GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 588947
gnome-volume-control chews up 40% CPU after switching applications
Last modified: 2009-07-26 14:41:42 UTC
Please describe the problem: I go from running Dragon NaturallySpeaking under wine to Firefox, enter an application that needs sound, and suddenly my system starts churning purposelessly. I go to system monitor and find that gnome-volume-control is running at 40% CPU. I modified my system to purge pulseaudio because I hate pulseaudio and wine runs better without it. So I have purged pulseaudio. But purging it does not remove its dependencies, as I have found to my sorrow. Steps to reproduce: 1. sudo apt-get --purge remove pulseaudio 2. sudo apt-get install esound 3. try to run firefox Actual results: Some firefox plug-ins look for pulseaudio, triggering gnome-volume-control, which then runs at 40% CPU. Expected results: I would expect that purging pulse would remove all dependencies, including libraries and gnome-volume control, but it doesn't. Does this happen every time? Yes. Other information: The simple solution would be to have ALL pulseaudio programs removed by the "purge" command in apt-get.
This isn't a GNOME problem. File it with your distribution.
Bastien, it looks like NOFAIL busy loop the applet in some situations: if you remove PulseAudio, it continuously try to autospawn it. We could certainly be less aggressive. Not sure how yet. Any idea?
(In reply to comment #2) > Bastien, it looks like NOFAIL busy loop the applet in some situations: if you > remove PulseAudio, it continuously try to autospawn it. > > We could certainly be less aggressive. Not sure how yet. Any idea? The gnome-volume-control(-applet) should be removed when this fail. Makes no sense to have a mixer that depends on PA if it's not installed. I don't see this as a GNOME problem but as a distribution problem.
Created attachment 138675 [details] [review] Use g_timeout_add_seconds for idle_reconnect I agree with elmarco about perhaps making the reconnect loop slightly less agressive. I've just tested this patch which registers idle_reconnect with a g_timeout_add_seconds (5 second timeout) rather than g_idle_add, and the CPU usage is negligible then in the situation that the original reporter describes. (The 5 second figure is just plucked from thin air. I suspect the CPU usage would still be negligible even with a 500ms delay)
It does not seem ubuntu specific in the end or is it? If so please update the status as soon as possible.
(In reply to comment #5) > It does not seem ubuntu specific in the end or is it? If so please update the > status as soon as possible. That wouldn't fix the problem that your distribution allows you to remove pulseaudio and renders the volume control useless (because it doesn't have anything to control anymore...)
Is this really resolved? I'm currently using Ubuntu Karmic with OSS4 and experiencing the same problem. Shouldn't the GNOME volume control have a basic gstreamer backend as a failsafe in case the system doesn't want/have/need PulseAudio?
(In reply to comment #6) > That wouldn't fix the problem that your distribution allows you to remove > pulseaudio and renders the volume control useless (because it doesn't have > anything to control anymore...) > whose idiocy made gnome-media things to rely only on the pulseaudio crap? how can I use gnome-media without the pulseaudio? It used to work in previous versions but not in 2.27.x.
(In reply to comment #8) > how can I use gnome-media without the pulseaudio? It used to work in previous > versions but not in 2.27.x. ./configure --enable-gstmix
(In reply to comment #4) > Created an attachment (id=138675) [edit] > Use g_timeout_add_seconds for idle_reconnect > please commit, and close this bug, thanks
(In reply to comment #9) > (In reply to comment #8) > > > how can I use gnome-media without the pulseaudio? It used to work in previous > > versions but not in 2.27.x. > > ./configure --enable-gstmix > ok, thanks. my apologies, the ubuntu is here the one to blame.
(In reply to comment #9) > (In reply to comment #8) > > > how can I use gnome-media without the pulseaudio? It used to work in previous > > versions but not in 2.27.x. > > ./configure --enable-gstmix > so, it does not help. I can run gnome-volume-control now, it obviously uses gstreamer, OK. But gnome-volume-control-applet still tries to connect to pulseaudio crap, only the hell knows why using IPv6 protocol.
(In reply to comment #12) <snip> > so, it does not help. gnome-media doesn't ship an applet that uses GStreamer. > I can run gnome-volume-control now, it obviously uses gstreamer, OK. But > gnome-volume-control-applet still tries to connect to pulseaudio crap, only the > hell knows why using IPv6 protocol. You'll need to start dropping the attitude, otherwise we'll have you barred from Bugzilla. If you want to vent your frustration, take it to forums, not here.
(In reply to comment #13) > (In reply to comment #12) > <snip> > > so, it does not help. > > gnome-media doesn't ship an applet that uses GStreamer. but it used to, right? Or what has changed since 2.24 which worked just fine without pulseaudio? If so, is there a way how to revert it?
Lukas - nothing changed. As pointed out, gnome-media never shipped a GStreamer applet. The GStreamer applet that you used to use was the mixer applet, shipped in gnome-applets. We've disabled that applet in Ubuntu now and chosen to use the gnome-media applet instead.
(In reply to comment #15) > Lukas - nothing changed. As pointed out, gnome-media never shipped a GStreamer > applet. The GStreamer applet that you used to use was the mixer applet, shipped > in gnome-applets. We've disabled that applet in Ubuntu now and chosen to use > the gnome-media applet instead. OK, thank you for explanation, so it seems that Ubuntu now cannot live without pulse audio, it is a pity.