I have the same issue. Also caused by upgrade. Causes almost any
program that attempts to play sound to freeze. I twigged that it was
pulseaudio when a non-pulseaudio using video player was the only
sound-playing thing on my system that DIDN'T freeze.
And I found a workaround.
When you are about to start an audio stream, open a terminal and enter
the command:
pulseaudio -k
Then within a few seconds after that, go and start the audio stream. If
you wait too long it doesn't work.
However, even when it's working you may not hear it, or you may hear it
at an absurdly low volume, because it may start up with a randomized
volume level. I have a pulseaudio plugin named 'pavucontrol' on my
taskbar. I open that plugin and set the pulseaudio output level to 100%.
"pulseaudio -k" is a command to kill the pulseaudio daemon. I suspect
that when a new instance of the daemon starts up it's in a usable state
for a few seconds but then somehow becomes unusable unless actually put
to work. I have no idea what triggers the unusable state, but it seems
to happen within fifteen seconds of non-use.
As long as there is continuous audio output after starting the audio
stream, it works normally. Music players that start playing the next
song immediately after the previous one ends don't have a problem. But
if audio output ever completely stops, pulseaudio goes to the unusable
blocking state within a few seconds.
I've been starting an audiobook with the volume at 0.1% and then
minimizing the reader. This keeps the audio channel open for days but
is completely inaudible on my speakers. So I can use youtube, play
sound files on the web, use music players, play games with sound
effects, etc, at normal volume without problems.
Bear
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