[SOLVED] PulseAudio Equalizer installation is repaired

[RonC]

A utility program was previously installed in Quiana and it ran normally for two days, by selecting it from the Program Menu.

Today I tried to make it into a StartUp (to be always present following any boot of Mint). After that, I couldn't run it anymore.

When it's selected from the Program Menu, now, only a 'taskbar icon' appears, with a spinning 'progress' sign, and after a short while, the Progress Bar icon spontaneously disappears.

When it disappears, an icon appears on the Desktop, a page with a folded corner and a question mark. This icon has the name of the utiity I intended to run. 'Properties' shows it to be a 'Desktop Configuration File' and double-clicking this new Desktop icon starts the process all over again: another taskbar icon appears, with a spinning progress symbol, that stops, the icon disappears from the taskbar, and another 'Configuration File' appears on the Desktop.



I went into Synaptic and I did both a normal, and then a complete, uninstallation of this utility, then reinstalled it, and then rebooted the OS. I clicked the Program Menu entry for the utility, but ... its behavior (failing to run) is unchanged.

After a reinstall in synaptic, I then tried and uninstall in Software Manager. Here, the uninstall progress bar goes only to 99% -- at which time, Software Manager froze.

Next, I have done this, from the Command Line, thinking 'purge' might be more comlete:

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get purge pulseaudio equalizer
sudo apt-get autoremove

[/b]
I then re-installed the utility once again, but still it will not run. The utility also fails to show up as a running program, when pressing <Alt><Tab>.

Question:
What could I have done, to make it do this, instead of having the program run normally? Has anyone ever seen or hear of this before?? How can I resolve it??

P.S.: I've moved this from Newbie Questions, where it was receiving 'zero' replies, although there was lots of activities on adjacent posts. I concluded that I posted the original in the wrong place. I've asked the moderator there to please remove the original, to avoid 'double posting'.

[nomko]

P.S.: I've moved this from Newbie Questions, where it was receiving 'zero' replies, although there was lots of activities on adjacent posts. I concluded that I posted the original in the wrong place. I've asked the moderator there to please remove the original, to avoid 'double posting'.

I just reported it as well. Your question was placed correctly under newbie if you ask me. Otherwise some mod had moved it already. But never multipost again!! Multiposting the same question makes it only more confusing, not only for yoursefl, but also for other users with similar questions.

And if you post a question, please wait for a day or 2 before replying to your own post. We are all volunteers here and don't have all the time of the world to be on this forum and answer questions/solve problems. We don't get paid by anybody here to help others. So please be patiented and wait for a few days.
Thanks!

[Flemur]

A utility program was previously installed

Which one, pray tell?

Next, I have done this, from the Command Line, thinking 'purge' might be more comlete:
sudo apt-get purge pulseaudio equalizer

So you purged pulseaudio and something called "equalizer"; the latter isn't in M17/Xfce repositories.

Or, is the mysterious utility program "pulseaudio-equalizer"?
http://www.webupd8.org/2013/10/system-w ... lizer.html

[RonC]

Thanks so much for your interest. I'm a very new Mint user, and this problem is really 'bugging' me. This new audio equalizer worked so much better for me than one by RealTek, that it will be a major factor for me in making LinuxMint my primary operating system. That is, once it starts running again.

I really don't know if it has anything to do with this specific utility, or if it's just coincidence. Just before it acted up I was experimenting with the KDE Multiple Desktops, and then experimenting with setting it up to run on boot. When I rebooted to test it (no, it didn't autostart) I went to the program itself, to see if that was OK. Then for the first time, I saw it would no longer run, as it had before.

A utility program was ... installed

... and you're asking its name.
Yes, it is the PulseAudio Equalizer, installed from this URL.
It was working fine for a couple of days, but after it 'acted up' uninstalling and reinstalling doesn't seem to do anything. This has me guessing that it's something else in my system that's doing this -- and at this point, I'm suspecting the desktop environment.

I'm open to other suggestions ... whatever it takes to get it going, again.

So you purged pulseaudio and something called "equalizer" ...

You raise an interesting point, as to whether or not the hyphen should be there. I checked with dpkg first, to see how the equalizer was listed internally by the OS, and then purged exactly what I saw ... Mint seems to want a space between the two terms.

Only the equalizer was gone after the purge. But after your comment, I just ran synaptic and ... yes, the PulseAudio audio server is still there.

But, what's going on with this? What puts this on the desktop? And, does this instead of running the program? I've never seen any other program do it.

Can a program do this by itself, or does it mean I accidentally changed something in the desktop environment? I'm suspecting I touched something I shouldn't have, when I was experimenting with KDE's autorun feature.

Can someone suggest how I can get my system back to the way it was, two days ago?

[RonC]

I'm trying to troubleshoot this be seeing if the executable script will run from the command line, and apparently it doesn't.

• ron@ron-gnulinux:/usr/bin > pulseaudio-equalizer-gtk
  Getting settings...
  /usr/share/pulseaudio-equalizer/pulseaudio-equalizer.py:451: GtkWarning: IA__gtk_range_set_range: assertion 'min < max' failed
  scale.set_range(float(ranges[0]), float(ranges[1]))
  Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/share/pulseaudio-equalizer/pulseaudio-equalizer.py", line 535, in <module>
  Equalizer()
  File "/usr/share/pulseaudio-equalizer/pulseaudio-equalizer.py", line 457, in __init__
  FormatLabels(x)
  File "/usr/share/pulseaudio-equalizer/pulseaudio-equalizer.py", line 116, in FormatLabels
  current_input = int(ladspa_inputs[x-1])
  ValueError: invalid literal for int() with base 10: ''

I'm going to do some searching on the errors it's throwing, but if anyone sees the problem please chime in.

This program was working, just by clicking it in the Program Menu, for at least three days after it was installed. Can't figure out what made it stop, now?

Maybe it's not a KDE problem, after all?

[RonC]

This program was working, and from one day to the next it stopped ... it's possible that an update from the repo broke something that this equalizer depends upon. I have been allowing updates whenever I see that new packages are available. No idea how I could figure that out or localize it, however ...

[edit]
This is the first line in the list of error messages, from the command line, as previously posted:

Getting settings...
/usr/share/pulseaudio-equalizer/pulseaudio-equalizer.py:451: GtkWarning: IA__gtk_range_set_range: assertion 'min < max' failed
scale.set_range(float(ranges[0]), float(ranges[1]))

'Gtk' precedes the other errors -- does this mean the first suspect might be an updated package with 'Gtk' in its name? At the time of this edit, I'm aware that the original Mint binaries (on the installation disc) were working with the equalizer utility. [/edit]

Most appreciated if anyone following this thread could 'chime in' with other ideas or solutions. I've only come to Mint recently, and I'm sure there are other forum members with more experience than mine.

[RonC]

Please take a look at the latest development with my troubleshooting, and advise accordingly:

I loaded the live DVD, using the same disk I installed onto my hard drive, and discovered the audio equalizer -- from the same .deb package that's been failing on my current installation -- installs, runs and functions perfectly.

Likely it's not KDE, at all. Nor is it the multiple desktops, as I went into that section and changed a few options, while the equalizer continued to run. It's difficult to test the autostart feature on a live DVD, as far as I know, but I don't see how that could have affected one specific program, to the extent that it still crashes, even when run from the command line.

Take a look through the details in this thread, and now with my latest test, that it works on the live DVD. I have no idea what this means, unless there was, in fact, an update to some package that broke the application.

I'm open to any and all suggestions, from those who have more practical experience with Mint than I do. What's my next step?

[lecterror]

I'm a bit confused about your description of the current state. Did you really run `sudo apt-get purge pulseaudio equalizer` with the space between pulseaudio and equalizer? Is pulseaudio now installed? What happens if you do `sudo apt-get install pulseaudio`?

As for the error you're seeing..I've taken a look at the `/usr/share/pulseaudio-equalizer/pulseaudio-equalizer.py` file, and it seems like it's reading settings from `~/.config/pulse/equalizerrc`. Is this file readable on your system? Does it even exist?

Also, what exactly did you add to startup applications?

[Flemur]

You raise an interesting point, as to whether or not the hyphen should be there. I checked with dpkg first, to see how the equalizer was listed internally by the OS, and then purged exactly what I saw ... Mint seems to want a space between the two terms.

The package/program's name is "pulseaudio-equalizer"
$ sudo apt-get purge pulseaudio-equalizer

Only the equalizer was gone after the purge. But after your comment, I just ran synaptic and ... yes, the PulseAudio audio server is still there.

If you ran sudo apt-get purge pulseaudio equalizer, it shouldn't be.

Try this:
$ sudo apt-get purge pulseaudio pulseaudio-equalizer
$ rm ~/.pulse
(and perhaps rm ~/.config/pulse/equalizerrc)
$ sudo apt-get install pulseaudio pulseaudio-equalizer

Then try (terminal)
$ pulseaudio-equalizer

I don't think there's a pulseaudio-equalizer-gtk (CANCEL THAT STATEMENT!)

[RonC]

... Did you really run `sudo apt-get purge pulseaudio equalizer` with the space between pulseaudio and equalizer? ...

Yes!
Maybe I misread the output from dpkg? Anyway, we have two people now saying the space was a (big!) mistake, so thanks to both for pointing that out!

Is pulseaudio now installed?

I assumed it was, because when I opened synaptic, its check box was still solid green. But, given you think it's gone, I now remember I neglected to refresh synaptic, first. Again,

What happens if you do `sudo apt-get install pulseaudio`?

Couldn't hurt anything and maybe it will help. But I'll reinstall as you suggested anyway -- no more worries about fouling-up the Registry entries by repeatedly reinstalling? (Joke, Joke!!)

As for the error you're seeing..I've taken a look at the `/usr/share/pulseaudio-equalizer/pulseaudio-equalizer.py` file, and it seems like it's reading settings from `~/.config/pulse/equalizerrc`. Is this file readable on your system? Does it even exist?

You know, you may have something. I was also experimenting with setting and removing equalization configuration profiles, while the equalizer was still working -- and I forgot about that, until you said this. I'm assuming the file in the config directory could be related to this, simply because of its name, config? Does that seem right?

I recall I tried to to modify a configuration profile, had difficulty doing this from within the equalizer, so then made a second profile with a slightly different name, and in Dolphin I manually deleted the first profile, then renamed the second (corrected) profile to what the first had been ... I wonder if I made a mistake that caused the user-generated profile file -- to be unreadable?

Just to be sure, in your question, "is this file readable / does it even exist" -- by "this" and "it" -- you're referring to the first, or the second, of the two files you mentioned? Apologies for asking an obvious question ...

Also, what exactly did you add to startup applications?

Hmmm ... let me look and see what's there, now. If I recall it was PulseAudio Equalizer, but I recall getting it from a menu, rather than typing it manually. Right now, there's nothing in Autostart related to the equalizer.

[RonC]

Try this:
$ sudo apt-get purge pulseaudio pulseaudio-equalizer
$ rm ~/.pulse
(and perhaps rm ~/.config/pulse/equalizerrc)
$ sudo apt-get install pulseaudio pulseaudio-equalizer

Then try (terminal)
$ pulseaudio-equalizer

Thanks to lecterror and Flemur, the PulseAudio Equalizer is once again running on my system. I've checked it by running the audio from a Flash video through it, while toggling it 'on' and 'off', and it's operation is back to normal, in every way.

Both of you were 'zeroing in' on getting rid of the contents of ~/.config/pulse/equalizerrc, and I suspect that's what did it. Assuming you agree -- I've only had a few weeks experience with Mint!

I know this shouldn't be, but PulseAudio was still there, and I suspected this because I only lost the equalization, but never lost the sound. Besides, the PulseAudio server was showing as 'installed' in both Synaptic Package Manager (after refreshing it, as well) and the Mint Software Manager. Again ...

So, I only purged the equalizer ...

• > sudo apt-get purge pulseaudio-equalizer
  Reading package lists... Done
  Building dependency tree
  Reading state information... Done
  E: Unable to locate package pulseaudio-equalizer

But from the last line, that wasn't there either! So I suppose ... this purge had no effect?

But, I think the following line must have 'done the trick':

• > rm ~/.config/pulse/equalizerrc

Wasn't 'purging' the equalizer supposed to clear out everything, this subdirectory included? I thought so, but can anyone give a reason why it had to be done manually? Of course, I don't mind having to do it manually -- it made possible repairing the installation!

This question is a bit rhetorical at this point, since the problem is solved. But for future reference ...
why should a purge leave part of an installation in the system, serious enough to cause re-installations to fail, until that 'something' must be removed manually?

So, in some cases, a 'purge' may not be so complete, as would be expected?? Could this mean, for example, there might be something wrong with the package?

Thanks again for telling me how to fix this, while preserving the rest of the installation. The equalizer even started up with the same check-boxes checked, and my custom equalization profile, as it was when the program was 'last seen'.

[Flemur]

why should a purge leave part of an installation in the system, serious enough to cause re-installations to fail, until that 'something' must be removed manually?

That's a good point, and I think this is the reason:
Often those files (under your home directory) aren't part of the initial install; they get created by the program after you run it, so the installer didn't put them there and doesn't know about them. They also exist for each user, unlike the other files installed under /usr/bin, etc., which are system-wide.

SOLVED is good, tho!