[Solved] PulseAudio question in Karmic

[volkerbradley]

Yeah, there are "issues" here, too.
Everyone's system seems to be behaving a little different. In my case, I would say that pulseaudio behaves a little better, though it can be troublesome to set up.

Just for the record, I think the idea behind pulseaudio -- treating sound in a client-server model as opposed to a driver-hardware model, is a good one. Just tricky to get working.

I have one of those tricky issues and I am hoping that someone can give suggestions.
I have a Logitech USB Webcam that contains a microphone. I also use a Plantronics USB headset with also contains a microphone.
For some reason, I cannot record sound from the Plantronics USB headset.
If I click on the PulseAudio Applet -> Volume Control -> Input Devices, I see three devices:
A. USB DSP v4 Audio Interface Analog Stereo
B. QuickCam Pro for Notebooks Analog Mono
C. Internal Audio Analog Stereo
There is a volume meter under the QuickCam Pro for Notebooks Analog Mono device which moves when I talk.
There is also a volume meter under the USB DSP v4 Audio Interface Analog Stereo which is the Plantronics USB headset. Unfortunately, this volume meter is blank.
Can you tell me how to change the input to the the Plantronics USB headset?
I have tried to do it but nothing seems to work.
Thanks.

[abigsky]

Re: PulseAudio question in Karmic

I had a couple things to resolve in terms of audio.

1). Initially I had no audio:
I had to download a Linux driver for my Realtek audio device. This linked to the HDA Intel
(ALC1200 analog) in as the Audio device. After a reboot I had sound.

2). My mic on my headset (HP HS-204) didn't work:
I went to the Mix Master in the action bar, and un-muted my headset. Then I had to enable the Mic
Booster. Then I had to turn the Mic input device and Mic-Boosted fairly high. After that the mic
worked correctly (and even sounded pretty good).

-Abigsky

[doctordruidphd]

Re: PulseAudio question in Karmic

If pulseaudio is seeing your device, you probably don't need another driver.

As abigsky suggests, check the volume controls in kmix. You may have to add channels from the settings menu to get all of the ones you need. On my setup, the critical one for getting audio from the mic into pulseaudio is actually called "Capture"; if that box isn't checked, no mic audio.

Also, In pavucontrol>InputDevices, make sure your mic on your headset is not muted. The mute icon is the first one with the little red x in it. It may not be obvious by looking whether it is pushed or not. (at least it isn't with my theme)

[volkerbradley]

Re: PulseAudio question in Karmic

Thanks for your responses. I think that your tips are pointing me in the right direction.
When I opened the kmix window, I see that the Plantronics headset does not have a capture button.
I do see capture buttons under Intel CH6 (my sound card) and under the USB device (the mic in the Logitech Webcam).
I turned off capture in both of these buttons hoping that this would make the capture button appear for the Plantronics headset.
I then closed kmix and opened it again. The capture button for the Plantronics headset is still missing.
Any idea how to enable the capture button for the Plantronics headset?
Thanks

[volkerbradley]

Re: PulseAudio question in Karmic

More Info:
I opened the Kix window and then clicked on Settings -> Configure Channels. I added a check-mark in front of Mic.
This made the Capture button appear. I put the check-mark in this button.
Then I disconnected the web cam (which also contains a USB mic) and rebooted the computer.
When I open pavucontrol -> Input Devices, I saw that the volume meter under USB DSP v4 Audio Interface Analog Stereo (Plantronic Headset) moves a lot when I talk into the Plantronics mic.
A few minutes later, after closing pavucontrol and then opening it again, this volume meter has disappeared.
I see no Mic Booster button anywhere.
With he the Webcam disconnected, I was not able to record any sound with Audacity, even though I had set Playback and Recording to Pulse.
In Skype, I could not hear any sound that I had recorded in the Skype Test Call.
Any other thoughts?
Thanks.

[doctordruidphd]

Re: PulseAudio question in Karmic

Setting up pulseaudio can be frustrating at times.

Unplug your webcam and headset, log out and log back in.
Plug in your headset, and open pavucontrol.

In the Input Devices tab, make sure the 'Show' box at the bottom is set to "All input devices". Note that this setting may change every time you open pavucontrol, so you may have to double check this every time you use pavucontrol.

Depending on what you are doing with the mic, you may need to look under the Recording tab and/or the Output Devices tab, to select where you want the audio from the mic to go.

If you don't want any audio coming from the webcam mic, when you plug it in, under the Configuration tab, you can set the device to Off, or alternatively, mute it under Input Devices.

You also need to check kmix and the settings there, as altering settings in pavucontrol can change settings in kmix, and visa versa.

Yeah, it's a pain to get it set up right, but once done, it usually behaves itself after that. I should mention that because of these problems, some people recommend removing pulseaudio altogether. I tried that on my system, and couldn't get any audio in or out, so I have learned to live with pulseaudio and its quirks. It does start to make sense after you work with it for a while.

[volkerbradley]

Re: PulseAudio question in Karmic

Thank you very much for continuing to answer my questions. It gives me hope that this pesky problems will be resolved eventually.
Here is what happened.
I unplugged both the Plantronic headset and webcam and then logged back in. I then reconnected the Plantronics headset.
I opened pavucontrol and clicked on Input Devices -> All input devices.
The result is seen in snapshot2.png . As you can see the volume meter moves when I talk into the Plantronics headset mic.
I then opened Audacity with the following settings:
Devices -> Interface -> Host: ALSA
Devices -> Playback -> pulse
Devices -> Recording -> pulse
Devices -> Recording -> Channels: 2 (stereo) as shown in snapshot1.png
When I attempted to record sound in Audacity, the volume meter in Audacity showed that no sound was being recorded.
I left Audacity open and continued to talk into the Plantronics mic and then clicked on the Recording tab in pavucontrol. The Plantronics headset did not show here. The result is shown in snapshot5.png
There seemed to be no way to choose the Plantronics mic for recording here.
I then clicked on the Configuration tab hoping to be able to choose the Plantronics mic as the default recording mic. This did not seem to be possible here. The result is snapshot4.png.
I have the following files in my home directory:
.asoundrc which contains:
# ALSA library configuration file

# Include settings that are under the control of asoundconf(1).
# (To disable these settings, comment out this line.)
</home/volker/.asoundrc.asoundconf>
pcm.pulse {
type pulse
}

ctl.pulse {
type pulse
}
and my .asoundrc.asoundconf file contains:
# ALSA library configuration file managed by asoundconf(1).
#
# MANUAL CHANGES TO THIS FILE WILL BE OVERWRITTEN!
#
# Manual changes to the ALSA library configuration should be implemented
# by editing the ~/.asoundrc file, not by editing this file.
pcm.!default { type pulse }
ctl.!default { type pulse }

What am I missing?
Thanks for looking at this again.

[doctordruidphd]

Re: PulseAudio question in Karmic

Edit: see below for karmic info

OK, I got it to work.
First off, I have a Megalodon headset, not a Plantronics, but I am assming it sets up the same way, as it is basically an external usb soundcard. Also, this is in Jaunty; I haven't set it up in karmic yet, but it should be similar to set up.

In Audacity, I had to go to Edit > Preferences > Audio I/O
Under Recording, set input to ALSA:default Mono (this is a mono headset)

When I did that, In pavucontrol I got entries for the headset under Input devices and recording.

Then in Audacity I turned on the Start Monitoring in the lettle box next to the mic volume.
I now have audio coming in from the headset on audacity.

Kmix seems to be irrelevant in this process.

Hope this helps.

Edit:

KARMIC SETUP IS DIFFERENT!

I tried this on Karmic with a regular (non-usb) headset.
Here is what I found:
The setup in audacity is a little different.
Edit > Preferences > Devices
Host set to ALSA
Playback set to Pulse
Recording set to pulse

Kmix:
Input sources set to front mic (I am using the front mic jack)
Capture turned on.

Pavucontrol:
Configuration: set to Analog Stereo Duplex
Input Devices: Microphone 2
Recording: ALSA plugin (audacity) Output tab set to Internakl Audio Analog Stereo

I am getting an awful lot of noise, but this may be due to the headset itself.
Depending on how you are plugging in, these settings may be different for you.

Eventually I will get the Magalodon set up for karmic, but since wine games don't play worth squat in karmic, I haven't bothered yet.

*** The critical thing here seems to be that KMix has to be set to capture the audio coming in from wherever the mic is plugged in. The Plantronics probably has a different tab in KMix than your normal sound card. To get this working, you may have to go into SystemSettings>Multimedia and under Audio Capture, move your headset mic to the top.

If you still can't get this working, I'll try setting up my Megalodon tomorrow, and maybe work through whatever the problem is. It's just a matter of hacking through all the menu options.

[doctordruidphd]

Re: PulseAudio question in Karmic

Here is what I had to do to get the Razer Megalodon working with Audacity in Karmic.
The Megalodon is a usb soundcard/headphone/mic combo, so the steps to get your Plantronics headset working should be analogous.

1. Plug it in. In SystemsSettings > Multimedia you should see the usb device appear, both in the Audio Output and Audio Capture sections. For it to work in my setup, I had to move the Razer device ABOVE pulseaudio (henceforth PA) entry.

If you want to test the device from this panel, you will need to issue the 'pulseaudio --kill' command from within konsole, as pulseaudio takes over that alsa ports, and nothing else will ge through when it is active. If you do this, be sure to issue the 'pulseaudio --start' command when finished.

2. Setting up KMix for the device:
The only setting I have in KMix for this device is a mute checkbox, which I left unchecked.

3. Setting up PA:
Note: PA is EXREMELY FLAKY in its behavior. It seems to change its setting every time I plug the device in. Also, gone, apparently, is the old "simultaneous output" function the was available in Jaunty. For EACH APPLICATION, you will have to choose which device audio gets sent to.
For it to work at all, I had to unplug my device, then kill and restart PA, otherwise it won't detect the surround sound output.

Start playing something with Alsaplayer (or whatever you use). Open pavucontrol.
In the Configuration tab, make sure your device is listed with whatever output mode you want, AND with "Analog Mono Input". No input, no sound.

Under the "Output Devices" tab, choose "All Output Devices" in the Show box at the bottom right. Make sure your device is listed, and the mute button (speaker with red x) is not checked. Adjust volume as needed.

Under the Playback tab, select "All Streams" in the show box. There should be an entry in the table that says "ALSA plug-in (whatever player you are using). Click the box next to it, and choose the output device (your headset, if that's what you want). At long last, you should hear sound coming through

Now for the INPUT issues. .Under the Input tab, your deivce should be listed. Set the Show tab to "All Except Monitors" .It should not be muted, and should have some volume. It should move when you speak into the mic. If the device isn't listed, go back to the Configuration tab and make sure "Analog Mono Input" is listed for the device.

Go to the Recording tab. At this point, there should be nothing. Now start Audacity. Under Edit > Preferences, I have Host:ALSA Playbackulse Recordingulse Channels:1(mono). Hit the arrow box next to the mic icon just below the LR volume bars, and choose "Start Monitoring".
In the Recording tab, an entry should appear for ALSA plug-in (audacity). In the selection box next to that, you will have to choose your device. Then, you should have sound.

Then, unplug your device, and start all over, as PA forgets everything you set up.

Man, who needs RPGs, when we have this nonsense to figure out?
And, yes, I tried removing PA. Wound up reloading my system from backup, as I couldn't get sound without it, even after reinstalling it.

Oh well. At least you should be able to record from you mic now.

[volkerbradley]

Re: PulseAudio question in Karmic

On my way to complete success!!!!
Followed your instructions and was able to record sound with Audacity. Sound is perfect.
No luck with Skype yet but will continue to look around.
Thank you very much for your suggestions.
It must have taken quite some time to read and respond to my last post.
Thanks a lot for helping.

[kjjjjshab]

Re: PulseAudio question in Karmic

I take it you did Options -> Sound Devices -> Microphone... and then while on a call, just toggle through them all (hitting apply each time of course) and seeing which one worked?

I just had to do that myself this morning to get it working again.

[volkerbradley]

[Solved]Re: PulseAudio question in Karmic

Yes, that did it. Skype is working now.
Thank you both for helping me.
Awesome!!