How to separate headphones/speakers in linux?

Operating Systems & Open Source Linux
1

so i usually have my headsets in all the time cause im lazy and in windows you can separate the devices easy but in debian (jessie/testing lmde) i can only get sound from my headsets when they are plugged so the question is how do i separate them so i can choose speakers or headset when the headsets is plugged in thanks for the help =)

2

Hi,

I personally never did something like this but this could help:

apt-get install pulseaudio

apt-get install pavucontrol

Then you should have control over the different devices, but I do not know if it works.

Hope it helped,

oldman

3

hmm thanks for the help but i would guess pulse already is installed pavucontrol is not but its a other volume program already installed and i installed pavucontrol just to check it but its was kinda same

4

If you open a terminal and use the command "alsamixer" you should be able to:

  1. Make sure the correct sound card is selected. F6 brings up a list for you to choose from.
  2. Use the right arrow key to move the selection to the right until you find the <Auto-Mute> setting. It may be off-screen; the window scrolls.
  3. Use the down arrow key to set the feature to "Disabled."
  4. ESC exits the program.
5

hmm yeah the sound is coming from speakers now but i cant switch to the headset in the sound gui seems a tiny bit annyoing to switch in alsamixer all the time think it is possible to make it work?

6

You should be able to mute just the one you aren't using. So, maybe the headphone output is muted.

7

well its kinda works but lol idk if i mute the headphones it mutes but they are in use when the speakers are in use too i guess its just me that sucks at this audio stuff kind of the only problems i have had

8

I guess I don't really understand your problem then.

Want to use headphones only? Mute the speakers, unmute the headphones. Want to use speakers only? Mute the headphones, unmute the speakers. Want to use both at the same time? Unmute both. That's how it works on my computer at least. Or is the headset the USB kind that shows up as a separate sound card? Then I guess that would be a different problem.

9

well i guess i suck at explain but i want the sound gui to work as in windows haha and no its no usb headset well thanks for the help freq labs hehe