Re: USB soundbar as default audio device
Chris Jones wrote:
> On Mon, Dec 06, 2010 at 12:15:33PM EST, deloptes wrote:
>> Chris Jones wrote:
>>
>> > I am trying to set up a USB sound bar on someone else's laptop running
>> > ubuntu 10.10 with a gnome desktop.
>>
>> what is this sound bar? something to eat :-)?
>
> No, a place where they charge the patrons for listening :-)
>
> [..]
I wanted to know if it is a webcam or something else
>
>> > Is there any way I can make the sound bar the system's default and be
>> > done with it?
>>
>> you can read ALSA docs - they are weired but very good. I usually do few
>> steps to setup a card. You have two options - to setup system wide or
>> user specific
>
> That's what I was looking for.
>
>> > While testing, I tried redirection when launching programs from the
>> > bash prompt -- i.e. adding ‘/dev/dsp > /dev/dsp1’ -- with
>> > unsatisfactory results: below par sound quality, loud cracks, the
>> > speakers go silent for brief periods of time, etc.
>>
>> dsp is OSS (not ALSA) and it works only with additional modules (loaded
>> and configured)
>
> OK.
>
>> > I do not have access to the other laptop right now, but I would assume
>> > gnome has some sort of GUI that lets you specify your default device
>> > ‘system-wide’?
>>
>> check if there is pulse audio installed and running - this might be what
>> you are looking for (there is something pactrl or alike or gui for this -
>> I'm not using it but it's the future, so possibly you can use it)
>
> Will do.
>
>> > Another thing I noticed is that the volume button on the sound bar does
>> > not work: I have to start alsamixer to control the volume, which is not
>> > optimal.
>> >
>> > Does this mean that I am using a default generic audio USB driver for
>> > this device and that I should look for something a bit more specific
>> > that might support additional hardware features?
>>
>> I would say this was the configuration for the default card (built in)
>
> .. and volume and other controls on a builtin sound card would be rather
> inconvenient? :-)
>
>> > While I am at it I thought I might as well learn how these things work
>> > and stop guessing :-)
>>
>> then start reading at
>> http://www.alsa-project.org/main/index.php/Documentation
>
> Looks more than promising, thanks!
>
> [..]
>
>> > P.S. I refrained from posting the 3 pages output by ‘lsusb -vs’. Not
>> > sure if that would help at this point.
>> >
>>
>> thanks, but it would help though to mention what kind of chip your usb
>> card has (or vendor + model)
>
> Not sure about the model - the vendor is actually Logitech.
>
> $ tail /var/log/messages
>
> usb 1-1.4: USB disconnect, address 13
> usb 1-1.4.4: USB disconnect, address 14
> usb 1-1.4: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 15
> usb 1-1.4: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
> hub 1-1.4:1.0: USB hub found
> hub 1-1.4:1.0: 4 ports detected
> usb 1-1.4: New USB device found, idVendor=05e3, idProduct=0607
> usb 1-1.4: New USB device strings: Mfr=0, Product=1, SerialNumber=0
> usb 1-1.4: Product: USB2.0 Hub
> usb 1-1.4.4: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 16
> usb 1-1.4.4: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
> input: HOLTEK AudioHub Speaker as /class/input/input11
> input,hidraw0: USB HID v1.10 Device [HOLTEK AudioHub Speaker] on
> usb-0000:00:07.2-1.4.4 usb 1-1.4.4: New USB device found, idVendor=046d,
> idProduct=0a0e usb 1-1.4.4: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2,
> SerialNumber=0 usb 1-1.4.4: Product: AudioHub Speaker
> usb 1-1.4.4: Manufacturer: HOLTEK
>
> Not much that looks like a reference to a chip, at least to my
> uneducated eyes. As you notice the device doubles as a USB hub.
I couldn't find information about the chip or even if the card is supported
http://www.linux-usb.org/usb.ids
>
> What would a chip identifier look like?
it doesn't matter when it is usb - the point was the information above about
the ids
>
>> I usually setup my notebook following way
>>
>> *) Add the user to the audio(+video) group
>
> Did that.
>
>> *) create a file /etc/modprobe.d/sound with following
>>
>> ## ALSA portion
>> alias char-major-116 snd
>> alias snd-card-0 snd-hda-intel
>> alias snd-card-1 snd-usb-audio
>>
>> ## module options should go here
>> #options snd-hda-intel index=0 model=dell-m6,ref,auto
>> #options snd-hda-intel index=0 model=ref enable_msi=1
>> options snd-hda-intel index=0 model=ref
>> #options snd-hda-intel index=0 model=hp-dv5 enable_msi=1
>> #position_fix=1
>> options snd-usb-audio index=1
>
> I currently have this:
>
> $ cat /etc/modprobe.d/sound
> alias snd-card-0 snd-es1968
> options snd-es1968 index=0
>
> Let me check what this does before I make any changes.
>
>> This way I have always the built in card configured as "0" which means
>> first and the usb as second
>
> Ah.. nice.
>
>> The options you'll find in the kernel version /Documentation
>>
>> *) For user specific configuration and experimenting with alsa you can
>> use
>>
>> $HOME/.asoundrc
>
> excellent!
>
> [..]
>
> On Mon, Dec 06, 2010 at 12:17:02PM EST, Hugo Vanwoerkom wrote:
>
> [..]
>
>> the default sound is index=0
>
> Thanks to both!
>
> cj
>
>
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