.asoundrc for (L)ubuntu 15.10?

[Jud]

OK, this has become a bit of a PITA, so thought I'd ask the Linux/Unix mavens for help.

 

I had Lubuntu 15.4 configured to use my Geek Out as the default sound device, but I'd done that by modifying the main system config file, which was overwritten when I upgraded to 15.10. I want to write an .asoundrc file for my home directory that won't be overwritten. So far it's proved surprisingly hard to find clear, up-to-date directions on how this file should read in (L)ubuntu. While I'm looking, I hope someone here who's got a bit more familiarity with Linux than I do can cut short my search with a little quick help.

 

One other question, besides a minimal .asoundrc file: The system has already installed a /usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf file. Do I need to rename that for the .asoundrc file to work?

 

Here's aplay -l:

 

card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 0: ALC889 Analog [ALC889 Analog]
 Subdevices: 1/1
 Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 1: ALC889 Digital [ALC889 Digital]
 Subdevices: 1/1
 Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: G1V5 [Geek Out HD Audio 1V5], device 0: USB Audio [uSB Audio]
 Subdevices: 1/1
 Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 2: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
 Subdevices: 1/1
 Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 2: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 7: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
 Subdevices: 1/1
 Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 2: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 8: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
 Subdevices: 1/1
 Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 2: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 9: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
 Subdevices: 1/1
 Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

 

Thanks in advance!

[Jud]

Original question sorted out, slightly different one now:

 

Player apps now see the Geek Out as system default. However, no web browser in the system (Vivaldi, Chrome, Firefox) will output sound. How do I let the browsers know to send sound to the Geek Out?

[JohnSwenson]

Original question sorted out, slightly different one now:

 

Player apps now see the Geek Out as system default. However, no web browser in the system (Vivaldi, Chrome, Firefox) will output sound. How do I let the browsers know to send sound to the Geek Out?

 

Do you have pulseaudio running? Modern programs will go through pulseaudio if it is running rather than going directly to ALSA. So you need to run the pulseaudio setup program to tell programs what to use.

 

I personally don't use pulseaudio, I just turn it off and let the programs go direct to ALSA. But that gets dicey if you have more than one program running that wants to output audio to the same device.

 

John S.

[Jud]

Do you have pulseaudio running? Modern programs will go through pulseaudio if it is running rather than going directly to ALSA. So you need to run the pulseaudio setup program to tell programs what to use.

 

I personally don't use pulseaudio, I just turn it off and let the programs go direct to ALSA. But that gets dicey if you have more than one program running that wants to output audio to the same device.

 

John S.

 

Hi John. No pulseaudio - Lubuntu differs from Ubuntu in that it doesn't install pulseaudio by default.

 

What would you suggest?

[JohnSwenson]

Hi John. No pulseaudio - Lubuntu differs from Ubuntu in that it doesn't install pulseaudio by default.

 

What would you suggest?

 

Did you setup your default as a plug? If your DAC uses 32 bit transfers (which most UAC2 DACs do) a program which talks 16 or 24 bit cannot talk to it unless you setup the connection as a plug. That will convert the 16 or 24 to 32 (zero padding).

 

John S.

[Jud]

Reasonably sure I did *not* set it up as a plug, so that sounds like the cause. What should the .asoundrc look like in that case?

[Jud]

Never mind.

 

pcm.!default {
   type plug
   slave.pcm {
       @func getenv
       vars [ ALSAPCM ]
       default "hw:G1V5"
   }
}

 

Thanks for your help, John!