"unit files enabled in global scope" problem trying to install PipeWire on Ubuntu on Dell Precision M3800

General Linux Help
1

Not a programmer. Need no skipped steps in the solution.
When I enter:
systemctl --user --now disable pulseaudio.service pulseaudio.socket
I get:
The following unit files have been enabled in global scope. This means will still be started automatically after a successful disablement in user scope:
pulseaudio.service, pulseaudio.socket

What is the step by step solution for this to stop these unit files from being enabled in global scope? Thanks! - Sulyen

2

Hello,

Have you tried the following without the --user option:

$ sudo systemctl --now disable pulseaudio.service pulseaudio.socket

This should disable it globally.

3

Hi Lubek,
Thanks for quick response. Tried it and got:
Failed to disable unit: unit file pulseaudio.service does not exist.

Now I’m really confused :frowning:

Sulyen

4

Correction: Hi Lubos, thanks for your quick response

5

Can you please post here the output of the following command:

systemctl list-unit-files | grep pulseaudio

6

It says:
pulseaudio-enable-autospawn.service masked enabled

7

Hello,

What Linux distribution are you using?

Please try:

sudo systemctl unmask pulseaudio-enable-autospawn.service
followed by:
sudo systemctl disable pulseaudio-enable-autospawn.service

Let me know …

8

Hi, using Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS

Got: Synchronizing state of pulseaudio-enable-autospawn.service with SysV service script with /usr/lib/systemd/systemd-sysv-install.
Executing: /usr/lib/systemd/systemd-sysv-install disable pulseaudio-enable-autospawn
Unit /usr/lib/systemd/system/pulseaudio-enable-autospawn.service is masked, ignoring.
The unit files have no installation config (WantedBy=, RequiredBy=, UpheldBy=, Also=, or Alias= settings in the [install] section, and DefaultInstance= for template units). This means they are not meant to be enabled or disabled using systemctl.
Possible reasons for having these kinds of units are:
A unit may be statically enabled by being symlinked from another unit’s .wants/, .requires/, or .upholds directory.
A unit’s purpose may be to act as a helper for some other unit which has a requirement dependency on it.
A unit may be started when needed via activation (socket, path, timer, D-Bus, udev, scripted systemctl call, …).
In case of template units, the unit is meant to be enabled with some instance name specified.

9

Ok. Let’s try something else. Check your home directory for this file: ~/.config/pulse/client.conf. If it exists uncomment the the following line: autospawn = no. In case it does NOT exists create it and and add the line: autospawn = no. Log out ( ideally reboot ) your host and see what happens.

10

Hi Lubos,

Need to go step by step for non-programmer here.

  • How do I check home directory for file: ~/ .config/pulse/client.conf?
  • If it exists, how do I “uncomment” the line: autospawn = no?
  • If it does not exist how do I create it, and add the line: autospawn = no?
  • How do I log out then reboot my “host”? Does that mean exit the Terminal and restart my laptop? Thanks!
11

You can check /etc/pulse/client.conf and uncomment autospawn with an simple # at the begining of the line.
Before:

autospawn = no

After:

#autospawn = no
1 Like
12

I entered # ~/.config/pulse/client.conf
and got no response. What next? Thanks!