Missing AUR Packages: pipewire-media-session

Greetings lovely community,

As many users know within the Linux world, there’s been a steady push towards newer, more secure protocols like Wayland, pipewire, etc. and even EndeavourOS recently defaulted to pipewire in their latest releases. There is a session manager that a user can use, either pipewire-media-session or wireplumber for their audio needs, but according to the Arch Wiki wireplumber is the recommended option. Most installs come with the old default of pipewire-media-session so if you updated today you might have come across a Missing AUR Package message as well as pacman/yay asking you the question “Replace pipewire-media-session with extra/wireplumber? [Y/n]?”

A quick search on Arch’s website shows that pipewire-media-session is no longer in the Arch repos, so it looks like they’ve finally made the move to deprecate pipewire-media-session and make wireplumber the only default option. The Arch Wiki hasn’t been updated yet to clarify this, but I imagine that’ll be taken care of in the future soon. If you want to stay on pipewire-media-session you don’t necessarily have to install wireplumber, but it is highly recommended to move to wireplumber at this time, since pipewire-media-session will no longer receive any support/updates from Arch. There are some pipewire-media-session AUR packages available, but I can’t comment on if they build/work or not.

In any case, feel free to use whichever session manager you want it’s your system after all, just know wireplumber is now the only option that’ll receive support from Arch moving forward. I’ll leave my recent update output below for anyone curious to the changes. IF there’s a chance you encounter any issues/errors however, feel free to share and discuss them below. Thanks for reading and have a nice day.

[scott@EndeavourOS ~]$ yay
[sudo] password for scott: 
:: Synchronizing package databases...
 core is up to date
 extra                1719.8 KiB   839 KiB/s 00:02 [------------------------] 100%
 community               6.6 MiB  1168 KiB/s 00:06 [------------------------] 100%
 multilib is up to date
 endeavouros            29.9 KiB  36.5 KiB/s 00:01 [------------------------] 100%
:: Searching databases for updates...
:: Searching AUR for updates...
:: Checking development packages...
 -> Missing AUR Packages:  pipewire-media-session
 -> Flagged Out Of Date AUR Packages:  minecraft-launcher
:: 3 Packages to upgrade.
3  extra/protobuf                3.20.1-1 -> 3.20.1-2
2  community/gmic                3.1.0-1  -> 3.1.1-1
1  endeavouros/eos-translations  1.2-1    -> 1.3-1
==> Packages to exclude: (eg: "1 2 3", "1-3", "^4" or repo name)
==> 
:: Starting full system upgrade...
:: Replace pipewire-media-session with extra/wireplumber? [Y/n] 
resolving dependencies...
looking for conflicting packages...

Package (5)                   Old Version  New Version  Net Change  Download Size

pipewire-media-session        1:0.4.1-1                  -0.43 MiB               
extra/wireplumber                          0.4.10-2       2.11 MiB       0.39 MiB
endeavouros/eos-translations  1.2-1        1.3-1          0.00 MiB       0.06 MiB
community/gmic                3.1.0-1      3.1.1-1        0.00 MiB       7.68 MiB
extra/protobuf                3.20.1-1     3.20.1-2       0.00 MiB       1.99 MiB

Total Download Size:   10.12 MiB
Total Installed Size:  30.65 MiB
Net Upgrade Size:       1.68 MiB

:: Proceed with installation? [Y/n] n
 -> exit status 1
[scott@EndeavourOS ~]$ yay
[sudo] password for scott: 
:: Synchronizing package databases...
 core is up to date
 extra is up to date
 community is up to date
 multilib is up to date
 endeavouros is up to date
:: Searching databases for updates...
:: Searching AUR for updates...
:: Checking development packages...
 -> Missing AUR Packages:  pipewire-media-session
 -> Flagged Out Of Date AUR Packages:  minecraft-launcher
:: 3 Packages to upgrade.
3  extra/protobuf                3.20.1-1 -> 3.20.1-2
2  community/gmic                3.1.0-1  -> 3.1.1-1
1  endeavouros/eos-translations  1.2-1    -> 1.3-1
==> Packages to exclude: (eg: "1 2 3", "1-3", "^4" or repo name)
==> 
:: Starting full system upgrade...
:: Replace pipewire-media-session with extra/wireplumber? [Y/n] 
resolving dependencies...
looking for conflicting packages...

Package (5)                   Old Version  New Version  Net Change  Download Size

pipewire-media-session        1:0.4.1-1                  -0.43 MiB               
extra/wireplumber                          0.4.10-2       2.11 MiB       0.39 MiB
endeavouros/eos-translations  1.2-1        1.3-1          0.00 MiB       0.06 MiB
community/gmic                3.1.0-1      3.1.1-1        0.00 MiB       7.68 MiB
extra/protobuf                3.20.1-1     3.20.1-2       0.00 MiB       1.99 MiB

Total Download Size:   10.12 MiB
Total Installed Size:  30.65 MiB
Net Upgrade Size:       1.68 MiB

:: Proceed with installation? [Y/n] 
:: Retrieving packages...
 wireplumber-0.4....   399.0 KiB   321 KiB/s 00:01 [------------------------] 100%
 eos-translations...    62.4 KiB  36.4 KiB/s 00:02 [------------------------] 100%
 protobuf-3.20.1-...  2036.9 KiB   526 KiB/s 00:04 [------------------------] 100%
 gmic-3.1.1-1-x86_64     7.7 MiB   725 KiB/s 00:11 [------------------------] 100%
 Total (4/4)            10.1 MiB   949 KiB/s 00:11 [------------------------] 100%
(4/4) checking keys in keyring                     [------------------------] 100%
(4/4) checking package integrity                   [------------------------] 100%
(4/4) loading package files                        [------------------------] 100%
(4/4) checking for file conflicts                  [------------------------] 100%
(5/5) checking available disk space                [------------------------] 100%
:: Processing package changes...
Removed /etc/systemd/user/pipewire-session-manager.service.
Removed /etc/systemd/user/pipewire.service.wants/pipewire-media-session.service.
(1/1) removing pipewire-media-session              [------------------------] 100%
(1/4) upgrading protobuf                           [------------------------] 100%
(2/4) installing wireplumber                       [------------------------] 100%
Created symlink /etc/systemd/user/pipewire-session-manager.service → /usr/lib/systemd/user/wireplumber.service.
Created symlink /etc/systemd/user/pipewire.service.wants/wireplumber.service → /usr/lib/systemd/user/wireplumber.service.
Optional dependencies for wireplumber
    wireplumber-docs: Documentation
(3/4) upgrading gmic                               [------------------------] 100%
(4/4) upgrading eos-translations                   [------------------------] 100%
:: Running post-transaction hooks...
(1/2) Arming ConditionNeedsUpdate...
(2/2) Checking which packages need to be rebuilt
[scott@EndeavourOS ~]$ 

Edit: For reason(s) I can’t explain, the pipewire-media-session package is back in the Arch Extra repos so it looks like you can still use this package or switch to wireplumber, the choice is up to you.

Edit2: For those who lose audio after replacing pipewire-media-session by wireplumber, check out these two Arch Linux threads for some solutions:

8 Likes

I literally just went to update & got this, i said i better check the EOS forums lmao. :grin:

Edit: Ok that was a bad idea to update LOL, now i have no sound :rofl:

Edit: Youtube/Rumble videos & videos on my PC will no longer play lol

Well I’ve tried everything that I know of, still no sound & Youtube/Rumble videos will not play.

3 Likes

Reboot?
:blush:

Yea did that, that’s when everything stopped working.

1 Like

Try fiddling with different output settings here:

Screenshot from 2022-05-10 15-17-47

Yea I’ve done that too, still nothing. For some reason I can’t play any audio be it youtube ect…

Are you still using pulseaudio or pipewire?

pactl info

systemctl status --user wireplumber.service

?

Ok i installed pipewire, because when i installed EOS Gnome i forgot i unselected audio & then installed pulseaudio ect… So after installing pipewire & rebooting and under settings i had to select “Analog Stereo Output” and i have sound now. But IF i select “Analog Surround 5.1 Output” i only have 2 speakers working, weird.

@pebcak

[christopher67@EndeavourOS ~]$ systemctl status --user wireplumber.service
● wireplumber.service - Multimedia Service Session Manager
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/user/wireplumber.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
     Active: active (running) since Tue 2022-05-10 15:31:11 EDT; 10min ago
   Main PID: 1077 (wireplumber)
      Tasks: 4 (limit: 38319)
     Memory: 8.8M
        CPU: 537ms
     CGroup: /user.slice/user-1000.slice/user@1000.service/session.slice/wireplumber.service
             └─ 1077 /usr/bin/wireplumber

May 10 15:31:11 EndeavourOS systemd[951]: Started Multimedia Service Session Manager.
May 10 15:31:11 EndeavourOS wireplumber[1077]: Failed to set scheduler settings: Operation not permitted
May 10 15:31:13 EndeavourOS wireplumber[1077]: <WpSiAudioAdapter:0x5561b0f9c070> Object activation aborted: proxy destroyed
May 10 15:31:13 EndeavourOS wireplumber[1077]: <WpSiAudioAdapter:0x5561b0f9c070> failed to activate item: Object activation>
lines 1-14/14 (END)

1 Like

You might want to make sure you have these packages installed (some are optional):

pipewire
pipewire-alsa
pipewire-jack
pipewire-pulse
gst-plugin-pipewire
wireplumber

1 Like

Ok, question. Are then any equalizers i can use with pipewire?

Yup yup

yay -S easyeffects

Edit: it’s in the Community repos btw

2 Likes

I’m getting that same message

yay -Syu fixed
$ LANG=C yay -Syu
:: Synchronizing package databases...
 core is up to date
 extra                1719,9 KiB  1460 KiB/s 00:01 [----------------------] 100%
 community               6,6 MiB  4,03 MiB/s 00:02 [----------------------] 100%
 multilib is up to date
 endeavouros is up to date
:: Starting full system upgrade...
:: Replace pipewire-media-session with extra/wireplumber? [Y/n] 
resolving dependencies...
looking for conflicting packages...

Package (3)             Old Version  New Version  Net Change

extra/lua                            5.4.4-1        1,21 MiB
pipewire-media-session  1:0.4.1-1                  -0,43 MiB
extra/wireplumber                    0.4.10-2       2,11 MiB

Total Installed Size:  3,33 MiB
Net Upgrade Size:      2,89 MiB

:: Proceed with installation? [Y/n] 
(2/2) checking keys in keyring                     [----------------------] 100%
(2/2) checking package integrity                   [----------------------] 100%
(2/2) loading package files                        [----------------------] 100%
(2/2) checking for file conflicts                  [----------------------] 100%
:: Running pre-transaction hooks...
(1/1) Performing snapper pre snapshots for the following configurations...
==> root: 536
:: Processing package changes...
Removed /etc/systemd/user/pipewire-session-manager.service.
Removed /etc/systemd/user/pipewire.service.wants/pipewire-media-session.service.
(1/1) removing pipewire-media-session              [----------------------] 100%
(1/2) installing lua                               [----------------------] 100%
(2/2) installing wireplumber                       [----------------------] 100%
Created symlink /etc/systemd/user/pipewire-session-manager.service -> /usr/lib/systemd/user/wireplumber.service.
Created symlink /etc/systemd/user/pipewire.service.wants/wireplumber.service -> /usr/lib/systemd/user/wireplumber.service.
Optional dependencies for wireplumber
    wireplumber-docs: Documentation
:: Running post-transaction hooks...
(1/2) Arming ConditionNeedsUpdate...
(2/2) Performing snapper post snapshots for the following configurations...
==> root: 537
:: Searching databases for updates...
:: Searching AUR for updates...
 there is nothing to do
3 Likes

Yup all of that is now installed, that equalizer though “easyeffects” a lot of settings lol.

1 Like

Oh I see. This morning I check for regular updates every time after entering my desktop I get an update. Replace Pipewire-media-session with Wireplumber. After saying yes and restarting, I tried to play some music via Youtube Music through the headset, wow, that’s amazing. Play some songs from Blink-182, Linkin Park and so on, I find it louder and better sound (Volume level 49%).

1 Like

Thanks. I’ve been using wireplumber for quite a while now, so I’d have never known it was now the defacto without this thread. Very interesting.

Solid advice though!

5 Likes

same here w/ KDE plasma - pipewire is required by the kde meta package …

AUR Update-Check:
 -> Missing AUR packages:  pipewire-media-session

could this be bug in a package list, because it shows “AUR Update-Check and Missing AUR packages” but pipewire-media-session is not an AUR package?

yay -Syu fixed

seems to work when replacing pipewire-media-session w/ wireplumber

likely has to do with how the ports are exposed to pipewire, check your alsa settings and worst case you can follow my pro audio guide to allow you to route the audio pretty much how you see fit.

1 Like

Quote from @dalto

You get that message whenever a package you have installed is not available in the repos or the AUR. It doesn’t mean it was removed from the AUR. It could have been removed from the AUR, dropped from the repos and not added to AUR or moved from AUR to the repos but not yet available on your mirror. It also could be something you installed manually.

2 Likes

You see that message because you are using an AUR helper.

pacman doesn’t store the source of a package so there is no way to know how that package was installed after the fact. So what AUR helpers do is assume that everything that isn’t in the repos is an AUR package. What “Missing AUR packages” is telling you is that the package is not available in the repos or in the AUR.

5 Likes