Yearly Archives: 2013

8 posts

USB sound in Ubuntu – automatically selecting a USB audio device when it is plugged in

Ubuntu has started to support USB audio.    When I plug in a USB speaker or headset (such as my Pyle USB gaming headset), it gets recognized and installed automatically.  However there are some bugs:

  • The USB sound device does not get selected automatically.   This is especially annoying for headphones.  When you plug in analog headphones, the sound automatically switches to them and the main speakers turn off.
  • The volume settings are turned way up for the device.  Ideally it would remember the volume settings from the last time the device was plugged in.
  • When the computer goes to sleep, the volume of usb devices gets turned way up on wake.

I discovered that I could address these shortcomings by creating a script.

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