**Hardware setup**

toby@bluefly[~] sudo hwinfo --sound 
23: PCI 1f.3: 0403 Audio device                                 
  [Created at pci.386]
  Unique ID: nS1_.ua8R3ecRlI6
  SysFS ID: /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1f.3
  SysFS BusID: 0000:00:1f.3
  Hardware Class: sound
  Model: "Intel Tiger Lake-H HD Audio Controller"
  Vendor: pci 0x8086 "Intel Corporation"
  Device: pci 0x43c8 "Tiger Lake-H HD Audio Controller"
  SubVendor: pci 0x1558 "CLEVO/KAPOK Computer"
  SubDevice: pci 0x65f1 
  Revision: 0x11
  Driver: "snd_hda_intel"
  Driver Modules: "snd_hda_intel"
  Memory Range: 0x6403178000-0x640317bfff (rw,non-prefetchable)
  Memory Range: 0x6403000000-0x64030fffff (rw,non-prefetchable)
  IRQ: 201 (2077 events)
  Module Alias: "pci:v00008086d000043C8sv00001558sd000065F1bc04sc03i00"
  Driver Info #0:
    Driver Status: snd_hda_intel is active
    Driver Activation Cmd: "modprobe snd_hda_intel"
  Driver Info #1:
    Driver Status: snd_sof_pci_intel_tgl is active
    Driver Activation Cmd: "modprobe snd_sof_pci_intel_tgl"
  Config Status: cfg=yes, avail=yes, need=no, active=unknown
35: USB 00.0: 0401 Multimedia audio controller
  [Created at usb.122]
  Unique ID: CiZ2.775Tusoq+o7
  Parent ID: uIhY.2DFUsyrieMD
  SysFS ID: /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb3/3-3/3-3:1.0
  SysFS BusID: 3-3:1.0
  Hardware Class: sound
  Model: "Trust GXT 242 Microphone"
  Hotplug: USB
  Vendor: usb 0x145f "Trust"
  Device: usb 0x0257 "Trust GXT 242 Microphone"
  Revision: "1.00"
  Driver: "snd-usb-audio"
  Driver Modules: "snd_usb_audio"
  Speed: 12 Mbps
  Module Alias: "usb:v145Fp0257d0100dc00dsc00dp00ic01isc01ip00in00"
  Driver Info #0:
    Driver Status: snd_usb_audio is active
    Driver Activation Cmd: "modprobe snd_usb_audio"
  Config Status: cfg=new, avail=yes, need=no, active=unknown
  Attached to: #36 (Hub)

** software issue with pulseaudio **

toby@bluefly[~] systemctl --user status pulseaudio
× pulseaudio.service - Sound Service
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/user/pulseaudio.service; disabled; preset: disabled)
     Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Wed 2024-03-13 22:18:01 GMT; 5min ago
TriggeredBy: × pulseaudio.socket
    Process: 2969 ExecStart=/usr/bin/pulseaudio --daemonize=no --log-target=journal (code=exited, status=255/EXC>
   Main PID: 2969 (code=exited, status=255/EXCEPTION)
        CPU: 300ms

Mar 13 22:18:01 bluefly systemd[2232]: pulseaudio.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 5.
Mar 13 22:18:01 bluefly systemd[2232]: pulseaudio.service: Start request repeated too quickly.
Mar 13 22:18:01 bluefly systemd[2232]: pulseaudio.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Mar 13 22:18:01 bluefly systemd[2232]: Failed to start Sound Service.

** source(s) of problem **

toby@bluefly[~] /usr/bin/pulseaudio --daemonize=no
W: [pulseaudio] pid.c: Stale PID file, overwriting.

(pulseaudio:4302): GStreamer-WARNING **: 22:24:07.820: External plugin loader failed. This most likely means that the plugin loader helper binary was not found or could not be run. You might need to set the GST_PLUGIN_SCANNER environment variable if your setup is unusual. This should normally not be required though.

ERROR: Caught a segmentation fault while loading plugin file:
/lib64/gstreamer-1.0/libgstpython.so
...

toby@bluefly[~] /usr/bin/pulseaudio --daemonize=no
...
ERROR: Caught a segmentation fault while loading plugin file:
/lib64/gstreamer-1.0/libgstges.so

toby@bluefly[~] /usr/bin/pulseaudio --daemonize=no
...
ERROR: Caught a segmentation fault while loading plugin file:
/lib64/gstreamer-1.0/libgstva.so

*** Solution / Fix ***

sudo zypper remove gstreamer-plugin-python
sudo zypper remove libges-1_0-0
sudo zypper remove gstreamer-plugins-bad
pulseaudio --start