Switching Soundcards in Lubuntu 10.10

faint545 · 01-05-2011, 12:20 PM

I just installed Lubuntu 10.10 and I've come across a little snag. I've been trying to figure out how to switch between the sound cards I have and it'd driving me nuts. Something this simple shouldn't be difficult. I have 1 sound card and 1 USB headset. I want to be able to switch between the two.

I've tried asoundconf-gtk and that no longer works

Code:

alex@Kerberos2:/usr/bin$ asoundconf-gtk 
sh: /usr/bin/asoundconf: not found
You need to make sure asoundconf is active!
By default, asoundconf's configuration file is ~/.asoundrc.asoundconf
and must be included in ~/.asoundrc. Open this file to make sure it is!

I've looked around to see if anyone has come across this problem and I have, however the solutions no longer work...

There is no GUI interface that comes with Lubuntu to change the default sound card.

fair_is_fair · 01-05-2011, 01:02 PM

Does alsamixer do anything for you?

Open a terminal and type sudo alsamixer

faint545 · 01-05-2011, 01:07 PM

That was the first thing I tried. It doesn't allow you to set a default output device. Only change the volumes and such.

fair_is_fair · 01-05-2011, 01:27 PM

Does alsamixer show both sound cards and volume controls for such? Is one card not working at all? Sometimes its just a matter of muting channels you do not want or need.

faint545 · 01-05-2011, 01:28 PM

Yes. Both devices are visible in alsamixer.

Quote:

Sometimes its just a matter of muting channels you do not want or need.

That doesn't work.

demosthenese · 01-16-2011, 05:09 AM

I followed the instructions here to set the default automatically when plugging/unplugging:

http://www.jordswart.org/archives/63

Works for me (using Debian Sid).

almatic · 01-16-2011, 06:30 AM

you can also get the asoundconf binary out of the alsa trunk.
Afaik it has been removed because they want to make you use pulseaudio.

nepalnt21 · 07-23-2012, 07:18 PM

im having the same problem, but i do not know how to create config files, as per what i believe the instructinos are in the link of the second to last post

DavidMcCann · 07-24-2012, 11:13 AM

You can see various ways of selecting a sound card in the documentation for Debian, Arch, and Gentoo. There is no guarantee that any will work in Ubuntu; at least, I've never succeeded. Good distros have a GUI configuration tool like gnome-volume-control. If that's not in the Ubuntu repository, maybe it's time to switch to Mint, Pinguy, or Solus...