Comment 0 for bug 352164

PROBLEM: PulseAudio is unable to determine basic information about my sound system, despite the fact that the information is readily available.

System is a Dell Inspiron 530N
Processor - Intel Core2, 1.60GHz
Memory - 1 Gig
Video Card - NVidia GeForce 7300LE
Sound Card - Intel 82801I (ICH 9 family) HD Audio Controller
Operating System: Ubuntu 9.04 Beta (Jaunty Jackalope)
Linux Kernel - 2.6.28-11-generic
This system is up-to-date with package updates as of March 30, 2009, 10:54 PM Mountain Standard Time (UTC -7), or April 1, 2009, 05:00 UTC

This card is capable of AT LEAST 44100 Hz sampling and AT LEAST 5.1 Surround Sound. Yet what I get from PulseAudio (via the system log) is:

Mar 30 16:18:51 tyche-jaunty pulseaudio[3270]: alsa-util.c: Device hw:1 doesn't support 44100 Hz, changed to 22050 Hz.
Mar 30 16:18:51 tyche-jaunty pulseaudio[3270]: alsa-util.c: Device hw:1 doesn't support 2 channels, changed to 1.

This is an unacceptable situation, made worse by the fact that it takes extraordinary measures to turn off PulseAudio so that Alsa (which IS installed) can do it's job. Monaural sound, to someone listening to serious, Classical music is unacceptable. Installing PulseAudio and initializing it by default is a regression of ability. Installing it and initializing it by default then hiding any ability to kill it is Microsoft style thinking. We are supposed to be better than that.

SOLUTION: Stop initializing PulseAudio by default. If people want to install it and use it, it should be a choice.