Audio Testing

Automated Testing

The following are some thoughts on what could be tested via automated testing:

• Test PulseAudio with audio applications, examining pulseaudio's log output for any possible errors

• Test PulseAudio with hardware known to work properly with ALSA:

  • Check that PulseAudio is properly manipulating the correct ALSA volume controls for the audio hardware being used in the test

Manual Testing

ALSA and PulseAudio are complex pieces of software that interract in many different ways, particularly with the many pieces of audio hardware and software that are used with Ubuntu today. For this reason, manual testing of the whole stack is required should either ALSA or PulseAudio be updated in any significant way, such as a new upstream release.

The following is a list of hardware and software manual tests that should be performed when preparing to update either ALSA or PulseAudio in Ubuntu.

Hardware Testing

• Tests should be performed to make sure both ALSA and PulseAudio are properly recognising your audio hardware. Notable places to check:

  • Check the contents of /proc/asound/cards
  • Check the output of aplay -l
  • Check alsamixer

  • Check the log output of PulseAudio, either in syslog, or following the instructions on https://wiki.ubuntu.com/PulseAudio/Log

  • Check the output of the command "pactl list"
  • Open up the sound settings window from the sound indicator and check both the output and input pages.

• All audio output should be tested. This includes all internal speakers, headphone sockets, digital output connections, HDMI audio, and if present, BlueTooth audio devices.

• All audio input should be tested. This includes all internal microphones, external microphone sockets, digital inputs, and if present, BlueTooth audio devices.

• All input and output sockets should be tested to make sure hotplugging headphones/microphones/HDMI devices are recognised and presented as options in the sound preferences. NOTE: Not all hardware supports hotplugging of external hardware. (FIXME, need procedure to determine whether hardware should support this.)

Software Audio Testing

• All volume controls for relevant inputs and outputs should be tested:
  • Test the volume control in the sound indicator
  • Test the volume control in the sound preferences window
  • Test individual application volume settings in the sound preferences window, under the Applications page, ensuring that changing the volume for an application also changes its own volume control within the application's own interface

• Test the following applications to ensure they continue to work properly with PulseAudio:

  • VLC
  • gstreamer based apps, rhythmbox, totem, banshee
  • amarok
  • mplayer
  • Audacious