mpd: no audio output with PulseAudio, no mixing with ALSA

Question

I am trying to use mpd with PulseAudio output. Thus I wrote the following in /etc/mpd.conf:

music_directory "/mnt/dados/Musicas"
playlist_directory "~/.mpd/playlists"
db_file "~/.mpd/mpd.db"
log_file "~/.mpd/mpd.log"
pid_file "~/.mpd/mpd.pid"
state_file "~/.mpd/mpdstate"
user "renan"

audio_output {
   type         "pulse"
   name         "MPD Output"
}

mixer_type         "software"

mpd is running as user renan. However, I get no output; appears this in mpd.log:

Feb 15 20:24 : output: Failed to enable "MPD Output" [pulse]: pa_context_connect() has failed: Connection refused
Feb 15 20:24 : output: Failed to enable "MPD Output" [pulse]: pa_context_connect() has failed: Connection refused
Feb 15 20:24 : output: Failed to enable "MPD Output" [pulse]: pa_context_connect() has failed: Connection refused
Feb 15 20:24 : output: Failed to enable "MPD Output" [pulse]: pa_context_connect() has failed: Connection refused
Feb 15 20:24 : output: Failed to enable "MPD Output" [pulse]: pa_context_connect() has failed: Connection refused
Feb 15 20:24 : output: Failed to enable "MPD Output" [pulse]: pa_context_connect() has failed: Connection refused

If I try to use ALSA by adding the lines below to /etc/mpd.conf, mpd works but it blocks the audio device: if I open any other software that plays sound it will be unable to play sound, and vice-versa.

audio_output {
   type         "alsa"
   name         "My ALSA Device"
   device         "hw:0,0"  
   format         "44100:16:2"   
}

The rest of my system has no problem outputting audio through PulseAudio. What am I doing wrong?

I run x64 Arch Linux and have the following MPD/PulseAudio related packages installed:

lib32-libpulse 3.0-1
libmpd 11.8.17-1
libmpdclient 2.7-1
libpulse 3.0-2
mpd 0.17.3-1
mpdscribble 0.22-6
pulseaudio 3.0-2
pulseaudio-alsa 2-2
python2-mpd 0.3.0-4

According to the [mpd wiki entry](https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Mpd), your `.conf` for Pulse should read: `audio_output { type "pulse" name "pulse audio" }` — jasonwryan, Feb 15 '13 at 23:01
I've got the same problem on Arch. Unfortunately I just drop mpd. — Mateusz Jagiełło, Feb 15 '13 at 23:08
Found something here: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=155456 — Renan, Feb 15 '13 at 23:09

score 7 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 15 '13 at 23:28

Apparently it is a known problem since the migration to systemd. Worked around by editing the /usr/lib/systemd/system/mpd.service file and adding the lines

[Service]
User=renan
PAMName=system-local-login

(replace renan by your username)

Then, if it works, it should appear in the PulseAudio mixer with the name you gave in the configuration file:

enter image description here

score 0 · Answer 2 · edited Mar 07 '13 at 12:45

0

User "renan" must be a member of group "audio". Do

$ sudo usermod -a -G audio renan

edited Mar 07 '13 at 12:45

manatwork

30,549
7
101
91

answered Mar 07 '13 at 12:08

laskov

1

I am already a member of this group. – Renan Mar 08 '13 at 01:09

mpd: no audio output with PulseAudio, no mixing with ALSA

2 Answers2