I want to change the pulseaudio config file

I want to change the pulseaudio config file as outlined on this page:

(Internet Archive)

But if I try to do it from the command line or from going directly to the folder I get permission denied messages. I tried to chmod it, but that doesn't work either.

I guess I have to log in as root, but there are all sorts of warnings on the net that warn ignoramuses like me not to operate from root because you might destroy the system.

Is there any other way?

3 Answers

The "official" way to stop autospawning pulseaudio sound server is outlined in this guide from the audio developer team:

• Wiki Ubuntu Wiki: Stop Pulseaudio

Any other method is discouraged as it may seriously break your audio system.

In short you will have to edit the following line in your /etc/pulse/client.conf to:

autospawn = no

You need to edit this file as root.

Changes will take effect after restarting the pulseaudio server with the following command:

pulseaudio -k

Please do backup all files before you edit them to be able to restore settings in case something goes wrong.

In addition to the accepted answer:

You only need to create the file ~/.config/pulse/client.conf which you can edit without root privileges. You can copy the file from /etc/pulse/client.conf:

cp /etc/pulse/client.conf ~/.config/pulse/client.conf

and then open ~/.config/pulse/client.conf in the text editor of your choice to modify the file.

Here the essential part from man pulse-client.conf:

The PulseAudio client library reads configuration directives from a configuration file on startup. If the per-user file ~/.config/pulse/client.conf exists, it is used, otherwise the system configuration file /etc/pulse/client.conf is used.

First of all, yes, you have to log in as root temporary to edit config files. Just don't touch what you don't understand and remember all your changes. If file belongs to root, you must log in as root to chmod it. sudo nano /etc/default/pulse.pa or what you are editing. Don't run GUI applications as root unless they ask you to.

Second, don't meddle with ubuntu using old or non-ubuntu guides. Modern Ubuntu have strayed too far from "reference Linux".