1. Home
  3. Mint
  5. How to Install PipeWire on Linux Mint 21?

How to Install PipeWire on Linux Mint 21?

PipeWire is a modern multimedia framework that aims to provide low-latency, high-quality, and secure audio, and video streaming. PipeWire can also handle screen capture, remote desktop, and virtual reality devices. If users are looking for a way to improve their audio and video experience on Linux Mint, they might want to consider installing PipeWire.

This guide will show possible methods to install PipeWire on Linux Mint. Also, explain how to configure PipeWire to work with your existing devices as well as applications.

Why Do We Need to Install PipeWire on Linux Mint 21?

PipeWire is designed to be compatible with PulseAudio, JACK, ALSA, and GStreamer, and to provide low-latency, high-quality audio, and video processing. It makes it easier to switch from these existing solutions.

PipeWire can also replace PulseAudio and JACK for audio, and handle video capture and playback as well. It provides a graph-based processing engine that can support various use cases, such as desktop applications, pro-audio production, or video streaming.

How to Install PipeWire on Linux Mint 21?

To install PipeWire on Linux Mint, use the “APT” repository, “Software Manager”, “PPA” repository, and “Synaptic Package Manager”. Linux Mint may require some manual configuration to install PipeWire in the operating system.

Here are the supported methods to install this package on Linux Mint:

Method 1: Install PipeWire on Linux Mint 21 Using APT Repository

PipeWire handles screen capture and remote desktop scenarios better than PulseAudio (built-in framework). To install PipeWire on Linux Mint from the APT repositories, use the “pipewire” package along with dependencies.

Let’s explore the step-by-step instructions:

Step 1: Check the Server Name

Before installing Pipewire on Linux Mint, users must check the installed server name using the “pactl” command with the “info” utility as below:

pactl info

It confirms the server name “pulseaudio” is pre-installed in the Linux Mint (by default). Now, move forward to install PipeWire on Linux Mint.

Step 2: Update System Package

Before installing any package (such as PipeWire) in the Linux system, users are required to update the package list of the operating system and install the necessary dependencies:

sudo apt update

It updates the system repository and is ready to install the “PipeWire” package in Linux Mint.

Step 3: Install PipeWire

To install PipeWire on Linux Mint, use the “pipewire”, “pipewire-pulse” and “pipewire-audio-client-libraries” packages with the “apt” command:

sudo apt install pipewire pipewire-pulse pipewire-audio-client-libraries

It confirms the PipeWire package (version “0.3.48”) is already installed in the Linux Mint. Also, it installs all the relevant dependencies regarding the pipewire package in Linux Mint.

Step 4: Disable PulseAudio and Enable PipeWire

As PulseAudio is already configured on Linux Mint, users need to disable the services and socket of “PulseAudio”. Then, enable “PipeWire” services with the “enable” utility:

systemctl --user mask pulseaudio.socket pulseaudio.service
systemctl --user enable pipewire pipewire-pulse

It disables the existing PulseAudio services and enables the services of PipeWire to be configured in the Linux Mint.

Step 5: Reload Daemon System

After the configuration of PipeWire services, users must “reboot” the system or reload the Gnome system by executing the “systemctl” command with the “daemon-reload” utility:

systemctl --user daemon-reload

Users can also use the “reboot” command as an alternative to making the configuration changes.

Step 6: Verify Installed PipeWire

Finally, verify the services of PipeWire that are running and handling the audio devices. To do so, execute the “pactl” command with the pipeline of the “grep” command by specifying the “Server” keyword as below:

pactl info | grep Server

The output shows that “PipeWire” version “0.3.48” has been installed as well as configured with the replacement of “PulseAudio” in Linux Mint.

Optional: Uninstall/Remove the PipeWire

To uninstall or remove the “PipeWire” from the Linux Mint using the APT package manager, use the “autoremove” utility with the package name “pipewire” as below:

sudo apt autoremove pipewire

It completely uninstalls PipeWire along with all dependent packages from Linux Mint.

Method 2: Install PipeWire on Linux Mint 21 Using the Software Manager

Another easy way to install PipeWire on Linux Mint is to use the official repositories such as “Software Manager”. To install PipeWire using the Software Manager, find the “pipewire” package in the search box and install it by pressing the “Install” button.

Let’s explore the step-by-step instructions:

Step 1: Open the Software Manager

First of all, open the software manager from the “Menu” icon or by pressing the Super key and typing “software” in the search box:

Step 2: Search PipeWire Package

Now, type “pipewire” in the search box of the “Software Manager” interface and press Enter. It displays the “Pipewire” and relevant packages. So, pick the “Pipewire”, “Pipewire-pulse”, and “Pipewire-media-session”, packages one by one and install them:

Important: Users can select the related PipeWire package depending on the system and preferences. For instance, if users want to use “PipeWire” as a “PulseAudio” replacement, they need “Pipewire-pulse”, “Pipewire-alsa” and “Pipewire-media-session”. Also, users need the “Pipewire-jack” package to use the “JACK” replacement.

Step 3: Install PipeWire Package

To install the “PipeWire” package on the “Software Manager” interface, click on the “Install” button. It pops up the new interface to install all relevant dependencies. Finally, press the “Continue” button to further the procedure:

Step 4: Authentication

Now, authenticate the installation process of the “Pipewire” package. For this, enter the root user login password and hit the “Authenticate” button as below:

After the installation, users may need to restart their system or log out and log back in for the changes to take effect.

Step 5: Verify Installed PipeWire

To verify the services of PipeWire, type the “pactl info” command in the terminal:

pactl info

It confirms that the “0.3.48” version of “PipeWire” has been installed on Linux Mint.

Optional: Remove/Uninstall Pipewire

To remove/uninstall the Pipewire from the Software Manager on Linux Mint, press the “Remove” button as highlighted below:

It removes Pipewire along with all dependencies in Linux Mint.

Method 3: Install PipeWire on Linux Mint 21 Using PPA Repository

Another way to install PipeWire on Linux Mint is to use a PPA. It is a third-party (external source) repository that updates or alternative packages for Ubuntu and its derivatives. To install PipeWire on Linux Mint from a PPA repository, add a PPA repository, install “PipeWire” packages, and enable services.

Let’s install PipeWire on Linux Mint from a PPA repository. Here are the step-by-step instructions:

Step 1: Add the PPA Repository

First of all, open a terminal and add the PPA repository by specifying the PPA repository path “pipewire-debian/pipewire-upstream” with the “sudo” privileges:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:pipewire-debian/pipewire-upstream

Step 2: Update System Package Lists

After adding the PPA repository, update the package lists of Linux Mint system. For this, use the “update” command with the “apt” command:

sudo apt update

Step 3: Install PipeWire Package (Latest One)

Now, install PipeWire by specifying the package name “pipewire”, “pipewire-pulse”, “pipewire-media-session” and its dependencies as below:

sudo apt install pipewire pipewire-pulse pipewire-media-session gstreamer1.0-pipewire libspa-0.2-bluetooth

Step 4: Disable PulseAudio and Enable PipeWire

After installing the PipeWire package Linux Mint, disable “PulseAudio” services and socket. After that, enable “PipeWire” with the “systemctl” commands:

systemctl --user mask pulseaudio.socket pulseaudio.service
systemctl --user enable pipewire pipewire-pulse

Step 5: Reload Daemon

After performing the configuration, reboot the Linux Mint system or execute the “daemon-reload” command to apply the changes:

systemctl --user daemon-reload

Step 6: Verify PipeWire

To verify that PipeWire is running or not, open a terminal and type the “pactl” command with the “info” utility:

pactl info

It confirms that the server’s name is “PipeWire” and (Latest) version “1.0.0”.

Tip: Check PipeWire Service

Users can also check the service of PipeWire by executing the “pw-cli” command in the terminal:

pw-cli

It enters the “PipeWire” terminal. Now, users can execute commands here. For more information, see the official documentation: https://docs.pipewire.org/.

Optional: Remove PipeWire Repository

To remove the PipeWire PPA repository, use the “remove” utility by specifying the PPA repository name “pipewire-debian/pipewire-upstream” as below:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:pipewire-debian/pipewire-upstream

In this way, the PPA repository has been removed from Linux Mint. To remove the package, the user must follow the “sudo apt remove pipewire” command given in Method 3.

Method 4: Install PipeWire on Linux Mint 21 Using Synaptic Package Manager

To install Pipewire on Linux Mint using the Synaptic package manager, search “pipewire” package name in the search box and install the “PipeWire” package along with dependencies.

Here are the step-by-step instructions:

Step 1: Open Synaptic Package Manager

Firstly, access the synaptic package manager from the menu or by typing “sudo synaptic” in a Linux Mint terminal:

Step 2: Search PipeWire Package

In the “Synaptic Package Manager” interface, click on the “Search” icon, and find/search the “pipewire” package. Then, mark it along with the relevant utilities and hit the “Apply” button:

Step 3: Install PipeWire Packages

It requires authentication to install the relevant packages. So, hit the “Apply” button as highlighted below:

Step 4: Check PipeWire Version

To verify that Pipewire is working, users can use the “pactl info” command and check that the Server Name is “PipeWire”:

pactl info

Finally, PipeWire has been successfully installed on Linux Mint using the synaptic package manager.

Optional: Remove/Uninstall the Pipewire

To remove/uninstall the Pipewire from the synaptic package manager on Linux Mint, press the right-click on the “pipewire” package and hit the “Mark for Removal” button below:

In this way, “PipeWire” is removed from Linux Mint.

How to Install PipeWire on RHEL-based Linux Distributions?

PipeWire is a modern multimedia framework that aims to enhance audio as well as video performance on Linux. The easiest way to install PipeWire on RHEL-based Linux distributions is to use the official COPR repository maintained by the PipeWire developers.

Step 1: Enable COPR Repository

To use the COPR repository, users need to enable it first by running the “dnf” command in a terminal:

sudo dnf copr enable pipewire/pipewire

It adds the COPR repository to the system and imports the GPG key for verification.

Step 2: Install the PipeWire Package

Next, you need to install the PipeWire packages by running:

sudo dnf install pipewire pipewire-pulseaudio pipewire-alsa pipewire-jack-audio-connection-kit

Step 3: Enable PipeWire Services

It installs PipeWire and its modules for PulseAudio, ALSA, and JACK compatibility. Users also need to enable the PipeWire services by running:

sudo systemctl --user enable --now pipewire pipewire-pulse pipewire-media-session

It starts PipeWire and its services for the user session.

Step 4: Verification

To verify whether PipeWire is running or not, execute the “pactl” command with the “info” utility as below:

pactl info

It displays information about the PipeWire server.

You have successfully installed PipeWire on your RHEL-based Linux distribution using the easiest way possible. You can now enjoy improved audio and video performance and quality on your system.

Conclusion

PipeWire is a versatile and powerful audio and video server that can replace PulseAudio and JACK on Linux Mint. To install PipeWire on Linux Mint, use the “pipewire”, “pipewire-pulse” and “pipewire-media-session” packages on the “APT” repository, “PPA” repository, “Software Manager”, and “Synaptic Package Manager”. This guide has explained the installation of PipeWire on Linux Mint and improved your audio and video experience.

 

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Categories