The error message is confusing when a client tries to connect to a daemon that isn't running

[tanuk]

The (too long) short summary says it all... well, maybe I'll elaborate a bit:

Unable to connect: Connection refused

That looks like a permission/authentication problem. It would be nice if the error would be "Unable to connect: Daemon not running" or something else that tells what the problem likely is.

[felipec]

+1

I thought something was wrong with pulseaudio, but not that it wasn't running at all.

[beier]

+1 (I also got mislead)

Should it just be the wording that gets changed, or can clients easily tell whether no server answers, or a server refuses, e.g. because of an authentication error?

Note that this error message comes from:

• PulseAudio Volume Control (shown in dialog)
• PulseAudio Volume Meter (shown in dialog)
• PulseAudio Manager (shown in status area)

Suggestion for a new message: "Unable to connect to the server" + " "Perhaps it is not running, rejecting the connection or the network connection is blocked."