Tier 0: render what the services already decided, honestly

Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01Ms2FbjQy31TVf3CEvQhGM8

config/dot/quickshell/services/SoundTest.qml

@@ -34,6 +34,17 @@ Singleton {
     // chip in the channel strip.
     property string playingChannel: ""
 
+    // Why the last test did not work, "" when it did.
+    //
+    // Every failure here is otherwise invisible, and invisible in the worst
+    // possible way: this page exists to answer "is this the right speaker" and
+    // "does this microphone work", and both questions are answered by silence.
+    // A pw-play that is not installed, a sample file that is missing, a capture
+    // device that never produces a sample -- all three look exactly like a dead
+    // speaker or a dead microphone from the chair, which is the wrong answer
+    // to the question the page was opened to ask.
+    property string lastError: ""
+
     // ── Channels ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
     //
     // The freedesktop theme ships one spoken sample per channel, and the set it
@@ -86,15 +97,22 @@ Singleton {
 
     function playChannel(node: var, channelName: string): void {
         const file = root.sampleFor(String(channelName ?? ""));
-        if (file === "")
+        if (file === "") {
+            root.lastError = "No sample is installed for that channel.";
             return;
+        }
         root.playSample(node, file, String(channelName));
     }
 
     function playSample(node: var, file: string, channelName: string): void {
-        const target = String(node?.name ?? "");
-        if (target === "" || player.running)
+        if (player.running)
             return;
+        const target = String(node?.name ?? "");
+        if (target === "") {
+            root.lastError = "PipeWire has no name for that output, so nothing could be played to it.";
+            return;
+        }
+        root.lastError = "";
         root.playingChannel = channelName;
         player.command = ["pw-play", "--target", target, file];
         player.running = true;
@@ -102,7 +120,14 @@ Singleton {
 
     Process {
         id: player
-        onExited: (code, status) => root.playingChannel = ""
+        onExited: (code, status) => {
+            root.playingChannel = "";
+            // A silent speaker and a pw-play that never ran are the same
+            // experience and different problems.
+            if (code !== 0)
+                root.lastError = "The test sound could not be played — pw-play exited with code "
+                    + code + ". The freedesktop sound theme or pipewire-utils may be missing.";
+        }
     }
 
     // ── Microphone test ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
@@ -124,9 +149,15 @@ Singleton {
     readonly property int micTestRate: 48000
 
     function startMicTest(sourceNode: var, sinkNode: var): void {
-        const source = String(sourceNode?.name ?? "");
-        if (source === "" || root.micTestState !== "idle")
+        if (root.micTestState !== "idle")
             return;
+        const source = String(sourceNode?.name ?? "");
+        if (source === "") {
+            root.lastError = "PipeWire has no name for that microphone, so nothing could be recorded from it.";
+            return;
+        }
+        root.lastError = "";
+        root.micTestTimedOut = false;
 
         // pw-play needs a target too, or the playback lands on the default
         // output rather than the one being looked at.
@@ -162,6 +193,10 @@ Singleton {
 
     property string micTestSink: ""
     property bool micTestCancelled: false
+    // Set by the watchdog, read by the exit handler: a recorder killed for
+    // stalling and a recorder that failed outright both come back non-zero,
+    // and only one of them means "this microphone produced no sound".
+    property bool micTestTimedOut: false
 
     Timer {
         id: micTestWatchdog
@@ -169,8 +204,10 @@ Singleton {
         // capture that has stalled rather than one that is merely slow.
         interval: (root.micTestSeconds + 3) * 1000
         onTriggered: {
-            if (recorder.running)
+            if (recorder.running) {
+                root.micTestTimedOut = true;
                 recorder.signal(15);
+            }
         }
     }
 
@@ -180,11 +217,21 @@ Singleton {
             micTestWatchdog.stop();
             if (root.micTestCancelled) {
                 root.micTestCancelled = false;
+                root.micTestTimedOut = false;
                 root.micTestState = "idle";
                 return;
             }
+            if (root.micTestTimedOut) {
+                root.micTestTimedOut = false;
+                root.micTestState = "idle";
+                root.lastError = "That microphone produced no sound in "
+                    + (root.micTestSeconds + 3) + " seconds. It may be muted at the device.";
+                return;
+            }
             if (code !== 0) {
                 root.micTestState = "idle";
+                root.lastError = "Nothing could be recorded — pw-record exited with code "
+                    + code + ".";
                 return;
             }
             root.micTestState = "playing";
@@ -198,8 +245,14 @@ Singleton {
     Process {
         id: playback
         onExited: (code, status) => {
+            // A cancelled playback was killed on purpose; its non-zero exit is
+            // not a failure to report.
+            const cancelled = root.micTestCancelled;
             root.micTestCancelled = false;
             root.micTestState = "idle";
+            if (!cancelled && code !== 0)
+                root.lastError = "The recording was made but could not be played back — "
+                    + "pw-play exited with code " + code + ".";
         }
     }
 }