More data... % play foo.mp3 ; echo $? ALSA lib pcm.c:2105:(snd_pcm_open_conf) Cannot open shared library plugindir/ libasound_module_pcm_pulse.so play stio: Failed writing default: cannot open audio device 2 Maybe it's an 'alsa' thing? My usual sound output server/plugin is pulseaudio, which still works.