Comment 6 for bug 875660

Version: unspecified (using KDE 4.7.2)
OS: Linux

(I originally reported this on Ubuntu's Launchpad as:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/kde-runtime/+bug/875660)

I'm running Kubuntu with pulseaudio.
I have on my motherboard intel hda analog audio and my graphics card (an ATI) had an HDMI out; by default I like the audio to come out of the analog output that is the only one connected.

Sometimes logging into KDE I find that it's decided to switch to the HDMI as the default; today I caught it and did an lsof /dev/snd/* and found:

knotify4 2276 dg mem CHR 116,3 6691 /dev/snd/pcmC0D0p
knotify4 2276 dg 20r CHR 116,33 0t0 9995 /dev/snd/timer
knotify4 2276 dg 21u CHR 116,3 0t0 6691 /dev/snd/pcmC0D0p
pulseaudi 2893 dg 24u CHR 116,9 0t0 6698 /dev/snd/controlC1
pulseaudi 2893 dg 31u CHR 116,6 0t0 6694 /dev/snd/controlC0
pulseaudi 2893 dg 38u CHR 116,6 0t0 6694 /dev/snd/controlC0

So knotify4 has hogged the analog output, and hence pa can't get in.

So I kill knotify4, and do a pactl exit to restart pa - but pa then still lists the HDMI as the default output in paman.

(I've now found I can switch it back with pacmd set-default-sink)

Dave

Reproducible: Sometimes

Steps to Reproduce:
It's a race, so only happens sometimes.
1) Login
2) Try to play some music
3) Find it doesn't play
4) lsof /dev/snd/* to see who has what devices

Actual Results:
No music coming out of my analog output.
lsof shows knotify4 hogging the analog device

Expected Results:
Sweet music on my analog output, pa has opened all the devices.