Tags: linux, soundMay 19, 2008    

I was trying to get xmms to play an internet radio station when an error appeared that the soundcard was blocked by another application. The application turned out to be a pdf reader, evince, and the original cause was Firefox. Firefox passes sound card locks to other applications when it launches them. In this case, evince was given the lock on the sound card. The information can be found by using lsof to list all open files and looking for /dev/snd. The applications that are causing the problem can then be closed. I found this information listed as Bug #102408 in evince on launchpad's Ubuntu section.

Also, lsof looks like an interesting utility to use. I was surprised at all of the files that are open at any one time.

Note: this post was written on Apr. 4, 2008.

Copyright © 2008 Borys Bradel. All rights reserved. This post is only my possibly incorrect opinion.