[ARCH] libpulse is now required by Phonon, KDE, & MPlayer

[igorzwx]

"kdelibs" depend on Phonon which now depends on "libpulse".
If you are going to install KDE Desktop, you will get "libpulse" together with it.

With the new upgrade of Arch Linux, you are invited to install "libpulse", if you have Phonon, or MPlayer installed:

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==> New package :
extra/libasyncns                 0.8-3         (required by libpulse)
extra/libpulse                   0.9.22-1      (required by phonon)


What kind of evil is that?

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$ yaourt pulse
5 extra/libpulse 0.9.22-1
    A featureful, general-purpose sound server (client library)


It does not promise anything good.

Problem:

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$ yaourt -Syu --aur
Password:
:: Synchronizing package databases...

==> Software upgrade (new version) :
extra/phonon-gstreamer           4.4.2-2       -> 4.4.3-1
extra/phonon                     4.4.2-2       -> 4.4.3-1

==> New package :
extra/atkmm                      2.22.1-1      (required by gtkmm)
extra/libasyncns                 0.8-3         (required by libpulse)
extra/libpulse                   0.9.22-1      (required by phonon)

==> Continue upgrade ? [Y/n]
==> [V]iew package detail   [M]anually select packages
==> --------------------------------------------------
==> n

Workaround:

1. You can make Phonon non-upgradable

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$ sudo gedit /etc/pacman.conf

# Pacman won't upgrade packages listed in IgnorePkg and members of IgnoreGroup
IgnorePkg   = oss
IgnorePkg   = phonon
#IgnoreGroup =

See: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Do ... n_packages

2. You can downgrade "phonon" (if the unwanted version is already installed)
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Do ... _a_package

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$ cd /var/cache/pacman/pkg
$ ls | grep phonon
phonon-4.4.2-2-i686.pkg.tar.xz
phonon-4.4.3-1-i686.pkg.tar.xz
phonon-gstreamer-4.4.2-2-i686.pkg.tar.xz
phonon-gstreamer-4.4.3-1-i686.pkg.tar.xz

Copy phonon-4.4.2-2-i686.pkg.tar.xz to home folder

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$ cp /var/cache/pacman/pkg/phonon-4.4.2-2-i686.pkg.tar.xz ~/

Open it with Archive Manager and read ".PKGINFO"

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# Generated by makepkg 3.4.1
# using fakeroot version 1.14.4
# Mon Oct  4 10:32:50 UTC 2010
pkgname = phonon
pkgbase = phonon
pkgver = 4.4.2-2
pkgdesc = The multimedia API for KDE4
url = http://phonon.kde.org
builddate = 1286188369
packager = Andrea Scarpino <andrea@archlinux.org>
size = 1159168
arch = i686
license = LGPL
depend = qt
depend = phonon-backend
makepkgopt = strip
makepkgopt = docs
makepkgopt = libtool
makepkgopt = emptydirs
makepkgopt = zipman
makepkgopt = purge

phonon-4.4.2-2 depends on "qt" and "phonon-backend". It does not depend on "libpulse"

Downgrading phonon:

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$ sudo pacman -U /var/cache/pacman/pkg/phonon-4.4.2-2-i686.pkg.tar.xz

The magic command "pacman -U pkgname-olderpkgver.pkg.tar.gz" downgrades everything automatically
(toghether with all dependencies), provided that you are wise enough not to clean "pacman cache"
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Do ... _a_package

We have to prevent "phonon" from being upgraded

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$ sudo gedit /etc/pacman.conf

# Pacman won't upgrade packages listed in IgnorePkg and members of IgnoreGroup
IgnorePkg   = oss
IgnorePkg   = phonon
#IgnoreGroup =

See: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Do ... n_packages

Now we can safely upgrade Arch Linux

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# pacman -Syu
:: Synchronizing package databases...
:: Starting full system upgrade...

warning: phonon: ignoring package upgrade (4.4.2-2 => 4.4.3-1)

resolving dependencies...
looking for inter-conflicts...

Targets (1): libxml2-2.7.8-1

Total Download Size:    1.46 MB
Total Installed Size:   10.45 MB

Proceed with installation? [Y/n] y
:: Retrieving packages from extra...
libxml2-2.7.8-1-i686   1495.8K  327.2K/s 00:00:05 [######################] 100%
checking package integrity...
(1/1) checking for file conflicts                  [######################] 100%
(1/1) upgrading libxml2                            [######################] 100%


The most radical solution might be to remove Phonon, but certain applications depend on Phonon for very strange reasons. For example, the Russian Ultimate Dictionary (GoldenDict) does not work without Phonon. Although GoldenDict plays all sounds through MPlayer (by default), you cannot run (or compile) GoldenDict, if Phonon is removed. The new Phonon is, in essence, PulseAudio, and, therefore, GoldenDict does not work if "libpulse" is not installed:

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$ goldendict
goldendict: error while loading shared libraries: libpulse.so.0: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

You can use StarDict instead of GoldenDict.
Another option is to downgrade Phonon.

EDIT: libpulse is now required by MPlayer

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$ yaourt -Syu --aur
Password:
:: Synchronizing package databases...

==> New package :
extra/libasyncns           0.8-3         (required by libpulse)
extra/libpulse             0.9.22-1      (required by mplayer)

==> Continue upgrade ? [Y/n]
==> [V]iew package detail   [M]anually select packages
==> --------------------------------------------------
==> n

Workaround:

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$ sudo gedit /etc/pacman.conf

# Pacman won't upgrade packages listed in IgnorePkg and members of IgnoreGroup
IgnorePkg   = oss
# The following packages depend on libpulse:
IgnorePkg   = phonon
IgnorePkg   = mplayer
#IgnoreGroup =


http://www.archlinux.org/packages/extra/i686/libpulse/

Package Details: libpulse 0.9.22-1
Versions Elsewhere
libpulse 0.9.22-1 [extra] (x86_64)
Architecture: i686
Repository: Extra
Base Package: pulseaudio
Description: A featureful, general-purpose sound server (client library)
Upstream URL: http://pulseaudio.org/
License: GPL, LGPL
Groups: None
Maintainers: Jan Steffens
Package Size: 226.6 KB
Installed Size: 1.1 MB
Last Packager: Jan Steffens
Build Date: 2010-11-26 02:48:16 UTC
Last Updated: 2010-11-27

Dependencies (8):
dbus-core
libasyncns
libcap
libsm
libsndfile
libxtst
tcp_wrappers
xcb-util

Required By (7):
gnome-media-pulse
gnome-settings-daemon-pulse
mplayer
pavucontrol
phonon
pulseaudio
pulseaudio-mixer-applet

Package Contents
View the file list for libpulse
http://www.archlinux.org/packages/extra ... lse/files/

Package File List: libpulse 0.9.22-1
http://www.archlinux.org/packages/extra ... lse/files/

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Package File List: libpulse 0.9.22-1

etc/
etc/pulse/
etc/pulse/client.conf
usr/
usr/include/
usr/include/pulse/
usr/include/pulse/browser.h
usr/include/pulse/cdecl.h
usr/include/pulse/channelmap.h
usr/include/pulse/context.h
usr/include/pulse/def.h
usr/include/pulse/error.h
usr/include/pulse/ext-device-manager.h
usr/include/pulse/ext-stream-restore.h
usr/include/pulse/gccmacro.h
usr/include/pulse/glib-mainloop.h
usr/include/pulse/introspect.h
usr/include/pulse/mainloop-api.h
usr/include/pulse/mainloop-signal.h
usr/include/pulse/mainloop.h
usr/include/pulse/operation.h
usr/include/pulse/proplist.h
usr/include/pulse/pulseaudio.h
usr/include/pulse/rtclock.h
usr/include/pulse/sample.h
usr/include/pulse/scache.h
usr/include/pulse/simple.h
usr/include/pulse/stream.h
usr/include/pulse/subscribe.h
usr/include/pulse/thread-mainloop.h
usr/include/pulse/timeval.h
usr/include/pulse/utf8.h
usr/include/pulse/util.h
usr/include/pulse/version.h
usr/include/pulse/volume.h
usr/include/pulse/xmalloc.h
usr/lib/
usr/lib/libpulse-browse.so
usr/lib/libpulse-browse.so.0
usr/lib/libpulse-browse.so.0.1.1
usr/lib/libpulse-mainloop-glib.so
usr/lib/libpulse-mainloop-glib.so.0
usr/lib/libpulse-mainloop-glib.so.0.0.4
usr/lib/libpulse-simple.so
usr/lib/libpulse-simple.so.0
usr/lib/libpulse-simple.so.0.0.3
usr/lib/libpulse.so
usr/lib/libpulse.so.0
usr/lib/libpulse.so.0.12.3
usr/lib/libpulsecommon-0.9.22.so
usr/lib/libpulsedsp.so
usr/lib/pkgconfig/
usr/lib/pkgconfig/libpulse-browse.pc
usr/lib/pkgconfig/libpulse-mainloop-glib.pc
usr/lib/pkgconfig/libpulse-simple.pc
usr/lib/pkgconfig/libpulse.pc
usr/share/
usr/share/man/
usr/share/man/man5/
usr/share/man/man5/pulse-client.conf.5.gz
usr/share/vala/
usr/share/vala/vapi/
usr/share/vala/vapi/libpulse.vapi

[Edit by cesium: edited post title]

[igorzwx]

Radical SOLUTION

Fix for Mplayer

There is a lot of Mplayers in AUR repository.
You may choose one, which you like more.

Fix for Phonon and Minitube

NOTE: It is suggested that you have already MPlayer installed (without PulseAudio dependencies)

Step 1: Install cmake and automoc4

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# pacman -S cmake automoc4

Step 2: Compile phonon from git with Mplayer support only.

PKGBUILD and the compiled package are in the Attachment.

Step 3: Install the package:

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$ sudo pacman -U phonon-git-mplayer-only--nopulse-20101129-1-i686.pkg.tar.xz

Special Features:
This particular "phonon" has only MPlayer backend.
Xine and Gstreamer backends are disabled.
Therefore, phonon can now play sound and video only through MPlayer.
This means that you do not need to configure phonon.
It is enough to configure MPlayer (!)

Positive Consequences:
Minitube (AUR) is now incredibly fast on my ancient computer (of 2001).
It is as fast as "youtube-viewer" (AUR)

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pkgname=minitube-git
pkgdesc="Native YouTube client in Qt"
url="http://flavio.tordini.org/minitube"
license="GPL"
depends=('qt' 'phonon')

md5sums:

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eba7bf05e71197720f2bf011f1bd7a92  phonon-git-mplayer-only--nopulse-20101129-1-i686.pkg.tar.xz
1082b61f672856f752440ba1cd29e638  PKGBUILD
099f808d7b48a81ba936e53a6371a061  PKGBUILD.tar.bz2
fd450434dcde8a60c85963094689edd7  Listing_from_Terminal.txt
d7818aa281df737f2d88cac89dccc271  Listing_from_Terminal.txt.tar.bz2

Attachment:

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099f808d7b48a81ba936e53a6371a061  PKGBUILD.tar.bz2
d7818aa281df737f2d88cac89dccc271  Listing_from_Terminal.txt.tar.bz2
eba7bf05e71197720f2bf011f1bd7a92  phonon-git-mplayer-only--nopulse-20101129-1-i686.pkg.tar.xz

NOTE: "phonon-git-mplayer-only--nopulse-20101129-1-i686.pkg.tar.xz" is not included, because it is too big (247K).

! This PKGBUILD is outdated. Phonon's git-repository was moved to another location, see README in "/src"

[igorzwx]

Why do we need PulseAudio on Arch Linux?

You may not need PulseAudio, if you have OSS4. What is more, PulseAudio appears to be of little use with ALSA too. The Russians claim that ALSA drivers now support hardware mixing for ordinary soundcards. It is said that to enable HW mixing with ALSA, one has to remove /etc/asound.conf and ~/.asoundrc and set "alsa:default" in sound applications. It is reported to work.

http://vladimir-stupin.blogspot.com/2009/08/alsa.html
morbo комментирует...
Сегодня в рассылке debian-russian Станислав Масловский посоветовал для настройки микширования средствами alsa удалить /etc/asound.conf, ~/.asoundrc, и прописать везде использование alsa без каких-либо дополнительных настроек.

Он уверял, что alsa и в самом деле умеет микшировать звук сама.

Я попробовал последовать его совету, а также прописал в /etc/mplayer/mplayer.conf и в ~/.xine/config использование alsa:default и заработало всё.

Теперь у меня нигде нет каких-либо специальных настроек звука, но всё прекрасно микшируется!

7 октября 2009 г. 19:23

In ALSA wiki, one may find this:

Neither .asoundrc or /etc/asound.conf is normally required. You should be able to play and record sound without either (assuming your mic and speakers are hooked up properly). If your system won't work without one, and you are running the most current version of ALSA, you probably should file a bug report. http://alsa.opensrc.org/.asoundrc

OSS4 drivers may not support HW mixing for a few soundcards, but the virtual mixer (vmix) can do the work in any case. Thus, PulseAudio seems to be useless for the large majority of Arch Linux users. If it is now installed on Arch Linux by default, there should be a special reason for this. This is the puzzle!

-----------------
This puzzle may have a simple explanation. On Arch Linux, MPlayer depends on "libpulse" (for some strange reason). On the other hand, VLC does not play any DVDs (encrypted and non-encrypted) for the same strange reason. Can you imagine VLC which does not play DVDs? There are several such exotic VLC players in Arch repositories. There should be other problems too, because a well-known bug (which "has been around for a long time") is said to affect "tons of libraries".

More hints are here:
http://www.archlinux.org/packages/extra/i686/vlc/
http://www.archlinux.org/packages/extra/i686/libpulse/

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Package Details: libpulse 0.9.22-1
Maintainers:  Jan Steffens
Last Packager:  Jan Steffens
Build Date:  2010-11-26 02:48:16 UTC
Last Updated: 2010-11-27

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Package Details: vlc 1.1.5-2
Last Packager:  Jan Steffens
Build Date:  2010-11-26 23:03:03 UTC
Last Updated: 2010-11-27

Most amazing:

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$ pacman -Si vlc | grep pulse
Conflicts With  :  vlc-pulse-plugin
Replaces        :  vlc-pulse-plugin   

PulseAudio is inside VLC, instead of DVD playback!

What is more, both MPlayer and VLC can be easily recompiled to fix the problems.
There is a working package "vlc-oss-dev" (7MB). It was compiled without ALSA and PulseAudio.
It was tested with non-encrypted DVDs and encrypted ones (not very new). Everything seems to work.
I would upload it here, but it is too big (7MB).