Squeezelite Service Not Mixing with Browser Audio (PipeWire/PulseAudio Fix)

The Squeezelite audio player is a wonderful headless solution, but getting it to run as a reliable, shareable background service on modern Linux distributions (like Ubuntu, Debian, or Fedora, especially those using PipeWire) can be a nightmare.

This post documents a common, frustrating error and the simple fix that allows Squeezelite to play music alongside other applications, like your browser (YouTube, Spotify Web, etc.).

The Problem: The Audio “Host is Down” Loop

When setting up Squeezelite as a persistent systemd service (often running as a low-privilege user like daemon or squeezelite), the service either failed to start or immediately grabbed the sound card exclusively.

The Error Message

The core issue was demonstrated by this error log, which repeats when using devices like default or pulse:

[16:04:06.843393] test_open:281 playback open error: Host is down
[16:04:06.843416] output_init_common:401 unable to open output device: default

Why This Happens

  1. Exclusive Access: When running Squeezelite with a raw hardware device (-o hw:CARD=PCH,DEV=0), the application takes exclusive control of the sound card, blocking the browser.
  2. Environment Conflict: When attempting to use the mixing devices (-o default or -o pulse), the service fails. This is because System Services run in a minimal environment and cannot reliably connect to the User Session PipeWire/PulseAudio server that manages all desktop audio (including your browser). It’s a fundamental conflict between a system process and a user-level audio mixer. The “Host is down” error simply means the connection to the mixer server was refused or the socket was not found.

✅ The Easy Fix: Switch to a User Autostart Application

The solution is to stop treating Squeezelite as a low-level “system” component and instead run it as a normal “user” application that starts after your graphical session (and PipeWire) is fully loaded. This is the only way to guarantee it connects to the active audio mixer.

This method uses a standard Desktop Entry (.desktop) file, which works on most Linux desktop environments (GNOME, KDE, XFCE, Cinnamon, etc.).

Step 1: Disable the Broken System Service

Stop and permanently disable the old service file to prevent conflicts.

# Stop the running service:
sudo systemctl stop squeezelite.service

# Disable the service so it doesn't try to start on the next reboot:
sudo systemctl disable squeezelite.service

Step 2: Create the Autostart File

We create a configuration file that tells your desktop environment to launch Squeezelite with the correct, shareable device name when you log in.

  1. Create the directory (if needed):

    mkdir -p ~/.config/autostart

  2. Create the autostart file (squeezelite.desktop):

    nano ~/.config/autostart/squeezelite.desktop

  3. Paste and save this content:

    [Desktop Entry]
Name=Squeezelite Player
Comment=Starts Squeezelite audio player on user login
# Key Fix: Use the 'pipewire' audio output device
Exec=/usr/bin/squeezelite -n mini-pc -o pipewire
Terminal=false
Type=Application
X-GNOME-Autostart-enabled=true

    If pipewire doesn’t work, try -o default or -o pulse here, as the autostart environment is much more forgiving than the system service environment.

Step 3: Log In and Enjoy Simultaneous Audio

  1. Log out of your desktop session.
  2. Log back in.

Squeezelite will now start automatically in the background as your user, correctly connecting to the PipeWire mixing server. You can now stream music to Squeezelite while simultaneously watching a YouTube video or listening to other audio in your browser!

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