PipeWire: Difference between revisions

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troubleshooting - audio crackling fix section
 
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[https://www.pipewire.org/ PipeWire] is a relatively new (first release in 2017) low-level multimedia framework. It aims to offer capture and playback for both audio and video with minimal latency and support for [[PulseAudio]]-, [[JACK]]-, [[ALSA]]- and [[GStreamer]]-based applications. PipeWire has a great [[Bluetooth|bluetooth]] support: because Pulseaudio was [https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/123784 reported to have troubles with bluetooth], PipeWire can be a good alternative.
[https://www.pipewire.org/ PipeWire] is a relatively new (first release in 2017) low-level multimedia framework. It aims to offer capture and playback for both audio and video with minimal latency and support for [[PulseAudio]]-, [[JACK]]-, [[ALSA]]- and [[GStreamer]]-based applications. PipeWire has great [[Bluetooth|bluetooth]] support: because Pulseaudio was [https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/123784 reported to have troubles with bluetooth], PipeWire can be a good alternative.


The daemon based on the framework can be configured to be both an audio server (with PulseAudio and JACK features) and a video capture server.
The daemon based on the framework can be configured to be both an audio server (with PulseAudio and JACK features) and a video capture server.
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</syntaxhighlight>
</syntaxhighlight>


It is possible to use the {{nixos:option|services.pipewire.extraConfig}} option hierarchy in NixOS to create drop-in configuration files, if needed.
It is possible to use the {{nixos:option|services.pipewire.extraConfig}} option hierarchy in NixOS to create drop-in configuration files, if needed. For example, to disable the [https://docs.pipewire.org/page_module_x11_bell.html PipeWire x11-bell module] (which plays a sound on every X11 urgency hint), use:
 
<syntaxhighlight lang="nix">
  services.pipewire = {
    enable = true;
    # Disable X11 bell module, which plays a sound on urgency hint
    # (my prompt includes an urgency hint, so I want no sounds).
    extraConfig = {
      pipewire."99-silent-bell.conf" = {
        "context.properties" = {
          "module.x11.bell" = false;
        };
      };
    };
  };
</syntaxhighlight>


==Bluetooth Configuration==
==Bluetooth Configuration==
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* {{nixos:package|carla}}: with JACK emulation, provides a patchbay (make sure to go to "Patchbay" tab and check "Canvas > Show External").
* {{nixos:package|carla}}: with JACK emulation, provides a patchbay (make sure to go to "Patchbay" tab and check "Canvas > Show External").
* catia/{{nixos:package|patchage}}: similar to qjackctl and carla.
* catia/{{nixos:package|patchage}}: similar to qjackctl and carla.
* {{nixos:package|helvum}}: GTK-based patchbay for PipeWire (uses the PipeWire protocol). Volume control is planned for later.
* {{nixos:package|pwvucontrol}}: Similar to pavucontrol but for pipewire


==Advanced Configuration==
==Advanced Configuration==
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Despite early activation, you may still experience a race condition that prevents audio from working if you play media immediately after a new login such as running an SSH command. If this occurs, try introducing a short delay (e.g. <code>sleep 5</code>) before invoking the media player application.
Despite early activation, you may still experience a race condition that prevents audio from working if you play media immediately after a new login such as running an SSH command. If this occurs, try introducing a short delay (e.g. <code>sleep 5</code>) before invoking the media player application.
==== System-wide PipeWire ====
As an alternative to having lingering systemd user services, PipeWire can also run as a system-wide Systemd service. See {{nixos:option|services.pipewire.systemWide}} for more.
{{file|/etc/nixos/configuration.nix|nix|3=
services.pipewire.systemWide = true;
services.pipewire.pulse.enable = true; # pipewire-pulse also supports running system-wide
# PipeWire users must be in the `pipewire` group
users.users.myservice1.extraGroups = [ "pipewire" ];
systemd.services.myservice2.serviceConfig.SupplementaryGroups = [ "pipewire" ];
}}


==Troubleshooting==
==Troubleshooting==
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This configuration prevents audio popping and keeps the audio pipeline active, effectively reducing startup delay from ~5s to ~1s. Adding the dither settings further eliminates the remaining delay.
This configuration prevents audio popping and keeps the audio pipeline active, effectively reducing startup delay from ~5s to ~1s. Adding the dither settings further eliminates the remaining delay.
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</ol>


=== Audio Crackling Fix===
Increasing buffer size for the audio will reduce crackling but increase latency.
More details can be found in [https://docs.pipewire.org/page_man_pipewire_conf_5.html pipewire docs] and [https://pipewire.pages.freedesktop.org/wireplumber/daemon/configuration/alsa.html wireplumber docs]


<syntaxhighlight lang="nix">
services.pipewire.enable = true;
services.pipewire.extraConfig.pipewire = {
  "98-crackling-fix" = {
    "context.properties" = {
      "default.clock.quantum" = 1024;
      "default.clock.min-quantum" = 1024;
      "default.clock.max-quantum" = 8192;
    };
  };
};


# additional fix for very bad devices or VM.
services.pipewire.wireplumber.extraConfig = {
  "99-crackling-fix" = {
    "api.alsa.period-size" = 1024;
    "api.alsa.headroom" = 8192;
  };
};
</syntaxhighlight>


==See also==
==See also==