Sound turns on automatically when I surf sitting in a public library

kilmister · 2012-05-23 12:37:34

Hey,

I have a volume plugin in my openbox system tray, which is set to 0%. However, when I start a youtube video, or even a flash website with background music etc., the sound is automatically turned on and people give me funny looks. One time, I got confused and in the heat of the moment, I just pulled out the notebook's battery and did that left-to-right eye roll.

So, question: Does anyone know why that happens and how to avoid this?
I'm really new to audio stuff, so I don't really know what more info I can give you, but if you tell me what to provide (and possibly, what commands will retrieve that info), of course I can do that.

Thanks in advance,
Alex

brebs · 2012-05-23 12:57:00

Sounds like the volume plugin isn't setting the volume correctly, or is setting the wrong control (e.g. PCM vs Master control). Run good ol' "alsamixer" to check, and experiment with its controls while playing audio.

kilmister · 2012-05-23 13:11:51

brebs wrote:

Sounds like the volume plugin isn't setting the volume correctly, or is setting the wrong control (e.g. PCM vs Master control). Run good ol' "alsamixer" to check, and experiment with its controls while playing audio.

alsamixer does the job, yes, but it's weird that when I turn the sound off, and then visit a youtube video, the sound *automatically* turns back on. This looks like a "convenience" feature I don't really like.

alphaniner · 2012-05-23 13:16:51

I think what brebs was suggesting was to use alsamixer to make sure your gui doodad is actually connected to the right control: check alsamixer, change the volume with your doodad, then check alsamixer again and see what changed.

Edit: NM I misunderstood.

Last edited by alphaniner (2012-05-23 13:17:28)

PReP · 2012-05-23 17:38:04

On my soundcard, there are three sliders controlling sound in alsamixer;

Master, PCM, and Front (or headphones).

I suggest that you run alsamixer again in a console,
lower all three to the bottom, or mute them,
and then keep it open as you check a youtube clip, to see if it is actually raised or fiddled with there.

Then, try to figure out what control is "messed" with, if so, and what of the controls that your volume-gui-plugin-thingie' works with,
or if the webbrowser or flash "hijacks" a slider.

kilmister · 2012-05-24 04:22:13

PReP wrote:

On my soundcard, there are three sliders controlling sound in alsamixer;
Master, PCM, and Front (or headphones).
I suggest that you run alsamixer again in a console,
lower all three to the bottom, or mute them,
and then keep it open as you check a youtube clip, to see if it is actually raised or fiddled with there.
Then, try to figure out what control is "messed" with, if so, and what of the controls that your volume-gui-plugin-thingie' works with,
or if the webbrowser or flash "hijacks" a slider.

Okay, when the plugin's volume is at 0% and I open alsamixer, I see the regular volume bars, but not the PCM one. Then when I start the video, the plugin's volume is at 100%, and when I re-open alsamixer there is now a PCM bar at 100%. mouse-over the plugin also says "100% (PCM)".
It's messing with the PCM bar, and this only has an effect when Master and Speaker are > 0. So before now, I only muted PCM to shut my computer up (and I don't even know what a PCM is ).

Should I just kill the plugin? It's volwheel by the way:
http://www.archlinux.org/packages/commu … /volwheel/

ewaller · 2012-05-24 06:32:20

To be safe:

1. Don't surf porn in the library.
2. If all else fails, get a phone jack from the electronics part store and plug it to the headphone jack
3. If you have pulse audio, set up a sink that goes nowhere.

Pajaro · 2012-05-24 06:53:19

I think that using pulseaudio or jack could fix the situation. These sound daemons require you to provide an alternate libflashsupport for flash, which are overrides for audio and video support in flash.

cfr · 2012-05-25 01:59:38

kilmister wrote:

Okay, when the plugin's volume is at 0% and I open alsamixer, I see the regular volume bars, but not the PCM one. Then when I start the video, the plugin's volume is at 100%, and when I re-open alsamixer there is now a PCM bar at 100%. mouse-over the plugin also says "100% (PCM)".
It's messing with the PCM bar, and this only has an effect when Master and Speaker are > 0. So before now, I only muted PCM to shut my computer up (and I don't even know what a PCM is ).

Are you just setting the volume to 0% or have you tried actually muting the sound? Might there be a difference in how the plugin treats these cases?

Caveat: I know less than you do about sound.

darkfeline · 2012-05-29 23:35:38

What's your sound setup? ALSA or OSS, JACK or PulseAudio It sounds like you're just using ALSA. Run amixer and hit F6 and note what cards you have and what bars each card has. Do what you normally do to mute sound and go back and check which slider on which card changed. Then, play a flash video and go back and check which slider on which card changed.

Xyne · 2012-05-30 00:06:59

Once you get sound sorted out, you should fix the tray app that turns off your webcam. It keeps spamming different sites with, um, "unflattering" images of you.

p.s. After 3 days, it's really time to change those boxers.

Arch Linux

#1 2012-05-23 12:37:34

Sound turns on automatically when I surf sitting in a public library

#2 2012-05-23 12:57:00

Re: Sound turns on automatically when I surf sitting in a public library

#3 2012-05-23 13:11:51

Re: Sound turns on automatically when I surf sitting in a public library

#4 2012-05-23 13:16:51

Re: Sound turns on automatically when I surf sitting in a public library

#5 2012-05-23 17:38:04

Re: Sound turns on automatically when I surf sitting in a public library

#6 2012-05-24 04:22:13

Re: Sound turns on automatically when I surf sitting in a public library

#7 2012-05-24 06:32:20

Re: Sound turns on automatically when I surf sitting in a public library

#8 2012-05-24 06:53:19

Re: Sound turns on automatically when I surf sitting in a public library

#9 2012-05-25 01:59:38

Re: Sound turns on automatically when I surf sitting in a public library

#10 2012-05-29 23:35:38

Re: Sound turns on automatically when I surf sitting in a public library

#11 2012-05-30 00:06:59

Re: Sound turns on automatically when I surf sitting in a public library

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