[SOLVED] Audio breaks when being accessed by more than 1 application

[quarkslot]

Normally I get an audio notification for incoming e-mail however if another application is already playing audio (e.g. web browser or Amarok) KNotify throws an error:

KNotify Fri Jun 12 17:16:24 2009: The audio playback device HDA Intel (ALC883 Analog) does not work. Falling back to HDA Intel (ALC883 Digital).

At this point I lose audio on my system until a reboot because digital output doesn't work at all (an unrelated issue). If I go into System Settings and test the available audio devices PulseAudio is the only one which still works but I 'm sure I have read that it is no longer recommended to use PulseAudio.

So with my default setup Phonon does not like it when more than one app tries to use audio (BTW it is using Xine as its Backend). Device preference for playback is HDA Intel (ALC883 Analog), HDA Intel (ALC883 Digital), HDA ATI HDMI, PulseAudio.

Is there some other device I can add to this list which can manage when more than 1 app tries to play sound?

[dibl]

Re: Audio breaks when being accessed by more than 1 application

I 'm sure I have read that it is no longer recommended to use PulseAudio.

I am not aware of such a general recommendation against PulseAudio -- can you provide a link?

On my platform, it happens that the HDA Intel (STAC92xx) devices provide more flexibility than PulseAudio, so they are at the top of the list in System Settings > Multimedia > Audio. But AFAIK PulseAudio would work.

[quarkslot]

Re: Audio breaks when being accessed by more than 1 application

Thanks, I'll give PulseAudio a go, there's probably some fine-tuning required to get this working to my satisfaction.

I'm not sure where I saw the 'recommendation against PulseAudio', it's just a nagging thought but I'll post the link if I track it down. It's probably worth reminding myself to "not always believe what you read".

[quarkslot]

Re: Audio breaks when being accessed by more than 1 application

I have no problems now that I've switched to PulseAudio, thanks for the input.