacker to be able to make it run without crashing. When I was first starting out with it, around 2009, I remember having somewhat regular issues with my sound and my wifi just randomly deciding I was unworthy of either sound or wireless internet access. That was across distros when I was initially checking things out, as well as across releases of the same distro once I (mostly) settled down.
These days, I can't remember the last time I had such problems that weren't either the result of a specific bug that was shortly fixed, or the fallout of something stupid I did myself while tinkering with something and not paying enough attention.
My primary issues on Linux have been wifi and GPU drivers. Wifi is fine these days, but trying to get actual 3D rendering to work still is a major headache.
- 3D rendering is the one thing Nvidia does better on Linux, I still do not understand why AMD makes it so difficult to access productivity features of their cards.
Frfr
Lot of issues with sound cards in the past. Also screw creative.
Tbh? I just set up Bazzite on my PC and it was the first time i had (some) sound issues too. Mostly related to my pcie soundcard, but my Mainboard aux ports aren't working either. I think it's driver related, just to many different vendors.
- So the general missing driver thing. We do not have enough users, so companies don't make drivers and we have to hope the community makes open source ones.
Sound has always worked for me UNLESS I'm using with some niche desktop.

Lmfao my SteamDeck's audio broke for some reason while I was messing with Lutris (because yaRrr 🏴‍☠️), so I had to copy-paste a random redditor's terminal commands into konsole and I honestly am not knowledged enough to know if it was malicious, but it had a few upvotes and was up for more than a week without getting taken down, so I just assume it's probably fine.

One of these days, I'm gonna copy paste malware into the terminal lol.

install tldr and run it on the command and it should give you a general idea what the command is doing.

I feel like the last time I installed Linux and had any issues with sound or internet or anything like that has to be at least 15 years ago

Well, the song is from 1996. And Linux definitely was having trouble with sound then.
Good for you! I just solved a shared audio problem on a Pi 5 in the last week. If I was watching something in VLC then paused it and wanted to look at something on YouTube, I couldn't get any audio without killing VLC then later having to try to remember where I was up to.
Lucky you! :)
For me, switching to Bluetooth half the time makess the audio go crackly and stuttering, which sometimes can be fixed by switching codec, sometimes not, and then after that happens my HDMI audio is screwed up too, even after turning Bluetooth off.
With steam games too, audio is the #1 most likely thing to be not working, or working improperly.
- https://askubuntu.com/questions/405071/static-and-crackling-in-my-hdmi-audio for me this helped when i had hdmi issues

This may be the best meme I’ve seen in this community, made me legitimately laugh.

I only post peak content ya feel me 🚀🚀

ˡᴵⁿᵁˣ ᴵˢ ᵒᴺˡʸ ᶠᴼᴿ ᴴᵃᶜᴷᵉᴿˢ ᵒᴿ ⁿᵉᴿᴰˢ. ʸᵒᵘ ᴺᴱᵉᵈ ᵗʰᵉ ᵀᵉʳᵐᴵᴺᴬˡ ᶠᴼᴿ ᴱⱽᴱᴿʸᵗᴴⁱⁿᵍ. ᴸⁱᴺᵘˣ ᴴᵃˢ ᴺᵒ ᴬᵘᴰᴵᵒ ˢᵘᴾᵖᴼᴿᵀ / ᵃᵘᵈᴵᴼ ⁱˢ ᵇʳᵒᴷᵉᴺ. ʸᴼᵁ ᶜᴬᴺ'ᵗ ᴾᴸᵃʸ ᵍᴬᴹᴱˢ ᴼᴺ ˡᴵⁿᵁˣ. ᴸᴵᴺᵁˣ ᴰᴼᵉˢᴺ’ᵀ ˢᵘᴾᵖᴼʳᵀ ᴴᵃᴿᴰʷᵃʳᵉ. ʸᴼᵁ ᴴᵃⱽᴱ ᵗᴼ ᶜᴼᴹᵖᴵᴸᴱ ᴱᵛᵉᴿʸᵗᴴᴵᴺᴳ ᶠᴿᵒᴹ ˢᵒᵘʳᶜᵉ.

Its not funny. Why does this shit keep popping up on linuxmemes. Its not true (anymore). Just use Beginner Friendly Distros and you will never face any of this shit.. So stop being afraid of a fucking terminal you dork.

Edit: if you complain about your software or hardware not working shutdown your devices and go take a walk in nature and reflect about the fact that you are too stupid to write your own working code for software or build your own chips from a pile of sand or even realize why you even have to use computers as a human being in this short blib of a lifetime in this incomprehensible thing we call universe and instead have to rely upon contributed work of others. But I guess you are unable since your feelings are getting manipulated by a fucking comment on a lemmy community post which makes you angry and nOw I NeEd To ClAriFy StUfF AbOuT LiNux aNd hOw ShIt It ActUaLly StiLl is aNd HaVe To TeLL EvErYoNe oN ThE InTerNeT viA a LemMY CoMmEnT ;((((. Lol you dorks.

Edit2: Yes Linux works like shit at times. Its a frustrating mess sometimes. BuT AtLeAsT mY wOrD DoCuMenTs aRe NoT UpLoAdEd to ThE ClOuD.

Edit3: /s

Edit4: /s

I will make sure to post truly funny and intellectual content next time like "windows bad haha"
- windows bad is like fine wine. it gets truer every time it needs to be posted.
it's a funny reference to more broken times
i sometimes struggled with alsa and pulseaudio, especially in more niche or diy distros, and at the time it was frustrating as hell, but looking back it's a nostalgic memory.
- 🇺🇸🧑‍✈️: 😐... 😮 👉🙂
  \ "I understood that reference."
Because it's unfortunately still true. I have a video-card that I can't upgrade because it nvidia drivers keep breaking my display. I've had to swap distros because some don't work well with my audio-card, or my wifi-card. I was able to get them working eventually, but pretending that it wasn't a pain in the ass would be a lie.
This attitude of "everything works fine, and if it doesn't that means you are doing it wrong" is why people don't like trying Linux. We have to be realistic about the experience. It's massively better than it used to be, but pretending its flawless is just dishonest.
I ran into an issue last night with HDMI failing to be assigned as the audio output. a reboot fixed it but idk what the problem really is it how to prevent it.
been full time on Debian 15 years, and full time on Linux 21 years.
geez you sound insufferable, i wonder why so many people have negative opinions of the linux community…
also damn I don’t envy anyone who has to use a screen reader to read your first paragraph
If you're using supported hardware, sure.
My wifi keeps freaking out, my 2.5G nic simply doesn't work, my Bluetooth acts up constantly, the razor kernel module made my whole setup unstable and I just wanted to change the stupid RGB lights, HDMI support is unpredictable, Nvidia drivers are a shitshow.
I still don't miss Windows, but Windows 11 is stable on the same hardware.
- Good one. (I bluntly assumed you are joking cause otherwise 💅)
That's not true.
I've also had a lot of success on most hardware, but the worst device I ever touched was a 2016 Macbook (one of the last with normal ports) and that thing was a total mess.
Arch: Video, no sound. Debian: Sound, no video. Ubuntu: Everything works, reboot, nothing works.
Probably heavily related to hardware, but still, very inconsistent. I was never able to find the actual issue after weeks.
The final somewhat working configuration was Debian+Liquorix for the video firmware.
So no, it's not guaranteed.
- What do you expect from a Mac, a company whose entire ethos is proprietarism?
- Nice catch! 👏 Using one of the most proprietary devices out there in the market as an example.
Memes are not necessarily meant to be funny. They're meant to represent a common experience within a group. The horrid failure rate of PulseAudio just a couple years ago fits that definition perfectly, and in fact it's why I gave up on Ubuntu 14.04 in 2015.
- Part of some people's chagrin with internet memes culture is presenting outdated and harmful ideas as popular or current. Further spreading misinformation and hurtful beliefs.
- 2015
  a couple years ago
  My friend, time has escaped you.
- Nice. Referencing an experience of the year 2014. Great Catch!
ˡᴵⁿᵁˣ ᴵˢ ᵒᴺˡʸ ᶠᴼᴿ ᴴᵃᶜᴷᵉᴿˢ ᵒᴿ ⁿᵉᴿᴰˢ. ʸᵒᵘ ᴺᴱᵉᵈ ᵗʰᵉ ᵀᵉʳᵐᴵᴺᴬˡ ᶠᴼᴿ ᴱⱽᴱᴿʸᵗᴴⁱⁿᵍ. ᴸⁱᴺᵘˣ ᴴᵃˢ ᴺᵒ ᴬᵘᴰᴵᵒ ˢᵘᴾᵖᴼᴿᵀ / ᵃᵘᵈᴵᴼ ⁱˢ ᵇʳᵒᴷᵉᴺ. ʸᴼᵁ ᶜᴬᴺ'ᵗ ᴾᴸᵃʸ ᵍᴬᴹᴱˢ ᴼᴺ ˡᴵⁿᵁˣ. ᴸᴵᴺᵁˣ ᴰᴼᵉˢᴺ’ᵀ ˢᵘᴾᵖᴼʳᵀ ᴴᵃᴿᴰʷᵃʳᵉ. ʸᴼᵁ ᴴᵃⱽᴱ ᵗᴼ ᶜᴼᴹᵖᴵᴸᴱ ᴱᵛᵉᴿʸᵗᴴᴵᴺᴳ ᶠᴿᵒᴹ ˢᵒᵘʳᶜᵉ.
Edit: if you complain about your software or hardware not working shutdown your devices and go take a walk in nature and reflect about the fact that you are too stupid to write your own working code for software or build your own chips from a pile of sand
You lasted exactly one paragraph before contradicting yourself.
Please, shut down your device and just take a walk dude
It will stay true as most computers are optimized to windoze-only. Just some of us are lucky because our computer wasn't optimized to it.
Beginner distros are even worse, once you're past the absolute beginner phase and start to notice what I call "the fuck you features" you start to hate linux as much as windows, for example, sound always starts with a fade in so notification sounds get muted, that's because there's an energy savings option active by default, you'll find dozens of forum posts telling you how to fix it except, fuck you, none of them work anymore because that configuration file is not there anymore and you must create it and figure out what to write in it.
Another example, celluloid opens subtitles by default, you don't want that? Fuck you, create a configuration file somewhere and good luck finding out what to write in it. You end up installing vlc.
Things like these has been my experience with linux for the last 15 years.
- Lol are you guys bots by apple, microsoft and co? You are so hateful regarding linux. I guess i just have to accept the dead internet theory. Just bots manipulating the masses so big tech companys can still sell their monopolic shit cuz LiNuX StilL sO bAd :(((((
It was true at the time the song was recorded though.
Unfortunately it is still true to some extent. i do have audio issue (crackling music, no sound, wrong audio preset on my headphones and i cant change it to the right one) all of them are fixed by restarting my PC
I updated my laptop from Mint 21.3? to 22 and lost all sound. It's when Mint switched from I think Pulse to Pipewire. The update left behind a random config file that stopped my sound device from being set up, and the only place I could find a fix was on an obscure forum post.
Hibernation and hybrid sleep are both supported by my laptop, and can be set up to work on Mint with a lot of configuration through the terminal. When I reboot though, they stop working again. The related options disappear from the power settings, but work from the terminal.
Pretending that Linux doesn't have issues is an outright lie at this point
- Pretending that Linux doesn't have issues is an outright lie at this point
  And I'm sure your comparison is done using a Linux-native device, not an originally Windows-specific device you installed Linux on? With power management specifically there's nothing Linux distros can do to work nicely everywhere, it's an awful clusterfuck.
  The only way to fairly attribute flaws to Linux is to compare a device that waa designed and built for both. Otherwise I could blame, idk, Android for running like shit on my Wii U.
- Fucking make a reinstall every once in a while. Migration hell is still true. So my comment is heavily biased cause migration is for noobs.
Delusional as Trump stuff.
I had to fuck around with both pipewire and gameconf just to get my HDMI audio "working". I still haven't figured out why HDR and vrr refuse to work. PoE2 will launch from the desktop but no no no, I use deck mode and crash, no monitor to display to. Turn off and on my display, of it's fucking gone. Go unplug and put it back in EVERY TIME I WALK AWAY FROM MY COMPUTER FOR A MINUTE. My fucking Xbox and PS5 controllers get seconds off latency and even if I'm plugged in the Xbox controller STILL has issues maintaining a stable connection.
3 weeks into my bi yearly being tricked into thinking THIS is the year Linux DE becomes less a pain in the ass over windows DE and I'm ready to go back.
Am extra 4 fps isn't worth the effort.
- How did you travel from 1997 to get to 2025?

Fake, the song is from 1996. Linux has supported sound cards since 1992, so nobody from that point onwards ever lacked audio. /s

I currently have more audio issues on my MacBook Pro than my Linux desktop. The Mac will sometimes just fail to recognize headphones plugged into the 3.5mm TRS port. NixOS desktop w/ pipewire has no audio problems whatsoever.

Pipewire is amazing.

God, don't remind me when I fucked up my audio on Arch because I had both pipewire and pulseaudio installed and didn't realize it for a good hour.

Choices when trying to get reaper or ardour to work:

Massive latency, unusable
All other audio stops working
No audio at all
Have audio but now midi devices don't work

At least for Linux-Reaper:
Use Jack. Install the "Pulse Jack Module", route Pulseaudio through Jack to simultaneously connect Reaper and everything else to the Jack System out. Always autostart Jack and use the Pulse Module "autoconnect" parameter as a startup script (QJackCtl helps here).
Should fix 1-3, 4 I'm not sure.
- I eventually gave up and just chose ALSA, which "just works" with the downside of being exclusive. I'll give jack another try once I distrohop again.
Maybe I'm missing something obvious but how often is midi used in modern days?
- Very often. You're plobably thinking of midi playback, but all of those usb (piano) keyboards, drum pads, etc. use the same protocol. Midi is very much not dead.
- Extremely frequently. Digital musical instruments generally don't output production quality sounds -- they output MIDI data that describes what note is being played, and an audio synthesizer device or software interprets it and generates the audio data.
- All the time! Not bad for a 1983 protocol.
I feel like I got pretty lucky with my bitwig setup (on arch)? I selected PipeWire as the output driver and everything just works (no latency, midi is fine, other apps can still be heard). the only caveat is I have to fiddle a bit if I want the audio to be sent over screen sharing apps, which I think introduces a decent amount of latency. Maybe bitwig has invested in some tech the other DAWs don't have since it's commercial software and Linux support is one of their competitive advantages...
- That applies to reaper as well. I think it's mostly that linux sound servers are a pain.

It's a cheap shot, but I'll allow it.

I'm having a terrible anxiety flashback from installing Ubuntu on a netbook back in 2010. It was like a 20 command process that required babysitting and a second computer. It felt like each thing I fixed broke two other things.

Things are better now, thankfully.

Average PulseAudio user.

Virtually insane

My Lenovo go running the official steam os fails to recognize audio over HDMI if I wake it from sleep. I can switch it to Linux and have sound work but no games will detect audio until I reboot.

I need to set my volume over 22% or so so that I get any sound at startup or when plugging my speakers in, then I can lower the volume again.