DaVinci Resolve Studio 21.0 — no audio / no meters as normal user, works only as root (PipeWire, NVIDIA)

Issues & Assistance
1

Hi everyone,

I have a fresh install of DaVinci Resolve Studio 21.0.0.0047 on CachyOS and cannot get any audio playback or level meters as my normal user. The exact same Resolve binary produces sound and moving meters when started with sudo. This is not the AAC codec issue — I’m aware of that limitation and have ruled it out (see below).

System

  • CachyOS (Arch-based), KDE Plasma

  • Kernel: 7.0.11-1-cachyos

  • PipeWire / WirePlumber: pipewire 1:1.6.6-1.1/ wireplumber 0.5.14-1.1 (PipeWire-Pulse active)

  • GPU: NVIDIA (proprietary driver, current; CUDA/OpenCL working in Resolve)

  • Audio hardware: onboard Realtek ALC1220 (card 0, PCH) + NVIDIA HDMI (card 1)

  • DaVinci Resolve Studio 21.0.0.0047 (installed via AUR davinci-resolve-studio; libc++ 20.1.6 placed in /opt/resolve/libs to fix the launch crash)

Symptom

  • As normal user: video plays, but no audio and no level meters in Resolve.

  • As sudo /opt/resolve/bin/resolve: audio and meters work.

  • pavucontrol shows an “ALSA plug-in [resolve]” playback entry that rapidly appears and disappears the whole time Resolve is open, target shown as “Unknown output”.

  • ResolveDebug.txt is flooded with:

  ALSA lib pcm_pulse.c:758:(pulse_prepare) [error.] PulseAudio: Unable to create stream: No such entity

Already confirmed / ruled out

  • All other audio/video apps work. System audio is healthy: speaker-test -Dpulse -c 2 and speaker-test -D plughw:0,0 -c 2 both play fine.

  • pactl info → Server Name: PulseAudio (on PipeWire ...).

  • WirePlumber does not crash — journalctl --user -u wireplumber -b shows only normal boot lines, nothing at playback time.

  • User is in realtime and audio groups; realtime-privileges installed.

  • /dev/snd/* belong to group audio; aplay -l lists all cards correctly as normal user (identical to root). So not a device-permission issue.

  • Removed root-owned leftovers from earlier sudo launches (~/.local/share/DaVinciResolve, ~/.config) — no change.

  • Reset Resolve’s config folder — no change.

  • Set default audio source via wpctl set-default (both Sink and Source now under “Default Configured Devices”) — no change.

  • Tested with and without pulseaudio-alsa (currently pipewire-alsa only). Removing it stops the “No such entity” spam (counter stays 0) but there is still no audio, and Resolve then no longer appears in the graph at all.

  • ~/.asoundrc routing default to plughw:0,0 makes speaker-test work, but Resolve ignores it — its Monitor Speaker Configuration only offers abstract channels “1: ALSA … 8: ALSA”, no named device, so I can’t point it at a specific card.

  • Forced start variables (ALSA_CARD=PCH, AUDIODEV=hw:0,0, etc.) — no effect.

Key observation With pulseaudio-alsa installed, Resolve’s output stream is actually active and connected to the analog output in wpctl status (output_FL/FR > ALC1220 Analog:playback [active]) — yet still no sound and no meter movement at all. Resolve opens two ALSA clients; one becomes a connected stream, the other loops endlessly with “No such entity” on what looks like the capture/input side.

So the output path works, but Resolve’s audio engine never produces signal as a normal user, while it does as root. This looks like Resolve’s ALSA audio engine failing to initialize for the normal user against current PipeWire, independent of routing.

Question Has anyone on CachyOS gotten Resolve 21 audio working as a normal user (not root)? Is there a known PipeWire/WirePlumber config, an ALSA device override Resolve actually honors, or a package version that fixes the pcm_pulse “No such entity” loop and gets the meters moving? Happy to provide more logs. Thanks!

Kernel: 7.0.11-1-cachyos
linux-cachyos 7.0.11-1
pipewire 1:1.6.6-1.1
wireplumber 0.5.14-1.1

2

Sounds like a similar issue I had. If I had to guess, you don’t have an active mic input, or have a sound card disabled? For me, this fixed it, so I recommend trying the different cards and modes until Resolve accepts one (also, I have both pulseaudio-alsa and pipewire-alsa):

20260605-144331984
20260605-144331984638×119 7.95 KB

Edit: I should add, it should work just with making USB Audio “Pro Audio”, since it gives you a faux mic input. No need to use the USB Audio devices on the playback side of things. Granted, I haven’t yet used v21.

3

I found a solution that works for me so far.
Maybe it helps someone else:

DaVinci Resolve Studio 21 – Audio Fix on CachyOS
Quick guide for fast troubleshooting if Resolve won’t start
or has no audio/no volume. Only the steps that actually
made the difference.
System: CachyOS, KDE Plasma, NVIDIA, Realtek ALC1220 onboard audio (Channel 0 / PCH).

A) Resolve won’t start (undefined symbol error)
Only necessary if an error like
undefined symbol: _ZNSt3__117bad_function_callD1Ev appears at startup.
Place a compatible libc++ in Resolve’s Lib folder:
mkdir -p ~/temp && cd ~/temp

curl -L -o libc+±20.1.6-2-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst
‘https://archive.archlinux.org/packages/l/libc%2B%2B/libc%2B%2B-20.1.6-2-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst’

curl -L -o libc++abi-20.1.6-2-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst
‘https://archive.archlinux.org/packages/l/libc%2B%2Babi/libc%2B%2Babi-20.1.6-2-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst’

sudo bsdtar -C /opt/resolve/libs -xf libc+±20.1.6-2-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst usr/lib
sudo bsdtar -C /opt/resolve/libs -xf libc++abi-20.1.6-2-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst usr/lib

cd /opt/resolve/libs
sudo mv usr/lib/libc++.so . && sudo rm -r usr
Then start Resolve:
/opt/resolve/bin/resolve

B) Resolve starts, but no sound / no levels — THE ACTUAL FIX
Cause: Resolve requires an audio INPUT when starting up. In the normal
stereo profile, the onboard card does not have a suitable input, so
the audio engine does not start. Solution: Set the card to “Pro Audio” (provides an
input).
Step 1 – Determine the card name
pactl list cards short
The onboard card is the one with pci-0000_00_1f.3 (usually alsa_card.pci-0000_00_1f.3).
Step 2 – Set the Pro Audio profile
pactl set-card-profile alsa_card.pci-0000_00_1f.3 pro-audio
Step 3 – Verify that an input is now available
wpctl status | grep -A4 “Sources”
“Internal Audio Pro” should appear.
Step 4 – Launch Resolve and test (WITHOUT sudo!)
/opt/resolve/bin/resolve
In Resolve: Preferences > System > Video and Audio I/O.
Verify success: Under “Playback processing buffer size,” a latency value should be displayed

0.0 ms (e.g., 9.5 ms) = the audio engine is running.
Then click “Save” at the bottom, play the clip with sound → levels move, sound is present.

C) If the sound is coming from the wrong output (e.g., HDMI)
Set the correct output as default. First, display the numbers:
wpctl status
In the “Sinks” section, find the number for “Internal Audio Pro,” then:
wpctl set-default
(Or simply click the correct output in the volume tray.)

D) Check persistence (after a reboot)
wpctl status | grep -A4 “Sources”

“Internal Audio Pro” is still there → everything is fine, it’s permanent.
Profile reverted → repeat step B2
(or create a permanent WirePlumber rule).

Important Rules

ALWAYS start Resolve without sudo. Running as root creates root-specific
configuration/project files that block the regular user.
Use ONLY ONE audio mechanism. No additional ~/.asoundrc is needed
if the Pro Audio profile is running.

Reset Pro Audio profile (only if desired)
pactl set-card-profile alsa_card.pci-0000_00_1f.3 output:analog-stereo+input:analog-stereo

4

This makes sense, I suppose I didn’t experience this issue because my audio interface defaults to settings with 4 mic ins and a number of outs, so Resolve loads properly

5

Does this not achieve the same result as my response, just in a needlessly complex way? Going through the system settings is likely better, since it’s more fool-proof, and you’re less likely to use the incorrect device (or, if you do, it’s easily reversible). Regardless, remember to mark this as solved if the issue is solved.