Arch Linux

unplugged23

Member

Registered: 2010-05-02

Posts: 49

[Solved] change default sound card

hi guys,

I know there have been other posts about this, and I've read as many as I can find; but still can't figure this out.

Right now the default sound card is the one on the motherboard, and I would like to switch this to a usb headset. I'm currently using KDE, and I have changed the kde sound default to my headset, I just can't figure out how to switch it around in arch.

I read (http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Adv … sound_card) and when I run 'ls -l /sys/module/snd/holders' I get the following output:

[connor@ryan ~]$ ls -l /sys/module/snd/holders
total 0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 May 23 12:09 snd_hda_codec -> ../../snd_hda_codec
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 May 23 12:09 snd_hda_codec_realtek -> ../../snd_hda_codec_realtek
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 May 23 12:09 snd_hda_intel -> ../../snd_hda_intel
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 May 23 12:09 snd_hwdep -> ../../snd_hwdep
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 May 23 12:09 snd_mixer_oss -> ../../snd_mixer_oss
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 May 23 12:09 snd_pcm -> ../../snd_pcm
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 May 23 12:09 snd_pcm_oss -> ../../snd_pcm_oss
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 May 23 12:09 snd_rawmidi -> ../../snd_rawmidi
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 May 23 12:09 snd_seq -> ../../snd_seq
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 May 23 12:09 snd_seq_device -> ../../snd_seq_device
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 May 23 12:09 snd_seq_oss -> ../../snd_seq_oss
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 May 23 12:09 snd_timer -> ../../snd_timer
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 May 23 12:09 snd_usb_audio -> ../../snd_usb_audio
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 May 23 12:09 snd_usb_lib -> ../../snd_usb_lib
[connor@ryan ~]$

To be honest, I have no idea what it means, but I don't see anything that looks like my headset, which is a micosoft life-chat. When I run 'alsaconf' I don't see the headset either. It offers me the options of the motherboard sound card, and the legacy isa.

The one thing I find suspicous about this is that I don't have a /etc/asound.conf or ~/.asoundrc

I'm not really sure where to go from here, so thanks for any help!

Last edited by unplugged23 (2010-05-23 18:06:02)

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ngoonee

Forum Fellow

From: Between Thailand and Singapore

Registered: 2009-03-17

Posts: 7,358

Re: [Solved] change default sound card

Can you select the headset in alsamixer?

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unplugged23

Member

Registered: 2010-05-02

Posts: 49

Re: [Solved] change default sound card

Yep.

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Don't worry, the worst is yet to come.

litemotiv

Forum Fellow

Registered: 2008-08-01

Posts: 5,026

Re: [Solved] change default sound card

not sure if this is what you want, but this udev rule should automatically set your usb headset as the primary output when you plug it in:

KERNEL=="pcmC[D0-9cp]*", ACTION=="add", PROGRAM="/bin/sh -c 'K=%k; K=$${K#pcmC}; K=$${K%%D*}; echo defaults.ctl.card $$K > /etc/asound.conf; echo defaults.pcm.card $$K >>/etc/asound.conf'"
KERNEL=="pcmC[D0-9cp]*", ACTION=="remove", PROGRAM="/bin/sh -c 'echo defaults.ctl.card 0 > /etc/asound.conf; echo defaults.pcm.card 0 >>/etc/asound.conf'"

save as /etc/udev/rules.d/00-local.rules and restart. your onboard audio is restored when you unplug the headset.

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ᶘ ᵒᴥᵒᶅ

unplugged23

Member

Registered: 2010-05-02

Posts: 49

Re: [Solved] change default sound card

Ok looks good, but I have one question. It looks like it's refrencing /etc/asound.conf and I don't have one. Is this going to cause problems?

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Don't worry, the worst is yet to come.

unplugged23

Member

Registered: 2010-05-02

Posts: 49

Re: [Solved] change default sound card

I went ahead and tried it anyway, and it worked like a charm! Thanks so much

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Don't worry, the worst is yet to come.

litemotiv

Forum Fellow

Registered: 2008-08-01

Posts: 5,026

Re: [Solved] change default sound card

good to hear unplugged23

(too many puns in one line)

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ᶘ ᵒᴥᵒᶅ

murfman78

Member

Registered: 2010-12-29

Posts: 1

Re: [Solved] change default sound card

This was exactly what I was looking for! Thanks sooo much!

enc

Member

Registered: 2016-08-31

Posts: 2

Re: [Solved] change default sound card

Only registered to say thank you! It works like a charm!

ewaller

Administrator

From: Pasadena, CA

Registered: 2009-07-13

Posts: 20,487

Re: [Solved] change default sound card

Welcome to Arch Linux and I am glad a five year old solution still works.
I will, however, use this opportunity to close this ancient thread.

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The shortest way to ruin a country is to give power to demagogues.— Dionysius of Halicarnassus
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