Hello Adrian,

I'm currently using pipewire on Daedalus without issue. I've subscribed to the
backports of the package, which I suggest you do too. As for the your problem
leaving you without sound, I'm afraid that the amount of information given is
not enough. For instance, how is pipewire started on your machine? It has to be
a user process, so, in case of KDE, started with a connection script. They
should be located in `~/.config/old-autostart-scripts/`. (At least, mine are.)
I'll attach my script to give you an idea, though it relies on manually added
`pipewire` system group.

So the way pipewire function on my system is user dependent. As I start my KDE
session, the pipewire daemon is launched and KDE pick it up as an audio source.

Once the backports version are installed, make sure the file
/etc/security/limits.d/25-pw-rlimits.conf exists. Add a pipewire group, then add
your user to it:

      groupadd -r pipewire
      usermod -a -G pipewire <yourlogin>

Restart your KDE session, so that the new group takes effect, and if your have
the autostart script installed, you should have sound.

**NOTE:**
     You mentioned that you do sometime have sound after installing pipewire. It
     means that pipewire gets started, but sometimes fails. You need to figure
     out how the pipewire daemon gets started, and why it fails. I'd recommend to
     completely purge (`apt purge`) your system of pulseaudio and pipewire, then
     reinstall pipewire from backports.

For the attached script, you'll need to install the following package. As a
meta-package, it should pull in all that is required from its dependency:

# apt -t daedalus-backports install pipewire-audio

Cheers,
                 Ludovic

On Thu, 08 Aug 2024, Adrian Zaugg wrote:

>Hi
>
>After an upgrade to Daedalus, KDE Plasma's list of audio devices is empty
>(settings -> audio -> devices). The output can't be selected. Before the
>upgrade audio was working perfectly (using pulseaudio).
>
>Playing sound from VLC, Audacity and some others does work, but only through
>the internal speakers. No other output can be chosen. The volume can't be
>changed from the system tray's speaker symbol.
>
>To try to fix it I replaced pulseaudio with pipewire. This did not fix it
>permanently, means: Sometimes after a reboot the devices get listed in KDE and
>output choices and volume settings are working, but mostly the list is empty.
>I did not find a way to fix it permanently (unplugging the external monitor
>and all USB for example).
>
>Does anybody know a solution for that?
>
>Thank you very much.
>
>Regards, Adrian.
>
>PS: The Laptop has Intel HD Audio and some nvidia hardware, it's a ThinkPad
>from around 2012 with dual graphics (discrete and integrated). I am not sure
>why the nvidia hardware is relevant for audio, but I can see it in amixer,
>maybe for HDMI output or so. The problem can be found searching the net, but
>there are no general solutions that worked for me.
>