Linux Mint Sound Devices Disappearing

Question

I have a Dell XPS 13 9350 on which I have installed Linux Mint 18.1 Cinnamon. Everything is working perfectly, even the Dell Dock WD15, except that after some time the sound devices disappear from the sound app. Here's what the sound app looks like right after booting:

after a little time passes, while I'm just using the system or the system sits idle, the sound app looks like this:

If I go into a terminal, not as root, and execute this command:

pulseaudio --kill

the sound icon first disappears from the panel, then after a few seconds it reappears and once again the sound app sees the devices. Again, after some idle time, or working time, the sound app will display no sound devices.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

pwhittington · Answer

Yesterday I spent the entire day in a meeting using the Dell XPS 13 9350 on battery, and without the Dell Dock WD15.  Not once, all day, did the sound device disappear.  Notice I said sound device, singular.  Without the WD15 installed there's only one device, the 'Speakers Built-in Audio.'  Perhaps the problem has something to do with the Dell Dock WD15. Also, while on battery all day not connected to any external monitors or keyboard, I did use a wireless mouse, Cinnamon crashed several times.

pwhittington · Answer

It looks like my problem was the use of firejail to sandbox my browsers.  I removed firejail, and now everything is working perfectly.

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Linux Mint Sound Devices Disappearing

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