Re: usb audio device & sound card
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Mark Grieveson wrote:
> Hi. I have a cheap usb audio device for Skype, and a regular sound
> card for the rest of the computer. I'm using Etch. I would like to
> be able to get sound when browsing the internet, or listening to
> music, or watching movies, from the soundcard, while simultaneously
> being able to use the usb audio device for Skype. However, when I
> plug in the the usb audio device, it takes over sound for everything.
> Opening the volume control, and changing the device, does not work
> (the usb device still controls). If I run alsaconf, then the
> soundcard takes over, and I cannot get the usb device working with
> Skype (even if I try to change the device within that program.)
>
> The computer is set up at my workplace (a shelter) to allow homeless
> people the option of phoning long distance in Canada and the US
> (otherwise, I don't use Skype.) Anyway, my Windows using friends are
> astounded that I'm still dealing with issues like this on the
> computer at work. So, not only for the usability of my computer, but
> also my dignity, I am pleading with you for help on this.
>
> Thanks, Mark
>
>
Greetings Mark:
My situation is similar overall, but completely different in all of the
particulars, so if this advice is completely useless, I apologize.
I use the twinkle VoIP software at work on my laptop. I have headphones
and a mike plugged into the onboard soundcard, and a USB audio device
plugged into the system also. My default sound card is the USB audio
device for music & system sounds and the onboard card is used for VoIP.
To get this working, I had to make a few setting changes. First, the
contents of my /proc/asound/cards are:
0 [ICH6 ]: ICH4 - Intel ICH6
Intel ICH6 with STAC9750,51 at 0xdffffe00, irq 169
1 [UAC3553B ]: USB-Audio - UAC3553B
Philips UAC3553B at usb-0000:00:1d.7-2.3, full speed
I created a file in my home directory named .asoundrc with the following
contents:
pcm.!default {
type hw
card 1
}
ctl.!default {
type hw
card 1
}
This sets the card listed as 1 in my /proc/asound/cards to be my default
sound card for alsa. Then, I set the programs that play sound to use
alsa, and by default they start using the USB device.
Then, I had to set twinkle to use the onboard card specifically rather
than just using the default device.
Occasionally, the cards are initialized in the reverse order (Onboard is
1 and USB is 0). If this starts happening enough to bother me, I will
write a script to dynamically create the .asoundrc file when I log in
based on the contents of /proc/asound/cards.
I don't know if this is helpful to you. I don't use Skype, so I don't
know if you can specify the output device in those settings.
- -Scott
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