How To Install PulseAudio on Manjaro

In this tutorial, we will show you how to install PulseAudio on Manjaro. PulseAudio, a powerful sound server for UNIX-like operating systems, offers a host of features that enhance the audio experience on your Linux system. It provides advanced audio features such as per-application volume controls, network streaming, and more.

This article assumes you have at least basic knowledge of Linux, know how to use the shell, and most importantly, you host your site on your own VPS. The installation is quite simple and assumes you are running in the root account, if not you may need to add ‘sudo‘ to the commands to get root privileges. I will show you the step-by-step installation of the PulseAudio on a Manjaro Linux.

Prerequisites

• A server or desktop running one of the following operating systems: Manjaro, and other Arch-based distributions.
• It’s recommended that you use a fresh OS install to prevent any potential issues.
• SSH access to the server (or just open Terminal if you’re on a desktop).
• A stable internet connection is crucial for downloading and installing packages. Verify your connection before proceeding.
• Access to a Manjaro Linux system with a non-root sudo user or root user.

Install PulseAudio on Manjaro

Step 1. Update Package Repositories.

Keeping your package repositories up-to-date is crucial to ensure you have access to the latest software versions and security updates. Open a terminal and run the following command to update the package repositories:

sudo pacman -Syu
sudo pacman -S base-devel

Step 2. Installing PulseAudio on Manjaro.

Once the update is complete, you can proceed to install PulseAudio. Manjaro Linux uses the pamac package manager. To install PulseAudio, use the following command:

sudo pamac install pulseaudio

After entering your password, the installation process will begin. Once it’s complete, PulseAudio will be installed on your system.

Alternatively, you can install PulseAudio using Snap. Snap is a universal package manager that works across a range of Linux distributions. If you prefer this method, first install Snap using the following command:

sudo pamac install snapd

Then, install PulseAudio with the command:

sudo snap install pulseaudio

Step 3. Configuring PulseAudio

Once PulseAudio is installed, it’s time to configure it for optimal performance. PulseAudio’s configuration files are located in the /etc/pulse directory. You can edit these files to customize PulseAudio’s behavior.

For instance, to set the default sample rate, open the daemon.conf file with a text editor:

sudo nano /etc/pulse/daemon.conf

Find the lines that start with ; default-sample-rate and ; alternate-sample-rate, remove the semicolons, and set the values to your desired sample rate.

After editing the configuration files, you need to enable the PulseAudio service. This can be done using the systemctl command:

systemctl --user enable pulseaudio

Step 4. Testing PulseAudio

To ensure that PulseAudio is working correctly, you can check the status of the service using the following command:

systemctl --user status pulseaudio

If the service is running correctly, you should see active (running) in the output.

If you encounter any issues, there are several troubleshooting steps you can take. First, check the PulseAudio logs for any error messages. You can do this with the command:

journalctl --user -u pulseaudio

If you’re still having trouble, you can restart the PulseAudio service with the command:

systemctl --user restart pulseaudio

If you ever need to uninstall PulseAudio from your Manjaro system, you can do so by running the following command:

sudo pacman -R pulseaudio

This command will remove PulseAudio and its associated packages from your system. However, keep in mind that uninstalling PulseAudio may impact the functionality of applications that rely on it for audio playback or recording. If you plan to use an alternative audio framework, make sure to install and configure it properly before uninstalling PulseAudio.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed PulseAudio. Thanks for using this tutorial to install the latest version of PulseAudio on the Manjaro system. For additional help or useful information, we recommend you check the official PulseAudio website.