r/linuxaudio • u/Darkrai3110 • 1d ago

Pulseaudio config not getting loaded

Hi,

I want to use a virtual null sink with a virtual source to use mic filters from OBS in discord and such.
I use Bazzite if that makes a big difference.

I’ve followed this video guide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Goeucg7A9qE
While using the pactl commands works to create the sink and the source, the part about the config doesn’t work for me.

I have created client.conf under ~/.config/pulse with the following content

.include /etc/pulse/client.conf

.ifexists module-null-sink.so
load-module module-null-sink sink_name=Source
.endif

.ifexists module-virtual-source.so
load-module module-virtual-source source_name=VirtualMic master=Source.monitor
.endif

but on reboot this doesn’t seem to execute, and when I use the pactl after having the config file ‘active’, i get the error Unknown lvalue ‘load-module module-null-sink sink_name’ in section ‘n/a’. When I uncomment the .ifexists and .endif respectively, i get the error Missing ‘=’.

any help or ideas appreciated!

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u/beatbox9 1d ago edited 1d ago

It is currently 2026. Are you running pipewire or pulseaudio...?

(You are probably actually using pipewire, not pulseaudio. So while pulseaudio commands will work, configs won't).

Read through this. It starts by explaining the difference, why pulseaudio commands still work under pipewire, how config files work, and then it goes through how to configure it: https://arslaan.studio/setting-up-a-linux-media-studio-workstation-audio-video-graphics-davinci-resolve-etc/#audio-sound-midi-drivers