Binary package hint: libsdl1.2debian-pulseaudio
When playing any game that uses SDL audio, if the package libsdl1.2debian-pulseaudio is installed, or libsdl1.2debian-all is installed and SLD_AUDIODRIVER=pulse is set, the audio does not work properly. Sound plays, but is very jerky and intermittent with noticeable interference, which also causes jerky video. See this post for a confirmation: http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=4845960&postcount=6 I was able to find a patch that someone has created and I think has already been incorporated into the next version of libSDL. I tested it by downloading the source package for libsdl1.2debian-all, patching /src/audio/pulse/SDL_pulseaudio.c, building the package, and then installing the new package, and it mostly solved the problem. The sound is now very clear and works properly (tested in Neverputt, World of Padman, and Urban Terror), although there is now a very slight audio lag. But this lag is nothing like that almost 1 second lag I get using the esd driver for SDL. I believe this patch (attached) should be applied to both the libsdl1.2debian-all and libsdl1.2debian-pulseaudio packages and they should be released as updates. This provides a great improvement in usability for PulseAudio. If needed, I can post the updated debs for someone else to test so they don't have to build it as well.
I've put the patched libSDL in the following PPA repository:
deb http://
deb-src http://