Learning Artix Linux - Audio, Bluetooth & Multimedia

#Introduction

A desktop without sound feels flat. Episode 9 covers Artix's multimedia layer: PipeWire as the default audio server, WirePlumber as its session manager, bluez for bluetooth, gstreamer/ffmpeg codecs, and the mesa and NVIDIA GPU drivers so video and gaming run smoothly.

The good news: all of this is managed as services on your chosen init. After episode 8, you're already used to the service activation pattern — this episode just applies it to audio and multimedia components.

#PipeWire: The Default Audio Server

#Why PipeWire

Since 2023, Artix uses PipeWire as its main audio server, replacing PulseAudio. PipeWire handles both audio and video, has low latency for pro-audio applications, and is compatible with applications written for PulseAudio and ALSA. One server for everything.

Install the core PipeWire packages along with the WirePlumber session manager:

sudo pacman -S pipewire pipewire-pulse wireplumber

pipewire-pulse provides PulseAudio compatibility, so older applications keep producing sound without configuration. WirePlumber manages connection policies between devices and applications.

#Enabling Audio Services

Audio services are enabled per-user or per-session. On OpenRC, enable the system-wide services:

rc-update add pipewire default
rc-update add pipewire-pulse default
rc-update add wireplumber default

The pipewire-openrc subpackage provides init scripts for all three. After rebooting, audio is immediately available. For other inits, use the matching services from each subpackage.

#Audio Control with wpctl

#Viewing and Setting Volume

wpctl is PipeWire's control tool. List devices and change volume:

wpctl status
wpctl inspect @DEFAULT_AUDIO_SINK@
wpctl set-volume @DEFAULT_AUDIO_SINK@ 0.7
wpctl set-mute @DEFAULT_AUDIO_SINK@ toggle

The output of wpctl status lists sinks, sources, and audio sessions. set-volume accepts decimal values from 0.0 to 1.5; set-mute toggles mute status.

#Finding Sinks and Sources

If there are several devices, find the sink ID you want from the list in wpctl status. Then operate on it directly by ID:

wpctl set-volume 45 0.5
wpctl set-default 45

wpctl set-default 45 makes sink number 45 the default. This is handy when switching between earphones and speakers.

#Bluetooth with bluez

#Install and Enable bluez

For bluetooth, install bluez and enable its daemon per your init:

sudo pacman -S bluez bluez-utils
rc-update add bluetoothd default
rc-service bluetoothd start

The service name bluetoothd on OpenRC handles all bluetooth adapters. Check adapter status with bluetoothctl.

#Pairing Devices

Pair a bluetooth audio device from the terminal:

bluetoothctl
power on
scan on
pair 00:11:22:33:44:55
connect 00:11:22:33:44:55
trust 00:11:22:33:44:55

Replace the MAC address with your device's. After being trusted, the device reconnects automatically in the future. Use scan on and watch the list for the MAC to pair.

#Codecs and Media Players

#GStreamer and FFmpeg

Video playback depends on codecs. Install gstreamer with full plugins and ffmpeg:

sudo pacman -S gst-plugins-good gst-plugins-bad gst-plugins-ugly gst-libav
sudo pacman -S ffmpeg

gst-plugins-ugly contains codecs with restrictive licenses, so install it considering your legal usage. The gstreamer + ffmpeg combination covers almost all modern media formats.

#GPU Drivers

Video acceleration depends on drivers. For Intel, AMD, and generic GPUs, mesa is sufficient:

sudo pacman -S mesa libva-mesa-driver vulkan-mesa-layers

For NVIDIA cards, use the proprietary nvidia driver with the matching service, or nouveau for open source. Check the active driver with:

lspci -k | grep -A 3 -E 'VGA|3D'
glxinfo -B | grep 'OpenGL renderer'

The output of lspci -k | grep -A 3 -E 'VGA|3D' shows the kernel driver loaded for your graphics card. glxinfo -B confirms OpenGL is using the GPU rather than software rendering.

#Audio and Video Troubleshooting

#No Sound

If there's no audio, check three things in order: PipeWire services active, correct default sink, and volume not muted:

rc-status | grep -E 'pipewire|wireplumber'
wpctl status | head -n 20
wpctl get-volume @DEFAULT_AUDIO_SINK@

wpctl get-volume @DEFAULT_AUDIO_SINK@ shows the current volume. If it displays MUTED, unmute with wpctl set-mute @DEFAULT_AUDIO_SINK@ 0.

#Video Not Accelerated

Stuttering video is usually software rendering. Make sure the mesa package is installed, the driver matches, and the LIBVA_DRIVER_NAME environment variable is set if needed. Chromium-based apps sometimes need the --enable-features=VaapiVideoDecoder flag to use hardware acceleration.

#Conclusion

Episode 9 completed your desktop with multimedia: PipeWire and WirePlumber as the audio foundation, wpctl for control, bluez for bluetooth, gstreamer and ffmpeg codecs, and the mesa and NVIDIA GPU drivers.

Key takeaways:

• PipeWire replaces PulseAudio; WirePlumber manages sessions.
• Enable pipewire, pipewire-pulse, and wireplumber in your init.
• wpctl for viewing and setting volume and the default sink.
• bluez provides bluetooth; the service is named bluetoothd.
• GStreamer and ffmpeg cover almost all media codecs.
• GPU drivers determine video acceleration and the OpenGL renderer.

In the next episode, episode 10, we'll cover storage: LVM, Btrfs, and encryption — logical volumes, Btrfs subvolumes and snapshots, ext4/xfs filesystems, and LUKS/dm-crypt encryption with the mkinitcpio hook.