PULSEAUDIO: Unable to connect: Connection refused

Scenario / Question:

Sound stops working and I get the error PULSEAUDIO: Unable to connect: Connection refused

Solution / Answer:

Find out if anything is blocking sound, kill the processes and restart pulseaudio

Blocking Sound:

Run the command to see what processes are using sound:

# fuser -v /dev/snd/* /dev/dsp*
                     USER        PID ACCESS COMMAND
/dev/snd/controlC0:  admin      3686 F.... mixer_applet2
/dev/snd/pcmC0D0p:   admin      4677 F...m npviewer.bin

Kill the processes listed:

# kill 3686
# kill 4677

Restart Pulse Audio:

To restart pulse audio run the following command:

# pulseaudio -k ; pulseaudio -D --log-target=syslog